Side by side, the two cats headed toward the gorge. Hawkwing set a slow pace because of Darktail’s breathing problems, but even so the white tom had to stop two or three times to catch his breath.
I’m glad I found him, Hawkwing thought as they padded into the undergrowth at the top of the gorge. We went back to the Twoleg greenplace, looking for clues about the prophecy, and I found a cat looking for help. Excitement tingled through Hawkwing from ears to tail-tip. Maybe Darktail is a clue… Maybe he is “the spark that remains,” and I was meant to find him!
“Stay here,” he told Darktail when they reached the edge of the cliff. “I’ll go and find our medicine cat.” He felt embarrassed at the thought of seeking out Echosong so soon after arguing with her at the Rockpile, but he knew it had to be done.
Echosong was in her den, sorting out herbs while Cloudmist slept curled up in her mossy nest. The medicine cat looked up as Hawkwing paused at the entrance to the den.
“Hi, Hawkwing,” she mewed. “Can I help you?”
If she was still upset about their argument, she didn’t show it, greeting Hawkwing with the same calm friendliness she showed to every cat. Hawkwing’s embarrassment faded.
“I stayed behind at the greenplace after the others left,” he told
Echosong, “and I met a strange cat there. He was injured in the fire, too, and he doesn’t have a Clan to take care of him. I thought he might be somehow connected to the prophecy.”
Echosong’s green eyes narrowed thoughtfully, but all she said was, “How was he injured?”
“He breathed in too much smoke.”
“Coltsfoot for that,” Echosong murmured, sorting through her herbs until she found some of the dried flowers. “Come on,” she added, picking up two stems in her jaws, “show me where he is.”
Darktail was waiting where Hawkwing had left him, under a tree at the top of the gorge. Echosong looked wary as she approached him and set the coltsfoot down in front of him. “Eat one now,” she told him with a dip of her head, “and the other one at sunhigh.”
“Thank you,” Darktail meowed, swallowing the first stem.
“It’s great how you Clan cats look after each other. It must really make a difference, being part of a Clan.”
“How do you know about the Clans?” Echosong asked, her eyes narrowing.
“When I was a young cat, I knew some groups of cats who lived in a forest,” Darktail replied. “They all had their own territory, and each cat had its own duties, and they had a special cat who healed them.”
“So you’ve met Clan cats?” Echosong asked, her ears perking up with excitement and curiosity. “You’ve seen them before?”
“Sure I have. All the Clans had different names, and I think one of them was called… something like ThunderClan?”
Hawkwing’s belly lurched as the white tom named Firestar’s Clan. He really must be part of the prophecy! He listened as Echosong, intensely interested now, went on questioning the newcomer. Darktail certainly seemed to know a lot about the Clans, as much as any loner would know who had spent some time living near them. Hawkwing could tell that Echosong suspected he might be able to help SkyClan find Firestar’s kin. And he realized that perhaps both meanings of the prophecy were correct.
Maybe Darktail and ThunderClan are both “the spark that remains.” The fire led me to Darktail, and now Darktail is going to lead us to Firestar’s kin.
Finally, Echosong turned to Hawkwing. “Go and ask Leafstar to come up here,” she ordered him.
As he headed down the trail toward Leafstar’s den, Hawkwing’s fur fluffed up with importance at the thought that he was fetching the Clan leader to talk to a cat that he had brought back from the site of the fire.
When he reached Leafstar’s den, his father, Sharpclaw, was there with her. The two cats were talking quietly with their heads close together, and Hawkwing guessed that they were discussing what to do about the prophecy.
He waited quietly by the entrance until Leafstar looked up and noticed him.
“Yes, Hawkwing?” she mewed. “What can I do for you?”
Dipping his head politely, Hawkwing explained how he had met Darktail, and how Echosong was talking to the stranger at the top of the gorge. “He seems to know a lot about the Clans,” he finished. “Echosong thinks you should hear what he has to say.”
Leafstar nodded. “Of course. This sounds interesting.”
“I’ll come with you,” Sharpclaw added.
Hawkwing was pleased that his father wanted to talk to the newcomer as well. Maybe he’ll finally think that I’ve done something right!
Darktail was sitting under the same tree when Hawkwing returned with the Clan leader and deputy. Echosong was pacing to and fro a couple of tail-lengths away, her expression deeply thoughtful. She halted and turned back to Darktail when Leafstar appeared.
“Tell Leafstar what you told me,” she directed.
Darktail dipped his head respectfully to the Clan leader, and repeated what he had said earlier about the Clans.
“Thank you, Darktail,” Leafstar meowed when he had finished.
Her expression was warm. “Please come down into the camp and share our prey. Our hunting patrols have just returned, and there’s plenty for every cat. Then you can spend the night in the medicine cat’s den and get some rest.” She paused, then added, “If what you say is true, then you have given us all a very great gift.”
Leafstar would never invite Darktail into camp unless she thought he could be a great help to SkyClan. In spite of his grief about his brother, Hawkwing felt every hair on his pelt tingle with pride that he had brought something useful back from the site of the fire.
As he padded down the trail into the gorge, bringing up the rear behind his father, Hawkwing suddenly felt shaky with exhaustion, and his belly was bawling for food. Until then, the excitement of the morning, of discovering Darktail, had driven his night’s vigil and his hunger out of his mind. But now he could feel every moment that he had stayed awake.
I could fall asleep on my paws if I wasn’t starving!
Once he reached the camp he split off from Darktail and the others, then bounded over to the fresh-kill pile and picked out a juicy-looking mouse, gulping it down in huge mouthfuls. Then, with a nod at the injured cat, he headed for his new nest in the warriors’ den.
As he curled up and closed his eyes he felt a tiny hint of hope for the first time in days, like a light flickering in the depths of a dark forest.
Chapter 5
Hawkwing padded over to the foot of the Rockpile to join Billystorm, Waspwhisker, and Pebblepaw. Several days had passed since he had discovered Darktail near the site of the fire, and from the information he had given to Leafstar and Echosong, it seemed as if the other Clans might be only a journey of two or three sunrises away. The whole Clan had been delighted by that news, and Leafstar had decided to send a patrol at once. Hawkwing still couldn’t believe that he had been chosen. It was his first quest away from camp, and it might have been the most important quest any SkyClan cat had ever undertaken. He felt a tingling shiver of excitement slip down his spine to think that they might be only a few sunrises from meeting the other Clans, and fulfilling StarClan’s prophecy.
“Hawkwing!” Billystorm meowed as Hawkwing joined the group. “It’s good to have you along. We’re only waiting for Blossomheart now.”