Lost Stars

Rootpaw looked up at his father to see the same approval gleaming in his eyes. “That’s great to know,” Tree meowed. “Good job, Rootpaw.”

“We’d better be getting back to camp,” Dewspring continued, as Rootpaw basked in the older cats’ praise. “The sun will be setting soon.”

For the first time Rootpaw noticed that the shadows of the trees were lengthening, blue against the snow. The short leaf-bare day was drawing to an end.

“I’ll come with you,” Tree meowed, gathering his prey together.

Dewspring leaned in and picked up the shrew. “Here, let me help carry.”

On the way back to the camp, Rootpaw didn’t feel too embarrassed anymore in his father’s presence. Tree had caught several pieces of prey. But he realized he would have felt differently if his father had just been sitting there, freezing to death while he pretended to be a bush.

The rest of the Clan gathered around the hunters as they pushed their way through the camp entrance and into the clearing.

“Rootpaw, did you really catch that?” Needlepaw exclaimed, staring at the ragged feathers of the crow. “That’s amazing!”

His mother, Violetshine, said nothing, but her eyes were warm with praise, and she padded beside Rootpaw on the way to the fresh-kill pile, and leaned toward him to give his ears a loving lick. Even Leafstar, standing beside the pile with Hawkwing and Reedclaw, gave him an approving nod.

“The Clan will eat well tonight,” she mewed.

Rootpaw ducked his head; he felt embarrassed all over again, but this time he enjoyed the feeling, because he had earned the respect of his Clan. He could see that the fresh-kill pile was bigger than it had been for many days, and no cat in the Clan would go hungry.

“Why don’t you take some prey to Fallowfern,” Dewspring instructed him. “Then you can come back and eat.”

“Yes, take her this vole,” Tree added, pushing the body of his prey over to Rootpaw. “It’s pretty plump, considering it’s leaf-bare.”

Rootpaw willingly agreed, picking up the vole and bounding across the camp to set it down in front of the deaf elder, who was sitting outside her den with her paws tucked under her.

“Thank you,” Fallowfern meowed, swiping her tongue around her jaws. “That looks tasty!”

On his way back to the fresh-kill pile, Rootpaw halted as Turtlepaw stepped out in front of him. “That was an awesome catch,” she mewed. She couldn’t quite meet Rootpaw’s gaze, and he was surprised at how shy she sounded.

“I was lucky, that’s all,” he responded.

Kitepaw was standing a couple of paces behind Turtlepaw, and Rootpaw braced himself for some mocking remark, but the reddish-brown tom said nothing, only giving Rootpaw a respectful nod as he followed him and Turtlepaw to join the rest of the Clan.

By now, most cats had settled down to eat, but no cat had taken Rootpaw’s crow. “We’re leaving that for you,” Tree meowed, flicking his tail toward Rootpaw’s prey. “There’s enough to eat for every cat, and you might as well enjoy your first big catch.”

“You can choose some cats to share it with,” Dewspring added.

Rootpaw nodded eagerly. It’s great to be able to feed my Clanmates! He beckoned Needlepaw with his tail, then turned more hesitantly toward Kitepaw and Turtlepaw. “Would you like some?” he asked, trying not to feel nervous.

“Thanks!” Turtlepaw meowed, crouching down beside the crow.

Kitepaw looked surprised, but gave Rootpaw a nod of thanks and sat beside his denmate, sinking his teeth into the crow. “Where did you find this?” he mumbled.

“Down near the lake,” Rootpaw replied, sitting next to Needlepaw and tearing off a chunk of prey. “Not far from the border with ThunderClan.”

Turtlepaw nodded. “That’s a good place,” she agreed.

Needlepaw gulped down a mouthful. “Dewspring must have been pleased,” she mewed.

“He was,” Rootpaw replied. “I was beginning to think he’d always be disappointed in me.”

“Most mentors are like that,” Turtlepaw assured him. “You should have heard Blossomheart when I first became her apprentice. I thought I would never do anything right!”

Rootpaw felt warmed by the older apprentices’ friendliness, as if something had suddenly changed. Maybe they’re not so bad after all, he thought.

“You know,” Kitepaw began, “I was impressed by you, that day you fell through the ice. It was a brave thing to do, standing up for yourself and attacking me like that. Stupid,” he added, with a gleam of amusement in his eyes, “but brave.”

Suddenly happy, Rootpaw let out a small mrrow of laughter. He had made a lucky catch to feed his Clan, he might just be beginning to make friends with Kitepaw and Turtlepaw, and even Tree was being slightly less embarrassing than usual. For the first time he began to believe that this terrible leaf-bare would soon pass, and every cat would be fine.

Chapter 9