Moth Flight’s Vision

“No!” Alarm jolted through her. She didn’t want to be like Slate, moving around the hollow like a shadow, pitied by her Clanmates. She didn’t want to see her den. Micah had been there. They’d been so excited when they’d remembered the tree bark. Her breath quickened. Rocky would still be there. How could she take care of him? How could she take care of any cat?

Her thoughts tumbled, confused. She’d never be able to remember any herb. Every cat would be depending on her. She struggled for breath.

“Moth Flight.” Pebble Heart’s soft mew sounded through the roar of blood in her ears. “Eat this.” An aromatic scent touched her nose. The ShadowClan medicine cat had laid a sprig of tiny leaves at her paws. “It’s thyme. It will calm you.”

Blindly, Moth Flight leaned down and grabbed the sprig, chewing it as the world seemed to spin around her. Its pungent flavors bathed her tongue, pulling her thoughts away from the spiraling terror that filled her mind. Slowly she felt her heart begin to slow. She blinked, the blurred bluebells brightening around her.

“Come back to my camp,” Pebble Heart murmured. “Reed Tail can look after WindClan for a while. You can have peace to grieve until you feel strong enough to return to your Clanmates.”

Moth Flight blinked at him, soothed by his amber gaze.

“Will Tall Shadow let me stay?”

“Yes. If I ask her,” Pebble Heart told her.

Wind Runner’s mew sounded at the top of the glade. “Will

Tall Shadow let you stay where?” She hurried down the slope, ears twitching.

“I want Moth Flight to spend some time with ShadowClan,” Pebble Heart told her calmly.

“Why?” Wind Runner bristled. “She should be with her kin.”

Pebble Heart returned her gaze. “She needs to be away from responsibility until she’s strong enough to bear her grief.”

Moth Flight looked at Wind Runner, expecting her mother to argue, but saw worry darken her yellow eyes.

“Is this what you want?” she asked Moth Flight.

Moth Flight nodded, strangely calm. She guessed the thyme must be soothing her. She leaned against Pebble Heart, gratitude washing her pelt.

Pebble Heart dipped his head to Wind Runner. “I’ll take her to my camp.”

Wind Runner shifted her paws. “I’ll send Dust Muzzle to check on her soon.”

“Not too soon,” Pebble Heart told her. “She’ll be in good paws. I’ll take care of her until she’s strong enough to take care of herself.”

Gorse Fur called from the top of the slope. “We should get back to the moor, Wind Runner. The Clan will be unsettled.

They’ll need you.”

Wind Runner touched her nose to Moth Flight’s cheek.

“Take care.”

Moth Flight nodded dumbly as her mother bounded up the slope, and then Pebble Heart began to guide her across the glade. He nudged her gently up the far slope, steering her toward a rabbit trail that cut between the brambles.

With every paw step, grief jabbed at Moth Flight’s heart.

She was walking away. She would never again see Micah in the forest or on the moor. She was leaving him behind, alone beneath the earth.

Pebble Heart led the way into the ShadowClan camp, ducking through a gap in the vast bramble hedge into a wide, pine needle–strewn clearing.

Juniper Branch looked up from a mouse she was gnawing and blinked sympathetically at Moth Flight. The tortoiseshell queen was looking plump, her belly swollen. Her mate, Raven

Pelt, glanced toward Moth Flight, catching her eye before awkwardly snatching his gaze away.

Mouse Ear, sitting on a sun-dappled patch of grass at the edge of the clearing, leaned closer to Mud Paws and murmured into his friend’s ear. “I heard she was in love with the farm cat.”

Moth Flight fixed her gaze ahead. What do you know? She felt unreasonably angry. Micah was dead and these cats would never know him. It wasn’t fair.

“Moth Flight.” Tall Shadow padded from the head of the clearing, her eyes soft with sympathy.

Moth Flight stopped and stared at her paws. “Pebble Heart said I could stay,” she mumbled.

Pebble Heart padded past her and leaned close to the ShadowClan leader. “I thought she’d grieve more easily here, away from anything that will stir memories.”

Everything stirs memories! The sky! The wind! The sun!

Moth Flight braced herself against a fresh wave of grief.

Tall Shadow dipped her head. “Of course you can stay.”

A black tom padded from a small den woven into the camp wall. “Moth Flight?” He padded closer, his ears twitching nervously. “Are you okay? Sparrow Fur brought us the news.

I’m so sorry. I wish I’d known Micah better. Pebble Heart says he had the heart of a Tribe cat and the courage of a Clan cat.”

“Thanks, Sun Shadow.” Moth Flight met his amber gaze. It was a relief to hear someone say Micah’s name. So long as cats spoke of him, he would never be forgotten. “Micah shouldn’t have died.” She flashed a look at Tall Shadow, wondering whether she was like Clear Sky and Wind Runner. Did she value borders more dearly than the lives of cats?