Starlight

Chapter 19

Leafpaw leaped across the stream by the stepping stones and began to climb the hill toward the WindClan camp. Firestar had offered her an escort, but she didn’t think she needed one to visit WindClan. She’d thought of asking Sorreltail to go with her, but when she went to look for her friend she was sharing tongues with Brackenfur, and Leafpaw hadn’t wanted to disturb them.

The wind ruffled the short moorland grass, bringing with it a strong scent of rabbits and flattening Leafpaw’s fur against her sides. Even though she had slept for only a short time since coming back from the Moonpool, the news she carried sent energy surging through her like the water of the starlit stream.

She was nearly at the camp when she caught the scent of cats, and a patrol appeared from behind a gorse bush. It was Mudclaw and Webfoot with his apprentice, Weaselpaw.

Leafpaw tensed. All the Clans were extra-sensitive about their boundaries at the moment, and she hoped the WindClan cats would give her a chance to explain her mission before chasing her out.

“What are you doing here?” Mudclaw growled. “This is our territory.”

“I have a message for Barkface.”

Mudclaw hesitated, then jerked his head. “Come on, then.” He led her over the top of the rise and down into the hollow.

Onewhisker was sitting under a bush near the center of the camp, sharing a tough-looking rabbit with Ashfoot.

Leafpaw glanced around, looking for Crowfeather. Barkface wasn’t the only cat getting an important message from StarClan.

“Onewhisker, we have a visitor,” Mudclaw announced.

The WindClan leader stood up, swiping his tongue around his jaws. “What can we do for you, Leafpaw?”

“I need to speak to Barkface,” she mewed.

Onewhisker pricked his ears. “A message from StarClan?” he guessed.

Leafpaw nodded, though she couldn’t say anything more.

It was Barkface’s duty to pass the message on to his Clan.

“That’s great news!” Onewhisker’s eyes shone.

“Weaselpaw, go and ask Barkface to come right away.”

Webfoot’s apprentice disappeared down a tunnel at the foot of the slope. It looked as if it might once have been a rabbit burrow or a badger set. He reappeared a moment later with the medicine cat behind him.

Leafpaw bounded over to him. Barkface dismissed the apprentice with a flick of his tail and beckoned Leafpaw to sit beside him. “What’s all this?” he asked.

Leafpaw’s excitement bubbled over, and her words spilled out like water tumbling over the shining starlit stones. “And tomorrow night is the half moon,” she finished. “Cinderpelt has gone to tell Mothwing and Littlecloud, so we can all go to the Moonpool together.”

Barkface stretched forward and rested his muzzle against the tip of Leafpaw’s ear. “This is the best news I’ve ever heard,” he murmured. “Thank you for bringing it to me.” He heaved himself up and padded over to Onewhisker and Ashfoot. Others had joined them, guessing there was an important announcement coming.

Quickly Barkface told them about Leafpaw’s journey.

“Tomorrow night all the medicine cats will meet at the Moonpool,” he meowed. “The night after that, Onewhisker, you and I will go together so that you can receive your nine lives and your leader’s name.”

For a moment Leafpaw thought she saw a flicker of panic flash through Onewhisker’s eyes. Surely he should be relieved to know he would finally be able to share tongues with StarClan and have his leadership recognized by his warrior ancestors. What reason could he have for wanting to put it off?

Onewhisker blinked and shook his head. Leafpaw decided she must have imagined the panic in his expression.

“From what Leafpaw tells us, it’s a long journey,” Onewhisker mewed. “You can’t travel there twice in two days; you’ll be worn out. I’ve waited this long for my nine lives and my name. I can wait awhile longer.”

Leafpaw was impressed by Onewhisker’s thoughtfulness.

Then she looked more closely at him, and wondered if he could possibly be afraid that StarClan would reject him, after he was appointed in such a hurry by the dying Tallstar. She blinked sympathetically. Every cat knew that the deputy of a Clan succeeded the leader when he lost his ninth life—even if they had been deputy for only a few moments. That was part of the warrior code, and whatever else had changed on their long journey from the forest, the warrior code would always remain at the heart of every Clan.

Barkface seemed content to leave some time between his visits to the Moonpool, because he didn’t try to change Onewhisker’s mind. “I’ll see you tomorrow at sunset, Leafpaw,” he meowed.

“I’ll tell Cinderpelt,” she replied. “We can meet by the stream at the edge of the trees.”

Barkface nodded. “Go well,” he murmured, before heading back to his den.

Onewhisker and Ashfoot began talking quietly together.

Mudclaw muttered something to Webfoot, and the pair of them raced for the top of the hollow, disappearing over it in a couple of heartbeats.

Leafpaw felt a light touch on her shoulder. She turned, and was startled to see Crowfeather gazing intensely into her eyes. “Have you really found a place to speak with StarClan?” he asked.

“Yes, really.” Leafpaw swallowed. “There’s something I have to tell you, Crowfeather. Is there somewhere quiet we can talk?”

“Come over here.” Crowfeather led her to the edge of the hollow and sat down under a stunted tree with leafless, twisted branches. He looked expectantly at Leafpaw with his head to one side.

She took a deep breath. “I didn’t just dream of the Moonpool last night. I saw Feathertail as well.” That was one detail she had left out when she told her story to Barkface.

Crowfeather’s eyes opened wide. “Feathertail?”

“Yes. She gave me a message for you.” Leafpaw’s heart pounded so loud, she was convinced Crowfeather would be able to hear it. Would he be angry with what she had to say?

After all, he might want to carry on grieving for Feathertail.

Leafpaw told herself that wasn’t her problem; Feathertail might be watching them right now, and she had to keep her promise to deliver the message.

“She said, ‘Tell him not to grieve.’ It will be many moons before you can be together again. She told you not to be blinded to the living.”

Crowfeather met Leafpaw’s gaze with such a hungry look, it was as if he wanted to devour every scrap of her meeting with the cat he had loved so deeply. Leafpaw blinked. How could he ever stop grieving if he felt this strongly?

At last the WindClan warrior looked down at his paws.

“I’ll never stop wishing she hadn’t died,” he whispered. “Does Feathertail think I could ever forget about her?”

“That isn’t what she meant!” Leafpaw protested.

“There’ll never be another cat like Feathertail.”

Crowfeather whipped up his head, and there was a gleam of anger in his eyes. “I don’t care how long I have to wait to see her again. If she can wait, so can I!”

He spun around and bounded across the clearing, with Leafpaw staring helplessly after him.

The half-moon floated high above them, shedding soft gray light over the slope beside the rushing stream. The five medicine cats toiled up the last few tail-lengths that led to the barrier of thornbushes. Cinderpelt looked exhausted, her eyes glazed and her pace increasingly uneven, but she seemed determined to keep going. Mothwing hardly seemed tired by the journey at all. Right from the start she had bounded ahead and doubled back to check which way to go next, as if she couldn’t wait to reach the place where she would share tongues with StarClan. Leafpaw thought she couldn’t have been more eager if she had really believed in them, and she wondered if Mothwing was looking for a chance to prove that StarClan didn’t exist. She pushed the thought away—Mothwing was loyal and kindhearted, and Leafpaw knew she’d do anything to keep her lack of faith a secret from the other medicine cats.

Leafpaw showed them the narrow gap that led through the barrier of thorns, and at last they stood at the top of the hollow, gazing down at the Moonpool. The water shone with the same pale light she remembered from before, while the stream tumbling from the crack in the rock glittered with starshine. Its gentle plashing into the pool was the only sound.

“Yes, this is the place,” Barkface murmured.

He gestured with his tail for Leafpaw to lead the way down the path, and once again she felt her paws slipping into the pawprints made by those cats of long ago.

“I wonder how we’re supposed to share tongues with StarClan?” Littlecloud asked, when all the medicine cats were sitting around the Moonpool.

Leafpaw blinked. She hadn’t thought of that. Back at Mothermouth, cats used to lie with their noses touching the Moonstone; she remembered the icy chill that would creep through her fur, pulling her into a deep sleep where she could meet with StarClan.

She looked around, searching for something lit up by StarClan, as radiant as the Moonstone had been. There was nothing to see but the moss-covered rocks and trailing ferns—and the starlit surface of the pool. “Maybe we should touch the water?” she suggested.

The medicine cats glanced at one another. “It’s worth a try,” Barkface agreed.

Shivering, Leafpaw crept forward and lapped a few drops of water. It was icy cold, and tasted of stars and the wind and the indigo sky. She closed her eyes, breathing the scents as they flooded her mouth.

A chill spread from her ears to the tip of her tail, and she could no longer feel the stone beneath her paws. Instead she was floating in a black void, where everything was dark and silent. There were voices, too faint and shrill at first to hear what they were saying. Then the sound of wind and splashing water died away, and she realized they were calling her name.

“I’m here,” she whispered.

She opened her eyes. A vast stretch of water lay in front of her: not the Moonpool, tucked in its sheltering hollow, but the lake. Wind stirred the surface into rippling waves, tipped with curls of froth. The water looked as if it reflected a blazing sunset, with all shades of red lapping thickly at the shore.

But when Leafpaw looked up, the sky was dark and starlit.

The lake was filled with blood!

The voices called to her again, this time loud enough for her to hear, even though she wished she hadn’t almost before they had finished speaking: Before there is peace, blood will spill blood, and the lake will run red.

Leafpaw sprang up to run away, but her paws slipped in the sticky blood, and the stench of death engulfed her. With a gasp she opened her eyes. She was on the edge of the Moonpool again, her belly pressed flat against the cold stone, and beside her lay the other medicine cats. They were stirring and stretching, waking from their own dreams. The moon was dipping below the hilltop; Leafpaw’s legs, stiff from crouching so long in one position, confirmed how much time had passed.

Barkface and Littlecloud both looked very troubled; Leafpaw wondered if they had received warnings like hers.

Cinderpelt was studying Leafpaw with concern in her eyes, while Mothwing kept her gaze fixed on her paws.

Leafpaw guessed they would set out for their camps at once. She wanted to talk to Cinderpelt alone, wary of announcing her vision to the other medicine cats. But instead of leading the way back up the path, Cinderpelt sat down again on the edge of the Moonpool.

“Before we go back to our Clans,” she began, “I have one more task to do.” She waited until the other cats were sitting too, their faces turned attentively to her.

Leafpaw wondered what this was all about, since Cinderpelt hadn’t said anything to her on the way. Mothwing shot her a worried glance, and Leafpaw replied with a tiny shake of the head; she hadn’t revealed Mothwing’s lack of faith to Cinderpelt or any cat.

“Clan warriors receive their warrior name when their mentor thinks they are ready,” Cinderpelt continued. “It is the same for medicine cats.” With a glint in her eyes she turned to Leafpaw and asked, “Did you think you would have to wait for me to die before you received your name?”

Leafpaw was so taken aback she didn’t reply. She hadn’t really thought about it. Maybe she had assumed that, yes. But being an apprentice medicine cat was different from being an apprentice warrior; Leafpaw could use healing herbs and share tongues with StarClan just as much as the other medicine cats. A pulse of excitement went through her as she guessed what might be coming next.

“A medicine cat receives her name when StarClan decides she deserves it,” Cinderpelt meowed. “Leafpaw, the fact that our warrior ancestors brought you to the Moonpool first shows how highly they regard you.”

“That’s true,” Barkface rumbled.

Littlecloud let out a purr of agreement; Mothwing’s eyes were brilliant and she leaped up to press her muzzle against Leafpaw’s side. In the midst of her excitement, Leafpaw realized it was a good thing Mothwing already had her full name; how could StarClan show their approval of a cat who did not believe in them?

“Come forward.” Cinderpelt beckoned to Leafpaw with her tail.

Leafpaw hardly knew which paw to move first as she stumbled around the Moonpool until she stood in front of her mentor.

Cinderpelt tipped back her head and gazed at Silverpelt.

“I, Cinderpelt, medicine cat of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the way of a medicine cat, and with your help she will serve her Clan for many moons.”

The words were familiar to Leafpaw from the warrior ceremonies she had seen for her Clanmates. Her paws tingled, as if starlight scorched her fur.

“Leafpaw, do you promise to uphold the ways of a medicine cat, to stand apart from rivalry between Clan and Clan, and to protect all cats equally, even at the cost of your life?”

“I do.”

“Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your true name as a medicine cat. Leafpaw, from this moment you will be known as Leafpool. StarClan honors your courage and your faith. By finding this place, you have proved this is truly our new home.”

Just as a Clan leader would do at a warrior ceremony, Cinderpelt rested her muzzle on Leafpool’s head. Her head full of stars, Leafpool bent to lick her mentor’s shoulder.

“Leafpool! Leafpool!” Mothwing called, and Barkface and Littlecloud joined in.

Leafpool bowed her head. “Thank you—all of you. My paws were guided by StarClan in everything I have done, and I hope they will continue to guide me for the rest of my life.”

“May StarClan grant that it is so,” murmured Barkface, and the others echoed his prayer.

All except Mothwing, but when Leafpool looked at her, the RiverClan cat’s face was filled with such pride and affection that she knew Mothwing was as pleased for her as any cat. Right then, it didn’t matter a whisker that she didn’t share their beliefs.

As she followed the other cats out of the hollow and down the rocky slope, Leafpool felt so full of energy, so committed all over again to the way of a medicine cat, that she half thought she would be able to fly back to the hollow in the woods if she tried. She let the others go ahead, and padded along with her thoughts full of starlight and herbs and water that tasted of the night sky.

Suddenly she felt something sticky dragging at her legs, and her paws skidded in a slippery, viscous liquid. She looked down; there was nothing but short moorland grass under her paws, but the stench of death rose up around her, and though she knew the slope was clear and dry, she felt as if she were wading through a river of blood, running hot and scarlet from the overflowing, death-scented lake.