I’m a medicine cat.
Half Moon’s words rang in her mind again and again. This is your destiny, whether you want it or not. You have no choice but to follow it. Every Clan’s destiny depends on you.
Rocky gazed at Moth Flight questioningly. “Are you going to collect herbs?”
Moth Flight winced as Honey Pelt dug in his tiny claws.
“Tomorrow,” she told Rocky. “I want to spend today with my kits.”
Moth Flight followed Pebble Heart through the tunnel.
Cloud Spots padded behind. The scents of Acorn Fur and Dappled Pelt hung in the chilly air. “They must be waiting for us,” Moth Flight murmured, half to herself.
Pebble Heart’s tail stirred the air ahead. “It smells like they’ve just passed this way.”
Cloud Spots’s mew echoed against the damp stone. “I hope the clouds clear soon. The moon is rising.”
Fresh scents swirled around Moth Flight’s muzzle as the tunnel opened into the cave. In the watery light, she could just make out Acorn Fur and Dappled Pelt, sitting beside the Moonstone. Dappled Pelt’s face was raised toward the hole in the roof. Cloud shielded the stars.
“No moonlight tonight,” Dappled Pelt murmured.
Cloud Spots padded to the Moonstone and settled beside
Acorn Fur. “The clouds might still clear.”
“Not before the moon passes.” Dappled Pelt turned to face him. “How will we share with StarClan?”
“Perhaps they don’t want to share tonight,” Acorn Fur sniffed. “That’s why they sent clouds.”
Moth Flight padded across the cold stone and sat down a little way from the others. Her heart felt heavy, her paws weary.
She’d spent the whole journey praying that the sky would clear.
She needed to share with StarClan. Half Moon, help me. Grief tugged at her belly.
Pebble Heart padded to her side and sat down. “StarClan has shared enough this moon.”
Acorn Fur tipped her ears toward him. “Did they give Tall Shadow nine lives?”
Pebble Heart nodded. “She’s Shadowstar now.”
Dappled Pelt’s tail swished over the rock. “River Ripple is Riverstar.”
“Thunder is Thunderstar,” Cloud Spots told them. He glanced at Acorn Fur. “What name did they give Clear Sky?”
“Skystar.” Acorn Fur’s tail swished over the stone. “I was so scared when I saw how much pain each life caused.”
“I don’t know how Riverstar stayed on his paws,” Dappled Pelt admitted.
Moth Flight gazed blankly at the Moonstone, only half-listening. She wanted to reach out and touch the dark stone.
Perhaps StarClan would share even without moonlight.
“Did they really heal Windstar’s leg?”
Moth Flight suddenly realized Cloud Spots was speaking to her.
She shook out her pelt, trying to focus. “It’s like it was never broken.”
“I wish I could bring Sun Shadow here,” Pebble Heart commented sadly.
Moth Flight jerked her muzzle toward him. “Is Sun Shadow sick?”
“He’s had redcough,” Pebble Heart told her. “He’s over the worst of it, but he’s taking a while to get his strength back.”
Dappled Pelt leaned forward. “Do you think the Moonstone heals any cat?”
Moth Flight stared at the rock, surprised how dull it was without moonlight. “The Moonstone doesn’t do anything except let us share with StarClan. It’s StarClan that heals.”
Acorn Fur dipped her head. “Then let’s pray they heal Sun
Shadow.”
Cloud Spots and Dappled Pelt murmured in agreement.
Pebble Heart glanced at Moth Flight. “How is the rest of your Clan? Have they recovered from their battle injuries?”
“Storm Pelt’s ear tip will always be torn,” Moth Flight told him. “But I think he’s secretly proud of his scars.”
Acorn Fur snorted. “Red Claw’s the same! He asked me not to treat the scratch on his muzzle. I told him not to be silly.
What if it got infected?” She purred suddenly, her eyes glistening with affection. “I didn’t realize Red Claw was such a kind cat. He’s changed since the battle. I think making peace with Willow Tail has softened him.”
A teasing glint flashed in Dappled Pelt’s gaze. “You sound like you’re in love.”
Acorn Fur looked away shyly. “We have been getting close,” she admitted. “We’ve even talked about sharing a nest.”
Cloud Spots purred. “It looks like Moth Flight won’t be the only medicine cat with kits.”
“No!” Moth Flight stiffened, surprised at the harshness of her mew.
Pebble Heart blinked at her. Dappled Pelt and Cloud Spots narrowed their eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Acorn Fur tipped her head uneasily.
Moth Flight’s throat tightened. Grief swelled in her chest.
“Are you worried I’ll lose him like you lost Micah?” Acorn Fur pressed. “You were unlucky. Not all relationships end like that. I mean, I’m sorry yours did, but it doesn’t mean Red Claw will—”
Moth Flight glared at her. “You don’t understand!” The walls echoed the sharpness of her voice. The fear and uncertainty that had nagged at her since Windstar had been hurt hit her like an icy blast of wind. She gripped the stone with her claws, bracing herself against the emotion sweeping over her.
“No medicine cat should have kits! They shouldn’t even take a mate!”
Acorn Fur stared at her. “But you did!”
Moth Flight’s mouth dried as she gazed back at the SkyClan cat. “I was wrong.” Her mew cracked.
“What do you mean?” Pebble Heart’s eyes rounded with worry.
“I can’t be a mother and a medicine cat,” Moth Flight sobbed. “Spider Paw nearly drowned. I pulled him from the river. He wasn’t breathing.” She stared at the others wildly. “I was so scared, I didn’t know what to do! A medicine cat can’t be like that!”
“But you saved him,” Pebble Heart pointed out.
“Micah saved him!” Moth Flight confessed. “He spoke to me and told me what to do. I was frozen with terror! If Micah hadn’t told me what to do, I would have watched my kit die.”
Her flanks heaved as her breathing quickened. She felt Pebble Heart’s tail smoothing her spiked fur, but she went on. “I spend half my time terrified that my kits might die while I’m looking after my Clan, and the other half terrified a Clanmate might die while I’m looking after my kits. StarClan sent me a sign that let me save Windstar. But what if they’d sent it earlier, while I was rescuing Spider Paw? I would have missed it! Windstar could be dead. And we’d have never discovered that leaders should have nine lives.”
Cloud Spots lifted his chin. “StarClan would have sent another sign! They’d have made sure you saw it.”
“You don’t know that! We can’t risk it!” Moth Flight’s eyes grew hot as she glared at Acorn Fur. “You can’t have kits with Red Claw. You mustn’t even share his nest. You must live only for your Clan. It’s the only way to stay strong.”
Acorn Fur’s eyes flashed angrily in the darkness. “That’s easy for you to say. You’ve had a mate. You’ve got kits!”
Moth Flight shifted her paws, the stone walls pressing in around her. “I can’t do it anymore!”
Pebble Heart stiffened beside her. “Are you going to stop being a medicine cat?”
“No.” Moth Flight gasped as sorrow plunged thorn-sharp claws deep into her heart. “Being a medicine cat is my destiny.
It’s what I was always supposed to be. The Clans depend on me.
Half Moon told me.”
Pebble Heart’s eyes glowed darkly in the half-light. “What are you going to do?”
The earth seemed to tremble beneath Moth Flight’s paws.