Lost Stars

“There’s no question that I believe Shadowpaw,” Puddleshine replied at last. “He’s had important visions before. But I can’t be sure that these are actual messages from StarClan. We’ve all had visions, but this seems like something else. Leading him to the Moonpool on his own? Striking him with lightning?” He shot an apologetic look at his apprentice. “It’s not that I don’t believe you, Shadowpaw, but I’m not sure what to make of it.”

Once again the Clan leaders exchanged glances. “This is something I must discuss with my deputy and RiverClan’s medicine cats,” Mistystar meowed.

The other leaders murmured agreement.

“Then you mustn’t take too long about it,” Tigerstar warned them. “All the Clans must work together to understand this before we act on it.”

Bramblestar dipped his head toward Shadowpaw. “Thank you for telling us about this,” he meowed. “It took courage to stand up before a whole Gathering like that.”

As he spoke, he gave Shadowpaw a friendly nudge. At the touch, a strange sensation shot through Shadowpaw, as if claws were gripping him inside, twisting his belly and chilling his spine like the icy leaf-bare wind. His breath caught in his throat as he looked up at Bramblestar.

That felt so . . . wrong.

Chapter 11

“Okay, today we’re going to teach you a new battle move,” Dewspring announced. “Reedclaw and I will show you first. Are you ready, Reedclaw?”

“When you are,” the tabby she-cat replied.

Two sunrises had passed since the Gathering, and although fierce cold still clamped down on the forest, at least there had been no fresh snow. Rootpaw and Needlepaw were training with their mentors in a sheltered hollow where the covering of dead leaves was visible under a light drifting of white.

“Watch carefully,” Dewspring told the two apprentices. “I’m going to attack Reedclaw. I’m bigger and heavier than her, but she’s going to beat me.”

Rootpaw crouched beside his sister, eager to see what the new move would be. Energy was rushing through him, as if he were a stream suddenly released from the grip of frost. “Wait till it’s our turn,” he whispered to Needlepaw. “I’m going to squash you!”

Needlepaw let out a small mrrow of laughter. “You can always try!”

Dewspring reared up on his hind paws and bore down on Reedclaw, who flattened herself to the ground, gazing up at him with wide eyes, as if she were terrified. But before Dewspring could land on top of her, she launched herself forward, still keeping low, and scooped his hind paws out from under him.

Rootpaw let out a yowl of excitement as Dewspring tumbled onto his side, hitting the ground with a thud. But Reedclaw hadn’t finished. As swift as a striking snake, she spun around and leaped on top of Dewspring, pinning him down with one paw on his throat and another at the base of his tail.

“Awesome!” Needlepaw breathed out.

Reedclaw stepped back to let Dewspring scramble to his paws. He stood for a moment, breathing hard and shaking leaf mold out of his pelt. “That’s the move,” he meowed. “In a battle, you might not get the chance to do the second part, but it’s a good way to deal with any creature who attacks you on hind paws. Especially if they think you’re scared.”

Needlepaw leaped up, bouncing on her paws with excitement. “I want to try! Come on, Rootpaw, attack me.” She crouched on the ground and blinked at him. “Oh, you’re such a big, strong cat! Please don’t hurt me!”

“You furball!” Rootpaw mewed good-humoredly.

He reared up on his hind paws, just as Dewspring had, and stretched out his forepaws, ready to fall on top of his sister. Needlepaw sprang forward, and even though he knew what she was trying to do, Rootpaw was too clumsy to dodge on hind paws alone. The breath was driven out of his body as he hit the ground; he tried to roll out of Needlepaw’s way, but she jumped on top of him and pinned him down with all four paws.

This isn’t over, Rootpaw thought.

Remembering his first training session, almost a moon ago, he let himself go limp. As Needlepaw looked up and asked, “Was that okay, Reedclaw?” he powered up from the ground, throwing Needlepaw off, and pinned her in turn with a paw on her neck.

“Mouse dung!” Needlepaw hissed.

Rootpaw stepped back and let her get up. He saw that Reedclaw had curled her tail up with amusement, and laughter was glimmering in Dewspring’s eyes.

“Well done, both of you,” Reedclaw meowed. “Now let’s try it again, and Needlepaw, you attack this time.”

When the training session was over, all four cats headed back to the SkyClan camp. Rootpaw lagged behind a few paces, his mind turning to Bristlepaw. Every time he thought about the ThunderClan apprentice, he realized all over again what an amazing cat she was. She had saved his life, she was good at everything, and every cat in her Clan liked her and relied on her, even though she wasn’t a warrior yet. Rootpaw had seen so much to admire in her, in the time he had spent in the ThunderClan camp.