“I guess we could keep going,” Cinnamon conceded. “If we get lost, we can still retrace our steps to the Silverpath later.”
Cloverfoot’s pelt prickled along her spine. “We could be walking for moons.”
“We’ve traveled so far already.” Dovewing’s green eyes shone in the dying light. “We must be getting closer to the lake. Surely we’ll see it soon.”
Tigerheart glanced around at the patrol. Doubt darkened every gaze. “We’ll follow the route that Spire began,” he meowed firmly. “He would not have set us on this path if he thought we couldn’t reach the end.”
Ant shifted his paws. “Spire would have known we’d find our way.”
Cinnamon and Blaze nodded. Cloverfoot, Berryheart, Sparrowtail, and Rippletail mumbled in reluctant agreement.
Lightkit glanced nervously to where the Thunderpath cut between the hills. “Are we going to follow the monsters to the Twolegplace?”
“No.” Tigerheart nodded to the hill rising beside it. Trees and bushes covered the slope. The ground would be soft underpaw and provide shelter.
Rippletail followed his gaze. “It looks like a good place for prey.”
Tigerheart glanced at Dovewing. “Are the kits okay?” Pouncekit, Lightkit, and Shadowkit were clustered beside her. They looked at him with wide, worried eyes.
“They’re fine, but it’s been a long day,” Dovewing mewed. “We should make camp soon.”
“Once we’re away from the river.” Blaze glanced at the flowing water, fresh pain in his eyes.
“Let’s travel until sunset and then hunt and rest for the night,” Ant suggested.
“Okay.” Stiffening his shoulders, Tigerheart led the party away from the river. With each paw step, his grief at losing Spire deepened, and his regret at ever having doubted him stuck in his belly like a claw trying to rip its way through.
Spire might not have grown up among the Clans, he thought, but if we make it back to the lake, if ShadowClan is restored, then he’ll have done more for our Clan than some of our own warriors.
He pushed on as the slope grew harder, and ducked between swaths of bracken. No cat spoke as they walked. The wind stirred the trees and bushes around them as they headed into thicker vegetation. Soon they were climbing through a stretch of forest. Birds began their evening song, calling from the branches above their heads. The moon rose, burning a patch in the darkening sky, and as they reached a clearing in the trees, Tigerheart stopped.
“Are we going to make camp?” Rippletail stopped beside him.
Tigerheart gazed between the trees. Far below, the wide river reflected moonlight. The image that had burned in his mind since they’d left its banks burned stronger still—Spire lifting Pouncekit to safety, then swaying and disappearing… giving his life for cats he hadn’t known very long, and for a way of life he had never known at all. “We should honor him.”
Rippletail blinked at him in surprise. “What?”
Blaze hurried closer. “Are you talking about Spire?”
“Yes.” Tigerheart watched his kits pad to a halt. They looked tired, but they were safe. “Spire saved Lightkit from the Thundersnake and Pouncekit from the river,” he meowed. “He was as brave as any warrior, and we should honor him as a warrior.”
“How?” Cloverfoot frowned.
Sparrowtail tipped his head. “Should we sit vigil for him tonight?”
“A vigil is not enough to thank him for what he has done.” Tigerheart glanced at his Clanmates. “He was loyal and brave. He should become one of us.”
Rippletail glanced at the stars. “How?”
“Let’s have a warrior naming ceremony for him now and give him a warrior name.”
Blaze pricked his ears. For the first time, grief cleared from his gaze. “A warrior name?”
“But he’s dead,” Cloverfoot pointed out. “It’s too late.”
Tigerheart stepped from the shadow of the trees and let moonlight wash his pelt. “StarClan knew him. They will be watching. They will know, and once he has his warrior name, he’ll be able to walk among them as the warrior he has always been, even though he never had the chance to live as one.”
“But you’re not a leader,” Sparrowtail meowed. “How can you give a cat their warrior name?”
Dovewing padded forward. “Tigerheart is leader of this patrol.”
Berryheart sat down wearily. “How can a cat who’s never known ShadowClan be a ShadowClan warrior?”
Blaze blinked at her. “He’s known you, and Tigerheart and Ripple—”
Cloverfoot cut in. “It’s true. He has known our Clan through us. And by finding us and protecting Tigerheart’s kits, he’s done more for ShadowClan these past moons than we have.” Exactly, Tigerheart thought. Guilt sparked in Cloverfoot’s gaze as she looked from Berryheart to Rippletail and Sparrowtail. Then she blinked expectantly at Tigerheart. “I think he deserves a warrior name.”
Rippletail dipped his head. “Okay.”
Sparrowtail and Berryheart nodded in agreement. Tigerheart lifted his muzzle to the stars. “I, Tigerheart, deputy of ShadowClan and leader of this patrol, call upon my warrior ancestors to honor Spire. He never knew the warrior code, and yet he lived by it. He healed the sick and protected the weak. He gave his life to save another. I commend him to you as a warrior of ShadowClan, and from this moment forward, he will be known as Spiresight, for his visions and his wisdom.”
“Spiresight.” Blaze breathed his friend’s new name.
“Spiresight!” Dovewing called out, her gaze sparkling as she looked at Pouncekit.
“Spiresight! Spiresight!” The cries of the patrol drowned out the evensong of the birds as they celebrated Spiresight’s warrior name.
Tigerheart looked once more toward the river. As the cries of the others died away, he prayed silently to StarClan. I hope he is safe among you now. Honor him. One day I hope to walk beside him.
He opened his eyes and looked at the gathered cats, all of their eyes alight with excitement—it felt good to be enacting a Clan custom after so long.
Ant shifted his paws self-consciously. “Should we hunt now?” The brown-and-black tom furtively scanned the undergrowth around the clearing.
Tigerheart could hear the rustle of prey. Squirrel scent touched his nose. The kits would be hungry. “Yes.”
“I’m staying here.” Blaze fixed Tigerheart with a solemn stare. “Sparrowtail said you honor fallen warriors by sitting vigil. I want to sit vigil for Spiresight.”
Tigerheart dipped his head. “Once the kits have eaten and have warm nests to sleep in, I will sit vigil with you.”
As Blaze blinked at him gratefully, Berryheart grunted with pain.
Dovewing hurried to the queen’s side as Berryheart sank to her belly. “What’s wrong?”
Berryheart gave an anguished moan. “The kits! I think they’re coming.”
Tigerheart kept out of the way while Berryheart wailed and grunted through the night. He sat with Blaze a little way from the nest Sparrowtail and Cloverfoot quickly made for the queen and watched Rippletail and Ant hurry back and forth, soaking moss in a nearby stream, fetching sticks, pacing anxiously while Dovewing and Cinnamon crouched around Berryheart, trying to help with her kitting. Cinnamon looked a little nervous.
Blaze did not speak as the moon moved above the trees. The young tom seemed lost in thought, making his silent vigil for his friend while the others bustled nearby.
Tigerheart’s thoughts wandered between grief for Spiresight and worry for Berryheart. How could the kits come now? They were not even close to ShadowClan’s borders; the landscape was unfamiliar, the journey ahead uncertain without Spiresight to guide them. He waited for worry to deepen into fear. And yet, as the night wore on, his anxieties unraveled into relief. Spiresight was in StarClan now, safer than he’d ever been in life. Berryheart’s kits would be with them by morning.