Silence gripped the camp as the setting sun turned the brambles to liquid amber.
“Then who made the sun disappear?” Blackstar growled.
Sol padded across the clearing and turned so that his tail swept a rainbow shape on the needle-strewn ground. “It was a sign.” He lifted his chin, the dark patches on his fur shining in the last rays of sunshine. Lean, hard muscles rippled under the thick-furred pelt on his shoulders. “A sign of change that will come whether you want it or not.”
Are we part of that change? Hollypaw glanced at Lionpaw, anxiety stirring in her belly. Lionpaw gave a small shake of his head. She understood.
Say nothing about the prophecy.
Blackstar padded toward Sol, his eyes gleaming. “What sort of change?”
“Do you want change?” Sol lowered his voice to barely a whisper.
Blackstar stepped closer. “I’m not sure the Clans should be here,” he confessed.
Hollypaw wondered if the ShadowClan leader had forgotten where he was. Should he be sharing his fears so openly?
But Blackstar’s eyes were brimming with hope as he gazed at Sol as though here was someone who finally understood.
“Could StarClan have made a mistake by telling us to settle by the lake?”
Smokefoot shot an astonished glance at Ivytail, who shrugged. Littlecloud was leaning forward, as if he were finding it hard to hear—or finding it hard to believe what he was hearing.
Or perhaps he was simply waiting for Sol’s answer.
Hollypaw’s heart began to race. Were ShadowClan about to reject StarClan? And the warrior code?
“Change is not necessarily a bad thing,” Sol murmured.
Yes, it is! She dug her claws deep into the ground, desperate to root herself in something solid.
Sol’s voice chanted on, soft, yet loud enough to reach to the edges of the clearing. “Especially if we anticipate what’s coming and prepare for it.”
Blackstar was nodding as Sol continued. “There is more than one path to tread in this life.”
“There must be an easier one than this,” Blackstar agreed.
“Life here is so hard. There is great hunger in leaf-bare, and in greenleaf the Twolegs drive us farther and farther from our hunting grounds.”
Sol closed his eyes as Blackstar went on, as if he were picturing Blackstar’s description of life in ShadowClan’s new home.
“We are plagued by battle after battle, and even the moonhigh trek to the Gatherings is longer and harder than in the forest.”
“You are greatly troubled,” Sol sympathized without opening his eyes.
“My troubles are endless,” Blackstar told him.
Tawnypelt stepped forward. “Night is falling,” she meowed briskly. “The ThunderClan apprentices should be on their way home.” She flashed a knowing look at Hollypaw. “Their Clanmates will be wondering where they are.”
She’s guessed we shouldn’t be out of camp. Hollypaw stared at her paws, feeling hot and guilty. And she doesn’t want us to hear what Blackstar is saying.
Blackstar turned from Sol, blinking as if he were surprised to find them still there. “Of course.” He beckoned Smokefoot and Ivytail with his tail. “Take them to the border.”
Lionpaw tipped his head to one side. “What about Sol?”
“I must stay here.” Sol’s answer was soft but firm. He gazed at the ShadowClan leader. “That is, if Blackstar will have me.”
Blackstar did not hesitate. “Of course!”
Hollypaw stared at him. “But he was coming with us!”
They had so much to learn from him. He was going to be their mentor, not Blackstar’s. Why did a Clan leader need a mentor? Outrage shot through her. Sol knew about the prophecy!
He promised he’d come with us!
Jaypaw stepped forward. “You promised—”
Lionpaw cut him off. “Let’s go, before we get into more trouble,” he hissed into Jaypaw’s ear.
“Kits!” Tawnypelt called to the nursery and Flamekit, Dawnkit, and Tigerkit charged out. “I promised you could say good-bye.”
Dawnkit held her muzzle up to Hollypaw, purring when Hollypaw ran her cheek along the top of her head. “Good-bye.”
Tigerkit arched his back and bounced toward Lionpaw.
“Next time we meet, I’ll be even bigger!”
Flamekit approached Jaypaw a little cautiously. “Bye.”
Ivytail marched past, sweeping the kits out of the way. “Go play with your own Clanmates,” she growled.
As Hollypaw followed her escort through the tunnel, she glanced back into the clearing. Blackstar and Sol were sitting with their heads close together, talking too quietly to hear.
Chapter 21
“Stop!” Jaypaw swerved in front of Hollypaw and Lionpaw as they began to head down the slope toward the thorn barrier.
He ignored the surprise flashing from their pelts. “We can’t tell any cat what’s happened or where we’ve been.”
“Of course not,” Lionpaw agreed.
“Not about Sol, or being in ShadowClan’s camp. Not anything!” He had to know that they understood.
“I wasn’t going to,” Hollypaw mewed. He could sense her puzzlement and hurt—directed not at him, but at Sol. The stranger had abandoned them.
Jaypaw was confused by Sol’s change of heart too, but he refused to let Sol’s behavior change what he believed. It wasn’t Blackstar who was more powerful than StarClan. They were.
Evening shrouded the camp as they padded through the entrance. Jaypaw was relieved to hear the Clan only just beginning to stir. The warriors’ den rustled as Brambleclaw and Graystripe padded out. Kits mewled inside the nursery, and Icepaw and Foxpaw were nosing through the few remaining morsels on the fresh-kill pile.
“Where’ve you been?” Foxpaw called.
“Out,” Lionpaw replied.
“Did you bring back any prey?”
Jaypaw could hear Foxpaw’s belly rumbling. “Afraid not.”
Graystripe padded, yawning, across the clearing toward them. “Have you been out long?” he asked sleepily.
“No,” Jaypaw lied. He hoped no one noticed their nests hadn’t been slept in.
“Any sign of prey out there?” Brambleclaw put in.
Jaypaw shrugged. He had been too lost in his own thoughts to notice.
“Lionpaw!” Ashfur was stretching outside the warriors’ den. “I think we should hunt for our Clan, don’t you? Hollypaw? Why don’t you go wake Brackenfur? You might as well come with us.”
Jaypaw sensed Hollypaw’s heart sink. He felt sorry for his littermates. They’d managed to sneak out of camp unnoticed, but it seemed they were going to be punished anyway. “You’ll soon be in your nests,” he whispered to them.
“Not soon enough,” Hollypaw hissed back.
Jaypaw padded to his den, feeling a twinge of guilt. He was the one who’d made them leave camp, after all. He nosed through the brambles, breathing in the comforting smells of home—Leafpool’s scent, herbs, the damp rock where water dripped into the pool. Spiderleg was snoring in Cinderpaw’s old nest. And another cat scent drifted from the back of the den.
“Jaypaw? Is that you?”
“Squirrelflight?”
“We moved her inside.” Leafpool padded from beside the pool. “It was too cold to leave her out all night.”
Jaypaw stiffened. “What about her wound?”
“We moved her slowly,” Leafpool reassured him. “There was a little fresh bleeding, but I treated it once we’d got her settled.”
Ferns rustled around Squirrelflight. “Have you eaten, Jaypaw?”
“Not yet.” He was starving.
“Make sure you do.” Squirrelflight’s mew sounded a little stronger.
Leafpool’s tail brushed the ground. “I know how to take care of my apprentice.”
Jaypaw was surprised. There was a sharp edge to his mentor’s mew. She was never bad-tempered with her patients. But he was too tired and hungry to figure out what was bothering her. His mother sounded better, and that was all he cared about right now.
He padded to the fresh-kill pile and gulped down a dry sparrow, coughing as the feathers caught in his throat. Swallowing, he returned to the den. He padded to his mother’s nest and pressed his nose to her pelt. “See you later, Squirrelflight. I’ll be right here if you need anything.”
She stirred sleepily. “Okay, Jaypaw.”
Jaypaw crawled into his nest and closed his eyes.
“Jaypaw!”
A harsh mew woke him.
Branches crisscrossed overhead, glimmering silver in the starlight. StarClan’s hunting grounds. He got to his paws, feeling soft, moon-washed grass caress his pads.
“You’ve been looking for answers again, haven’t you?” Yellowfang was sitting beside him. Her eyes gleamed accusingly.
Jaypaw stretched and yawned. “I wouldn’t be much of a medicine cat if I didn’t.”
Her paw clouted his ear.
“Ow!”
“I’m still your elder!” Yellowfang glared at him. “And I’m trying to teach you something important.”
Jaypaw rubbed his ear, indignant. “What?”
“Be patient!” She shook out her disheveled fur. “Answers will come to you in time.”
“Why shouldn’t I know what’s going on?” Jaypaw dug his claws into the grass. “It’s not fair if I can’t even be curious!”
“Curiosity must be tempered with patience,” Yellowfang insisted. “Knowledge is wasted on those without the wisdom to know how to use it. And wisdom comes only with time.”
The same old excuses. Frustration welled in Jaypaw’s belly. You think you know everything, but one day I’ll be more powerful than you.
He stared at the battered old she-cat, the words ready on his tongue. She stared back, her chin high, her gaze unflinching.
Jaypaw let his fur lie flat. He couldn’t bring himself to tell her about the prophecy now.
Yellowfang leaned closer, and Jaypaw had to force himself not to duck away from her foul breath. “Serve your Clan,” she murmured. “Trust StarClan, and everything will be revealed in good time.”
Jaypaw looked up. The glade was crowded with cats, their fur sparkling with starlight.
“Listen to Yellowfang,” Bluestar urged him.
Whitestorm gazed down at him, his eyes glowing with warmth. “She’s telling you the truth.”
“All will be revealed in time.” Lionheart swished his thick tail.
“We are watching you,” Yellowfang reminded him.
Jaypaw snorted softly. What was starry fur but a trick of the light? They were just a bunch of dead cats. He was alive.
So were Lionpaw and Hollypaw. And Sol. Didn’t that make them stronger than StarClan already?
Yellowfang leaned forward, hissing as though she could tell what he was thinking. “You don’t know what’s best for your Clan, Jaypaw! Just remember that!”