Sign Of The Moon

Chapter 17

A thick, heavy silence surrounded Jayfeather. Everything was dark and for a moment he thought that he was blind again. Then he realized that ice crystals were sealing his eyes shut; in spite of the pain he forced them open, only to see nothing but glimmering white all around him. When he tried to gasp in air, beads of snow stung the back of his throat.

I’m buried!

The light seemed to be coming from somewhere above his head. Jayfeather scrabbled toward it; a few heartbeats later his head broke out into the air and he looked around. The storm was over. Stillness covered the valley; the peaks were dark shapes cutting into an indigo sky where the last scarlet streaks of sunset were beginning to fade. He was completely alone.

Terror that the other cats had died in the snowfall rooted Jayfeather to the ground, but he forced himself to start moving. Kicking out with his hind legs, he climbed out of the snow and stood for a moment shaking clots of it from his pelt.

“Jay’s Wing!”

The shout came from behind him; Jayfeather spun around to see Stone Song fighting his way out of a drift a little farther up the valley. Jayfeather floundered through the loose snow and dragged him out. At first the gray tabby tom was silent with shock, gazing at the mountains as if he didn’t remember where they were.

“Are you okay?” Jayfeather prompted. “We have to look for the others.”

Stone Song shook his head to clear it. “I’m okay,” he panted. “Have you seen them?”

Jayfeather shook his head.

“They have to be here somewhere,” Stone Song muttered. “We have to find them.”

By digging up all this snow? Jayfeather thought, appalled. Then he spotted a dark patch of color on top of the snow a few fox-lengths away. Plodding over to it, he saw that it was blood. “Over here!” he called to Stone Song. “Chasing Clouds was hurt; this must be his blood.”

Working together, the two cats scraped away the snow until Chasing Clouds’s body appeared. Jayfeather’s heart beat faster when he saw how still the cat lay, a limp scrap of fur tossed aside by the power of the snow.

Then Chasing Clouds coughed and opened his eyes. “What happened?”

“The snow fell on us,” Stone Song explained. “I think we must have dislodged it, fighting that giant bird. Come on, let’s get you out of there.”

Jayfeather and Stone Song hauled Chasing Clouds out of the hole; he crouched on the surface of the snow, still looking dazed, and occasionally licking at the raw flesh on his shoulder where the bird had torn out his fur.

“Half Moon?” Jayfeather called. “Half Moon!”

There was no reply, but a slight movement on the surface a couple of tail-lengths away caught his eye. He thrust his way through the snow toward it; relief crashed over him when he saw Half Moon’s ears and nose emerge from the white covering, followed a heartbeat later by the rest of her head.

Jayfeather scraped energetically at the snow around her until she was able to scramble out. “Thanks,” she gasped. “Have you found—?”

She broke off with a wordless wail of anguish as she saw her father. Struggling to his side, she crouched beside him and began to lick his injuries. Jayfeather could see scratches from the bird’s claws on her back, too, but if she was in pain, she wasn’t showing it, too caught up in concern for Chasing Clouds.

In the dim light, Jayfeather noticed something growing in the hole where Half Moon had been lying. Bending down, he sniffed and recognized the scent of ragwort. That’s good for strength, he thought, remembering what he had learned about mountain herbs on his previous visit to the Tribe. It should help with shock. Craning his neck down into the hole, he managed to nip off a few stems and carried them back to the others.

“Here, eat these,” he ordered, setting the herbs down in front of them. “They’ll make you feel better.”

All three cats looked up at him, then bent their heads to lick up the herbs.

They’ve been through too much to wonder how I know about plants that grow here, Jayfeather guessed, wondering if there were any cobwebs around to stop bleeding. The cave would be the best place to look.

“We should go back,” he meowed. When none of the cats moved, he gave Stone Song a prod. “Come on. Do you want to die out here? Give up when we already came this far? We need to have faith.”

Stone Song looked at him with dull eyes. “Faith? Faith in what?”

Jayfeather flinched, wishing he could call upon StarClan, or the Tribe of Endless Hunting. But those names would mean nothing to these cats. Are there any ancestors watching us right now?

“We should have faith in ourselves,” he told them, trying to put conviction into his voice. “We came this far. We will survive. We must give ourselves time.”

Stone Song blinked. “We might not have time. The mountains might kill us first.”

Jayfeather thought of all the generations of cats to come, all the seasons when the Tribe would live in the mountains until they were discovered by a patrol of cats who had journeyed to visit the sun-drown-place.

“You do have time,” he mewed. “I promise.”

Yowls of horror broke out from the cats in the cave as Jayfeather and Stone Song struggled back through the entrance, practically carrying Chasing Clouds between them while Half Moon limped behind.

“What happened?” Jagged Lightning demanded. “Were you attacked by a fox?”

“No, a bird,” Stone Song replied.

“A bird?” Whispering Leaves pressed up behind Jagged Lightning, gazing at Chasing Clouds’s injuries with horrified blue eyes. “A bird did that to you?”

“It was a really big bird,” Chasing Clouds muttered.

More of the cats were gathering around, jostling one another to get a good look, letting out exclamations of fear and despair. Owl Feather’s kits came bouncing up, sniffing curiously at Chasing Clouds, then shrank back close to their mother as they caught the tang of blood.

“I told you so!” Running Horse muttered. “We should never have come here.”

Rising Moon turned her head away as if she couldn’t bear to look. Jayfeather remembered that back in the forest he had learned that she and Chasing Clouds were mates. “This place will kill us all,” she whispered.

Annoyance prickled Jayfeather’s pelt and set his tail-tip twitching. Are they all going to stand around and moan and do nothing? Back among the Clans, he would have taken an injured cat straight to the medicine cat’s den, but here there was no medicine cat. It looks as if it’s up to me.

Stone Song let Chasing Clouds sink gently to the ground, and pushed his way into the midst of the panicking cats. “That’s enough!” he called out. “Calm down. Chasing Clouds is going to be fine. Let’s all concentrate on what we can do to help.”

But in spite of their leader’s words, there was barely a pause in the horrified exclamations. Jayfeather spotted Half Moon in the middle of the crush. Angling his ears, he gestured to her to meet him at the edge of the crowd. “We need cobwebs to stop the bleeding,” he meowed, when they had both fought their way out of the press of cats. “There might be some in the little caves back there.”

Half Moon nodded and pattered behind Jayfeather as he headed for the caves. She slipped into the one that would become Stoneteller’s den, while Jayfeather padded down the tunnel that led to the Cave of Pointed Stones. The cavern looked just the same to Jayfeather as when he had seen it in visions in his own time: the sharp spikes of rock rising from the floor to meet other spikes hanging from the roof; the puddles of water dotted here and there, reflecting a pale light from the moon that shone down through the hole in the roof. His pelt stood on end and he shivered.

How long has this place been here? How many seasons, lying as thick as leaves on the forest floor?

Then he gave himself a shake. Padding forward, he searched around the edges of the cave and in cracks in the rock. There weren’t any cobwebs, but beside one of the pools he found some stubbly moss. Clawing up a pawful, he dipped it in the water; it would be the next best thing to cobwebs for dressing Chasing Clouds’s wounds. Carrying a mouthful of dripping moss, Jayfeather returned to the main cave.

Half Moon was emerging from the other tunnel. “I couldn’t find anything in there,” she meowed. “It’s so dark!”

The crowd of cats by the entrance had begun to disperse, and Chasing Clouds was staggering into the center of the cavern, supported by Stone Song. Jayfeather looked around. There was nowhere to make a proper medicine cat’s den, but he spotted a sandy stretch of ground in the shelter of a boulder; that would have to do. “Bring him over here,” he mumbled around the moss, beckoning to Stone Song with his tail.

Some of the other cats were still following, but Half Moon stepped forward to intercept them. “He needs quiet now,” she mewed. “You can see him later.”

Rising Moon looked as if she was about to object, but Whispering Breeze laid her tail over her shoulders and led her away. Jayfeather and Stone Song settled Chasing Clouds on the sandy floor and Jayfeather dabbed the soaking moss on his shoulder where the bird had torn away his fur.

“That feels good!” Chasing Clouds grunted.

When the wound was clean, Jayfeather pressed more moss over it, patting it down at the edges to make sure it would stick. “Keep still so you don’t dislodge it,” he told Chasing Clouds. “Sleep if you can.”

He thought he detected a flicker of surprise in Stone Song’s eyes at his tone of authority, but he shrugged it off. I don’t know how much Jay’s Wing knew about healing, but this is me. I’m doing what I have to.

“You next,” he meowed to Half Moon.

As he cleaned up the white she-cat’s scratches, Jayfeather spotted Furled Bracken in the center of the cavern, with most of the other cats clustered around him.

Trouble? Jayfeather wondered, though he said nothing, and didn’t pause in his careful cleaning of Half Moon’s wounds.

Furled Bracken had been the leader of the ancient cats when Jayfeather first met them beside the lake. He had cast his stone in favor of staying, and when the decision went against him, he had yielded the leadership to Stone Song.

“I think most of us agree that coming here was a mistake,” Furled Bracken was meowing. “We should never have left the lake. As soon as the ice storm is over, I will lead those cats who want to return.”

“About time!” Jagged Lightning exclaimed. “I’ll go with you.”

“So will I,” Fish Leap meowed. “I never wanted to come in the first place.”

Shy Fawn raised her tail to speak. “Furled Bracken, we haven’t all agreed.” Her voice grew more determined as she went on. “Did the father of my kits die for nothing?” She whisked her tail-tip along her swollen belly and added, “I can’t travel, not until my kits are born and strong enough to make the journey.”

“I want to stay, too,” Dove’s Wing put in. “We had problems by the lake, and they won’t have gone away.”

“But maybe Fallen Leaves will be there,” Broken Shadows suggested, a brighter gleam in her eyes than Jayfeather had ever seen. “Take us home, Furled Bracken.”

Whispering Breeze let out a sigh. “I cast my stone to leave,” she mewed. “And now I regret that bitterly. This was a mistake. We should go home.”

“I wanted to leave, too, but now I want to go back.” Owl Feather drew her kits toward her with a sweep of her tail. “I’m afraid my kits will die if we stay here.” The kits set up a frightened mewling; their mother curved her body around them, soothing them with gentle licks.

“Then we’re agreed that—” Furled Bracken began.

“No!” Jayfeather interrupted. The eyes of every cat in the cave turned toward him, shining in the dim gray light. “You can’t go back—I mean, we can’t go back!”

Owl Feather drew her kits closer and glared at Jayfeather. “That’s easy for you to say,” she hissed. “You don’t have kits.”

Suddenly Jayfeather was conscious of Half Moon standing beside him. Flicking her a quick glance, he pressed on. “We can’t give up so soon. We should at least wait until the storm is over to see if we can find a way to catch prey.”

Rising Moon took a pace toward him, lashing her tail. “But we are prey!” she snarled. “How can we hunt if we’re being hunted ourselves?”

Jayfeather’s mind whirled. “We have to find a different way of hunting.” He suddenly recalled how the Tribe divided up the cats into cave-guards and prey-hunters, with their own special duties. “Some of us will hunt, while others will protect them—and our prey—against big birds.”

The cats looked at one another, muttering. Jayfeather could tell that they didn’t have any faith in his idea. But it will work! I’ve seen it working!

“We could try,” Half Moon meowed, standing closer to Jayfeather so that their pelts brushed.

A trickle of warmth crept through Jayfeather at her touch. It was good to have one cat who supported him. “Thanks,” he whispered, touching her ear with his nose.

“Oh, yes, try and have more cats with their fur ripped off!” Jagged Lightning’s neck fur bristled as he stared at Jayfeather.

Yowls of agreement followed his words. Jayfeather almost staggered backward at the wave of hostility he sensed coming from the crowd of cats around Furled Bracken. Half Moon’s support hadn’t been enough.

“Then that’s settled.” Furled Bracken’s gaze swept over the rest of the cats. “We’ll wait until the storm is over, then go back to the lake.”

Jayfeather stood blinking in disbelief as the cats began to shuffle toward the edges of the cave and find places to sleep. This can’t be happening!

“I’m sorry,” Stone Song murmured; he had stood in silence while the argument was going on. “We tried; it’s not our fault we failed. Maybe we’re not supposed to live in the stone hills after all.”

Jayfeather looked into his blue eyes and saw genuine regret there. He was the cat who was most committed to this…and now he was giving up, too! With nothing to say to him, Jayfeather stumbled away. Stone Song doesn’t understand. We’ve failed… I’ve failed!

“If these cats leave so soon,” he muttered, “how will the Tribe of Rushing Water end up in the mountains?”

Hardly aware of what he was doing, he found his paw steps leading him into the Cave of Pointed Stones. Soft paw steps sounded behind him; glancing back, he saw that Half Moon had followed him. She halted at the mouth of the tunnel, her eyes stretching wide as she took in the cave.

“Wow!” she breathed.

Jayfeather shared some of her wonder as he gazed around at the tapering columns and pinnacles of white stone. Being in the cave with Half Moon somehow made him realize how beautiful it really was.

“Let’s explore!” Half Moon mewed, giving a little bounce like an excited kit.

Jayfeather followed her as she darted around the puddles and stretched her forepaws as far as she could reach up the side of one of the stony spikes. “Look!” she exclaimed. “This stone is growing from the floor, and it almost meets the icicle of stone that’s hanging from the ceiling.”

“Those two have met.” Jayfeather pointed with his tail to one of the completed columns.

“It’s so strange!” Half Moon bounded farther in among the forest of stone, dodging around the base of one and poking her head out playfully on the other side. Jayfeather launched himself at her with a mock growl, but before he reached her his paws slipped on the slick rock at the edge of one of the pools. Water splashed up as he planted one paw in the water; he saved himself from going deeper only with an awkward sideways scramble.

“Oops, you got a wet paw!” Half Moon teased.

“I’ll show you wet paws!” Jayfeather growled.

Scooping up some water, he flicked it at her; Half Moon shrieked and ran away. Jayfeather raced after her, losing sight of her for a moment among the clustering columns. Suddenly she darted out at him and they collided. Jayfeather found himself looking into her eyes; they were the lustrous green of forest pools. Her warm fur brushed his.

“The moon’s up,” he meowed, breaking away from her to stand on the edge of a pool. “It must be night outside.”

As his breathing steadied, he became aware of cats moving restlessly in the main cave. Owl Feather’s kits were wailing with hunger. A pang of sadness pierced Jayfeather, sharp as a claw. I can understand why they don’t want to stay here.

“Look!” Half Moon padded up to stand beside him. “You can see the moon in the water.”

Looking into the puddle in front of him, Jayfeather saw a reflection of the tiny new moon, shining down through the hole in the roof. Half Moon couldn’t take her eyes off it.

“It’s so beautiful!” she whispered. “So tiny—just like a claw scratch.”

She dabbed at the surface of the water with one paw, and the moon fluttered like silver wings before settling again as the water stilled. Letting out a faint mrrow of wonder, Half Moon dabbed again and again. However often she disturbed the surface, the moon was still there.

“It doesn’t give up, does it?” Half Moon blinked at Jayfeather. “It’s always there, constant like the stones in this cave. Maybe we should be like the moon’s reflection, holding fast whatever happens?” Padding farther into the cave, she gazed around at the stones again, a new sense of understanding beginning to creep into her eyes. Jayfeather felt his pelt prickle.

“They have been here for so many seasons,” Half Moon murmured. “If we stay, will our descendants survive for as long as these columns of stone?”

Jayfeather jumped to her side. “Yes, they will! I promise.”

Half Moon shot him a look of alarm. “How do you know?”

“I just do,” Jayfeather replied. “Trust me.”

Her green gaze grew warm as she looked into his eyes. “I do trust you. Always.” Jayfeather felt his tail entwining with hers. “I wish the others would trust you too,” Half Moon mewed.

Over her shoulder, Jayfeather spotted movement; he shivered as Rock stepped out from behind a distant column, the moonlight shining on his hairless body. He fixed his bulging eyes on Jayfeather and nodded once.

“Half Moon!”

The sharp voice came from the entrance to the cave. The vision of Rock winked out. Jayfeather and Half Moon broke apart to see Rising Moon standing at the mouth of the tunnel.

“Half Moon, what are you doing here?” Rising Moon gave her daughter a disapproving glare, and her voice was like ice. “Jay’s Wing, Chasing Clouds wants to speak to you. I’ve hunted all over for you.”

Jayfeather dipped his head politely and brushed past her to go out again into the main cavern. Chasing Clouds was lying where Jayfeather had left him, in the shallow scoop of sand. He raised his head as Jayfeather padded up. “You saved my life,” he rasped. “Thank you.”

Jayfeather scuffled the cave floor with his forepaws. “We all played a part,” he mumbled.

“I can’t believe we fought off that bird!” Chasing Clouds’s voice grew stronger, and a gleam of pride appeared in his eyes.

“Well, you did,” Jayfeather told him. “And you could do it again. Any of us could, if we tried hard enough.”

“Not that again!” Rising Moon was close enough to overhear. “It’s too dangerous.”

“She’s right.” Jagged Lightning padded up to the gray-and-white she-cat’s side. “Why should we risk our lives to catch our prey?”

“Because it’s the only way to survive here.” Half Moon faced the older cats. “And if we train properly, we won’t be risking our lives every time.”

Anger flashed in Rising Moon’s eyes. She opened her jaws to retort, but Stone Song interrupted. “Look, we’re all exhausted. This isn’t the right time to be making decisions. Let’s get some sleep and talk about it again tomorrow.”

For a heartbeat Rising Moon and Jagged Lightning looked as if they wanted to argue, but then they turned away and stalked off to the other side of the cave. Stone Song and Half Moon found scoops in the floor, and curled up there, ready to sleep.

Jayfeather hesitated for a heartbeat, then took the few paw steps that brought him to Half Moon’s side. She looked up at him, letting out a warm purr. Lying down beside her felt natural and right. Usually, Jayfeather slept close to a cat only if they were sick enough to be in the medicine cat’s den. Even then, they would be in separate nests.

This is better, Jayfeather thought, yawning as he closed his eyes. Comforting, even without the moss and feathers I’d have in the stone hollow… He could still hear Half Moon’s gentle breathing as he drifted into sleep.

A plaintive wail woke Jayfeather, cutting through the endless thunder of the falls. The gray light that filtered through the screen of falling water was strengthening, and he guessed that outside the sky was growing pale with the approach of dawn. Raising his head, he spotted Owl Feather’s kits at the other side of the cave, pummeling their mother’s belly with tiny paws as they tried to make the milk come.

“I’m sorry, kits,” Owl Feather mewed sadly. “I’ve no more milk for you, because I haven’t had enough to eat.”

The miserable wailing went on. Other cats were stirring too; Dawn River was grooming herself, but most of the others just sat slumped on the cave floor. Jayfeather could feel their despair like a cold, smothering fog.

“We won’t get a chance to go back to the lake,” Whispering Breeze muttered. “This place will kill us first.”

Jagged Lightning heaved himself out of the scoop in the cave floor and padded over to Owl Feather, resting his muzzle briefly on her head. “We have to hunt,” he announced. “I won’t let my kits starve.”

Fish Leap turned toward Jayfeather, beckoning to him with his tail. “Jay’s Wing, what was it you were saying yesterday about hunting in pairs?”

“More than pairs.” Jayfeather scrambled out of his nest and padded across the cavern to join the others. Disturbed by his movement, Half Moon rose to her paws, gave herself a quick stretch, and followed. “We need a whole patrol to protect the hunters,” he went on. “Two or three of the best hunters to catch the prey, and a few of the strongest cats and the best fighters to watch out for attacking birds.”

“You mean fight off birds that can carry a cat into the sky?” Jagged Lightning sounded disbelieving. “I’d like to see that!”

“Oh, no!” Owl Feather looked up, distraught. “They’ll steal my kits!”

“Then the kits mustn’t leave the cave.” Stone Song padded up to join them. “There’s plenty of room here for them to play.”

“And there’s no need to worry,” Dawn River added. “We’re not going to be here that long.”

“But what about the rest of us?” Rising Moon demanded. “Trying to fight birds like that is a mouse-brained idea.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure,” Stone Song responded. “We fought off that bird yesterday. Okay, Chasing Clouds was hurt, but that doesn’t need to happen if we can figure out the best way to defend ourselves.”

Rising Moon let out a disbelieving snort.

“I think we ought to give Jay’s Wing’s idea a try,” Dove’s Wing meowed. “Even if we do decide to go back to the lake, we won’t get far without food in our bellies.”

“But how can we fight birds that big?” Fish Leap asked. “We can’t fly up and attack them in the air.”

“No, we’ll have to lure one down to us.” Stone Song sounded reluctant, as if he knew how his suggestion would be received. “Then we can work out the skills we need.”

“You’re not using my kits!” Owl Feather glared at him, protecting the three tiny cats with her paws and tail.

“Of course not,” Stone Song reassured her.

“I’ll do it,” Half Moon offered. “I’ll pretend to be injured.”

Jayfeather felt his heart lurch. “No way,” he mewed. “I’ll do it. This was my idea.”

Stone Song blinked at him. “You’re taking quite a risk.”

“Some cat has to,” Jayfeather replied, forcing his voice to be steady, though inside he was shaking. It was too easy to imagine being whisked into the sky, gripped in cruel talons. “Are we going to do this or not? We need food right away.”

Though some of the cats still seemed uncertain, enough of them gathered around Jayfeather to make up a patrol. Jayfeather looked at them: Stone Song, Jagged Lightning, and—to his surprise—Furled Bracken, along with Half Moon, Fish Leap, and Dove’s Wing. All of them looked tense but determined.

“Let’s go,” Jayfeather meowed, leading the way out of the cave. Emerging from behind the waterfall, he realized that the storm was over. The howling wind had sunk to a stiff breeze, with a few flakes of snow tossed in the air, and gaps showed in the rolling gray clouds above their heads. The patrol crunched through the snow and clambered up the rocks beside the waterfall until they stood on top of the cliff.

Jayfeather took a deep breath. He had never trained another cat, especially not in fighting skills. The safety of these cats was his responsibility—not just now, when they were luring the bird down deliberately, but for all the generations to come. Is this what it means, to have the power of the stars in my paws?

“I’ll stay out here while the rest of you hide,” he directed. “Remember, you mustn’t be seen from above because that’s where the bird will come from. Stone Song, Jagged Lightning, and Furled Bracken, you get ready to leap out and attack. Fish Leap, Dove’s Wing, Half Moon: You stay hidden and watch what happens. Then we can discuss tactics later.”

“I’m not watching behind a rock while you get torn apart,” Half Moon objected.

Her concern warmed Jayfeather. “You can join in if there’s trouble,” he told her.

Half Moon’s tail lashed once. “Try stopping me!”

“What do we do when it comes?” Fish Leap asked. “We can’t pounce on it as if it was a blackbird!”

“I think we should go for the wings,” Stone Song suggested. “It can’t carry one of us off if it can’t fly.”

Furled Bracken nodded. “Leaping for its neck would be good, too. That’s a weak point on any bird, I don’t care how big it is.”

“Good idea,” Jayfeather agreed. “Now, get out of sight before it spots you all.”

The rest of the patrol slunk away to take up positions among the rocks.

“This is going to work,” Half Moon encouraged Jayfeather before she left. “I just know it!”

I hope so, Jayfeather thought, aware of fear like a chunk of ice in his belly. I have to do this, for the sake of the Tribe of Rushing Water.

Standing at the edge of the river, Jayfeather felt very alone. The other cats had disappeared; all he could see was the tip of Fish Leap’s tail, brown against the snow. He looked up into the sky; it was gray and endless, and there were no signs of any birds. His belly felt hollow and sore.

“Look!” Half Moon’s low voice came from behind a nearby rock.

Blinking, Jayfeather gazed up into the sky again. A tiny speck had appeared, circling lazily far above. His paws felt frozen to the rock as he watched it; the bird came close enough for him to see that it was an eagle, like the ones he had heard about from the Tribe of Rushing Water. It was even bigger than the bird that had attacked them yesterday. He braced himself for it to swoop down on him, but then it circled away, losing interest.

No! Jayfeather wanted to yowl. I’m a juicy bit of prey! Come and get me!

He began to limp forward, holding up one paw as if he was injured, and let out a wail. The eagle swept through the sky, gliding down in a wide circle, until Jayfeather could make out its hooked talons and yellow, staring eyes.

Great StarClan—it’s huge!

He crouched down in the snow, mewling piteously. The wing shadow covered him and spread around him; he squeezed his eyes shut tight as the bird’s strong scent washed over him.

I hope the others are ready to pounce…

The beating of the eagle’s wings was like thunder. Then fearsome claws dug down into Jayfeather’s shoulders and he let out a shriek. In the same heartbeat, caterwauling pierced the air around him. As his paws left the ground, the rocks sprang to life.

“Go for the wings!” Stone Song yowled. “Don’t let it fly away!”

His words were swallowed up in the chaos of screeching cats and wildly flapping wings. Jayfeather spotted Furled Bracken leaping for the eagle’s throat, missing it by a mouse-length as his claws slashed at air. Half Moon bit down on the edge of the eagle’s wing and was flung off; she hit the rock with a thump, clutching a mouthful of feathers. Fish Leap grabbed at Jayfeather’s tail and tried to hold him down.

“No! Let go!” Jayfeather shrieked, feeling his pelt begin to rip away with the added weight.

Fish Leap dropped back, and for a heartbeat Jayfeather thought that the eagle had won as it began to lift away from the cliff top. He could do nothing but flail his paws helplessly. Then Stone Song and Jagged Lightning raced in, one from either side, and made a leap for the eagle’s wings. Both sank their claws in at the same moment; the eagle let out a furious cry, but it couldn’t take to the air with the weight of a cat on each wing. While they held it down, Dove’s Wing ducked underneath, close to Jayfeather, and gave a swift nip to each of the bird’s legs, one after the other.

With another raucous screech, the eagle let Jayfeather go; he crashed down onto the rock, half-stunned, and watched as Stone Song and Jagged Lightning slashed at the bird’s shoulders, scoring their claws through its feathers, then leaped aside to safety. The eagle mounted into the sky, shedding feathers as it went, blood dripping from its naked legs. Jayfeather watched, panting, as it dwindled to a speck in the sky and was gone.

“Are you okay?” Half Moon crouched panting on the cliff edge, but her green eyes glowed as she gazed at Jayfeather.

“I’m fine,” Jayfeather gasped, though his shoulders where the eagle had gripped him felt as if they were on fire.

Half Moon rose to her paws and padded over to him, giving his wounds a sniff. “We ought to put moss on those, like you did for Chasing Clouds last night,” she mewed. “I wonder if there’s any dock growing around here. That’s good to stop bleeding.”

The rest of the patrol began to stagger to their paws, checking their own scratches.

“We did it!” Fish Leap croaked.

“Yes, we did.” Stone Song’s gaze rested on Jayfeather. “Jay’s Wing, your plan to protect our hunters just might work. At least to find enough food until we leave.” Waving his tail at the rest of the patrol, he added, “Come on. Let’s go and tell the others.”

He led the way down the rocks beside the waterfall, leaving Jayfeather and Half Moon alone on the cliff top.

“I was so scared for you,” Half Moon murmured, brushing her muzzle along his flank. “And I’m so proud of you! If we had kits, just think how brave they would be!”

Kits! “Half Moon…” he began awkwardly.

Before he could say more, he saw another cat emerge from behind one of the boulders at the water’s edge. Rock! Not now, please!

The sightless cat stood waiting; though she was looking in that direction, Half Moon had no idea that he was there.

“Why don’t you go down with the others?” Jayfeather suggested. “I’ll follow you in a moment.”

“Okay.” There was a trace of disappointment in Half Moon’s green eyes, but she headed down the cliff without protesting.

“What do you want now?” Jayfeather demanded.

Rock did not reply. For a moment they stood side by side at the edge of the cliff. Far away, a red glow on the snow showed where the sun would rise.

“So much is the same…” Rock breathed. Then he turned to Jayfeather. “You can’t stay here. You know that, don’t you?”

“Why not?” Jayfeather demanded, with a sudden tug of anguish.

“You are too powerful to be lost in the past.”

“I can be powerful here!” Jayfeather protested. “I could raise kits, teach them everything I know, and then go back to the Clans.” He stared at Rock. “I…I don’t want to leave.”