“Hush, don’t talk,” Leafpool ordered. She bent over her father’s nest and sniffed. There was no sign of infection, thank StarClan, and the wound left by the trap around Firestar’s neck was shallow and would quickly heal. His throat would be sore for some time, but Leafpool had brought her last stock of honey to soothe it, along with a poppy seed to help him rest.
“Eat this,” she meowed, unfolding the leaf wrap she had brought to reveal the sticky pool of honey topped with a tiny black seed.
“I’m fine,” Firestar protested. He propped himself up, his ginger pelt gray in the half-light. “Don’t fuss.”
“I’ll fuss as much as I have to,” Leafpool retorted. “You lost a life yesterday, don’t forget.”
Her father’s green eyes gleamed. “I won’t forget, don’t worry. But I have a Clan to lead. Our Clanmates need to see that I am okay, and there are patrols to organize.”
“Brambleclaw has already sent out the hunting patrols,” Leafpool told him. “I have told everyone that you’re fine, just resting. Now, lie down, or I’ll send Mousefur to tell you stories until you fall asleep.”
Firestar gave a faint purr as he curled up among the feathers that lined his nest. “The poppy seed can do that for me, thanks. All right, Leafpool, I’ll do what you say.” He blinked fondly at her. “I need to remember that you’re not just my daughter, you’re my medicine cat, too.”
Yes, thought Leafpool as she picked her way down the rocky slope after watching Firestar lap up the honey and poppy seed. I am ThunderClan’s medicine cat. Nothing else matters but my duty to my Clanmates. She started running through a list of late-season herbs she wanted to find before the frost nipped the delicate leaves, and wondered if there was any honey left in the old bees’ nest near the top of the ridge. A flash of white fur coming out of the apprentices’ den caught her eye.
“Whitepaw!” Leafpool called, stepping down to the solid earthen floor of the clearing. “Please could you fetch some more moss for Firestar’s nest? Make sure it’s completely dry.”
“Sure!” The apprentice nodded. “I can do that before training.” She whisked around and pushed her way through the thorns that protected the entrance to the hollow.
“Are you stealing my apprentice?” came a warm voice behind Leafpool.
She turned to see Brackenfur watching her. “Only for a moment,” she promised. “Firestar’s bedding is a little frosty this morning.”
The golden tabby narrowed his eyes. “How is he?”
“Fine,” mewed Leafpool. “But losing a life is a bigger deal than Firestar makes out, so I’ve told him to stay in his nest today.”
Brackenfur nodded. “Quite right. Brambleclaw can manage the patrols.”
Leafpool studied the warrior. “Do you think Firestar made the right decision to declare Graystripe dead and appoint Brambleclaw in his place?”
The warrior flicked his tail. “A Clan without a deputy is… an odd thing. I always felt that it made us vulnerable.” He bent down and touched his muzzle to the top of Leafpool’s head. “But there are some absences that leave us even more unprotected. I’m glad you came back, Leafpool. Without a medicine cat, I don’t think ThunderClan would survive.”
Leafpool was saved from having to reply by a flurry of paw steps from the nursery.
“Brackenfur!” squeaked Berrykit. “Watch this fighting move that Thornclaw taught me!” He skidded to halt in front of the warrior. “I don’t need to wait another moon before I become an apprentice,” he chirped. “I can defend my Clan now!” He squatted on his haunches and glared at an ant scuttling across the ground, then sprang into the air with his front legs outstretched. He landed in a heap of creamy fur while the ant darted unscathed beneath a stone.
“You’re almost ready, little one,” Brackenfur meowed, picking up Berrykit by the scruff of his neck and setting him on his paws again. “Keep practicing!”
Daisy appeared at the entrance to the nursery, her cream fur ruffled. “Berrykit! Stop bothering Brackenfur! Come here so I can finish washing you!”
Berrykit’s littermates Hazelkit and Mousekit popped their heads out beside their mother. “Yes, Berrykit,” mewed Hazelkit. “You’re so naughty, Firestar is going to feed you to the badgers!”
Daisy looked horrified. “Firestar would never do such a thing! Go back inside, you two, it’s far too cold out here.” She ushered her kits back into the nursery.
“Daisy seems a bit overwhelmed,” Leafpool commented with an amused purr.
Brackenfur sent Berrykit on his way with a gentle nudge. “The nursery’s pretty crowded with Sorreltail’s kits as well. I don’t remember having this many kits at the start of leaf-bare before.”
Leafpool nodded. “At least Daisy’s kits will be able to help with hunting soon.”
Brackenfur tipped his head on one side. “Help—or hinder,” he purred. Then he straightened up. “But if StarClan has given us the gift of so many kits, our ancestors must know that we are able to take care of them. That is our duty, after all.” He strode away, calling to Ashfur that they would take their apprentices out as soon as Whitepaw returned.
There was a rustle of branches at the entrance to the nursery and four tiny bundles hopped out. “Can’t catch me!” squealed Molekit, charging across the clearing on his stumpy legs.
“Bet I can!” puffed his sister Honeykit as she raced after him.
Poppykit and Cinderkit followed more slowly, placing each paw delicately on the frosty grass. “Ooh, it’s cold!” mewed Poppykit, fluffing up her tortoiseshell fur.
Cinderkit looked around, and Leafpool felt the little cat’s pale blue gaze rest on her. “Look, it’s Leafpool!” Cinderkit chirped. She trotted over to the medicine cat, her short gray tail straight up in the air. “How’s Firestar?” she mewed. “We heard there was a terrible accident.”
“Yes, an accident,” Leafpool echoed. Wise Sorreltail was keeping the true horror of the events from her babies. “He’s doing well,” she purred. “He’ll stay in his nest for one day, then he’ll be up and about again.”
“Good,” mewed Cinderkit. “A Clan needs its leader.”
Leafpool stared at the tiny cat. What was it about her that seemed so different from other kits? Sometimes she sounded so much older than a moon, and Leafpool had watched her gaze at her Clanmates as if she was looking from far, far away, with the knowledge of a cat in StarClan. Also, there was something familiar about her scent, more than the milky comfort of the nursery and Sorreltail’s warm smell. Leafpool was about to bend down and sniff Cinderkit’s pelt again when Sorreltail squeezed out of the nursery, her belly still loose and swollen from the birth.
“Kits!” she called. “Don’t bother the warriors!”
“We’re not!” squeaked Honeykit. “Me and Molekit are practicing our running.”
“Yeah, and I’m still faster than you,” her brother insisted. He stretched out one front paw. “Look, my legs are longer!”
“But mine are quicker!” yowled Honeykit, hurtling away in a blur of light brown fur.
Sorreltail winced as her daughter almost knocked Whitepaw off her feet. The apprentice was half hidden behind a bundle of moss that she had dragged through the entrance.
“Oh Honeykit, watch where you’re going!” Sorreltail chided. She turned to Leafpool and rolled her eyes. “I don’t know how StarClan thought I could cope with four of them!” But her voice was warm and full of love.
Leafpool caught her breath as her belly tightened around a powerful squirming sensation. It was not the first time she had felt it, but it still made her flinch. She had figured out what the vision of three tiny stars meant half a moon ago. Bluestar, Yellowfang, Lionheart: They had all known the shadowed path that Leafpool was about to tread. And now it was as if the kits inside Leafpool were challenging her to stop lying to herself, to admit their existence and start preparing for the future.