Sunrise

“This is the night we should travel to the Moonpool,” she went on. “You’ll have to go by yourself. I can’t leave the vigil.”

Jayfeather nodded. “Okay.” He made himself sound calm, but he wanted to bounce up and down like an excited kit. Without Leafpool, surely he could find out something about the mystery herb from the other medicine cats?

A brisk evening breeze rattled the bare branches as Jayfeather padded through the forest. His earlier excitement had faded; he set his paws down confidently, but inwardly he was full of doubt. What would the other medicine cats say about Sol?

When he reached the top of the ridge, he found Barkface and Kestrelpaw waiting for him beside the stream. Just as he reached them, Littlecloud came bounding up from the direction of ShadowClan. Jayfeather’s ears pricked with surprise as he picked up another cat’s scent along with him. “Flamepaw!” he exclaimed.

“You remember me!” Flamepaw was bubbling over with excitement, like a pool in a rainstorm. “I saw you when Tawnypelt brought me to your camp with Tigerpaw and Dawnpaw. We’re kin,” he added proudly.

No, we’re not. A pang of regret shook Jayfeather. He liked the three eager young apprentices.

“Flamepaw is my apprentice now,” Littlecloud announced. “Tonight I’ll introduce him to StarClan.”

“Congratulations,” Jayfeather meowed, touching the young cat on the shoulder with his tail. He remembered how disappointed Flamepaw had been when he and his littermates came to the ThunderClan camp, because Sol had convinced Blackstar that ShadowClan didn’t need a medicine cat. It was great to hear that he was happy now, following the path StarClan had laid out for him. This wasn’t the right time to tell him that they weren’t kin after all.

There won’t ever be a right time, Jayfeather thought.

By the time the other cats had exchanged greetings, there was still no sign of Mothwing and Willowshine from RiverClan.

“We won’t wait,” Barkface decided. “We’ve a lot to get through tonight.”

“Maybe they’ll catch up,” Littlecloud meowed.

And maybe Mothwing doesn’t feel like trekking all the way to the Moonpool just to catch up on her sleep, Jayfeather thought. She usually sends Willowshine, though.

The medicine cats were beginning the last scramble up the steep slope toward the bushes that surrounded the Moonpool, when they heard a breathless yowl from behind them. “Wait! Wait for us!”

Jayfeather turned and caught the scent of Mothwing and her apprentice, growing rapidly stronger as the two cats raced to catch up.

“Sorry,” Mothwing panted as they reached the bottom of the rocks. “We got held up. Petalkit got a thorn in her eye.”

“Poor little thing,” Barkface murmured. “I hope you got it out.”

“Yes, it just took a good lick,” Mothwing replied. “I left her asleep in the nursery.”

“I don’t know if you’ve tried this,” Littlecloud meowed, “but I’ve always found celandine good for damaged eyes. Just trickle a bit of the juice into her eye to ease the pain.”

“Oh, thank you!” Mothwing exclaimed. “I didn’t know that. I’ll try it as soon as we get back. Willowshine, do we have any celandine in the store?”

“I think so,” the younger cat replied. “There’s not much left, but it should be enough.”

“Let’s keep going,” Barkface mewed. “We’re wasting moonlight.”

Jayfeather clawed his way up the rocky hillside and pushed through the bushes to the rim of the hollow where the Moonpool lay. He could hear the gentle plash of the waterfall, and pictured the surface of the water dappled with the light of countless stars.

“I’ve something to say,” Barkface announced as the cats settled down beside the pool. “Jayfeather, I know our leaders visited your Clan to talk about Sol.”

Jayfeather’s belly clenched; he braced himself for what he thought was coming.

“I want to say that it must have been a very hard decision for Firestar to make,” the old medicine cat went on. “I don’t think any of us should say that it was the right or the wrong thing to do.”

The other medicine cats murmured their agreement.

Jayfeather’s ears twitched; that was the last thing he had expected to hear, and he was surprised and touched by his companions’ sympathy. “It—it’s in the paws of StarClan,” he stammered.

“And it’s time for us to share tongues with StarClan.” Jayfeather heard Littlecloud rise and pad to the very edge of the water. “But first, I must present Flamepaw to the spirits of his warrior ancestors. Flamepaw, are you ready?”

“Yes.” The word came out as a squeak; Jayfeather felt Flamepaw’s embarrassment mingled with his awe.

“Flamepaw,” Littlecloud went on, slipping into the words of the age-old ritual, “is it your wish to enter into the mysteries of StarClan as a medicine cat?”

“It is.” Now the young cat had control of his voice, though excitement still vibrated through it.

“Then come forward.”