Outcast

“I have no guidance,” the ancestor replied at last. “Never in the Tribe’s history have we tried to fight an endless battle.

Until now, the mountains have been protection enough.” His sigh was like the whisper of wind over the rock. “We can see no end to it.”

“There must be an end!” Stoneteller protested. “My Tribe is dying. There must be something we can do.”

The ancestor shook his head. “Not this time,” he mewed sadly. “We thought this was a place of safety, but it is not.” He turned and began to pace away, fading into the shadows.

“Wait!” Stoneteller took a step forward, lashing his tail, then halted, his head lowered in defeat. As if he was too exhausted to stay on his paws, he staggered to the shelter of a rocky overhang, flopped down, and closed his eyes.

Instantly Jaypaw sprang out of hiding and raced along the stony ridge, ignoring the precipices on either side. After a few pounding heartbeats, the shape of the ancestor reappeared from the shadows, still pacing slowly away.

“Wait for me!” Jaypaw called.

The ancestor halted and glanced back over his shoulder.

When his gaze fell on Jaypaw his ears flicked up and his eyes widened in shock. “You have come,” he whispered.

Jaypaw stared at him. What did he mean? How could a cat from the Tribe of Endless Hunting recognize a Clan cat who had never set paw in the mountains until now?

Before he could say anything, the cat spoke again. “Follow.”

Jaypaw gulped. This wasn’t what he had imagined. But he was here now—and there were so many questions he wanted answers to. His paws carried him on almost against his will, as the ancestor crossed the last few fox-lengths of the ridge and set paw on a trail that led down into thick shadow.

The narrow path, faint against the surface of the rocks, zigzagged across the face of a cliff. In the dim starshine Jaypaw couldn’t see the bottom. But at least I can see. This couldn’t be as bad as that awful journey yesterday, and it wouldn’t end in the humiliation of being carried like a kit. He pressed himself close to the rock face and tried not to think of how far he might have to fall.

The ancestor padded on steadily, his pace never varying; now and again he glanced over his shoulder to make sure that Jaypaw was still following. Eventually he halted, beckoned Jaypaw with his tail, then leaped off the cliff and disappeared.

Jaypaw’s claws scraped the stony surface of the ledge. Was he expected to launch himself into the shadows? If he didn’t kill himself, it would still break his dream, and he couldn’t bear to wake up until he’d had a chance to talk to the ancestor. But when he peered over the edge he saw the ground was only a couple of tail-lengths below. He jumped down easily and looked around.

The ancestor had brought him to the bottom of a stone hollow, a little like the ThunderClan camp, except that the sides were sheer and much, much taller. The only way up or down seemed to be by the trail that they had followed. In the center of the hollow, almost filling it, was a pool. Starlight shimmered on its surface. It reminded Jaypaw of the Moonpool, except it was much bigger, and instead of the constant plashing of the waterfall, the water was still and the hollow was utterly silent.

Jaypaw blinked. What he had thought was the reflection of starshine in the pool was a light that came from the ranks of starry cats sitting around it—or had they only just shown themselves? He shivered as he gazed around. He was used to StarClan now, but he had never imagined that one day he would confront ancestors who were not his own.

Some of the cat shapes were barely visible, as if the spirits were so old that they had almost faded away. Others shone more strongly, and some still bore the wounds of battle, seeping blood, as if they had only just come to join the Tribe of Endless Hunting.

Jaypaw stayed frozen in place as one of the ancient cats rose to its paws and came close enough to sniff him. Jaypaw could see the water of the pool through the outline of his fur.

“We heard you would come,” the ancestor murmured. His voice was muffled, as if he spoke through season upon season of dust. “But we did not expect you to come so soon.”

Soon? Jaypaw could hardly imagine what “soon” meant to these old spirits. Surely they must have been waiting for a moon of lifetimes?

“Are you talking about the prophecy?” he asked.

“Yes.” The old cat breathed out the word. “Three will come, kin of the cat with fire in his pelt, who hold the power of the stars in their paws.”

Jaypaw’s heart began to thud. They knew! They knew, and so did StarClan! How long have they been waiting for us?

“Where are the other two?” the ancient spirit asked.

“In the cave.” Jaypaw wasn’t going to admit that he hadn’t told his littermates about the prophecy yet. “Where did the prophecy come from?” he whispered.