Her evasive answer spoke volumes to Mistystar. She knows that Mothwing doesn’t believe in StarClan! For a moment, Mistystar was torn. She didn’t want to challenge Willowshine’s loyalty and respect for her mentor, but how could they ignore the fact that Mothwing could not fulfill all her medicine cat duties? Mistystar stopped and turned to face Willowshine.
“I know the truth,” she mewed. “Mothwing didn’t come with me to StarClan when I received my nine lives. That’s why you offered to come, isn’t it?”
Willowshine nodded, her blue eyes full of pain. “It’s not Mothwing’s fault! She’s the best medicine cat RiverClan could have!”
“But what about visiting the Moonpool, sharing tongues with StarClan, recognizing signs from our ancestors? Those are all part of a medicine cat’s responsibilities,” Mistystar pointed out.
“I can take care of those!” Willowshine insisted. She rolled a piece of fern under her front paw. “When I started training, Leafpool visited me in my dreams. She helped me learn the things that Mothwing couldn’t teach me. I know enough to help; I promise!”
Mistystar shook her head. “I’m sure you do, little one. But you are too young to carry all that responsibility alone. Mothwing should have said something long before we got this far.”
Willowshine’s fur fluffed up and she opened her mouth to speak, but Mistystar raised one paw to stop her. “Don’t say something you might come to regret, Willowshine,” she warned. “This isn’t up to you now. Go collect the herbs for Mothwing, and I’ll see you back in the camp.”
Willowshine shut her mouth with a snap and thrust her way into the long grass. Mistystar watched her go for a moment, then turned and headed back to the clearing. Mothwing was standing in the center of the empty camp as if she was waiting for her.
“Did you speak with Willowshine?” Mothwing asked.
Mistystar nodded. “You have a loyal and brave apprentice,” she remarked.
“I couldn’t be more proud of her,” Mothwing agreed. “But my… my relationship with StarClan has nothing to do with her. You shouldn’t have questioned her about it.”
“It has everything to do with her!” Mistystar flashed back. “You are supposed to be training her to be a medicine cat! That means being able to walk in StarClan and speak with our warrior ancestors!”
Mothwing’s hackles rose. “I have never stopped Willowshine from doing that. I would never tell her what she should believe.”
“But you should believe in StarClan, too! You are our medicine cat! Can’t you see that you are betraying your Clan by living your entire life as a lie?”
“I am not lying!” hissed Mothwing. “I have never pretended to do anything I cannot.”
Mistystar glared at her old friend. “Actually, I think you have. You have risked the safety of your Clan by not being able to read signs from StarClan or walk with our ancestors at the Moonpool. I’m sorry, Mothwing, but you can no longer consider yourself a medicine cat.”
Chapter 5
Mothwing flinched as if Mistystar had struck her. “I have served my Clan for many seasons,” she argued. “I have guarded the health of every cat as if they were a kit of my own. Leopardstar trusted me.”
“Leopardstar didn’t know the truth!” Mistystar snapped. “Did she?”
Mothwing shook her head. “No,” she admitted. Her eyes clouded with sadness. “What do you want me to do now?”
Mistystar twitched the tip of her tail. “I don’t know. Restock your supplies with Willowshine, and let me figure something out. We don’t want every cat in the Clan learning about this.” She walked away, feeling her stomach churn. Had she really just dismissed her medicine cat? Oh, StarClan, why didn’t you tell me the truth when you had the chance?
Rapid paw steps sounded, and Mallownose appeared at the head of his hunting patrol. He was carrying a tiny minnow in his mouth, which he dropped in the space where the fresh-kill pile should be. Robinwing, Petalfur, and Minnowtail placed similar-sized prey beside the miniscule fish. Minnowtail’s apprentice, Mossypaw, was covered in stinking green weed but had nothing to contribute that could be eaten.
Mistystar stared at the pile in dismay. “Is that it?” she gasped. “That won’t feed Duskfur’s kits, let alone the rest of us!”
“I’m sorry,” meowed Mallownose. “The water may have come back, but the fish haven’t. The lake is empty.”
“Apart from weeds,” Mossypaw put in crossly, trying to pull the slimy fronds off her ears.
“I warned you that rock was slippery,” sighed Minnowtail.
Mistystar felt a wave of panic rise in her chest. “We’ll have to look elsewhere for prey, then. Start hunting away from the lake for different kinds of prey.”
Mossypaw made a face. “Yuck! Who wants to eat fur and whiskers?”
Mallownose flicked her with his tail. “Any cat who doesn’t want to starve,” he growled.
“StarClan must really hate us if they won’t bring the fish back,” Mossypaw muttered.
Mistystar bristled. There is no way StarClan would punish us for letting Mothwing be our medicine cat, is there? No, of course not. She has been our medicine cat since before we came to the lake; why would StarClan turn against us now? And yet if they sent us a sign guiding us to a better source of prey, who would see it?
The bushes at the entrance quivered, and Reedwhisker pushed his way through. “Blackstar says he is sorry to hear that Leopardstar has lost her last life, and looks forward to greeting you at the next Gathering,” he announced to Mistystar. His gaze fell on the puny pile of minnows. “Great StarClan! Did everyone eat already?”
“No,” meowed Mistystar. “We were just discussing finding other places to hunt until the fish return to the lake.”
Reedwhisker nodded. “I can take a patrol into the marshes now if you like. And Mintfur?” He called to the pale gray tom who was washing himself on the far side of the clearing. “Why don’t you take the apprentices upstream to see what you can find in the reeds beyond the border?”
For a moment Mistystar was taken aback by Reedwhisker’s brisk string of commands; then she remembered that he was the deputy now, and it was his duty to organize patrols. “Right, thanks, Reedwhisker,” she mewed. “I’ll come with you, if that’s okay?”
Reedwhisker looked surprised. “Of course it is. Icewing, Pebblefoot, will you join us?” The two warriors had just returned from a border patrol, but they nodded and trotted over. Mistystar fell in behind them as they filed out of the camp. She felt Mothwing watching her from the entrance to the medicine cats’ den, but she didn’t turn around. It was too painful to look into her old friend’s eyes and know that she had been keeping a secret that threatened the whole Clan.
There was a strong wind blowing across the marshes, scented with rain. Mistystar’s fur stood on end as she trekked across the sodden ground, leaping from tussock to tussock of spiny grass. The lake beckoned invitingly, sending waves fluttering over the stony shore. But Mistystar reminded herself that the water was empty, that the end of the drought had not brought an end to RiverClan’s hunger. Oh, StarClan, did Rippletail die in vain?
Suddenly Icewing let out a hiss and stiffened as a vole crept out of a clump of grass. The white cat pounced a fraction too late, and the vole shot away. Icewing stumbled over a muddy rut, and for a moment it looked as if the vole was safe. Then Mistystar realized it was heading toward her, so she leaped forward, blocking the vole’s path with her front paws, and thrust her head down so that it practically ran into her jaws. One sharp, frantic bite and the creature lay dead at her feet.