The Apprentice's Quest

A tense silence fell among the Clans as the medicine cats gathered together in front of the Great Oak. As well as Leafpool and Jayfeather, Alderpaw recognized Mothwing and her apprentice, Willowshine, from when they had visited the ThunderClan camp.

“That old tom must be Littlecloud from ShadowClan,” he murmured to Sparkpaw.

“So the cat with the splotchy gray fur is Kestrelflight from WindClan,” Sparkpaw responded.

The medicine cats conferred together rapidly before Kestrelflight leaped up onto one of the oak roots beside the deputies.

“All of us have shared a vision,” he began.

“We received a prophecy that is vital to all our Clans.”

Meows of shock and confusion rose from the cats around him as he finished speaking.

“Why would StarClan give you a shared vision?” some cat called out.

“Which cat spoke to you all?”

“It’s been seasons since we had a prophecy!”

The clamor grew louder and louder until

Jayfeather stood up, lashing his tail. “For StarClan’s sake, shut up and listen!” he snapped.

Gradually the noise died down, until

Kestrelflight could make himself heard again.

“Firestar spoke to us first,” he reported.

“Oh, yeah, it would be Firestar!” Needlepaw muttered. “He has his tail in every cat’s business, even now he’s dead.”

“He said, ‘Embrace what you find in the shadows, for only they can clear the sky.’”

“And what did he mean by that?”

Harespring, the WindClan deputy, asked.

“We don’t know,” Kestrelflight replied.

Harespring sniffed. “Well, great.”

As he listened to Kestrelflight, Alderpaw couldn’t shake off the feeling that all this was somehow familiar. He could almost picture a large cat with a flame-colored pelt—a cat he had never seen—speaking the words. Could that have been Firestar? But everything was vague, like a half-remembered dream; he tried to push the shadowy memory away and focus on what was being said.

When Kestrelflight fell silent, agitated voices rose all around him.

“What does it mean?”

“What would we find ‘in the shadows’?”

“And how are we supposed to find it if we don’t know what it is?”

“Maybe it’s ShadowClan?”

“If you ask me,” a scarred ShadowClan elder hissed, “what should be embraced is a bit more respect for senior warriors.”

Beepaw and Needlepaw shared a quiet purr of laughter. “Ratscar’s always saying that!”

Beepaw murmured.

A pretty RiverClan apprentice raised her tail. “I found some really beautiful blue feathers that I decorated my nest with in a shady glen,” she meowed. “Do you think they could be important?”

An older RiverClan tabby—her mentor, Alderpaw guessed—gave her a sharp cuff over the ear. “Stupid furball!”

“Our old territory, back in the forest, was filled with shadows,” Onestar murmured. He looked old and frail, his eyes full of memories.

“So much was lost to us when we left.”

“But how could we possibly find our old territory?” Mistystar asked. Her voice was warm and sympathetic, and she stretched out her tail to draw the tip down the WindClan leader’s flank. “It’s gone.”

“I’ve got a question.” Cloudtail rose from where he was sitting beside Brightheart and Whitewing and faced the medicine cats. “Do we think this prophecy applies to all the Clans? Or was it meant for Jayfeather specifically?”

“Good question,” Littlecloud responded.

“Firestar prefaced it with ‘a time of great change is coming for all the Clans,’” Jayfeather replied. “Which would seem to mean, yes, this is meant for all of us.”

A new swell of voices, confused and angry, rose from all four Clans.

“Is StarClan saying that we all must embrace what we find in the shadows—whatever that is?” Crowfrost demanded.

Alderpaw could feel the tension in the clearing, as if a covering of cold, dark fog had suddenly descended. Cats were sharing uneasy glances and muttering to one another in low voices.

“This is so exciting!” Sparkpaw whispered.

“Maybe we’ll find the shadowy thing and save ThunderClan.”

“I doubt it,” Alderpaw responded. I don’t feel ready to be heroic.

“What?”

Needlepaw had obviously overheard. “No ThunderClan cat is better at finding things than any ShadowClan cat!”

“You would say that!” Sparkpaw flashed back at her. “Just you wait and see!”

“I think the whole idea is silly,” Sleekpaw mewed disdainfully, though Alderpaw noticed that she kept her voice low while she said it.

“Prophecies and StarClan and all that stuff are just ridiculous!”

Alderpaw and Sparkpaw exchanged a shocked glance. Does Sleekpaw not believe in StarClan?

Alderpaw wondered.

That’s terrible! He thought that Needlepaw and Beepaw were shocked too, silent for a few heartbeats, even though they finally forced out short purrs of laughter.

A sudden prickling sensation at the back of his neck made Alderpaw feel that some cat was looking at him. He glanced over his shoulder toward the Great Oak, and his pelt began to prickle with alarm. Seated at the foot of the tree with the other medicine cats, Leafpool was staring directly at him.

Why?