Twilight

Chapter 8

Leafpool and Cinderpelt emerged from the trees beside the lake to see the small figure of a single cat making its way along the shore in ShadowClan territory.

“There’s Littlecloud,” Cinderpelt meowed, pointing with her tail.

Leafpool let out a faint sigh of relief. The sun had gone down over the lake, and the half moon already shone pale in the darkening sky. It was time for the medicine cats to meet at the Moonpool. Leafpool had been afraid that if she and Cinderpelt had to make the journey alone, the medicine cat would start questioning her about her visit to RiverClan two days earlier.

When Leafpool had returned, Cinderpelt was furious. She wanted to know why Leafpool had stayed away for a whole night.

“Do you realize that Firestar ordered a patrol to search for you?” she hissed. “Do you think cats have nothing better to do?

Honestly, Leafpool, I thought you were more responsible.”

“I’m sorry.” Leafpool scuffled with her forepaws in the dry leaves outside Cinderpelt’s den. “I wanted to take some catmint to Mothwing. She gave me the horsetail in exchange.” She gestured to the pile of fleshy stalks she had picked on her way back across the marshy ground.

Cinderpelt made an exasperated noise. “Leafpool, the Clans have to start living independently again. I know Mothwing’s your friend, but that doesn’t mean you can swap herbs whenever you feel like it. Next time, ask me for permission first.”

“Yes, Cinderpelt.” Leafpool was pretty sure the permission wouldn’t be forthcoming. She knew Cinderpelt would be even angrier if she knew the real reason for Leafpool’s visit.

But Mothwing deserved to be a medicine cat because of her skill at healing, and if StarClan spoke to her through Leafpool, it didn’t matter if Mothwing couldn’t believe in them.

Now, as they waited for Littlecloud beside the lake, Cinderpelt’s blue gaze was fixed on her again. “Are you sure you only went to RiverClan that day? There’s nothing else I should know about?”

Stung, Leafpool looked up. “No, Cinderpelt. I’m quite sure.”

Did the medicine cat suspect her of sneaking off to meet Crowfeather? Leafpool felt even more indignant because she had told Cinderpelt the truth about going to RiverClan. She hadn’t seen a single hair on Crowfeather’s pelt! Leafpool told herself that her mentor couldn’t know for sure about the feelings she tried so hard to hide. But it would be hard to defend herself if Cinderpelt made a more direct accusation.

To her relief the ShadowClan medicine cat was close enough to hear them now. Cinderpelt wouldn’t say anything about Crowfeather in front of him.

Littlecloud waded through the stream that marked the border, shook water drops off each paw in turn, then bounded along the shore until he reached the other two medicine cats. “May StarClan light your paths,” he greeted them.

“Is all well with your Clan?”

“Everything’s fine,” Cinderpelt replied. “How about ShadowClan?”

“Oh, yes, fine, fine.”

Leafpool thought that the small tabby tom looked distracted. If Cinderpelt noticed, she didn’t say anything, and the three cats headed toward the stream on the WindClan border that they would follow to the Moonpool.

“Mothwing didn’t come with you?” Leafpool meowed.

“No.” Littlecloud twitched his whiskers. “I expect she’s coming through WindClan.”

There was no sign of the RiverClan cat traveling along the shore from the other direction. Leafpool’s paws felt heavy with secrets as she followed the others upstream through the woodland. She wondered if Mothwing had finally decided that she couldn’t be bothered coming to share tongues with cats she didn’t believe in. Or maybe the trouble foretold by Feathertail had already come, and the RiverClan medicine cat couldn’t leave her Clan.

Her anxiety deepened when they met Barkface, the WindClan medicine cat, at the point where the trees gave way to open moorland. He hadn’t seen Mothwing either.

“She can still catch up,” Cinderpelt mewed, as she limped farther up the hill.

As they skirted WindClan territory, Leafpool scanned the moorland slopes. She told herself it was Mothwing’s golden pelt she wanted to see, not the lean gray shape of Crowfeather.

“How are things in WindClan?” Cinderpelt asked Barkface. “Onestar seemed confident at the Gathering.”

“Onestar will make a strong leader.” Barkface’s tone was neutral. If there were still difficulties within WindClan, he obviously wasn’t going to talk about them, not even to other medicine cats.

“You know what I found up on the moors?” Barkface went on, his voice growing more friendly as he changed the subject.

“Of course I don’t, mousebrain!” Cinderpelt flicked his ear gently with the tip of her tail. “But I can see you’re dying to tell me.”

“Goldenrod—huge tall clumps of it.” The older cat let out a satisfied purr. “Very good for healing wounds.”

“That’s excellent news, Barkface,” Cinderpelt meowed.

“Let’s hope you don’t need to use it too soon.”

The WindClan medicine cat agreed with a rumble deep in his throat. “But it’s good to know where it is.”

Leafpool felt a sudden chill. Even counting the fox and the badger, so far they hadn’t encountered many enemies in their new home. They wouldn’t need a supply of goldenrod unless the cats started fighting each other. We all journeyed together not long ago, she thought despairingly. Why do we have to split into four again?

Night had fallen by the time the four medicine cats reached the Moonpool. Ahead of them rose a cliff of black rock, hung with ferns and shaggy moss. A stream cascaded from a cleft about halfway up; stars glittered on its surface and on the bubbling water of the pool.

Leafpool felt calmer as she pushed through the barrier of bushes that guarded the hollow. Whatever the future would bring, they were all in the paws of StarClan now.

Barkface stood back to let Cinderpelt go first down the path that led around the sides of the hollow. Suddenly Leafpool heard gasping breaths behind her, and the bushes rustled as another cat thrust its way through.

“Mothwing!” she exclaimed, feeling weak with relief. “I thought you weren’t coming. Is everything okay?”

“I’m fine,” Mothwing panted. “Busy, that’s all. Sorry I’m late.”

Leafpool caught Cinderpelt giving Mothwing a look from narrowed eyes, as if she wondered what could be so important that it meant being late for a meeting at the Moonpool.

“You’re not late,” Littlecloud mewed, with a friendly wave of his tail. “We haven’t started yet.”

As Cinderpelt led the way down to the pool, Leafpool hung back to whisper to Mothwing. “I thought maybe Feathertail’s prophecy had come true.”

“No, I’ve checked the territory over and over, and there’s nothing.” Mothwing’s brilliant blue eyes gazed seriously into Leafpool’s amber ones. “But I’ll keep looking. I won’t forget.”

She hurried after the other medicine cats.

Leafpool went down last, feeling her paws slip into the pawprints fixed into the hard earth of the path. No cat had been there for moons beyond counting until Spottedleaf had led Leafpool to the place, but the dimpled pawmarks proved that their ancestors had been there many times. Leafpool’s paws tingled at the thought of being in a long line of medicine cats, all serving their Clans with the guidance of StarClan.

At the bottom of the hollow, all five cats crouched down by the edge of the pool and stretched their necks to lap the dancing, star-filled water. Leafpool felt its icy touch on her tongue, tasting of stars and night, and closed her eyes to receive the dreams StarClan wanted to send her.

She expected to see Feathertail, and perhaps receive more explanation of her warning to Mothwing, but the beautiful gray she-cat did not appear. Instead, Leafpool found herself walking through a windy darkness, where the outlined shapes of cats whisked into the corner of her eye and disappeared before she could confront them. She heard a distant wailing, the mingled lament of many cats rising into the night, with no words she could distinguish or voices she could recognize.

“Who are you?” she called aloud. “Where are you? What do you want?”

Only the eerie, distant caterwauling came back to her. Fear pulsed through her, throbbing to the rhythm of her heartbeat. It tugged at her paws, almost making her flee in blind terror through the shadows, but she made herself pace slowly forward, looking from side to side in an effort to find out where she was and what message StarClan had for her.

At last she saw a spot of pure white light, far ahead of her, like a star hovering on the horizon. She raced forward. The light swelled until it filled her vision; then she burst through it and found herself blinking awake on the edge of the Moonpool.

Shivers ran through her and she felt as if every hair on her pelt was on end. When she tried to stand up, she felt so shaky that she flopped down again and lay still, taking deep breaths to calm herself. Looking around, she saw Cinderpelt, Barkface, and Littlecloud still deep in their dreams.

Mothwing, however, had curled up on a flattened stone and was obviously enjoying a peaceful sleep.

“Mothwing!” Leafpool whispered, reaching over to prod her with one paw. “Mothwing, wake up!”

The RiverClan medicine cat’s eyes opened, blinking in confusion at Leafpool. Then she got up and extended her front paws in a graceful stretch. “Honestly, Leafpool,” she complained. “Did you have to wake me? That was the best sleep I’ve had in moons.”

“Sorry, but you wouldn’t want the others to catch you, would you?”

Mothwing glanced at the other three medicine cats, who were all beginning to stir. “No, I wouldn’t. Sorry, Leafpool.”

Leafpool sat up and began to groom her ruffled fur. She wanted to know if the others had received the same confusing dream, and to find out if they could make sense of it. She wasn’t surprised when Cinderpelt, Barkface, and Littlecloud sat up looking solemn and a little puzzled.

“That was a much more confusing dream than usual,” Littlecloud began, giving his chest fur a lick. “Maybe we should discuss it.”

Good, Leafpool thought. Perhaps one of them understands what it meant, because I certainly don’t!

“Claws,” Cinderpelt put in. “I saw huge white claws, ready to tear fur and spill blood.”

Barkface nodded. “And gaping jaws. But were they cats? I couldn’t be sure.”

“And then that voice.” Littlecloud shuddered. “So loud, foretelling death and danger. What does it all mean?”

Leafpool froze. This wasn’t her dream! Why had StarClan not shown these images to her as well? Was it because she was keeping Mothwing’s secret? But Feathertail came to me, she thought confusedly. If StarClan were angry about Mothwing, she would have told me.

Maybe this had nothing to do with Mothwing. Perhaps StarClan had noticed Leafpool’s feelings for Crowfeather.

Was she becoming less of a medicine cat because she loved the gray warrior? But that’s not fair! she wailed inwardly. I haven’t even spoken to him since that night by the hollow.

“What do you think, Leafpool?” Cinderpelt broke in on her thoughts.

Leafpool started. “I… I’m not sure.” Does Mothwing feel like this when she’s asked about StarClan? she wondered. Always needing to pretend?

Mothwing stretched her jaws in an enormous yawn.

“StarClan must be warning us about something,” she meowed.

Leafpool glanced at her in surprise. But it wasn’t difficult to guess that from what the others had said. Did Mothwing assume it was the same as Feathertail’s warning? But that had been for RiverClan alone, whereas this prophecy had come to the three other Clans.

Cinderpelt bowed her head. “We must think about this,” she mewed. “If there is danger ahead, StarClan will show us more.”

“Let’s talk about this again when we meet next time,” Littlecloud suggested. “Maybe by then everything will be clearer.”

“Good idea,” Barkface grunted. “StarClan certainly weren’t giving much away tonight.”

“Don’t forget our warrior ancestors have to settle into a new home as much as we do,” Cinderpelt added. “Maybe that makes it harder for them to reach us.”

That was possible, Leafpool thought hopefully. But it didn’t explain why she had dreamed something totally different from the others.

The medicine cats followed the spiral path out of the bowl and pushed through the barrier of bushes. As they made their way down the hill, Cinderpelt, Littlecloud, and Barkface drew ahead, murmuring anxiously as if it was too hard to keep to their agreement of waiting until next time to discuss the dream. Mothwing and Leafpool padded side by side behind them.

“Did you tell Leopardstar about my dream?” Leafpool asked her friend, quietly, so the other cats wouldn’t hear.

Mothwing gave her a startled glance. “No, how could I? I couldn’t admit that StarClan had sent me a message through another Clan’s medicine cat.”

“But you could have said it was your own dream.” Leafpool touched the golden tabby’s shoulder with her tail-tip. “I wouldn’t mind. Leopardstar ought to know, so she can tell the warriors to keep a lookout for anything suspicious.”

Mothwing’s tail lashed once. “I can’t, Leafpool. I’ve never told Leopardstar about a dream before this, and I probably never will again. It wasn’t my dream. I just don’t have prophetic dreams from StarClan.” Her voice quieter and more troubled, she went on, “I have to find my own way of being a medicine cat, without StarClan. Trust me, Leafpool. I want nothing more than to care for my Clan, but it has to be on my own terms.”

Leafpool eyed her friend doubtfully. Silverpelt blazed across the sky above them; how could Mothwing see the shining spirits of their ancestors and not believe in them? She knew Mothwing worked hard at her healing skills, and truly cared for her Clan, but without that belief she could not lap from the spring of strength and wisdom that came from StarClan. Her own faith was so important to Leafpool that she couldn’t imagine being a medicine cat without it.

“But if you don’t believe—” she began, then stopped and struggled to figure out what she really wanted to say.

“Mothwing, do you believe I had a dream where Feathertail warned me about trouble in your Clan?”

Mothwing gazed at Leafpool with eyes that gleamed pale in the moonlight. “Yes, I believe you had a dream.”

That’s no answer, Leafpool thought frustratedly. But then she realized that it might be the best answer her friend could give. And what right did she have to criticize, when she seemed to be losing her own connection to StarClan?

“It’ll be okay,” Mothwing reassured her. “I’m checking all the water sources regularly, and when I go out gathering herbs I keep my eyes open for anything to do with Twolegs.”

A flick of her tail told Leafpool she didn’t want to talk about the warning anymore. “What about ThunderClan? Is everything okay with you?”

“Fine, thanks. We’ve just made a new apprentice—Birchpaw. You’ll be seeing him at a Gathering before long, I expect.”

“That’s great. Who’s his mentor?”

“Ashfur.” Leafpool broke off as a hiss came out of the darkness. Her pelt pricked with the sense of danger.

“What was that?” Mothwing whispered.

They had reached the border of WindClan territory. The moorland stretched away from them on all sides, dotted with outcrops of rock and stunted thorn trees. Deep shadows lay in the hollows.

The hiss came again. “Leafpool!”

Leafpool relaxed as a lean gray shape slid out from behind the nearest rock and a familiar scent flooded over her.

“Crowfeather!” she exclaimed. “You scared me out of my fur!”

“Sorry,” the WindClan warrior muttered. He gave Mothwing a searching stare. “I want a word with Leafpool, if you don’t mind.”

Mothwing looked surprised, and hesitated as if she were about to object. Then she nodded and let out a faint, knowing mrrow. Leafpool felt her skin under her fur flush hot with embarrassment.

“Sure,” Mothwing murmured. “See you soon, Leafpool.”

She turned and vanished downhill into the darkness.

Leafpool almost called her back. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be alone with Crowfeather. “This isn’t right,” she began, taking a pace back.

“I knew you’d come this way,” Crowfeather meowed urgently. “I followed Barkface’s scent trail, and then I waited for you. Leafpool, we have to talk. I can’t forget that night outside your camp.”

“I know, but—”

Crowfeather interrupted. “At first I thought you felt the same way as I do. But then you avoided me at the Gathering, and I don’t understand why.” His claws raked the tough moorland turf. “I can’t get you out of my head, Leafpool. The other day I missed a rabbit that practically leapt into my paws. I keep making mistakes—”

“I’m doing the same thing!” Leafpool exclaimed. “I tried to give Firestar nettle seed instead of poppy, and I mixed up ointment of yarrow and mouse bile. That was so mousebrained!”

The WindClan warrior twitched his whiskers. “Ashfoot said I was as daft as a new apprentice.”

“Cinderpelt got cross with me, too.”

“Leafpool, I know you feel the same as I do,” Crowfeather meowed. “Somehow we have to be together.”

His scent, his nearness was doing something to Leafpool’s insides. She felt as if she were melting like ice in newleaf. “But I’m a medicine cat,” she protested, struggling against the urge to press her muzzle into his fur. “And I’m from another Clan.

There isn’t any future for us, Crowfeather.”

Amber eyes burnt into hers. “Leafpool, do you want to be with me as much as I want to be with you?”

Leafpool knew what her answer should have been, but she couldn’t lie to him. “Yes, I do.”

“Then there must be a way. Will you meet me again?

Somewhere we can talk properly?”

Leafpool dug her claws into the ground. Surely this couldn’t be wrong, this overwhelming need to be with Crowfeather?

StarClan couldn’t be so cruel as to deny her this. “Yes, I will,” she whispered. “Where?”

“I’ll think of something. I’ll get a message to you.”

Suddenly Leafpool heard Cinderpelt’s voice, calling from farther down the hill. “Leafpool, are you there?”

“Coming, Cinderpelt!” More softly, she added to Crowfeather, “I must go.”

Crowfeather’s tongue rasped across her ear. “I’ll let you know where we can meet. It won’t be long.”

Leafpool gazed at him until she knew her eyes would see nothing but his face all the way back to the ThunderClan camp. Then she spun around and pelted down the hillside as if a whole pack of foxes were behind her.