Sign Of The Moon

Chapter 22

Jayfeather felt as if all the weight of the mountains was resting on his shoulders, but he braced himself and turned to Stoneteller. “Your Tribe will always be loyal to the Teller of the Pointed Stones,” he meowed. “You need to return their loyalty by having faith that you are destined to be here. Your descendants will survive if you give them hope now.”

“But—” Stoneteller began.

Jayfeather didn’t let him speak. “The time has come to choose your successor.”

His words fell into silence. Jayfeather was conscious of the Tribe of Rushing Water around him, waiting for their Healer’s reply.

The old cat hauled himself to his paws. “It’s too late,” he growled. “Our ancestors no longer watch over us. We are alone.” Turning, he limped down the tunnel into his den-cave. Jayfeather pictured his Tribemates staring after him, as murmurs of protest began to rise from them.

“What does he mean?”

“Has the Tribe of Endless Hunting abandoned us?”

“What’s going to happen?”

“Calm down.” Bird’s voice rose above the rest. “Stoneteller is very troubled, but he is still our Healer. He will protect us. Let him sleep.”

The murmuring died away, but Jayfeather could tell that the cats were still uneasy.

“I want to go now.” Jayfeather heard the slap of Dovewing’s paw on the stone floor.

“So do I,” Foxleap added.

“I know. I want to leave, too,” Squirrelflight meowed. “But we can’t set off when night is falling. We’ll go home tomorrow. Is that all right with you, Jayfeather? Will you have finished whatever you need to do here?”

Jayfeather nodded, ignoring Dovewing’s hiss of impatience. “Yes, we can leave tomorrow.”

“Let’s find you a nest.” Squirrelflight drew Dovewing away, and Foxleap padded after them. “You’ll both need a good night’s sleep if we’re to travel tomorrow.”

“I don’t want to sleep,” Dovewing retorted. “I’ll keep on seeing Swoop, I know I will.”

Jayfeather waited until their voices had died away, then padded back into the Cave of Pointed Stones. Blind once again, he could still remember the pinnacles of stone and the thin shaft of moonlight cast into the shallow pools. He remembered how Half Moon had patted the water and set the reflection flickering. Taking a deep breath, he searched for her scent, but all he could smell was stone and water.

He found a dry spot at the foot of one of the columns and lay down, curling up and wrapping his tail over his nose. He felt very much alone, grief and regret for Swoop biting deep into him.

I know what I have to do to help the Tribe, but was Swoop’s life too great a price to pay for our visit?

Jayfeather’s eyes flickered open and he saw a sheet of dark water stretching in front of him. Starlight shimmered on its surface. Springing to his paws, he realized that he had returned to the stone hollow in the mountains that he had visited once before, led there by an elder of the Tribe of Endless Hunting. Sheer cliffs rose all around him, lined by cats whose pelts glowed with starshine. In silence they gazed down at Jayfeather.

He lifted his head and boldly returned their gaze, scanning the ranks of starry cats. He recognized Fall and Slant, who had spoken to him before, and Rain, who had been an elder when Jayfeather first visited the Tribe. Farther up the cliff, he made out the fainter outlines of Owl Feather, Stone Song, and Rising Moon. They dipped their heads to him, but did not speak.

Jayfeather’s heart lurched. Is Half Moon here? It seemed like only a heartbeat since he had been with her on the cliff top, yet he knew that she had been dead for seasons upon seasons. He searched the cliff face, but there was no sign of her graceful white pelt.

Has she faded away completely? Am I too late to keep her here with my memories?

He couldn’t see Jay’s Wing, Dove’s Wing, or Lion’s Roar, either, then scolded himself for being mouse-brained enough to look for them. Of course they’re not with the Tribe of Endless Hunting! We live on in ThunderClan!

A pale gray she-cat rose to her paws and jumped down from a boulder at the bottom of the cliff. Padding around the edge of the pool, she halted in front of Jayfeather. “I am Cloud with Storm in Belly,” she introduced herself.

“I know you, don’t I?” Jayfeather recalled. “You were a Tribe elder when I first came to the mountains.”

“I was. And I am the mother of the present Stoneteller. Now it is time for my son to join the Tribe of Endless Hunting.”

A shiver ran through Jayfeather. “But he hasn’t chosen a successor!”

“I know.” Cloud’s eyes, like tiny moons, were fixed on Jayfeather. “Tomorrow it will be your duty to name the next Stoneteller.” As Jayfeather gaped at her in dismay, she went on. “Not all of us have abandoned the Tribe. Some of us still have faith that it will survive.”

“But—but how can I appoint a new Healer?” Jayfeather stammered.

Cloud leaned forward and whispered into his ear. “Because you appointed the first, remember?” She turned to look up the cliff, angling her ears toward a shape at the very top of the ranks of cats, glowing and barely visible.

“Half Moon…” Jayfeather breathed. He strained to see more clearly, but he was too far away to make out her features.

“We have been grateful to you for all these years,” Cloud went on. “We always knew that you would come back. What you do now will affect all cats, past and future, from the lake and the mountains and the old forest where your Clans lived for so long.”

Jayfeather wrenched his gaze from Half Moon and stared at Cloud. “I don’t understand…” he faltered.

“The end of the stars draws near,” Cloud continued. “Three must become four, to challenge the darkness that lasts forever.”

Jayfeather stepped back, realizing that the ranks of starry cats around them had begun to fade. There was darkness on all sides of the hollow, penetrated by only the tiniest faint gleams of light.

“But we have always been three!” he cried. “Who is the fourth?”

The icy glow of starlight from Cloud’s pelt grew dimmer. Her voice grew fainter, too, as she replied, “The fourth is with you already. You will not have to search far.”

Jayfeather jerked awake to darkness and the endless dripping of water in the Cave of Pointed Stones. Scrambling to his paws, he ran into the main cavern and down the tunnel that led into Stoneteller’s den. The old cat’s scent wreathed around him as he halted, panting. Jayfeather could hear Stoneteller’s breath bubbling as he tried to speak.

“I see them now!” Every word was a struggle. “My ancestors! They have not abandoned us! I am so sorry…”

His voice faded. Jayfeather waited for the hoarse breathing to start up again, but there was only silence. He stood with his head bowed. “Rest well, Stoneteller,” he murmured. “The Tribe of Endless Hunting is waiting for you.”

He padded out into the cavern and picked up Wing’s scent as the she-cat approached. “Is everything okay?” she mewed.

“No,” Jayfeather replied. “Stoneteller has died.”

Wing let out a wail of grief and terror; disturbed by the noise, the rest of the Tribe began to stir. Their dismay churned around Jayfeather like waves: grief and loss and the fear of being without a leader.

“Did Stoneteller name his successor before he died?” Wing asked.

A tense silence slammed down in the cave. Jayfeather realized that the whole Tribe was waiting to hear his answer. He took a deep breath.

“Yes,” he meowed. “Yes, he did.”

With the tumble of the waterfall beside him, Jayfeather led the way out of the cavern and up to the top of the cliff. The Tribe followed him. Some of the cats carried Stoneteller’s body from his den, and laid him on the stones next to the river.

Bird padded up and stood beside Stoneteller’s body. “Farewell, Teller of the Pointed Stones. May you hunt endlessly among the stars with those who watch over us.”

She stepped back, and an expectant silence fell. Jayfeather could feel that the gaze of every cat in the Tribe was fixed on him. He knew what he had to do, but his mind was whirling. He had lied to every one of these cats. Stoneteller had died too soon.

How can I choose the new Healer?

Then he gathered himself. The Tribe of Endless Hunting had known that this would happen. They had faith in him to make the right choice—for the second time. The Healer mustn’t be too young, he thought; the Tribe needed a cat with experience and courage, who had seen these cats through their darkest times and had faith that they could survive. A cat who would put his Tribe before himself, and work tirelessly to keep them safe.

“Crag Where Eagles Nest, stand forward,” he meowed.

“Me?” The shocked exclamation was followed by Crag’s paw steps as he approached Jayfeather; astonishment and doubt flooded from him.

“From this moment on,” Jayfeather declared, “you will be known as the Teller of the Pointed Stones.” His heart twisted with pain as he remembered the last time he had spoken these words. “Others will come after you, moon upon moon upon moon. Choose them well, train them well, and trust the future of your Tribe to them.”

“I am honored to have been chosen.” Crag’s voice was solemn. “I will serve my Tribe until the end of my days.”

Bird padded forward. “Greetings, Stoneteller,” she mewed. “May the Tribe of Endless Hunting watch over you and send you their wisdom.”

She headed down the cliff, her paw steps growing fainter as she jumped from rock to rock, and Talon took her place, acknowledging the new Stoneteller with the same words. Jayfeather waited until all the Tribe had spoken and filed away, back to the cave.

At last, Stoneteller and Jayfeather stood alone on the cliff top.

“I wasn’t expecting this,” the Teller of the Pointed Stones admitted. “Stoneteller—the last one—said nothing to prepare me. But I cannot doubt his choice. I will do my best to honor him, and the rest of the Tribe of Endless Hunting.” He took a deep breath. “It’s so beautiful up here,” he murmured. Jayfeather realized that he must be looking out at the vista of mountain peaks. “But I guess I won’t be seeing it for a while—not until those to-bes finish their training, anyway.”

He sighed faintly and Jayfeather heard his paw steps recede as he headed toward the cave. Suddenly, Jayfeather felt a slight stirring in the air beside him. An achingly familiar sweet scent wreathed around him.

“Half Moon?” he whispered.

He couldn’t see the white she-cat, but he knew that she was there beside him. Her muzzle lightly touched his ear; it felt as if lightning crackled through him.

“You chose well,” she murmured.

Jayfeather swallowed. “I won’t forget you,” he promised.

“And I never forgot you,” Half Moon replied. “Not through all the moons since we last met. Go well, return to your Clan now. Find the fourth.”

As her scent faded away, Jayfeather realized that Squirrelflight, Foxleap, and Dovewing had joined him on the cliff top.

“Can we go home now?” Squirrelflight asked.

“Yes,” Jayfeather told her. “We have done what we had to.”

He waited for the two she-cats to climb back down the rocks and prepared to follow them. But as he cautiously lowered himself over the edge, he heard Half Moon’s voice calling after him.

“I will wait for you forever, Jay’s Wing!”