Moth Flight’s Vision

Micah went on. “You were always braver and smarter than you thought. It’s one of the reasons I loved you, and why I still miss you. But you have so much left to do. Making decisions is easy; living with them is the true test of courage. Only by being true to yourself and becoming the medicine cat you dream of will you learn how truly special you are.”

Moth Flight looked up, staring past the branches to the sky beyond. The stars flashed like flecks of sunlight on rippling water, brighter than she’d ever seen them and too many to count.

“I will do my best,” she promised. “I will always do my best.”

Chapter 37

Moth Flight fluffed out her fur against the chilly air of the Moonstone cavern and looked up. Stars glittered beyond the hole in the roof. Moonlight spilled over the rim. As she waited for it to reach the Moonstone, she listened to the other medicine cats talk.

“I’m glad the clouds cleared in time,” Pebble Heart mewed.

“Clouds never last long when it’s this breezy,” Dappled Pelt answered. “The wind has been tugging at my whiskers all day.”

“It brought down the first fall of leaves in the forest,” Cloud

Spots told them.

Acorn Fur shivered. “I’m not ready for leafbare.”

“That’s a few moons away yet,” Pebble Heart reassured her.

Moth Flight’s thoughts drifted from their idle chatter, her mind sifting through everything they’d told her on the journey here. In the moon since she’d given Honey Pelt, Bubbling Stream, Blue Whisker, and Spider Paw away, her heart had felt like a heavy, cracked stone in her chest. She’d curled into her empty nest each night, feeling their absence in the cold moss around her, and each morning she’d awoken expecting to feel their soft pelts nestling against her but feeling nothing but the twitching of her own paws.

“How is Blue Whisker?” she’d asked Cloud Spots as she met him at the WindClan border.

Cloud Spots had told her that Blue Whisker was eating well and had made friends already with Milkweed’s kits. “She and Shivering Rose are inseparable.”

Acorn Fur had purred as she told Moth Flight that Honey Pelt was following Skystar around camp, asking endless questions. “Skystar enjoys it,” the chestnut she-cat had reassured her. “His eyes light up whenever Honey Pelt darts in front of him, begging to know something new. He seems impressed by Honey Pelt’s eagerness to learn.”

“How’s Bubbling Stream?” Moth Flight had asked Pebble Heart as they’d crossed a dusky meadow.

“She’s leading Dangling Leaf, Dusk Nose, and Shade Pelt on expeditions outside camp.”

Moth Flight’s belly had tightened with worry. “Are they safe in the forest by themselves?”

“Someone always tracks them,” Pebble Heart had promised her. “Mouse Ear followed them through a nettle patch yesterday.

They all came home with stung noses and pads.”

Moth Flight’s heart had quickened with alarm. “Is Bubbling Stream all right?”

“I had plenty of fresh dock in my store,” Pebble Heart had told her gently. “Besides, every kit gets stung eventually. Mouse Ear should have known better than to walk through a nettle patch, but he said he didn’t want to let them out of his sight.”

Moth Flight had felt reassured and hurried to catch up with Dappled Pelt. “Is Spider Paw settling into RiverClan?”

“He can swim already.” There had been a hint of pride in Dappled Pelt’s mew.

“Not by himself, surely?” Alarm flashed through Moth

Flight’s pelt.

“Kits never swim by themselves,” Dappled Pelt promised her. “Not until they’re strong enough to ride the currents.”

Moth Flight’s thoughts had flashed back to her “swim” with Spider Paw. She’d felt helpless against the buffeting of the water. She couldn’t imagine Spider Paw ever being strong enough to survive it.

“He’ll be swimming like a fish before long.” Dappled Pelt must have guessed Moth Flight’s anxiety. “It’s just like running through a gale.” She’d glanced sideways. “You’ve never been knocked off your paws by the wind, have you?”

“No.” Moth Flight had been unconvinced. But she had to trust RiverClan.

Dappled Pelt gently changed the subject. “Drizzle and Pine

Needle think Spider Paw’s great. He’s been teaching them how to play moss-ball. He’s a great jumper. Drizzle can never get the moss past him.”

Moth Flight pictured Spider Paw now, as she gazed at the Moonstone. She could imagine him charging around the RiverClan camp as he’d done in the hollow. Her heart ached.

Did her kits miss her? They sounded happy in their new homes.

Happier than with me? Guilt pricked her paws. She wanted them to be happy, and yet she hoped they still kept a place for her in their hearts.

Acorn Fur’s mew cut into her thoughts. “I wonder if StarClan has anything important to share with us.”

Moth Flight shifted her paws uneasily. Had they known she would give her kits away? Had she done the right thing? Guilt hollowed her belly.