“Sagewhisker, Hawkheart, Milkfur,” he began, nodding to each cat as he named them, “we, the medicine cats of the four Clans, are here to carry out one of our most important ceremonies: the creation of a new medicine cat apprentice.”
Two more cats lingered by the tunnel entrance, their eyes huge in the half-light. One of them shuffled his paws as if they had frozen to the cold stone.
“For StarClan’s sake, Goosefeather, get on with it,” Hawkheart muttered with an impatient twitch of his tail.
Goosefeather glared at him, then turned to the two young cats by the tunnel. “Featherpaw, are you ready?” he asked.
The bigger of the two, a silver-pelted tom, gave a nervous nod. “I guess so,” he mewed.
“Then come here and stand before the Moonstone,” Goosefeather directed. “Soon it will be time to share tongues with StarClan.”
Featherpaw hesitated. “But I… I don’t know what to say when I meet our ancestors.”
“You’ll know,” the other young cat told him. Her white pelt glimmered as she touched his shoulder with her muzzle. “It’ll be awesome, you’ll see. Just as it was when I became Milkfur’s apprentice!”
“Thanks, Bramblepaw,” Featherpaw murmured.
He padded up to Goosefeather, while Sagewhisker, Milkfur, and Hawkheart sat a couple of tail-lengths away. Bramblepaw took her place at her mentor’s side.
Suddenly the moon appeared through the hole in the roof, shedding a dazzling white light into the cave. Featherpaw halted and blinked in astonishment as the Moonstone woke into glittering life, blazing with silver.
Goosefeather stepped forward to stand over him. “Featherpaw,” he meowed, “is it your wish to share the deepest knowledge of StarClan as a ThunderClan medicine cat?”
Featherpaw nodded. “Yes,” he replied, his voice coming out as a breathless croak. He cleared his throat and tried again. “It is.”
“Then follow me.”
Goosefeather turned, beckoning with his tail, and took the few paces that brought him close to the Moonstone. His pale blue eyes shone like twin moons as he spoke. “Warriors of StarClan, I present to you this apprentice. He has chosen the path of a medicine cat. Grant him your wisdom and insight so that he may understand your ways and heal his Clan in accordance with your will.” Flicking his tail at Featherpaw, he whispered, “Lie down here, and press your nose against the stone.”
Quickly Featherpaw obeyed, settling himself close to the stone and reaching out to touch its glimmering surface with his nose. The other medicine cats moved up beside him, taking similar positions all around the stone. In the silence and the brilliant light, the new medicine cat apprentice closed his eyes.
Featherpaw’s eyes blinked open and he sprang to his paws. He was standing chest-deep in lush grass, in a clearing of a sunlit forest. Above his head, the trees rustled in the warm breeze. The air was laden with the scent of prey and damp fern.
“Hi, Featherpaw!”
The young tom spun around. Approaching him through the grass was a tabby-and-white she-cat with blue eyes; she gave him a friendly flick with her tail as she drew closer.
Featherpaw stared at her. “M-Mallowfur!” he gasped. “I’ve missed you so much!”
“I may be a warrior of StarClan now, but I am always with you, my dear,” Mallowfur purred. “It’s good to see you here, Featherpaw. I hope it’s the first time of many.”
“I hope so, too,” Featherpaw responded.
Mallowfur kept walking, brushing through the grass until she joined a ginger tom at the edge of the trees; together the two StarClan cats vanished into the undergrowth. Close to the spot where they had disappeared, another StarClan warrior crouched beside a small pool, lapping at the water. Heartbeats later, a squirrel dashed across the clearing and swarmed up the trunk of an oak tree, with two more of Featherpaw’s starry ancestors hard on its tail.
Featherpaw heard his name being called again. “Hey, Featherpaw! Over here!”
Featherpaw glanced around the clearing. His gaze fell on a black tom, almost hidden in the shadows under a holly bush. He was small and skinny, his muzzle gray with age.
The dark-furred cat beckoned with his tail. “Over here!” he repeated, his voice low and urgent. “Are your paws stuck to the ground?”
Featherpaw shouldered his way through the long grasses until he stood in front of the tom. “Who are you? What do you want?”
“My name is Molepelt,” the cat replied. “I have a message for you.”
Featherpaw’s eyes stretched wide. “A message from StarClan, my first time here?” he breathed. “Wow, that’s so great.”
Molepelt let out an irritable grunt. “You might not think so, when you’ve heard what it is.”
“Go on.”
Molepelt fixed him with an icy green gaze. “A dark force is on its way,” he rasped, “with the power to pierce deep into the heart of ThunderClan. And it will be brought by a ShadowClan medicine cat.”
“What?” Featherpaw’s voice rose to a high-pitched squeak. “That can’t be right. Medicine cats have no enemies, and they don’t cause trouble for other Clans.”
Molepelt ignored his protest. “A long time ago, I was the ShadowClan medicine cat,” he went on. “My Clanmates and I did a great wrong to another Clan—a Clan that belonged in the forest as much as any of us, but was driven out through our selfishness and hard-heartedness. I knew then that what we did was wrong, and I have waited, my heart filled with dread, for the Clans to be punished.”
“Punished? How?” Featherpaw asked hoarsely.
“The time has come!” Molepelt’s green eyes were wide, and he seemed to be gazing into the far distance. “A poison will spring from the heart of ShadowClan, and spread to all the other Clans.” His voice became a soft, eerie wailing. “A storm of blood and fire will sweep the forest!”
Featherpaw gazed at the old cat in horror. Before he could speak, a powerful black-and-white tom pushed his way through a clump of ferns and padded up to the holly bush.
“Molepelt, what are you doing?” he demanded. “Why are you spilling all this to a ThunderClan apprentice? You don’t know that this is the time!”
Molepelt snorted. “You were once my apprentice, Hollowbelly, and don’t you forget it! I know I’m right.”
Hollowbelly glanced at Featherpaw, then back at Molepelt. “Things are different now,” he meowed.
“What do you mean? What’s going to happen?” Featherpaw asked, his voice shaking.
Hollowbelly ignored him. “There’s no reason to punish ShadowClan,” he continued. “What happened was too long ago. The medicine cat code will keep the Clans safe.”
“You’re a fool, Hollowbelly,” Molepelt growled. “The medicine cat code can do nothing to save the Clans.”
“You don’t know that for sure!” When Molepelt did not respond, Hollowbelly turned to Featherpaw. “Please, say nothing about this,” he meowed. “There is no need to spread alarm, not when the future is lost in mist even to StarClan. Promise me that you won’t tell any of your Clanmates. Promise on the lives of your ancestors!”
Featherpaw blinked. “I promise,” he whispered.
Hollowbelly nodded. “Thank you, Featherpaw. Go well.” Nudging Molepelt to his paws, he led the old medicine cat away into the trees.
Featherpaw gazed after them. After a few heartbeats he scrambled out from underneath the holly bush and staggered into the sunlit clearing. “Even if Molepelt was telling the truth, it makes no sense!” he meowed out loud. “How can ThunderClan be threatened by a ShadowClan medicine cat?”