Hawkwing waited curiously, but for a few heartbeats Echosong didn’t go on.
“After I went back to sleep,” she continued at last, “I had a vision of a young she-cat who looked exactly like you, Hawkwing.
At her paws was a maple leaf, and she nodded down to its five points. Do you know what that means?”
Hawkwing stared at her, stunned. What could that mean? “She looked just like me?” he stammered. “Then… she… could she be my kin?”
Echosong nodded sagely. “Your kin… or perhaps even your kit.”
A wave of fierce emotion washed over Hawkwing, almost carrying him off his paws. Could my kits really be part of my future? It’s what I want most in the world—but I never dreamed it could be possible.
“You deserve happiness, after everything you’ve suffered,” Echosong meowed. “It has been a long, difficult journey, but it has made you into a very strong cat—the very cat your Clan needs most.”
“Thank you,” Hawkwing meowed fervently.
Side by side, he and Echosong turned to look out at the sky.
The clouds had cleared away, and the sun shone in a vast expanse of crystal blue.
A fragile hope began to bloom inside Hawkwing. If one of my kits is alive, then surely Pebbleshine is, too. For the first time he began to believe that everything his Clan had suffered would prove worth it in the end.
We aren’t home by the lake yet, Hawkwing thought, but for the first time in a long while, I believe we will be soon.
READ ON FOR AN EXCLUSIVE MANGA
ADVENTURE…
CREATED BY
ERIN HUNTER
WRITTEN BY
DAN JOLLEY
ART BY
JAM ES L. BARRY
