Lost Stars

Dovewing?

His mother’s face loomed large in Shadowpaw’s mind, but he couldn’t understand why she was being shown to him. She can’t be one of the codebreakers—can she?

As swiftly as the images had come, they were gone, and Shadowpaw became aware of Puddleshine prodding him in the side. “Shadowpaw, are you listening?” his mentor demanded.

Shadowpaw shook his pelt, trying to pull himself together quickly so that none of the other cats would realize that he had just had a vision. He wasn’t even sure that was what it had been.

If StarClan isn’t communicating with the experienced medicine cats, why would they send a vision to me?

Besides, some of the cats he had seen were standing here with him now. Shadowpaw was afraid that if he told them what he had seen and heard, they would think he was accusing them of something. They already think I’m a stupid furball. What will they say if I call them out as codebreakers? It certainly won’t help!

“Yes, I—I’m listening,” he stammered. “I’ll do whatever the rest of you think is best.”

Alderheart nodded kindly at his words, while Jayfeather merely grunted, but Puddleshine gave Shadowpaw a long look from narrowed eyes. He seemed to realize that Shadowpaw wasn’t telling the whole truth, but he said nothing to challenge him.

The rest of the medicine cats didn’t make it easy for Shadowpaw either. He saw the uneasy glances they exchanged, as if they knew that something was wrong.

“You’re here to learn,” Fidgetflake pointed out, “and yet you were staring up into the sky as if you know something the rest of us don’t. What are you hiding?”

“Nothing,” Shadowpaw protested, but he sensed Jayfeather glaring at him and found it hard to meet that pale, sightless gaze. Jayfeather might be blind, but he still saw things that other cats didn’t.

But Shadowpaw wasn’t ready to tell the other medicine cats about what had happened. He still didn’t know himself what it meant. He clamped his jaws shut and turned his head away to avoid Jayfeather’s gaze.

“I think we should follow Frecklewish’s advice for now,” Mothwing meowed, changing the subject briskly. “We can’t rush StarClan, and we should stay alert for any signs they see fit to send us. And I also suggest that we say nothing more to our Clan leaders. We don’t want to panic the Clans. We must focus on getting through this difficult time together.”

Frecklewish and Willowshine purred their agreement, though there were grunts of annoyance from Jayfeather and Kestrelflight.

“And if they ask?” Kestrelflight prodded. “Do you expect me to lie to Harestar?”

Mothwing lashed her tail. “You can answer honestly without making it seem like a crisis. Tell them that StarClan hasn’t said anything specific, or particularly helpful. That won’t seem unusual.”

Kestrelflight hissed. “Of course you’d say that.”

“If you ask me,” Jayfeather meowed, raising his voice above the others’, “this is a crisis. And we should be preparing our Clans for life without StarClan—whatever that means.”

Gasps of horror came from the other medicine cats. Their eyes were wide and shocked, as if the terrible future Jayfeather suggested had never occurred to them.

“No cat did ask you,” Willowshine retorted tartly. “That’s giving in far too soon.”

“StarClan can’t have abandoned us for good,” Frecklewish insisted.

“That’s right,” Kestrelflight agreed, even though his fur was bristling with apprehension. “Once the ice melts, everything will go back to normal.”

Jayfeather made no response, though his sightless eyes glared a challenge. The other medicine cats’ objections soon faltered into silence; the thought of life without StarClan was enough to quiet them. Without any formal ending to the meeting they began to pad slowly up the spiral path, their heads and tails drooping in dejection. Once they were out of the hollow, they split up to return to their Clans with only a brief good-bye.

Shadowpaw and Puddleshine plodded back to ShadowClan territory in uneasy silence. Shadowpaw sensed that his mentor was open to listening to him, but he didn’t ask any questions, and Shadowpaw didn’t want to tell him anything.

When they had made their way through the brambles and into the ShadowClan camp, Puddleshine began leading the way to their den, but Shadowpaw halted.

“I want to speak to Tigerstar,” he mewed.

Puddleshine turned back to him, his expression disapproving. “We all agreed not to panic the Clans,” he warned his apprentice. “What are you going to tell our leader?”

“It’s not about that,” Shadowpaw replied. “I just want to see my father.”

Puddleshine hesitated, then gave a brusque nod. “Remember what Mothwing said. Be careful what you say,” he meowed, and continued to his den.