Bluestar's Prophecy

Suddenly teeth grasped her scruff. Was Oakheart going to drag her to safety? Bluestar blinked water from her eyes long enough to glimpse orange fur.

Fireheart!

The ThunderClan deputy had gotten hold of her.

“Keep your head up!” he growled through clenched jaws.

Bluestar tried to help him, but her pelt was heavy and her paws were too tired to fight the weight of water. Fireheart’s teeth tore at her scruff as the water dragged her down.

Then another body brushed hers.

One of the dogs?

More teeth bit her scruff. Paws clutched at her flanks, heaving her upward.

She felt the strong, gentle movement of cats around her. Was StarClan carrying her to its hunting grounds?

Barely conscious, she let herself be dragged through the water until pebbles scraped her flank and she felt solid earth beneath her. Paws and teeth heaved her up the gritty shore and laid her on soft grass. Her chest felt as if it were packed with stones, making each breath a struggle. Her eyes stung, too filled with water to see.

“Bluestar?”

She recognized the mew of Mistyfoot. What about Stonefur? Is he here, too?

“We’re both here.” A strong paw pressed against her flank.

Oakheart had been right. Their kits had been waiting for her.

Bluestar fought to open her eyes. She could just make out the shape of Stonefur. His wide shoulders were silhouetted against the green canopy of trees. So much like his father. Mistyfoot stood beside him, her sodden pelt clinging to her frame.

Bluestar felt breath on her cheek.

“Is she okay?” came the voice of her daughter.

Fireheart was leaning in. “Bluestar, it’s Fireheart. You’re all right now. You’re safe.”

Bluestar hardly heard him. She was gazing at her kits. “You saved me,” she murmured.

“Shhh. Don’t try to talk,” Mistyfoot urged.

But there’s so much to say! Bluestar stretched her muzzle forward. “I want to tell you something… I want to ask you to forgive me for sending you away.” As she coughed, water bubbled at her lips, but she forced herself to keep going. “Oakheart promised me Graypool would be a good mother to you.”

“She was,” Stonefur meowed flatly.

Bluestar flinched. “I owe her so much.” She wished she had more breath to explain. “Oakheart, too, for mentoring you so well.” Why hadn’t she found a way to tell them this before? “I watched you as you grew up, and I saw how much you had to give to the Clan who adopted you. If I had made a different choice, you would have given all your strength to ThunderClan.” She shuddered, struggling for air. “Forgive me.”

She stared at her kits, and time seemed to halt as she watched Mistyfoot and Stonefur exchange an uncertain glance. Please forgive me.

“She suffered a lot of pain for her choice,” Fireheart pleaded for her. “Please forgive her.”

Stop it! Forgiveness would mean nothing if it had to be dragged from them. She willed Fireheart to hold his tongue.

Mistyfoot bent her head and licked Bluestar’s cheek. “We forgive you, Bluestar.”

“We forgive you,” Stonefur echoed.

Bluestar closed her eyes as her two kits began to lap at her drenched pelt. It was the first time she had shared tongues with them since the snowy day she had left them with Oakheart.

There was no more need to cling to her last life. Firestar would kindle a new flame and blaze through the forest in her place. ThunderClan was safe. She closed her eyes and gave way to dizzying blackness.

Chapter 1

“Shouldn’t she have opened her eyes by now?”

“Hush, Swiftbreeze. She’s only a day old. She’ll open them when she’s ready.”

Bluekit felt the rasp of her mother’s tongue on her flank and nestled closer to Moonflower’s milk-warm belly.

“Snowkit opened hers this morning,” Swiftbreeze reminded her. “And my two had theirs open from almost the moment they were born.” The she-cat’s tail stirred her bedding. “Leopardkit and Patchkit are natural warriors.”

A soft purr sounded from a third queen. “Oh, Swiftbreeze, we all know that no kit can compete with your two,” Poppydawn gently teased.

A small paw poked Bluekit’s side.

Snowkit!

Bluekit mewled with annoyance and snuggled closer to Moonflower.

“Come on, Bluekit!” Snowkit whispered in her ear. “There’s so much to look at and I want to go outside, but Moonflower won’t let me till you’re ready.”

“She’ll open her eyes in her own time,” Moonflower chided.

Yes. In my own time, Bluekit agreed.

Waking, Bluekit could feel the weight of her sister lying on top of her. Moonflower’s belly rose and fell rhythmically beside them. Swiftbreeze was snoring, and Poppydawn wheezed a little as she breathed.

Bluekit heard Leopardkit and Patchkit chattering outside.

“You be the mouse and I’ll be the warrior!” Patchkit was ordering.

“I was the mouse last time!” Leopardkit retorted.

“Were not!

“Was!”

A scuffle broke out, punctuated by squeaks of defiance.

“Watch where you’re rolling!” came the cross meow of a tom, silencing them for a moment.