Mothwing paused. “I don’t know. But I have to try.” Jayfeather felt the RiverClan cat’s determination tingling beneath her pelt. “And if I think of a way to make the other medicine cats listen, I’ll come and find you.” Her breath touched his muzzle as she leaned closer. “You’re not alone anymore, Jayfeather.” She turned and padded up the spiraling path out the hollow. “Are you coming?”
Jayfeather followed. Mothwing was the last cat he imagined would help him fight the Dark Forest. But perhaps she was the only cat who could.
Chapter 4
Bright sunshine lit the hollow. The Clan was resting after its morning patrols.
As Lionblaze took a halfhearted bite from the mouse lying at his paws, Millie settled beside the warriors’ den.
“Bring me a shrew!” she called to Graystripe.
“There’s plenty.” Rosepetal was sharing a blackbird with Blossomfall. “We found a whole nestful.”
Graystripe padded toward the fresh-kill pile. It was well stocked. Hunting patrols had been stepped up to fatten the Clan before leaf-bare. Firestar wanted to make sure they faced the coming moons as fit and strong as any Clan.
“Can I join you?” Hollyleaf crossed the clearing and dropped a thrush beside Lionblaze.
Lionblaze rolled his mouse underneath his paw. “If you want.”
His sister settled beside him, nestling into the shade of the fallen beech. “Jayfeather’s not back,” she observed before taking a bite from her thrush.
“I know.” Lionblaze plucked distractedly at the mouse.
“Why did he go to the Moonpool?” Hollyleaf’s mew was muffled by feathers. “Firestar told him to confine his medicine-cat duties to camp.”
“I guess he had his reasons.” Lionblaze twitched his ears uneasily. Jayfeather had been reckless to travel alone. What if a WindClan patrol found him? Would they show mercy to a cat they believed was a murderer?
Cinderheart padded over to them. Lionblaze focused on his mouse while she greeted his sister. “It’s been a good morning for hunting.”
Hollyleaf brushed a feather from her muzzle. “I’ve never seen so much prey.”
Lionblaze lifted his head to glance quickly at Cinderheart. Her soft gray pelt shone and her long tail was sleek and well groomed. His heart ached. Why was she hanging around here? Shouldn’t she be in the medicine den? She wasn’t really Cinderheart, the cat he’d fallen in love with; she was Cinderpelt—an old medicine cat brought back by StarClan to fill some stupid destiny.
“Shut your mouth before your prey falls out,” Hollyleaf whispered in his ear.
Lionblaze flinched, suddenly aware that he’d been staring. He looked away, heat flooding his fur. “What do you want?” he asked Cinderheart sharply.
“Brambleclaw wants us to take a hunting patrol to the lake.”
“Don’t you have medicine-cat duties?” He’d seen her ducking in and out of Jayfeather’s den ever since her old knowledge of herbs and cures had flooded back.
“Why should I?” Cinderheart’s pelt spiked along her back.
“Jayfeather’s at the Moonpool.”
“He’ll be home soon.”
“I hope so.”
“Hollyleaf!” Brambleclaw called from beneath Highledge. “Take a patrol to the Twoleg meadow,” the deputy ordered. “I heard a dog there last night and I want to know if it’s tethered.”
Hollyleaf glanced ruefully at her half-eaten thrush, then headed across the clearing. Lionblaze watched her go, acutely aware of Cinderheart lingering at his side. “Don’t you want to go with her?” he suggested.
“We’re leading a patrol, remember?” She sat down beside him. “Who should we take?”
Lionblaze scanned the clearing, relieved to see Cloudtail trotting toward them. “Hi, Cloudtail.” He stood up. “Do you want to come hunting?”
“No, he doesn’t!” Brightheart trotted after Cloudtail. “We’ve been hunting all morning and he promised to fetch me something from the fresh-kill pile.” She nudged her mate. “Do you want me to go to the fresh-kill pile while you stay and gossip?” Her eyes flashed.
Cloudtail swished his thick white tail, purring. “I’m going!”
Lionblaze envied their easy familiarity. Once, he’d thought he and Cinderheart might be like that. But the return of her memories had changed everything. Now he felt as if he’d never known her at all.
Brightheart nodded to Cinderheart. “Have you checked on Briarlight this morning?”
“Was I supposed to?” Cinderheart looked up anxiously.
“No.” Brightheart shrugged. “I just thought, with Jayfeather away—” Her gaze flashed toward the medicine den as the brambles trembled at the entrance. “She’s coming out!” She hurried away to meet Briarlight as the crippled warrior dragged herself toward the fresh-kill pile.
“Wait for me!” Cloudtail trotted after her.
“That could have been us,” Lionblaze muttered to Cinderheart. “We could have been happy together.”
“I don’t think happiness is part of our destinies,” Cinderheart spat. Then her expression changed and she looked sadly at Lionblaze. “Let’s not torture ourselves by wishing.” She stood and stretched, arching her back. “Who do you want to hunt with?”
Lionblaze scanned the camp. Blossomfall had finished eating and was play fighting with Thornclaw beside the nursery. She spun around, steadying herself with her tail and dodging a well-aimed swipe. There was something relaxed and comfortable in the way they matched each other’s moves. “What about them? Thornclaw!”
The golden tabby looked over his shoulder. “What is it?”
“We’re hunting by the lake and we need extra paws.”
Thornclaw lifted his tail happily. “Can Blossomfall come, too?”
When Lionblaze nodded, the two cats ran toward the thorn barrier. Cinderheart bounded after them. Lionblaze shoved his half-eaten mouse beside Hollyleaf’s thrush and followed his Clanmates out of camp.
By the time he caught up, Thornclaw and Blossomfall were already climbing the slope, zigzagging through the brambles as though they were playing catch-the-squirrel with each other’s tails. Another season or two and Blossomfall would be nursing Thornclaw’s kits. His tail drooped.
“Ow!” Blossomfall let out a squeal.
Lionblaze broke into a run, skidding to a halt beside the tortoiseshell warrior. “What happened?”
Blossomfall writhed on the ground, her foreleg tangled in a bramble and her face twisted with pain. Thornclaw crouched beside her, holding the bramble between his jaws as he gingerly unwrapped it from around her paw. “Hold still,” he whispered. “Tugging will make last night’s battle wound worse.”
“Shhh!” Blossomfall hushed Thornclaw, her gaze glittering with guilt as it caught Lionblaze’s.
Lionblaze froze. These cats weren’t mates! They’d been training together in their dreams. Lionblaze felt the trees close around him. He struggled to take a deep breath. They don’t know what they’re doing.
Trembling, he watched Thornclaw pull the bramble away and help Blossomfall to her paws. If he couldn’t trust his Clanmates, who could he trust? He glanced over his shoulder at Cinderheart as she hurried to check on her Clanmate. Was she training in the Dark Forest, too? Lionblaze’s thoughts darted from one Clanmate to another. The familiar faces seemed suddenly strange and cold.
“Check her,” he ordered Cinderheart, but Cinderheart was already sniffing Blossomfall’s shoulder, then pressing gently with her paws.
“Does that hurt?”
Blossomfall let out a groan but shook her head. “Just a little.”
“Can you put weight on it?” Cinderheart asked.