Then she let out a screech of fear and pain. “The monster… no… oh, my leg hurts… I’ll never be a warrior. But I’ll learn all the herbs… marigold for infection, borage leaves for fever, juniper for bellyache, catmint for whitecough and greencough… what are the traveling herbs? Sorrel, daisy, chamomile… oh, and burnet! Must get it right…” Her voice took on a note of deep sadness. “Yellowfang is gone! And now I’m the only medicine cat… It’s so cold here, by the Moonstone. Fireheart is so still… maybe he’s dead. Will StarClan really give him his nine lives?”
Cinderheart began to pant hard, as if she were struggling up a steep slope; then she let out a little cry of wonder and joy. “The lake… it’s so beautiful! Oh, StarClan, thank you for leading us here.” Then the sadness came back, threaded through with a note of fear. “Is that truly my destiny? And Leafpool wants to leave us… what will become of my Clan?”
At last Cinderheart was silent, her breath coming in ragged gasps. In the ruins of the nursery she stared at Jayfeather. “Who am I?” she wailed. “What am I supposed to be?”
Jayfeather stepped forward until he could look down into her distraught blue eyes. “You are Cinderheart,” he insisted. “That is your destiny. StarClan chose to let you live again so that you could follow your first path, to be a great warrior, to have a mate and kits of your own, to fight and hunt for your Clan after caring for them so long from the medicine cat’s den.” He took a deep breath. “Honor StarClan for their decision,” he went on, “and be proud of everything you have achieved in both of your lives. This is all your destiny, Cinderheart.”
“Are you sure?” Cinderheart whispered.
Jayfeather nodded. “StarClan chose that you should be a warrior this time.”
“Who else knows?” Cinderheart asked.
“Only Leafpool,” Jayfeather told her. “No other cats need to know. You are not an echo of Cinderpelt, you are your own cat now. Your Clanmates know you and love you as Cinderheart, which is all the truth they need.”
Cinderheart sighed and gazed around at the nursery; it was still and silent now, as if it were drawing away to a great distance. Slowly she padded over to Cinderpelt’s body, and licked the dead medicine cat’s ears. “I will never forget who I was before,” she murmured. “Thank you for living my first life.”
Jayfeather moved to her side and touched his tail-tip to her shoulder. “Come,” he meowed. “It’s time to go home.”
Chapter 18
Ivypool opened her eyes in the Dark Forest to the sound of flying paw steps. She flinched backward to avoid a collision and found herself staring into Breezepelt’s amber eyes.
“Get out of my way, mange-pelt,” he snarled, and ran on.
Recovering her footing, Ivypool realized that she was surrounded by cats, all streaming past her, brushing through the undergrowth in the pale, sickly light. She recognized cats from all four Clans, seasoned warriors and young apprentices, as far as she could see through the dingy trees.
A call rang out in Brokentail’s rasping voice. “Let all cats old enough to kill their own enemies gather here!”
Ivypool gulped. That was a far more dreadful summons than she was used to hearing from a Clan leader. At the same moment Hollowflight rushed up to her.
“Come on!” the young warrior gasped. “Something’s happening!”
He dashed on through the trees with Ivypool hard on his paws, joining the mass of cats. They were all intent on reaching the same place, all running in silence with somber expressions.
Great StarClan! Ivypool thought. There are so many of us!
At last she burst out into the clearing with the heap of fallen trees where she had once fought Antpelt. The crowd of cats massed around the tree trunks; Brokenstar stood on the topmost trunk, with Mapleshade and Tigerstar and two or three other cats unknown to Ivypool, even fainter shadows than Mapleshade. She shivered at the hungry glitter in their eyes.
Hawkfrost was pacing at the foot of the heap, in the place a Clan deputy would take. Ivypool spotted Darkstripe, too, crawling up on his belly and gazing up at the leaders with adoration in his eyes.
Striding across to him, Hawkfrost thrust his muzzle into Darkstripe’s face. “Stay back with the others!” he hissed.
Darkstripe crept away, dragging his tail.
Ivypool looked around the clearing. She recognized Redwillow and Tigerheart from ShadowClan, and dropped her eyes quickly before Tigerheart noticed her watching him. Breezepelt had joined his Clanmate Sunstrike, and Hollowflight was pushing his way through the cats toward Icewing and Beetlewhisker.
Ivypool’s belly lurched when she saw Birchfall and Blossomfall standing at the edge of the crowd; they hadn’t spotted her. It still made her sick to think of her own father visiting the Dark Forest.
How can he stand here? And Blossomfall? she wondered. They aren’t evil! They must know what’s going to happen!
Brokenstar stepped forward and the murmur of voices in the clearing faded to silence. “You have trained well,” he told the gathered cats. “And now it is nearly time!”
Ivypool’s pelt tingled. He’s going to tell us exactly what he intends to do to the lake Clans! Once every cat finds out the truth, I bet they’ll rebel! Or at least not come back to the Dark Forest. She knew that most of the living cats there didn’t hate their Clans. They wouldn’t want to hurt their Clanmates. Will Brokenstar really tell the truth? Then the power of the Dark Forest will be destroyed…
“Soon you will have a chance to prove your skill, strength, and loyalty,” Brokenstar went on, his gaze raking the cats like claws. “Your Clanmates here will honor you, and so will your Clanmates beside the lake. You will prove yourselves to be the greatest warriors ever.”
Ivypool saw that the listening cats were nodding, their expressions proud and eager. She wanted to yowl, “No! Can’t you see? He’ll make you attack your own kin!”
But she knew that would be a big mistake. Brokenstar wouldn’t let me survive another two heartbeats. And then all these visits, all the information I have learned, would be for nothing.
She spotted Breezepelt, whose eyes were gleaming; she guessed that he knew exactly what was going on. He was digging his claws into the marshy ground, as if he were imagining ThunderClan cats beneath his paws. Ivypool’s tail-tip twitched in frustration as she realized that none of the cats around her were going to question Brokenstar. He hadn’t given them any real instructions, just vague promises of glory. Even the Dark Forest cats seemed willing just to wait for further orders.
“He’s not even telling us when this will be,” she muttered to herself.
Too late she realized that some of the cats nearby had heard her murmur, and were turning shocked gazes on her.
“You shouldn’t doubt Brokenstar’s decisions,” a white she-cat mewed. “Don’t you trust him?”
Ivypool dipped her head, her fur hot with annoyance that she had made such a mouse-brained error. “Yeah, sorry.”
“Go back to your training,” Brokenstar continued from the pile of tree trunks, “and be ready for the final signal. It will come soon.”
He and the other leaders jumped down from the fallen trees and the ranks of cats began to file into the shadows. Ivypool wriggled through the crowd, craning her neck to look for Hawkfrost. Finally she spotted him; he had seen her, too, and was beckoning to her with his tail. Shouldering her way through the crush of bodies, Ivypool reached his side.