Willowpaw shrugged. “It’s fresh-kill.”
Graypaw’s nostrils flared as she breathed in its warm scent.
Brightsky mewed, “I guess.”
Owlfur wrapped his tail tighter around his paws. “If we’re going to eat it, we should do it now.” He looked up at the moon rising, fat and white, in the sky. “It’s nearly time.”
They shared the rabbit between them, though no one commented on the taste. Crookedpaw secretly enjoyed the rich meaty flavor but he wasn’t going to admit it. Graypaw finished eating first.
“You must have been hungry.” Brightsky pushed her share toward her apprentice. “You might as well have mine.”
As Graypaw gulped it down, Cedarpelt stood and stretched. “Let’s go.” He began to pad up the slope toward Mothermouth. Owlfur fell in behind.
Brightsky got to her paws. “Come on.” She nudged Graypaw, who followed her, noisily chewing her last mouthful. “Doesn’t anything ruin your appetite?” Brightsky purred, shaking her head. “You do realize you’re about to meet StarClan, don’t you?”
Willowpaw’s eyes sparkled with starlight. Crookedpaw flicked his tail down her spine. “Excited?”
Willowpaw nodded and bounded up the steep, stony slope. Crookedpaw’s heart quickened as he trotted after her. As he neared the shadowy entrance, he shivered. Cold air iced with the tang of stone rolled from the mouth of the tunnel.
Cedarpelt had paused and the others clustered around him. “Ready?” He gazed at his Clanmates. They nodded but no one spoke. “Stay close.” He slid into the night-black shadow.
Crookedpaw trotted after him. The tunnel sloped down into the darkness and the cold reached through his thick fur and into his bones. This air had never felt the sun. Crookedpaw gave up straining to see anything. He could hear Brightsky’s paw steps behind him and feel her breath on his tail. His whiskers brushed stone and he veered away, careful not to crash into the wall. The tunnel bent and the slope under his paws steepened.
Suddenly the dank air freshened. Crookedpaw sniffed, relieved to smell the familiar world above. He could scent earth and grass and heather. There must be a hole in the roof of the tunnel. He looked up, searching for a patch of starlight in the blackness. “Where are we?”
“We’re in the Moonstone cave.” Cedarpelt halted ahead of him and guided Crookedpaw forward with a flick of his tail. A distant drip echoed against the rock and he could hear his Clanmates breathing. Willowpaw’s pelt brushed his and Graypaw’s pads grazed the stone as they stood, waiting.
“Where is the Moonstone?” Willowpaw whispered.
Suddenly, in a flash more blinding than the setting sun, the cave lit up. Crookedpaw closed his eyes in surprise. Willowpaw recoiled against him.
“Wow!” Graypaw breathed.
Crookedpaw slowly opened his eyes. A huge rock loomed over him, glittering as though it were made of countless dewdrops.
The Moonstone!
In the cold light reflecting from the stone, he could make out the shadowy edges of a high-roofed cavern. The Moonstone rose up from the middle of the floor, three tail-lengths high. Far above it, an opening in the roof revealed a small triangle of night sky. The moon was casting a beam of light through the hole, down onto the Moonstone, making it sparkle like a star.
Cedarpelt padded forward, his pelt bleached by the Moonstone’s glow. He crouched down beside the rock and touched it with his nose. Brightsky did the same.
“Come on.” Owlfur beckoned the three apprentices forward.
Crookedpaw went first. Willowpaw’s breath trembled behind him. “It’ll be okay,” he whispered to her. He lay down beside Cedarpelt and touched his nose to the stone.
The world shifted underneath his paws. Crookedpaw let out a cry as he found himself standing in the dark forest where he trained with Mapleshade. It wasn’t the usual place they met; the muddy ground here was more sloping, and the trees were more tightly packed, but it was lit by the same eerie light that came from neither stars nor moon. Crookedpaw strained to see through the shadows.
“Welcome.” Mapleshade stepped out of the trees.
“Where are the other StarClan cats?” Hope fluttered in Crookedpaw’s chest. He turned his head, scanning the forest.
“Why don’t you look for them?” Mapleshade invited smoothly.
Crookedpaw snapped his gaze back. “Do you mean I can explore now?”
Mapleshade nodded. “But stay close to me.”
Crookedpaw followed the orange-and-white warrior, his eyes wide. “Is this really StarClan’s hunting grounds?” He frowned. What did they hunt? There was no scent of prey, only the smell of decay.
“This is where the greatest cats come after they die.” Mapleshade padded up the slope. “And if you keep your promise, this is where you’ll come one day.”
Crookedpaw blinked. “Once I’m RiverClan’s leader?”
“Not just RiverClan’s leader.” Mapleshade turned to face him. “The greatest leader the Clans have ever known. But only if you keep your promise.”
A shadow moved between the trees at the corner of Crookedpaw’s vision. He whipped his head around and saw a pelt moving through the half-light. Then he saw another, and another. Slowly he realized the forest was filled with cats padding silently through the gloom. Crookedpaw narrowed his eyes. This wasn’t exactly how he’d imagined StarClan. Then he recognized a shaggy gray pelt shambling toward Mapleshade.
“Leave us alone.” Mapleshade padded in front of the tom, brushing him away with her tail.
It’s Goosefeather! Crookedpaw blinked in surprise as he recognized the chewed whiskers and ragged ears of the ThunderClan medicine cat. What’s he doing here? He’s still alive.
Goosefeather stood his ground. “Is this the newcomer?” His growl was rasping and deep.
Crookedpaw stared at Mapleshade. “Is Goosefeather dead?”
“Are you?” Mapleshade replied.
“I—I guess not.” Crookedpaw peered past her but the old medicine cat had disappeared.
“You must go back to your Clanmates now,” Mapleshade told him. “They’ll be waking from their dreams.”
“Is that it?” Wasn’t he supposed to share tongues with his ancestors? Learn all kinds of wise stuff about being a warrior, and how to achieve his destiny? “I’m not ready!” He fought to stay, digging his claws into the slimy earth as the forest began to fade around him. “No!” He woke, bristling with frustration. The cave was black. The moon had passed and the Moonstone had faded to dull stone.
Crookedpaw stood up, surprised to find that his muscles felt stiff. Had he been lying here all night? Was that dawn light seeping through the hole in the roof? Graypaw and Brightsky were getting to their paws beside him. Cedarpelt was stretching while Owlfur paced back and forth as if he couldn’t wait to leave.
“Willowpaw?” Crookedpaw mewed.
The young apprentice was snoring, her head resting against the Moonstone. Crookedpaw nudged her gently. The long journey must have worn her out. As Willowpaw opened her eyes, Crookedpaw wondered what vision she’d had. Had she met her WindClan ancestors? He shrugged. Even if Willowpaw had met every warrior in StarClan, he guessed none of them had told her she’d be the greatest leader RiverClan had ever known.
Chapter 17
“How was your trip to the Moonstone?”
Crookedpaw looked up from his meal as Hailstar stopped beside him. He scrambled to his paws. He felt rested after a good night’s sleep though his pads were still sore. “It was great.” If only he knew! I’m going to be—