Gradually the babble of talk died away and the cats gazed up expectantly at the dark sky. But all they could see were stars and the cold circle of the moon.
What do we do if the spirit-cats don’t come? Gray Wing wondered.
His belly cramped with tension as a confused murmur came from a little group of cats off to one side of the hollow. Please, not another attack!
Then the group of cats parted and River Ripple brushed between them and padded up to Gray Wing. His perfectly groomed pelt shone silver in the moonlight.
“Greetings,” Gray Wing purred, amusement bubbling up inside him. “I don’t have any prey to share, you know.”
River Ripple dipped his head, his eyes glinting with humor. “I wouldn’t miss this meeting,” he mewed. “I remember how scared you all were, the last time the spirit-cats appeared.”
“But it doesn’t look like they’re going to show up tonight,” Wind Runner murmured sadly.
“I think they will,” River Ripple responded confidently. “Just wait.”
As if his words were a signal, a mist began to rise from the ground, chilly with the promise of leaf-fall. It swirled around the waiting cats, rose to cover the four great oak trees, and finally blotted out the moon and the stars.
Gray Wing found himself standing in the midst of a silver-gray cloud, so thick he couldn’t even see the cats standing next to him. Nervous meows came from close by, and his own pelt was prickling as he tried to push down his fear.
Gradually the cloud began to fade until Gray Wing could make out the shapes of his denmates, standing within a fuzzy ring of light that encircled the whole clearing. Then as the last of the mist cleared away, he saw that the light came from the spirit-cats, sitting all around as if they were still alive.
Gray Wing had to blink as he looked at their brightness, but he recognized them instantly: the cats who had died since they left the mountains. Bright Stream, Shaded Moss, Moon Shadow… and Turtle Tail! He felt just as shaken as he had the first time they appeared.
The shining form of Rainswept Flower rose to her paws and took a step forward. As she did so, Gray Wing noticed that Clear Sky had turned his head aside in shame, as if he couldn’t bear to look at the cat whose life he had taken before the battle had even begun.
“You have done well to observe peace since the last full moon,” Rainswept Flower meowed.
“And yet the claw still blights the forest.”
Gray Wing and the other living cats exchanged confused glances.
“How can that be?” Tall Shadow asked. “We haven’t fought since…” Her voice trailed off, as if she could hardly bear to finish her own sentence. “Since the battle here.”
“Unless cats have been fighting in secret?” Wind Runner snapped, gazing around with suspicion in her eyes.
“No, that’s ridiculous!” Gray Wing protested. “We would know!”
Turtle Tail padded forward to stand beside Rainswept Flower. “You will realize what it means, in time,” she assured them.
Gray Wing’s heart filled with sorrow as he gazed at his dead mate. Her pelt shone with starlight; she was even more beautiful than he remembered. It hurt him more than any claw to hold her gaze, and his voice shook as he asked, “Can’t you just explain? Won’t that save time and bloodshed?”
Turtle Tail blinked sadly. “Cats can fight and fight and fight,” she mewed. “But sometimes even the sharpest claw cannot make a wound.”
Gray Wing let out a frustrated growl. “What does that mean?”
He turned his head as he spotted movement to one side, and saw River Ripple padding closer to the two starry she-cats with a whisk of his tail.
“If something is meant to happen, it will,” he pointed out calmly. “And no cat’s will is strong enough to stop it from happening.”
A chorused purr of approval rose from the spirit-cats. “River Ripple is clever,” Shaded Moss meowed with an approving blink of his deep green eyes. “You should listen to him.”
“Yes, I agree with what he said,” Thunder added eagerly, a glow of understanding in his eyes. “I felt that after the battle—like everything that had happened up until then was leading us to that moment, to that fight.”
Gray Wing felt his chest tighten at his young kin’s words. He turned in an anxious circle, his gaze raking the assembly of the spirit-cats as he tried to read something in their impassive expressions.
“But why did it have to happen?” he asked. “Why was it unchangeable? I remember how I made the decision to leave the mountains, to settle in the hollow, to raise Thunder as my own. I made those choices.”
Turtle Tail gazed at him sympathetically. “Did you?” she asked gently. “Or did you follow an errant brother out of the mountains?”
Gray Wing’s chest felt like it had been filled with ice. It was a feeling of helplessness. She’s right— it wasn’t my decision to leave the mountains, he realized. If Jagged Peak hadn’t decided to run away and follow the cats who left, Quiet Rain would never have insisted that I follow him to make sure he came to no harm. Everything that happened after that wouldn’t have happened if Quiet Rain hadn’t pleaded with me…
“Gray Wing, you mustn’t worry,” Turtle Tail meowed. “I know you don’t like feeling powerless, but you were brought to this point for a reason.”
Gray Wing turned his head away; gazing at the beautiful tortoiseshell she-cat was just too painful.
“You were taken from me,” he choked out. “What could have been the reason for that?”
He began to pace to and fro in agitation, until Tall Shadow stepped forward and intercepted him.
“Calm down,” she ordered. “We’re being told what to do.”
Gray Wing took a deep breath, forcing himself to stand still again. “I want to be rid of these awful feelings,” he hissed. “I thought the spirit-cats would help.”
Before he had finished speaking, Storm bounded forward and faced him. “You and the other cats are getting all the help you need,” she told him, her whiskers twitching impatiently. “All the help that we can give.”
“That’s right.” Moon Shadow padded up to the side of his sister, Tall Shadow. “But there’s still more work to be done. Only the Blazing Star can blunt the claw.”
Frustrated by the constant hints and riddles, Gray Wing felt another angry yowl burning in his chest, but before he could utter a sound Bright Stream spoke, echoing Moon Shadow’s words.
“Yes, the Blazing Star. To survive, you must grow and spread like the Blazing Star.”
To survive? Gray Wing thought, bewildered.
“Aren’t we surviving already?” Thunder called out.
“Is the peace going to be broken so soon?” Wind Runner demanded.
Desperate yowling rose up from the other living cats, as they hurled more questions at the spirit-cats. But there was no reply. Instead another mist rose from the ground and drifted around the oak trees, blotting out the starry forms. When it faded, they were gone.
Gray Wing stepped forward to where Turtle Tail had been standing, but she had left no mark or scent of her presence. The rest of the spirit-cats had left no trace, either. If it weren’t for the tightness of his chest and the burning ache of grief in his throat, he would have thought he was dreaming again.
But I know I wasn’t. The spirit-cats were real—and so was their advice. To survive you must grow and spread like the Blazing Star.