Moth Flight’s Vision

They can see me! Joy swelled in Moth Flight’s chest. At last!

They can see me!

She met the gaze of a tabby tom, who dipped his head to her, then looked at the tortoiseshell she-cat beside him, who closed her eyes slowly, nodding a greeting. Moth Flight’s fur pricked along her spine. These cats were showing respect! Didn’t they know she was just a young WindClan cat who hadn’t even learned to hunt properly yet?

A glittering gray pelt moved toward her and she recognized the face of Gray Wing. “You’re here!” she breathed, excitement fizzing in her paws.

Gray Wing stopped a muzzle-length from her nose.

“Welcome, Moth Flight.” His eyes glowed with pride. “You’ve come at last.”

“Welcome.”

“Welcome.”

“You’ve come at last.”

Murmurs of greeting rippled through the gathered cats.

What did they mean? Moth Flight’s heart quickened. “Come at last?” she echoed, puzzled.

A white she-cat padded forward and stopped beside Gray Wing. Her pelt glistened with starlight and her green eyes glowed emerald as though lit by ancient wisdom. Moth Flight found herself drawn into the white cat’s gaze, breath catching in her throat.

“I’m Half Moon.” Affection warmed the she-cat’s mew.

“We’ve been waiting for you.”

“For me?” Moth Flight stepped back, surprised. “Do you know me?” The spirit-cats had looked straight through her in her dreams; they never even saw her.

Half Moon seemed to read her thoughts. “We know every cat.”

“How?” Moth Flight blinked at her.

“We watch over you.” She gazed wistfully at the hole in the roof.

Moth Flight glanced at the stars twinkling outside. Did the spirit-cats live up there like some kind of… Clan?

Half Moon’s gaze flashed toward her once more. “Like the stars, we light your way when it grows dark. We know what is in your hearts and your dreams.”

“Then why couldn’t you see me in my dreams about the blue-gray she-cat?” Moth Flight glanced around the glittering cats. Was the she-cat here? There was no sign of her. “You were right in this cave with her. I saw you!”

Half Moon dipped her head. “Some dreams you must dream alone.”

Moth Flight narrowed her eyes. “But my dreams led me here.”

“The moth led you here,” Half Moon reminded her.

“Did you send it?” Moth Flight didn’t wait for a reply. Of course they sent it! “How did you know I’d follow it?”

“We didn’t,” Half Moon told her. “We only hoped. It was the only way we could be sure that you were the one.”

“The one?” Moth Flight’s tail tip twitched anxiously. She suddenly felt very far from home. She glanced at Gray Wing’s familiar face, hungry for reassurance.

But Gray Wing dipped his head and stepped back. “Half

Moon will explain.”

The white she-cat sat down and tucked her tail over her paws. “We brought you here for a reason,” she began.

“Why me? I’m not special. I’m just a—”

Half Moon silenced her with a look. “You are special.”

Moth Flight remembered Gorse Fur’s words on the moortop.

Dust Muzzle will make a fine hunter one day, but Moth Flight is special. She stared at her paws. “I can’t hunt as well as the others. I keep getting distracted.” Had the spirit-cats brought her all this way to tell her she wasn’t good enough to be a Clan cat?

“We know,” Half Moon meowed softly. “But that’s not a bad thing. We want you to carry on being yourself.”

“Being myself?” What did that mean?

“Honor the qualities that make you who you are,” Half

Moon went on gently. “Your curiosity, your dreams, your openness to the world around you.”

Moth Flight blinked at her in surprise. “But they are useless qualities in a Clan. Curiosity and dreams don’t feed hungry bellies.” Moth Flight could hear her mother’s voice as she spoke.

Half Moon’s tail twitched. “Let your Clanmates fill empty bellies. They will always be better hunters than you.”

Moth Flight’s pelt burned with shame.

“You have strengths no other cat has,” Half Moon went on.

“Of course curiosity is no good for a hunter, nor is an open mind. A hunter must focus on the prey in front of his nose. He misses the things that you notice.”

Moth Flight struggled to understand. “But all I see are stars in puddles and interesting plants!”

“You saw this cave in your dreams,” Half Moon pointed out.

“You clearly have a stronger connection with us than any other cat has.”

“But other cats have seen you!” Moth Flight argued.

“That was at the beginning. Before the Clans had found their way. Now things must change.” Half Moon glanced around her starry companions. “The Clans need more than leadership and strength; they need nurture and care. But it must come from within. We can’t guide their paws in everything. That is why we have chosen you to be the first medicine cat.”

Moth Flight’s pelt rippled along her spine. “Medicine cat?

What do you mean?”

Half Moon tipped her head. “You will learn to heal your Clanmates when they are sick or wounded using plants from the moor, forest, and river.”