Firestar’s Quest

“You were very brave today,” Firestar assured her. “You saved Bouncekit. You didn’t need any other cat.”

Clovertail looked thoughtful. At last she nodded. “I never thought of it like that,” she mewed. “Okay, I will join in the training from now on.”

“Good.” Firestar rested his tail tip on her shoulder. “You’ll feel you really belong to the Clan when you give something back to it. Think about your kits—they’ll become warriors one day, and you could be a great example for them.”

“We understand it’s not easy,” Sandstorm told the she-cat, giving her a friendly lick. “But I promise you, it’s worth it.”

“And you needn’t worry about your kits,” Firestar added.

“They’ll be apprentices soon, and until then we’ll make sure some cat keeps an eye on them while you’re training. No more expeditions into that cave!”

On the following morning, Firestar took Sharpclaw, Cherrypaw, and Patchfoot on the dawn patrol. When they returned, he saw Sparrowpaw, Shortwhisker, and Leafdapple huddled together at the foot of the Rockpile, mewing urgently to one another. Sandstorm sat a tail-length away, a disgusted expression on her face.

Firestar glanced at Sharpclaw. “What’s all that about?”

The ginger tom shrugged. “I’ve no idea.”

Firestar padded forward until he came up to the little group. “Hi, is everything okay?”

The cats all turned worried faces toward him.

“We were talking about the Whispering Cave,” Shortwhisker told him.

Firestar stared. “The what?”

“The cave under the rocks.” Sandstorm got up, her eyes narrowed. “That’s what they’re calling it now. Those silly kits have spread the story about the voices, and—”

“There must be something down there,” Sparrowpaw interrupted. “Rockkit said he saw big shiny cats with huge claws. Their eyes glowed like the moon and their teeth were bigger than a fox’s.”

Patchfoot looked horrified. “Really?”

“Kits will be kits, I know.” Leafdapple twitched her tail. “But they looked terrified! Would they really make all that up?”

“Hmm…” Firestar could tell that the kits had improved their story since their visit to the cave the day before.

“Suppose these big cats come out?” Shortwhisker mewed.

Sandstorm rolled her eyes. “Suppose hedgehogs fly!”

“If there is something in there, we ought to deal with it.”

Sharpclaw flexed his claws. “We should go in and attack before they have a chance to attack us.”

Firestar lifted one paw to stall him. “We will go in there, but not until later on. And I don’t believe there’s anything to be afraid of. It’s time for hunting patrols,” he went on.

“Sharpclaw, you can lead one, and Leafdapple the other.”

The SkyClan cats still gave him doubtful looks as they moved away. Sandstorm lagged behind, drawing closer to him.

“What do you think is down there?” she murmured.

“Skywatcher said that the SkyClan medicine cats used to share tongues with their warrior ancestors in that cave.”

Firestar nodded. “That’s what I’m hoping. Every Clan needs a special place, like the Moonstone, and this cave could be SkyClan’s. It worries me that the new Clan doesn’t have a medicine cat yet. Maybe if we go into the cave tonight, SkyClan’s warrior ancestors will show us which cat to choose.”

Sandstorm’s eyes gleamed. “Good idea. We can’t stay here forever, waiting for a medicine cat to show up.”

Firestar pushed away the feeling of homesickness that threatened to cloud his thoughts. This wasn’t his Clan, but he couldn’t leave until he was sure they could survive without him, and finding a medicine cat was a big part of that.

“SkyClan’s warrior ancestors must be out there somewhere,” he meowed, clawing at the sandy ground.

When night had fallen Firestar led his Clan into the cave beneath the rocks. The moon was a thin claw scratch in the sky, and starlight dappled the surface of the river.

Every Clan member followed as he edged along the narrow path beside the water—all except Clovertail. She had stayed to look after her kits; she still refused to believe that there was anything in the cave, and had given Rockkit, Bouncekit, and Tinykit a good scolding for frightening every cat.

“Be careful!” Firestar called, glancing back over his shoulder. “Cherrypaw, no fooling about! You could easily slip on these wet rocks, and we haven’t got Clovertail to pull you out!”

“There’s something shining up ahead.” A quavering voice came from somewhere behind Firestar; it sounded like Shortwhisker.

He was right. Firestar could see a pale light flowing from the cave, reflecting on the surface of the water. “It’s okay,” he replied. “It’s not big scary cats, I promise.”

Setting his paws down carefully, he reached the flattened path that led along the side of the underground river and stood back to let the rest of the Clan file inside.

Sandstorm brought up the rear. “See?” she meowed. “It’s just moss.”

“And it’s beautiful,” Firestar added. “Look how the light ripples over the roof.”

The SkyClan cats gazed around, their eyes reflecting the eerie light.

“Hey!” Sharpclaw meowed. “We’re scary cats whose eyes glow like the moon.”