Lost Stars

“I stayed out a bit longer to hunt,” he explained. “I had Dewspring’s permission. I must have gotten too close to the ShadowClan border.”

Reedclaw gave him a skeptical look from narrowed eyes. “Okay,” she mewed. “But get back to your den now. Remember that you and Needlepaw have to take out all the soiled bedding in the morning.”

Like I’d forget that!

“I’ll go straight there,” Rootpaw promised, and padded off, conscious of Reedclaw’s gaze following him across the camp. He was relieved that she hadn’t questioned him further, and he had been able to keep his new friend’s secret.

And I can use all four paws again, he thought. Shadowpaw is going to be a great medicine cat!

Remembering the concern on the young cat’s face, he added to himself, I hope he finds what he’s looking for at the Moonpool.

Chapter 15

Every hair on Shadowpaw’s pelt tingled with apprehension as he pushed his way through the line of bushes at the top of the hollow and emerged above the Moonpool. The last time he had been here alone, he had been struck by lightning—unless the other medicine cats were right, and he’d imagined it somehow.

I must be flea-brained to risk that again, he told himself. I know I shouldn’t be here alone. But what else can I do?

Stronger even than his fear was Shadowpaw’s conviction that he had to find out more about the voice that had warned him about the codebreakers, and especially the vision he had seen of his mother, Dovewing. This vision was different from his other visions that had come true—it hadn’t arrived with a seizure. And it had felt less like a vision than a conversation with a cat he knew. So is it real . . . ?

He had to know whether the vision was really from StarClan and figure out what it meant.

Gazing down at the Moonpool, Shadowpaw saw that the icy covering was thicker still. Barely a glimmer of light fell on it from the heavily clouded sky. When Puddleshine had first brought him here, he had been overwhelmed by the Moonpool’s beauty. Now it seemed ominous, and it took all Shadowpaw’s courage to set his paws on the spiral path that led down to the water’s edge. But he had to be back in camp before dawn, or risk trouble from his mentor and his Clan leader. He had no time to waste.

The night was dark and silent as Shadowpaw approached the pool. Stretching out one forepaw, he cleared away the loose snow from the frozen surface and closed his eyes as he touched his nose to it.

Cold spread through Shadowpaw’s body, gripping every nerve and muscle and seeming to freeze his blood, as if he were slowly turning to ice. He bore it as long as he could, but when finally he sat up again, breaking the contact, there had been no response from StarClan. Shadowpaw wasn’t sure whether he was sorry or relieved.

But as Shadowpaw headed for the bottom of the path, ready to give up and go home, the voice spoke once again in his mind. “The codebreakers are still among you. . . .”

Shadowpaw halted, sliding out his claws to dig deep into the hard ground, then stood motionless as if he really had turned to ice.

“StarClan, you must be wrong this time!” he meowed aloud. “The cats you showed me last time are good cats.”

An image of Dovewing flashed into his mind: her sleek gray pelt, her green eyes shining with love for him or with defiance against anything that threatened her Clan or her kin.

“My mother is one of the strongest and most heroic cats in all the Clans,” he protested.

“StarClan is never wrong,” the voice responded. “And you know it, Shadowpaw. The Clans have a code for a reason. It’s supposed to be followed.” The speaker’s voice had deepened into a growl. It’s a tom, Shadowpaw realized, and fear shook him from ears to tail-tip. Who is he? What does he want?

“Or do you not believe in the code yourself?” the voice continued, mocking. “Some medicine cat you are!”

“I do believe in the code!” Shadowpaw insisted, indignation helping him to control his terror. “But I believe in my mother, too. And if I know she is a good cat, then who’s to say the other codebreakers aren’t too?”

The voice made no reply, and as the moments dragged by, Shadowpaw wondered if he had said something terrible, something that insulted this ancestral spirit who had spoken to him when all the other starry warriors had fallen silent.