Lost Stars

Rootpaw felt every hair on his pelt rising at the thought that warriors of StarClan might be gathered around the Moonpool, invisible. “It’s so weird, watching the medicine cats like this,” he murmured.

Bristlefrost did not speak for a moment, ears angled down toward the pool. “Listen,” she continued. “I can hear the medicine cats murmuring among themselves. That’s probably not a good sign.”

Rootpaw nodded agreement as he heard the muted meows drifting upward from the cats around the pool. Glancing beyond Bristlefrost, wondering how the other Clans were reacting, he felt that something wasn’t quite right, and it took him a few heartbeats to work out what it was.

“Why are there no ShadowClan cats here?” he asked.

It was Needlepaw who replied. “I overheard Violetshine telling Tree that ShadowClan wasn’t invited, because of the weirdness with their medicine-cat apprentice. The other Clans are wondering if he might be the problem.”

“You mean they think Shadowpaw is the reason why StarClan isn’t communicating?” Rootpaw asked.

“Some cats do,” Needlepaw replied.

Rootpaw thought back to his conversation with Shadowpaw in the twilit woods, when the apprentice was on his way to the Moonpool. He had seemed really worried; he had spoken about something bad coming to all the Clans. Rootpaw thought he seemed kind, and clearly Shadowpaw was already a skilled medicine-cat apprentice.

He treated my wounded paw, and it healed really quickly. How could a healer like that be the problem?

Rootpaw wanted to ask Bristlefrost or Needlepaw that question, but he couldn’t do so without revealing that Shadowpaw had been sneaking off to the Moonpool on his own. And I walked part of the way with him when I should have been hunting. No way can I tell that to any cat!

Lost in his thoughts about Shadowpaw, Rootpaw hadn’t noticed that Frecklewish had begun to climb the spiral path toward the waiting warriors. But now he saw that she had reached the top of the hollow and stood facing them. She looked weary and dejected, and Rootpaw realized there had been no communication with StarClan.

“We have dented the ice,” Frecklewish announced, “but we haven’t hit water yet. The pool may be frozen all the way through.”

Murmurs and gasps of consternation came from the Clan cats, and they exchanged glances of dismay.

“We may need your help in breaking the ice after all,” Frecklewish added.

“No. We did not agree to that.” Jayfeather had climbed the path behind Frecklewish, and now stood at her side, his tabby fur bristling with indignation. “The Moonpool is the special place shown to us by StarClan, and it should only be touched by medicine cats.”

“We’ve already discussed this, Jayfeather,” Frecklewish retorted, her pelt too beginning to rise. “The Moonpool is only special because it’s the way that we can reach StarClan. And if we can’t do that, and they can’t reach us either, then isn’t it our job to do everything we can to help StarClan get through?”

Jayfeather’s only reply was a hiss of indignation as he turned his head away.

Meanwhile, the remaining medicine cats had left the side of the pool and joined the others at the top of the hollow. “What do the Clan leaders think?” Alderheart asked. “Tell us what you want to do.”

Leafstar, Mistystar, and Harestar glanced toward Squirrelflight, the ThunderClan deputy. Earlier she had told the others that Bramblestar couldn’t make the journey to the Moonpool because he had hurt his paw hunting.

“What do you think?” Leafstar asked her. “I understand Bramblestar is very concerned that no cat can make contact with StarClan. That’s why we started this whole operation.”

Squirrelflight looked torn, as if she wasn’t sure how to reply. “Yes, Bramblestar is concerned,” she began, “but . . .” Her voice trailed off and she looked down at her paws.

“Well, I’m inclined to agree with Frecklewish,” Leafstar meowed. “At the gorge, our medicine cats never had any trouble connecting with our ancestors.”

Harestar twitched his whiskers nervously. “Yes, I agree too. WindClan has suffered the worst of this harsh weather. Hunting is nearly impossible, and my cats are starving. We need StarClan’s guidance, so we must do all we can to restore the connection.”

“What do you think, Mistystar?” Leafstar asked, when the RiverClan leader did not speak.

Mistystar shook her head. “I’m not sure . . . ,” she responded reluctantly. “I understand that the medicine cats have different feelings about this. So I’d rather leave RiverClan’s decision in the paws of my medicine cats.”

Mothwing and Willowshine exchanged a glance. “I’m not sure the warriors should help,” Willowshine mewed. “But I miss StarClan’s advice as much as any cat. I’ll go with the majority decision.”

“So will I,” Mothwing added.