[ 1 ]
Greystar was floating down the river. She couldn't move, but she didn't mind. She was MoonClan's Starwatcher, after all, and so her dreams were never the product of her own imagination, but meticulously crafted glimpses of her ancestor's collective desire. So she floated down the Starstream, moved by StarClan's willpower, as the hills of SunClan's territory washed lazily past, and attempted to puzzle out what, exactly, she was being shown.
Her dreams always had meaning, if she was smart enough to put together the pieces. The setting wasn't irregular: she recognized the Watchtower on the far horizon and the willow that curved over the bank. This was certainly the eastern branch of the Starstream, and that meant the hills to her right were SunClan's domain. Greystar herself was in the center of the river, and since the Starstream was so wide, this put her over a tree-length from the bank. Again, she couldn't move, but she didn't need her paws to keep her afloat and she felt no danger of being pulled under the deep, murky surface. She couldn't even feel the water: not the cold, not the wetness, not even on her submerged paws. The water itself appeared to rise to mid chest, and the longer fur of her ruff moved with the water as if it were floating, even if she couldn't feel it.
The sky was cloudy: again, not unusual for the season. It looked to be daytime from the hues of the water, but the clouds were very dark. A storm? A clue? In the time since Greystar was chosen as Starwatcher, she had learned to categorize and memorize the details of her dreams so she could ponder them while awake. She had other duties as Starwatcher, namely being the ambassador to SunClan, but Greystar always knew that her most important duty was to be the conduit that channeled StarClan's wisdom to her Clan. It was why StarClan had chosen her as Starwatcher after Fernstar died.
So while Greystar floated down the Starstream, gently maneuvering around the curves and bends and always sticking close to the center, she kept her senses open, impressing all the details down into her memory for later recall.
It was, she thought, a peaceful dream. She didn't understand it yet, but that was okay, she would eventually. Greystar always found the meaning in StarClan's messages. There were a few times the interpretation was unclear, though talking with Cricketmoon --MoonClan's leader-- or Hailstar --SunClan's Starwatcher-- often helped when she was stuck. Hailstar's advice was always invaluable, as the old tom had been walking StarClan's memories for longer than Greystar had been alive and he often followed different patterns of thought than Greystar's analytical approach, leading him to come to conclusions that were obvious to him but appeared inconsequential to her own method. Hailstar had only asked her opinion on a dream once since she took the title, and she was still proud to have prized the answer from that slippery metaphor.
This dream was longer than most. She had taken the bend at the corner of the territory long ago, past the herb patch, the beach, and the steep hill SunClan warriors called the Guardian on the western border of the territory. Greystar, like a patch of autumn leaves, was taken by the Starstream and floated past the Clans' borders.
Here was an oddity, she noted, as the distance between her and her home fell away with a gurgle of water. The Starstream was noticeably narrower, though she'd never seen the ribbon of blue change in width when she looked over the hills in the waking world. And the Cursed Forest was missing. She should have seen the trees by now on the right bank, after she passed the Guardian hill. It was flat land until the Forest, but the gentle rolling hills and scattered trees were the only thing she could see. It was as if someone copied SunClan's territory from the eastern Starstream to the Guardian hill and pasted it over the landscape over and over and over, though she didn't see the herb garden, the beach, or any other recognizable landmark. It felt variable enough, except for the fact that the land didn't flatten in a gentle slope like she knew it should.
The Starstream wound on, with Greystar pushed along at the center. On and on. She grew tired, in the dream, of seeing the same hills. The sky was unchanging: a brighter spot in the clouds in front of her that concealed the setting sun never moved or faded. The only change was the general narrowing of the river. It was so slight that it took what felt like dozens of minutes to even notice, and another hour to confirm that she wasn't making an unfair comparison in the otherwise generic monotony.
She yawned. She itched to stretch, though she was completely comfortable. The knowledge that she couldn't move was starting to feel constraining, no matter how safe she felt in StarClan's paws. Then-- a tree, a willow, broken halfway up the trunk and leaning over the water, its long branches blackened and charred. A long crack ran down the length of the trunk, a gash that bled soot into the water. Greystar took a mental image of the tree, relieved to have something to work with. The tree had been hit by lightning; she hadn't seen that kind of damage before, but she had heard of it in her dreams and she could imagine how the bolt clawed down from the sky, rending the willow's trunk in two and setting it ablaze. But what did it mean? And why were they so far away from the territories? A danger from afar? A storm on the way? Why had StarClan taken her through her home in the first place, if the only sign was to be in some generic part of the river that no cat has ever seen and no landmarks to help her find it again? Perhaps they showed her the territory to confirm that this was, indeed, the Starstream, and took her far so she would know the sign, whatever it meant, was equally far. Threats downriver must be from a thing; no flood or poison could flow upstream.
Greystar thought, then, that she'd awaken, having taken in the tree. But she continued down the river and the lightning-struck willow faded into the distance behind her. Minutes, then hours tumbled on. The Starstream narrowed further --half a tree-length, then to mere fox-lengths. She knew now why the vision hadn't stopped at the willow: more signs of fire became evident as the banks inched closer. The hillsides looked like the flanks of a tabby cat, lined and spotted with swaths of char. Trees that still had some leaves became outliers, standing as pinpricks of color in a sea of blackened trunks. The river itself, usually murky and muddy with thick sediment, now had a bright sheen of ash coating the top like grey ice. Greystar was glad she couldn't feel anything, though she could see the ash clumping on her fur like snow where she broke the water's surface.
Horror weighed a heavy stone in her chest. A great fire, that much was clear. So far away, that was also good, they would have time to prepare. Oh, StarClan, Greystar thought as the banks closed in, only a tail length away now. The slopes to the water were slick and black. No spots of green remained.
The river died to a trickle. Greystar still couldn't move, so when the water wasn't deep enough to hold her, she tipped forward onto her face. She sunk deep into the ash, her head completely buried, lost in the darkness. It was in her mouth, sticky, cold, bitter. She coughed and it was in her lungs, rattling painfully. Greystar couldn't help it, she screamed, and more ash was pulled into her mouth. She coughed again, but the wetness of her own saliva caked the ash in thickly, squelching between her teeth, packing down her throat. She couldn't move, oh, she couldn't--
Greystar startled awake, sucking in breaths of cool fall air. For a while, she imagined she was drowning in ash again and the panic would rear up in another wave, sending her scrabbling her claws into the dirt as she struggled to convince her body that she was safe. The waves of fear lessened as she forced herself to breathe normally, until only a ripple of worry remained. Greystar would deal with that later, along with--
An earsplitting yowl from outside brought the panic shooting back to the surface. Greystar pushed the ivy mat of her den up and rushed out of her den, blinking in the bright light of the sunrise. Sunrise-- for how long the dream had felt, she had only been asleep for mere minutes. She shoved that disturbing thought to the side with the rest of the dream memories.
The other cats peeked out from under the ivy, but stayed hidden away from the light. Greystar was the only one that had a den to herself, and with this bright of light, all MoonClan cats should be hidden in their dens by now so who--
A small cat staggered out from the banks of the cold spring, the water dripping down their brown pelt shining golden in the white sunrise. Two small lights winked at their shoulders and disappeared in a blink, so quickly Greystar would have thought it a trick of the light if she hadn't been so pumped full of adrenaline that the moment stretched like a cold touch.
The cat looked towards her, then collapsed into the sand.
Cold dread froze Greystar in place. A cat from the spring meant a new Starwatcher, and a new Starwatcher meant Hailstar, her mentor, her friend, and so close to her father, was dead.
It was only the knowledge that no other cat could help them --the other MoonClan cats would have to brave StarClan's fury for breaking curfew if they crossed the sun-streaked earth-- which unstuck Greystar's paws from the ground. Being the Starwatcher, she was blessed by StarClan and could walk unhindered under both the Sun and Moon, though being born and raised in MoonClan, she found the Sunlight too bright for her taste. Still, she lifted the ivy mat and padded out to where the cat had collapsed in the sand.
It was a tom, a dark russet brown that she didn't immediately recognize. A SunClan cat. From a distance she had thought that he was just a small warrior, but his ears and paws were clumsy and his fur had the traces of kit-fluff. He couldn't have been older than six or seven moons. Greystar picked him up by the scruff. She wasn't particularly strong or tall, but the not-quite-kitten was light as a feather as she carried him back to her den. Greystar heard a muffled shout and saw Coldfeather slinking between patches of shadow, sticking to the darkest edge of the camp as she hopped down into Greystar's den to meet them.
Greystar quickly dropped the kit inside and pulled the ivy mat shut, sealing out the beam of light. Coldfeather sighed in relief and pulled herself from where she had pressed herself into the shadows, relaxing into the comfortable darkness only barely lit by a smudge of filtered sunlight no brighter than that of a starless night sky. "Coldfeather!" Greystar admonished, "You--"
The older medicine cat silenced her with a wave of her speckled tail. "Save the speech, I get enough of it from Partridgetangle." She bent down and dropped the packages of herbs from where she had carried them in her jaws and beneath her chin. The lose leaves fluttered around in the space like birds before settling into a lose pile, which Coldfeather began to sort through with a claw, mostly by smell, as she bent over them. "I can't just let the new Starwatcher die of drowning for a little sunlight. The shadows are still darker than the twilight glow they bask in every morning, and they indulge in that without worrying about curfew."
"Drowning!" Greystar exclaimed.
Coldfeather didn't look up from her herb sorting, just waved her tail dismissively. "Oh, I can hear his breathing, he's fine." She shifted to look over the apprentice, running a paw over his flank. Her eyes narrowed in the dim light. "Though you didn't pass out when we found you in the spring," she muttered. "Did you know--"
"No," Greystar said coldly.
"Ah." Coldfeather left her to her silence as she worked over the apprentice's body, muttering to herself as she prodded him in his chest and stomach. She worked for some time, then went over to her herbs. She flicked through a few, then pushed a small seed over the ground towards Greystar's paws. "Here."
The Starwatcher looked down at the seed, then to the unresponsive apprentice. "What do you want me to do? I'm not a medicine cat."
Coldfeather was packing the rest of the herbs into a single flat leaf. "Oh, that's for you. It'll help." She neglected to explain further, and Greystar didn't ask. She lapped up the seed, crunching it between her teeth and swallowing. Coldfeather finished tying off the packet and settled down beside the apprentice to lick his fur dry. "You can rest," the old medicine cat said after Greystar only stood still, watching. "I'll watch over him for a while, but it seems like he's just asleep. He should be fine."
Greystar nodded, even though Coldfeather's back was to her. She returned to her nest, ruffled by her restless sleep and violent awakening and started to rearrange the leaves and moss. She was drowsy before she even sat down, it must have been the seed Coldfeather gave her. The dream-- the nightmare-- from before surged up one last time, and Greystar fought the seed's call for a few moments, afraid she would fall right back into the nightmare. But it was so difficult to resist, and she found her head heavy, her eyes drooping in the darkness. Coldfeather was purring, wrapped around the tom, warming his damp fur, Greystar could hear her talking gently from here. The thought of the grouchy old medicine cat acting motherly brought a smile to her face and calmed her enough that she immediately fell into a deep and, for the first time since she had walked out of that pond as a Starwatcher herself, dreamless sleep.
[ 2 ]
Greystar woke a few hours later feeling like an entirely different cat and ready to face all the troubling things dawn had brought. The Sun always brought problems.
She stood with a stretch, shaking the moss from her fur. Coldfeather was still wrapped tightly around the apprentice and Greystar could only barely see a tuft of his brown fur peeking out from beneath the medicine cat's mottled blacks and whites. She thought Coldfeather must be asleep, but she lifted her head when Greystar stepped out of her nest onto the sandy den floor. "Is he okay?"
The medicine cat licked the apprentice over the ear, pushing a paw onto his chest. "His sleep is deep," she commented, more to herself that to the Starwatcher. "His heart and lungs move slow, very slow. It is something I have seen only in your own sleep and when Cricketmoon received his name and blessings. His body is only barely alive, but his soul is walking StarClan's hills. He cannot be woken."
Greystar watched in silence for a few heartbeats. "Do you know when he will wake?" She was supposed to take the new Starwatcher to SunClan, that's how it always was since the Starwatchers always woke in MoonClan's spring, and Greystar was itching to visit SunClan as soon as possible and figure out what had happened to Hailstar. She had spoken to him the evening before, and while the tomcat was surely past his prime, he was as far from StarClan as any other cat would be. Something must have happened, something bad, and she hoped to all of StarClan that whatever it was, it wasn't tied to the horrific landscape of her nightmare.
"He'll wake when StarClan is done with him, and not a moment before," Coldfeather said, and Greystar bristled at her derisive tone. The medicine cat snorted and shook her head gently, her white speckled tail tip flicking over the sand. "Go," she looked over her shoulder, tipping her head to Greystar. "you should check on SunClan." They both knew Coldfeather meant Hailstar. "It takes moons, sometimes, for a new Starwatcher to be chosen, they can do without him for one day."
"And he'll wake after that?" Greystar said, already inching closer to the ivy mat.
The medicine cat made a dismissive sound, curling her tail back around the small tomcat. "I don't know StarClan's whims. I will keep his body safe while he walks, but his soul is between him and StarClan. He will be unharmed sleeping for another day at least, perhaps two. After that?" The medicine cat trailed off, looking down at the brown cat nestled in the curve of her stomach.
Greystar swallowed a lump in her throat. "He'll be fine," she managed. He has to be, otherwise...
"Go," Coldfeather said again, dismissing her. Greystar nodded and stopped hesitating at the edge of the den, turning away from the two in a decisive motion. She nosed the ivy flap upwards, careful to let in as little light as possible. If the little tomcat was really the Starwatcher StarClan had chosen, he would be protected from the Sunlight, but Coldfeather, a MoonClan cat in full, would not be. She pushed the ivy over the gap behind her, letting the hanging fronds at the edges seal out all traces of the noon sun from the scoop of sand beneath.
Greystar blinked in the bright light, shaking her fur against the prickling warmth of it. The beams itched her skin and she always had to fight the urge to scratch at it when she was out on a cloudless day. At least the thick trees kept the light from blinding her until her eyes adjusted as she wove through MoonClan's camp. The entire clearing was silent save for a few lonely whistles of sparrows. All the cats were safely tucked away under their own dark mats of ivy, which were scattered across the forest floor like patches on a calico's flank. With the entire Clan hidden from view, Greystar felt completely alone, even though she knew her Clanmates rested only pawsteps away. She knew some of them were jealous of the fact she could walk under the sun, but she found it lonely, as if she were the only cat alive in a dead forest.
She picked her way between the ivy mats, which while thick, weren't strong enough to hold a cat's weight. SunClan's camp was on the western hills and sat squarely between MoonClan's clump of trees and the distant threat of the Cursed Forest. Any danger would have to cross the carefully patrolled hills of SunClan's territory and slip by the heart of their camp before it would have any chance at finding MoonClan's hidden sanctuary. That was the ebb and flow of the two sister Clans: SunClan the strong protectors, and MoonClan the clever providers.
The shade of the thick evergreens kept Greystar comfortable as she crossed the thin slice of forest between the camp and MoonClan's western border The trees soon broke into a harsh forest edge, the open undergrowth of the evergreens suddenly overwhelmed with the tall grasses and thick shrub of the rolling hills. Bright sunlight streamed from the blue sky, making Greystar's lip curl as she stepped out of MoonClan's sanctuary and into the domain of the Sun.
Sometimes, when the moon is full and the night is young, the hills transform into the ideal altar for the Moon. With grasses outlined in shimmering silver and petals of flowers suspended in the cold, timeless air, when paws float over kilometers as easily as walking on clouds and crickets buzz a humble chorale.
But on cloudless days when the Sun is strong, the raw energy of the plains is unleashed and no cat could ever mistake that these hills are wholly within the Sun's kingdom.
SunClan's camp was close. A valley ran from the base of the slope that housed MoonClan's trees leading to the base of SunClan's hill. A nimble cat could cross the distance an a pawful of minutes if they ran and oftentimes SunClan apprentices and young warriors would venture closer to MoonClan's forest to watch the trees from the sides of the hill, although they weren't allowed in its shade. It was only on rainy days, when the sun was completely occluded and the sky belonged to neither Sun or Moon, that cats would meet at the demarcation between the two Clans' domains, venturing forth and sharing words and tongues with friends in the premature twilight.
These hills formed the heart of the Clans, protected on two sides by the curve of the Starstream and tucked deep inside the other two borders. Greystar wasn't worried for her own safety as she padded along the thin trail at the bottom of the valley, treading along the soft grasses that have been pushed into shape by hundreds of paws. She did worry about what she would find once she reached the SunClan camp, however, and even while her heart thumped painfully and urged her to sprint, run, scream, the pain of knowing what she would find made her paws hesitate. She laughed, somewhat amused that she must look calm to the outside, despite the warring emotions raging under the surface. The laughter lessened the pain.
SunClan's camp was atop the largest hill, and while the trail was never steep, Greystar found herself quickly tiring as she trudged up the seemingly endless slope. She had hardly made it halfway before she saw a cat racing down the side of the hill to meet her. "Greystar?" The orange tabby warrior was as bright as the sun and Greystar recalled their name as Zipstrike, a SunClan warrior around her own age. Their voice was raw with concern. "Is everything alright? Does MoonClan need help?"
Greystar blinked in surprise as a fluffy white she-cat burst from the grasses behind Zipstrike. Her green eyes were wide as she regarded the MoonClan Starwatcher. Zipstrike touched their tail to her shoulder, cautioning her, and she dipped her head slightly, though Greystar could still feel her gaze on her pelt like a ray of sunlight. She hesitated a moment, confused. It should have been obvious the reason for her visit. "I'm here to pay respects to Hailstar."
It was Zipstrike's turn to be confused, as they tipped their head to the side, ears flicking back. "Hailstar has been on edge all morning --he said he had a peculiar dream last night-- but unless he's a zombie, or possessed," they grinned at that, amber eyes sparkling, "he's very much alive and well."
Greystar let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding, feeling the weight that was dragging on her paws the entire journey disappear into smoke. "Can I see him?"
Zipstrike nodded. "Of course. You're always welcome in our camp, Greystar." They smiled and flicked their tail against the white she-cat's shoulder again. "I have to stay on watch, but Sheeppaw can escort you." The apprentice squeaked at the sudden responsibility and Zipstrike's eyes lit up again as they shared a knowing smile with Greystar.
The fluffy apprentice rushed up to Greystar's paws, looking up to meet her eyes. "I'll take you to Hailstar, Starwatcher ma'am."
“Lead the way,” Greystar encouraged as the apprentice, little more than a bit of dandelion fluff, as she disappeared into the grasses again. The MoonClan Starwatcher knew the way, but stayed behind Sheeppaw and allowed herself to be escorted to the top of the hill where SunClan had their camp.
Unlike MoonClan’s quiet camp, SunClan’s was frantic as a disturbed anthill as cats bustled around the top of the hill in a patchwork of bright flashing colors. SunClan was almost double the size of MoonClan these days, and it showed. Two cats were busy digging another den into the side of the hill, their matching white pelts flecked with sand and dirt. They already had an ivy mat prepared for the entrance, to block the moonlight from the den once it was completed. Another two cats stood over the ivy, arguing the logistics of where it would be stored when not in use, while another tan she-cat, who Greystar knew to be the deputy, Mudears, stood nearby and supervised the renovation even as she worked to organize a noontide patrol.
The deputy caught Greystar’s eyes and paused a moment in her multitasking to wave a quick greeting, which Greystar returned. Mudears then turned to scold an apprentice, who had wandered too close to the digging site and had caused some of the still-fragile sides to cave, dropping the unsuspecting youth to tumble into the hole.
“Hailstar is over here, ma’am,” Sheeppaw said, when Greystar slowed to watch the fiasco unfold. One of the cats discussing the ivy had stepped in and picked the complaining apprentice out of the hole by his scruff, dropping him away from the project with a warning growl even as Mudears stomped closer, her face thunderous. Sheeppaw prodded her shoulder with a paw and she let herself be led away, following the fluffy white apprentice further up the hillside.
She immediately recognized Hailstar’s pelt. The older tom was curled in a patch of sunshine, his back to them as he gazed out over the hill towards the Starstream to the south. Greystar froze at the sight of him, a sob caught in her throat. Sheeppaw looked up at her with those wide eyes, worried, but Greystar dismissed her with a wave of her tail and murmured thanks. She was glad when the apprentice raced off, leaving her alone.
Greystar let herself just watch Hailstar for several moments, feeling the relief he was alive and well sink deep into her bones. She didn’t know what in StarClan’s name was going on --her nightmares, the apprentice, all of it-- but she knew that if she had Hailstar to help, they would figure everything out.
She crossed the top of the hill and every pawstep that Hailstar didn’t disappear lit an ember in Greystar’s chest. She didn’t announce her presence. She just crouched to the ground beside Hailstar, pushing her flank into his. He startled, shifting against her side. “Greystar?” She looked out over the hill where he had been watching: the Sun was beautiful from here as it breathed life into the emerald hills and lit the Starstream ablaze, twinkling with reflections as if it had captured the stars of its namesake.
Greystar didn’t dare look at him. She didn’t want him to see the tears in her eyes and she didn’t trust her voice to speak anything but babbling nonsense. So she just leaned her head against his side, feeling his warmth and life, and trusted her purr to soothe his questions.
[ 3 ]
“And you’re certain he’s a Starwatcher?”
Greystar shrugged. “Coldfeather says his sleep is deep, like ours is when we walk StarClan’s hills, and he did wake from the spring.”
Hailstar rumbled his confusion, his paws pressed tightly together as was his habit when he was deep in thought. She had recounted the morning’s events to Hailstar, and though she touched on her odd dream, they both quickly decided it was secondary to the question of Roepaw. The apprentice had been reported missing by his peers that morning, but everyone had assumed he had gone with Frozenclaw to the Beach at first light as he sometimes did when he didn’t have morning training.
The grey she-cat waited in silence atop the hill as Hailstar focused. The older tom had many more years of memories to sift through, but Greystar knew that he’d come up with the same answers she had: that whatever was happening, it had never happened before. The white tomcat relaxed his paws and Greystar looked up expectantly. “I’ll talk with Hollystar tonight,” he finally said, his voice decided. “And Bramblesun, if I can find her.”
Bramblesun was the oldest leader in StarClan that hadn’t yet faded; if there was any precedent for this, she would have heard about it. It was times like these that she wished she could talk with Fernstar, MoonClan’s Starwatcher before Greystar, but the snappish tom hadn’t shown himself to her since he died seasons ago. She still didn’t know where he was or why some cats like Fernstar were missing in StarClan’s hills. “I’ll speak with Kindlemoon; there has to be some cat that knows more than we do about this.”
Hailstar nodded, but however tall the white tomcat held himself, she knew him well enough to see the twinkle of doubt in his blue eyes and along the curve of his muzzle. It was unlikely that they would uncover precedent to Roepaw being turned Starwatcher while both Starwatchers lived. “Our ancestors must have other clues that could give us a direction, or at least wisdom on what to do next,” she said gently, leaning into Hailstar’s side.
The older tomcat purred at the touch, resting his tail on her back. “We are never alone, Greystar. Remember that.”
They fell into a silent companionship and Greystar drew strength from Hailstar’s warmth. The sun had reached its peak long ago and was now beginning to fall, turning the warm light golden over the plains. Greystar yawned. She had only napped a few short hours before leaving for SunClan that morning and, as MoonClan cats should, had been awake the moment the sun had set the night before. Hailstar nudged her awake. “Let’s go back to MoonClan.”
The white tomcat moved beside her, jostling her out of her drowsiness. “You’re coming with me?”
Her ears perked as he nodded. “Let me talk to Petalsun first and I’ll ask for a warrior to report back before sunset, but I should see Roepaw for myself. Besides, the walk to StarClan will be easier beside the spring.” All logical reasons, Greystar thought, though she was simply happy she would be able to keep an eye on him too. She was certain this wasn’t a dream or that Hailstar was some sort of revenant, like Zipstrike had jokingly suggested, but she was hesitant to let him out of her sight nevertheless and it would be better to work together to discuss their findings.
“I’ll go with you. Petalsun will want to hear what I found firsthand.” Her word wasn’t necessary, but Hailstar agreed and Greystar happily followed along.
They heard SunClan’s leader before they saw him: “I’m sure he’s out with the other apprentices. If he isn’t back before the patrol leaves--”
“Roepaw always checks in with one of us before going out of camp, Petalsun,” a she-cat’s voice argued, cutting him off. Hailstar met Greystar’s eyes and they quickly followed the sounds of the argument around the hill until they saw the ginger leader outlined against the sky. “He doesn’t sneak off, that’s not like him.”
“I know you’re both worried for your son,” Petalsun looked up when he noticed the two Starwatchers.
Hailstar dipped his head to his leader and stepped down into the scoop of earth beside the two she-cats. He addressed them first with a comforting smile. “Roepaw is safe, no need to worry.”
“Somecat found him? Thank StarClan.” She was obviously Roepaw’s mother, with the same russet brown fur as the apprentice Greystar had found that morning in MoonClan’s camp.
The second she-cat, so pale yellow she might have been cream, stepped forward, “where is he?”
Hailstar hesitated, looking pointedly back at Greystar, who waited at the top of the slope with Petalsun. The grey Starwatcher shook her head. They didn’t know what was happening with Roepaw, but it wasn't time to worry his mothers about it, not until he woke up. Or until they were certain he wouldn’t wake at all. “You have every right to be worried, Goldentalon,” Hailstar said, consoling. He was good at that.
Greystar felt Petalsun staring at her with narrowed eyes from across the dip in the sand, so she left Hailstar to fumble around the truth to Roepaw’s mothers while she padded over to the ginger tom. “Don’t try to circle around the truth. Is Roepaw dead?”
Greystar startled. “No! We found him in the spring at dawn, just like a Starwatcher.”
“Ah,” the ginger tom said shortly, “yet you and Hailstar both live.”
“That’s the catch, isn’t it?” Greystar looked down with a shrug. “He’s still asleep. My medicine cat says it’s the same sleep leaders and Starwatchers have when they visit StarClan in their dreams.” She paused for a moment, watching the cats below. Goldentalon wasn’t happy with Hailstar’s explanation: she looked about to claw Hailstar’s fur off, but Frozenclaw held her mate back, twining their tails together with her shoulder against the smaller golden she-cat’s chest. “We don’t want to cause a panic.”
The ginger leader rumbled deep in his chest. “So you don’t know. Our warriors trust you Starwatchers to interpret StarClan’s will; without that, we are lost. You will resolve this distasteful problem quickly.”
Greystar’s eyes widened. “Yes, Petalsun.” She wasn’t accustomed to such a commanding leader: Cricketmoon couldn’t give a direct order to a flea. She had to force herself to speak up. “Hailstar will come back to MoonClan with me, to seek StarClan’s guidance at the spring under the light of the Stars. We would like to borrow a warrior as well, to bring back any messages we may have while the Sun reigns.”
She was surprised at how small she felt beside Petalsun as she waited for his reply. His sharp focus was on the scene below: the two she-cats finally dipped their heads to Hailstar and Frozenclaw led Goldentalon out of the hollow as the two sprinted down the hill and disappeared into the long grass. Hailstar trudged his way up the sandy slope to where they had watched over the scene, dipping his own head to Petalsun.
The leader turned to Greystar and stood, shaking sand from a white-tipped paw. “Take Shadowpool. I expect a final report before sunset on Roepaw’s condition.”
“Thank you, we will do our best to fix this.”
The leader stared her down for another two slow heartbeats and Greystar felt herself sinking into his slitted grey eyes. But then he turned without another word, a twitch of his white tail-tip his only dismissal as he made his way to the hilltop.
Greystar let out a huff of breath. “Is he always that intense?” she asked.
“You haven’t met him?”
Hailstar started up the hillside, picking a different path than Petalsun had taken. She guessed he knew Shadowpool’s likely haunts and followed along. “Honestly, I usually talk with Mudears. Leaders are busy.”
The white tom made a sound of agreement. “He was even more arrogant when he was younger. He mellowed out over the years.”
“Seriously?”
Hailstar looked over his shoulder when Greystar paused in shock, trying to imagine Petalsun as more intimidating than he already was. He laughed. “SunClan’s leaders are chosen for their strength, not leadership capabilities. Each leader finds that trait in their own way.” He paused for a moment, pushing his paws together. “Actually, most SunClan leaders were just as overbearing. It’s very effective.”
Greystar followed as Hailstar turned to the east side of the hill, which was beginning to be cast in shadow as the sun dropped from its zenith. They found Shadowpool talking with a small group of warriors in the sweet scent of an overhanging gorse frond. Greystar didn’t recognize some of the younger SunClan warriors, but Shadowpool’s dark pelt contrasted sharply with the other’s lighter colored fur, betraying her MoonClan heritage.
She let Hailstar call the warrior over. Shadowpool excused herself from the group, laughed at a grey cat’s joke as she passed, and nodded to Greystar. “Hey, you guys need me?”
“Hailstar and I are visiting the spring tonight. We’d like you to take back a message to Petalsun around sundown.” Greystar had to clamp her teeth around the words “if you are willing” at the end of her statement, which would turn the demand into a request as was polite in MoonClan. Even if a statement phrased as a request was essentially a command when it came from MoonClan’s authority.
The dark she-cat perked up. “I get to go into Sanctuary?” When Greystar nodded, Shadowpool leapt into the air with a yowl. “Oh, they are going to be so jealous. When do we leave? I kinda miss the place, honestly, the evergreen needles were so soft and the scent just isn’t the same from outside-- sorry.” She cut herself off with a grin, though the young warrior still vibrated with excitement.
“We’re leaving now. There’s something we must check on before sunset,” Hailstar said. The older tom hadn’t even paused, keeping his momentum as he plodded down the shadowy hillside. Shadowpool raced to his side, leaving Greystar struggling to catch up.
The dark she-cat’s voice tumbled like the brook that fed into the Starstream. “I won’t get to see anyone, will I? Since I have to leave before sunset. I wonder what Claywhisker is doing. I see Peatmask all the time at the border, but Claywhisker --that walrus-- he never even comes to say hello. Just because I’m in SunClan doesn’t mean he isn’t still my brother, for StarClan’s sake. Oooh, does the boulder still have those little blue flowers around it? I haven’t seen ‘em anywhere else, even in the Valley.”
Greystar smiled as Shadowpool filled the trek home with her commentary, only rarely requiring a short reply from either of the other two to keep her going. It wasn’t long before they were beneath the trees of Sanctuary, and Shadowpool abruptly stopped talking. Greystar realized this was only because all of the she-cat’s attention had gone to the trees. With wide eyes and an open mouth, she looked like an apprentice the first time out of camp.
Greystar relaxed into the familiar shade of the trees, grateful that the sunlight no longer prickled in her fur. Though now it was Hailstar that appeared somewhat on edge. The white tom shone like a miniature sun in the shade and he flinched every time his paw crunched on a leaf. The group approached MoonClan’s camp in silence and the forest was calm enough that Greystar heard Shadowpool’s gasp as they set paw in camp. The young warrior’s eyes sparkled. “It’s so pretty,” she said to Greystar, her voice barely a whisper. The forest was so quiet, she could understand Shadowpool’s hesitancy to break the somber elegance of it, and the grey Starwatcher merely smiled in response.
She led the SunClan cats to her den, then tapped on the ivy mat with a paw hard enough that it bent under her weight and rattled the sides. “We’re coming in,” she announced. She heard a rustle of motion from beneath the ivy, and waited until the sound stopped before she flicked the mat up with her nose and gestured for Hailstar to enter. The white tom lowered himself tight to the ground as he disappeared into the sandy hollow: they would be creating a slice of sunlight as sharp as a claw slash to Coldfeather inside, so they tried to keep the gap as narrow as possible.
Shadowpool stepped forward to follow, but Greystar blocked her with her tail. “You may be allowed in Sanctuary with your MoonClan blood, but you shouldn’t block the Sun more than necessary. Find a patch of sunlight, we’ll be back soon.”
“But MoonClan dens are so cozy!” she argued with a huff. Yet the dark warrior did as Greystar asked, trotting over to the open space around the spring where sunlight filtered down freely, where she began exploring.
Greystar left her to wait and followed Hailstar inside.
The den was crowded with this many cats. Greystar’s den, the one on the outskirts of camp closest to the spring and meant for the Starwatcher, was smaller than most of the other hollows. She had to dance around Coldfeather’s tail and push her flank against the wall to fit in the space, and Hailstar, bigger than both the MoonClan she-cats, was even more cramped.
“I didn’t think you’d bring him back with you,” Coldfeather muttered as she leaned in. But Greystar hardly heard her. She was watching the center of the den, where Roepaw sat, still as a boulder. The young tom’s yellow eyes were wide and Greystar could swear she could see the two shining stars in the fur of his shoulders, flickering in the corners of her vision only when she wasn’t quite looking at him.
“Greystar, right?” Roepaw said, breaking his stillness with a small smile as he looked her way. “Fernstar said you’d be here.”
[ 4 ]
“Fernstar!” Greystar exclaimed. “Tan tom, long fur, five toes, always looks like someone put mud in his prey?”
Roepaw wrinkled his nose. “Well I didn’t count his toes…”
“By all the Stars in the sky.” She shook her head. “Fernstar was one of the cats missing from StarClan,” Greystar told the others as explanation. The fact that not all of their Clanmates made it to the eternal hills wasn’t common knowledge for most. The secret was kept between Starwatchers and only a few trusted Clanmates for generations. No one knew where the missing spirits went, though many Starwatchers have tried to find them over the seasons.
Coldfeather snorted. “Ah, so that’s why things are so tame around here. He would have had his paws in every tiny problem, even from StarClan.”
Greystar hadn’t known the fussy tomcat as well as Coldfeather did, but from what she knew of his temperament, she agreed. For all she wished she could have access to her predecessor’s knowledge, Fernstar would have been less than useful if he were the main connection Greystar had to StarClan. So how had Roepaw known of him? “What did he say? Why could you find him when we couldn’t?”
The apprentice licked his chest fur as he gathered his thoughts. Now that Greystar’s eyes had adjusted better to the dim light, she noticed that his paws shook even when he was sitting. “He was looking for you too, Greystar. There were others there and it seemed like a cat called Yewleaf was in charge, though--” he hesitated, swaying slightly. Coldfeather hissed and jumped to his side, throwing her shoulder under him before he fell.
Roepaw muttered something as Coldfeather helped him lie down in the sand. “Were there any SunClan cats there?” Hailstar asked. His voice was gentle even if he said the words too quickly.
Roepaw’s eyes were slipping shut even as he tried to keep his head up. “Dunno,” he finally managed. He shook his head and looked slightly more aware as he pushed on. “It wasn’t StarClan.”
“The Starless Hills?” Hailstar rumbled, the fur on his shoulders bristling.
Greystar shook her head, shocked. “It can’t be. Fernstar was self-centered, but he wasn’t evil. Besides, Galewing is also missing and she was the kindest cat I’ve ever known. She died a hero.” A heavy silence followed.
Finally Hailstar spoke. “So did my mother and I’ve never seen her in StarClan to thank her for it. You’re right, Greystar, wherever this is, it isn’t the Starless Hills.”
“Roepaw, what else do you remember?” Greystar asked. But her question fell on deaf ears, as the apprentice lost his battle against exhaustion and had fallen asleep.
Coldfeather rested a white-tipped paw on his chest, checking his heartbeat, then nodded. “His soul is still here, thank the Stars, he needs a proper rest.” The medicine cat yawned. “As do I. So if you’re going to discuss, do it somewhere else,” she said sharply, turning for Greystar’s own nest where she curled herself in the moss, turning her back to them.
Greystar felt like an apprentice trying to peep the sun as she and Hailstar snuck out of the den, leaving Roepaw and Coldfeather to rest. Immediately they were pounced on by Shadowpool, who had regained her voice. “I forgot how cold the spring was! And it’s muddy.”
“I see,” said Hailstar, humming in amusement. Shadowpool’s fur was dripping and her paws were streaked with clumps of dark, rich mud, only evident as it concealed the white speckles there.
Shadowpool was nonplussed as she bounced on her paws. She looked ready to hop in the spring again. “Did you find what you were looking for, Hailstar? Are you coming back to SunClan with me? The sun is going to set soon, we should probably leave. Oh, but I’m here to take a message, so you must be staying,” the dark she-cat rambled. She tipped her head, her ears flicking back. “So what’s the message I’m taking to Petalsun?”
“Tell him that Roepaw is fine and I’ll have answers by morning.”
“Roepaw!” Shadowpool said with a gasp, her yellow eyes going wide as suns. “He’s here? Why? How? Did StarClan shift his Clan?”
Hailstar raised a paw, silencing her. Greystar found herself looking over her shoulder to check if anyone heard Shadowpool’s outburst but as the sun was still in the sky, the clearing was utterly empty, and since they were near the spring, the nearest den was some distance up the slope. Hailstar came closer to his Clanmate, dropping his voice. “We… don’t know quite yet. Just tell Petalsun that he’s safe and that Greystar and I will consult StarClan for answers. He’ll know the rest, okay?” He loomed over Shadowpool and became stern. “And no one else can hear about this, not until I’m back. Understood?”
Shadowpool nodded, standing taller, though the effect was diminished as the black she-cat was still muddy and dripping water onto the dirt between her paws. “Go on then. You need to find Petalsun before the sun goes down,” Hailstar said, dismissing her.
The dark she-cat grinned. “Thanks for letting me come back to MoonClan for a little bit, Greystar.” Shadowpool dipped her head towards the Starwatchers and darted off, trailing drops of water behind her.
The two Starwatchers watched Shadowpool disappear into the trees and held their silence. Greystar knew her thoughts were running faster than a rabbit across the moor as she worked to process Roepaw’s fragmented testimony. She still couldn’t believe he had found Fernstar, though it made sense that he wasn’t merely hiding somewhere in StarClan’s hills as some shy spirits tended to do. The question still stood: if it wasn’t StarClan and it wasn’t the Starless Hills, then where exactly was it?
“Do you know Yewleaf?” Greystar said, thinking aloud to Hailstar as she recounted Roepaw’s words.
The white tom had his paws pressed together, but he relaxed them as Greystar’s words pulled him out of his own thoughts. He took another few long heartbeats to think, but shook his head. “It sounds like a MoonClan name.”
Greystar reached her own memories back as far as she could, trying to recall the names of elders, warriors, cats from other elders' tales of their own youth. Nothing. Not even the prefix was familiar to her, though she did agree that “leaf” was more likely to be a MoonClan cat’s name, most likely a medicine cat’s. She itched to ask Coldfeather about it, but fear of the old medicine cat’s wrath was one of the few things that stuck with her since kithood. “I wonder how this Yewleaf is still around. Usually only Starwatchers and some leaders can resist fading after their memories have passed on.”
Hailstar nodded, pushing his paws back together as he stood. “Some living cat must remember Yewleaf then. That’s a good clue.”
“Not entirely helpful, though,” Greystar mused. “We already knew which cats were likely to be there by who was missing from StarClan because many of those were cats we knew personally.”
“Roepaw called Yewleaf their leader. That has to be important, somehow,” Hailstar said, determined. “Come. It’s almost twilight, we should visit StarClan’s hills now.”
Greystar wished she could talk this puzzle through more with Hailstar, but she knew twilight was the easiest time to pass from their hills to StarClan, when the boundary between the living and spirit worlds was thinnest. She sighed, but gestured for Hailstar to lead the way around the spring to the boulder that jutted out over the water on the opposite side of the spring from MoonClan’s camp.
The large, flat stone was a common gathering spot for her Clanmates, but she knew they would not dare approach if the Starwatchers were using the direct moonlight and proximity to the spring to travel to StarClan’s hills. The dark rock was hot on her pawpads as she hopped atop and the warmth spread comfortably along her stomach as she lay down on the edge, the spring’s cold water mere whisker-lengths from her paws. Greystar touched her nose to the water, gasping with the shock of its chill. Hailstar mirrored her a tail-length to her left, touching his own berry-pink nose to the water and putting his head between his paws.
She could tell the moment he fell asleep as his body relaxed onto the warm stone, his mind already walking StarClan’s hills. Greystar waited for her own call. Her nose was numb now. She put her head between her paws and squeezed her eyes shut. Waited.
Dread sank like a rock to her stomach.
She touched her nose to the water again, flinching against the pain of the cold against the sensitive skin. The sun sank steadily behind her, throwing her shadow across the spring’s calm surface. She could see the bottom, crystal clear, in the clarity of her shadow: dark mud and clumps of fallen leaves ebbed with the push and shove of the water. Greystar buried her head between her paws, blocking out her sight.
She should have been tired by now; she should be feeling the pull of StarClan like her mother’s teeth in her scruff as it pulled her thoughts into the sky. She tried again, then again. Greystar squeezed her eyes closed, her claws bent painfully against the unforgiving stone as she tried to force her thoughts upward.
Finally, she let go, panting as if she had run entirely across SunClan’s massive hills. The sun had set and the only warmth came from the stone, which had soaked up the day’s heat. The night’s breeze was cool. She could hear the chattering of her Clanmates as they awoke from their dens, revelling in the half-moon’s light.
She could hear them. Oh, Stars, she was still here. Greystar buried her head in her paws with a sharp curse.
StarClan had rejected her.
[ 5 ]
Hailstar
Claws in his shoulders pinned Hailstar to the ground and no matter how hard he writhed, he couldn’t break free from Icefang’s starry paws. He hissed and spat and lunged up at Icefang’s neck with his fangs, but the StarClan warrior’s form blurred and Hailstar’s muzzle passed through him with a blast of cold so painful that he slammed back to the ground, his head throbbing.
Icefang didn’t even flinch. The tom’s expression was impassive as a mountain cliff as he effortlessly held Hailstar down as if he were a mere kitten. Every kick of Hailstar’s hind paws simply passed through the tom like a cold fog, though Icefang’s own paws were solid as boulders and his claws were painfully real as they cut into Hailstar’s shoulders, staining the white fur pink.
Hailstar swore as he gathered himself to struggle again. “Can’t we just talk this out?” A voice said from behind his head. He couldn’t see the figure from where he was pinned to the ground, but he recognized Hollystar’s voice and could picture the dark she-cat’s disappointed stare well enough. Hailstar’s only response was a growl as he started his futile struggle again.
Hollystar appeared in the corner of his vision as she rounded his side and he paused his struggle to watch her sit, calmly wrapping her tail around her paws. Her form danced with starlight twinkling like dew on her fur, the dark black color as solid as a drop of ink. “I thought asking your kin to accompany me might convince you to listen, perhaps stop any reckless behavior. It is unfortunate that you still let your emotions control you.”
“I know you care about her as if she’s your daughter. I understand how that feels, son,” Icefang said, his voice whisper-soft as the winds that danced through the grass at dawn. That always startled Hailstar; it was hard to see the large tom and imagine he had anything other than a deep, commanding tone. “Please trust us, Starwatcher,” he pleaded, “StarClan can see things you cannot comprehend.”
“I’m sick of that excuse,” Hailstar snapped, throwing his weight forward again. He felt his shoulders leave the ground, surprising Icefang for a quick moment, but then the massive tomcat recovered and shoved him into the dirt with a worried glance towards Hollystar. Icefang’s claws tugged against Hailstar’s fur, drawing fresh prickles of pain as they cut into his flesh. “Just tell me why,” Hailstar argued. He turned his head against the dirt, directing his anger at Hollystar since Icefang’s face became as icy as his namesake again. “Explain yourselves, as best as you can, and let me decide if it’s worth her life.”
The only emotion Hollystar showed was a twitch of her tail, stirring up a leaf which defied all normal logic and began to fall upward into the sky. “You are not ready,” she finally said.
Hailstar hissed. “That isn’t for you to decide either.”
The dark she-cat got to her paws and leaned over Hailstar, her muzzle only whiskers from his, close enough that he could feel her frosty breath. “The knowledge would break you. And you are still needed, Hailstar.”
“But she isn’t?” he spat.
Hollystar narrowed her eyes and for a heartbeat her hard exterior cracked and a snarl broke over her face before she forcefully recovered her composure. When she spoke, her voice was strained, but even. “It is necessary.”
He spat a curse at her. The old Starwatcher shook her head then turned away. She bent her tail at Icefang. “Let him up. He will behave.” As soon as Icefang’s weight left him, Hailstar rolled to his paws and charged at Hollystar, but his shoulder passed through her in a burst of cold as if he had leapt into a drift of snow. He skidded as he landed, breathing heavily. The chill went straight to his core, leaving him quaking on unstable paws.
Hollystar flicked her ears at him, but otherwise continued on her way as if nothing had happened. Icefang followed, though his father’s eyes lingered longer and his large body drooped, as if he was suddenly much heavier than before. “Wait,” Hailstar called out to him, panic catching in his throat, but Icefang turned away and disappeared between steps, leaving Hailstar staring at the emptiness where he had been.
[ 6 ]
Greystar heard the voices whispering as the two apprentices crept closer to the rock. “We should just leave them alone,” Stormypaw whispered, always the reasonable one.
“I’m just curious,” Sandpaw said back, louder than her brother. “It’s SunClan’s Starwatcher! I just want to look. Besides, if they're visiting StarClan, they won’t even know we were here.”
Greystar had her head rested between her paws, waiting for Hailstar to wake as she dozed. The bushes rustled from her left and she heard a hiss as Stormypaw tried to drag his sister away, but the tortoiseshell she-cat resisted, digging her claws into the dirt as she craned her neck to peer over the lip of the rock. “You should listen to your brother,” Greystar said softly, but plenty loud enough for the sound to carry in the cold night.
Sandpaw squeaked in surprise and ducked her head down beneath the stone, as if Greystar hadn’t already seen her. “A good warrior always does the right thing, even if there’s no one around to see them.”
Only the apprentice’s tan ears poked out from over the stone now. “Of course, Greystar,” she mewed solemnly.
Greystar expected her to turn back to camp after being reprimanded, but the apprentice remained crouched until she gave in with a sigh. “Come on up, then.” Hardly a heartbeat had passed before Sandpaw leapt up onto the stone, her claws skittering as she slipped in her haste. Stormypaw followed more carefully, peeking out from where he hid in the bushes several tail-lengths beyond and pulling himself up onto the flat stone beside his sister.
Sandpaw openly gawked at Hailstar, her mouth parted to take in his SunClan scent: open and airy, like the hills, with a distinct floral tinge to the end that always reminded Greystar of fragrant gorse. “He’s huge! Are all SunClan cats that big?” she asked.
The tortoiseshell apprentice began to step forward, but Greystar stopped her with a growl. Sandpaw danced on her paws, itching to move closer yet respecting the Starwatcher’s warning as she held her place. Greystar relaxed. Of course, Hailstar couldn’t hear them when his soul walked StarClan’s hills and the tomcat would not be bothered even if Sandpaw bopped him on the nose, but the vulnerability of his sleeping body and the sacred task he was given made Greystar feel as though she needed to enforce a barrier between him and the rest of the world. She didn’t even know if she could approach any closer unless he was in immediate danger, to do so felt so wrong it made her fur prickle and her tail itch.
Sandpaw’s eyes were wide as she watched Hailstar sleep. Finally, Greystar answered her question: “SunClan cats are warriors and fighters. They need to be strong to fight and have the stamina to patrol the borders and hills every day.”
The apprentice rolled her eyes, “everyone knows that.”
“What she means,” Stormypaw spoke up, “is that they’re bigger up close.” The silver tabby tomcat was smaller than Sandpaw and he appeared even smaller as he retreated into her shadow, though his silvery stripes shone like moonlight in the dark. He, too, regarded Hailstar, though from the safety of peeping over his sister’s shoulder.
“Shouldn’t you be asleep too, Greystar?” Sandpaw said, offhandedly. Stormypaw bumped her off balance, glaring at her for the insensitive question.
Greystar didn’t respond. “Your mentors will be looking for you by now,” she said instead, changing the focus back to the apprentices.
Stormypaw nodded vigorously, “didn’t Breezetuft say he’ll give you herb duty for a moon if you were late to another training?”
“We still have plenty of time until moonhigh,” Sandpaw complained, but let herself be led away by her brother. “Thanks, Greystar!” she called back as they hopped off the stone and disappeared into the undergrowth.
Greystar sighed and settled down to wait again. Or, at least, she tried to. But now that the apprentices had interrupted her nap and broken the bubble of silent vigil, she found it impossible to get comfortable again. It didn’t help that the stone had gone cold, robbed of the sun’s heat by the chillier autumn night air.
She gave up trying just before moonhigh and left Hailstar alone on the stone to go visit camp. He might wonder where she had gone if he woke before she returned --though she doubted that; he had many cats to visit and StarClan’s hills were vast-- but Greystar decided that if she couldn’t be useful in asking her ancestors, she might as well try consulting her living Clanmates. They had a lead now: Yewleaf. Even if no cat remembered the name, it wouldn’t hurt to explore it as far as she could.
Greystar’s paws took her down the well-worn path around the spring. This close to camp, the brambles and briars and other undergrowth had been beaten back so that her fur didn’t snag and her paws didn’t catch any thorns. She vividly remembered her time as an apprentice when she was tasked with clearing these paths. She could almost taste the bitter pine sap from the swatches they would use to push away the leaves and other debris in the spring.
Though not even close to being fortified, MoonClan’s camp was surrounded by thick fern, obscuring it from view at night. Several tunnels had been dug out from the fronds and this trail led to one of the larger gaps. When Greystar pushed her way through, the whirlwind of motion made her feel like a fish dropped back into a pond. “Greystar!” Ivyspark called almost as soon as she stepped foot into camp. The calico she-cat excused herself from a conversation with Tealwing and quickly bounded over. “I didn’t see you at sundown and after what happened at sun up,” she frowned, flicking her ears. “Is everything alright?”
Tealwing tipped her ears in their direction and Greystar guessed Roepaw was at the center of everyone’s evening gossip. Stars, the day had felt like so long to her, but for the rest of MoonClan it was hardly after they left their dens. Greystar nodded, hoping she looked reassuring. “It was a SunClan apprentice. He is a Starwatcher.” They might be able to conceal that fact from the remote SunClan, but Greystar knew half of MoonClan had heard Roepaw’s yowl and the rest had risked the morning light to see for themselves.
Ivyspark gasped. “Then Hailstar--”
“Is fine.” Greystar quickly cut her off, determined to quell that rumor before it could gain a clawhold, though she knew some other cats would have connected the dots and started speculating already. “Hailstar is fine. He’s here, actually, at the spring. We were hoping to consult StarClan.”
The calico she-cat relaxed, nodding. Even Tealwing in the background let out a breath with closed eyes before turning to slip back under the ivy flap into the den behind her. “Did StarClan have the answer?”
“Not yet, but Hailstar is still speaking with his SunClan ancestors,” Greystar replied, the white lie of omission easily slipping out even as she felt a rush of shame that burnt the tips of her ears. She mentally shook off the rising fear that she’d been abandoned by StarClan, though it clung to her like thick mud and tasted just as vile. “It’s odd, but StarClan always has a reason.”
“Ivyspark!” Breezetuft called impatiently. Greystar saw Sandpaw’s bright pale fur at her mentor’s paws, along with a dark grey mottled cat she almost couldn’t see in the shadows that she guessed was Shadeleaf from the silhouette.
The calico she-cat thanked Greystar for the news and joined the patrol. It was the second day of the strong moon, so every cat was needed to hunt SunClan’s massive territory while they could. Not that many cats complained; most loved the freedom of the strong moon and the opportunity to escape the shadows of Sanctuary, or just the fresh taste of rabbit.
That meant camp emptied rather quickly, until only a few cats remained to do chores. One of those cats was Partridgetangle and Greystar spotted the medicine cat trotting away from the spring with a dripping pile of moss in her mouth. She pathed to intercept her. “Hey, would you have a moment to talk?” Greystar asked, keeping pace.
The fluffy grey she-cat couldn’t reply through the mossball, but she flicked her ears, signaling that she heard, and nodded. “Great, I’ll fetch Cricketstar. I have a few questions and I’d rather only have to explain once.” Greystar left Partridgetangle looking only slightly concerned as she started looking around the clearing for the MoonClan leader. She didn’t find him, but she did hear Spottedstride’s voice from a den to her left and so she changed her route to peep inside.
The spotted deputy startled when Greystar peeped in from the top of the den. “Yes?” the deputy snapped, licking the fur of her chest. She still had feathers stuck to her flank, giving her the frazzled appearance of a bird half plucked, though her blue eyes were hard as rocks.
“Have you seen Cricketmoon?” Greystar asked. Then, as an afterthought, “oh, and if you aren’t too busy, we could use as many minds as we can get to think on this problem.”
Spottedstride shook herself, sending feathers flying from her pelt all over the den. She trapped one under her paw as it fell, snicking her long claws out in a cage around it. “This is about the new Starwatcher,” she said flatly. “Well, we probably should talk about what we’re going to do now that Hailstar is gone.”
Greystar sighed. She was starting to tire of correcting everyone. “Hailstar isn’t dead. That’s the problem.”
The deputy took this information in stride as she hopped out of the den, her powerful long legs gracefully lifting her out in a single leap. More feathers streamed out from behind her and she frustratingly flicked a stubborn one out of her fur with a paw. They were mostly gone now, with only a few stragglers hanging from her side. How had she even managed to have that many feathers stuck to her in the first place? She didn’t explain and Greystar was hesitant to ask. Spottedstride started off across camp, hopefully to find Cricketmoon, Greystar hoped, but she hardly had time to think as she had to jog to keep up with the long-legged deputy.
“Cricketmoon!” Spottedstride called as she pushed through the ferns to the north side of camp. Sanctuary was thickest in this direction and the two she-cats kept close to the center of the narrow path to keep their fur from being pulled by the tangle of brambles. Spottedstride hissed as her paw caught a thorn and she paused for a moment to pull it out with her teeth. “I swore he left this way,” the deputy muttered. “He can’t just keep wandering off without telling anyone.”
They continued down the trail a few moments longer until Greystar cut in. “Look, Spottedstride, I can talk with him later. Patridgetangle is already waiting.”
The golden tabby she-cat growled, her long tail lashing. “I’ll get him. We’ll be there in a few moments, you just… start without us.” Spottedstride sprinted off, her lithe form quickly disappearing down the thick path. Greystar sighed and turned back to camp, carefully watching her paws for thorns.
Luckily, she returned without incident and made her way across the quiet camp hollow to the medicine cat’s boulder, where she ducked under the thick ivy covering into the small cave beneath. The bitter scent of herbs was overwhelming and the ivy curtain blocked out even the Strong Moon’s bright light, leaving the space so dark she couldn’t even see the edges of the entrance. “Partridgetangle?” Greystar called. With the miasma of herb smells and the darkness, she didn’t trust herself not to trip over something; she couldn’t even pick out the medicine cats’ scent.
Greystar still could hear and she picked out pawsteps further in the cave. “I fetched Coldfeather too. It sounded like an all paws on deck situation.”
The Starwatcher nodded, then quickly realized no one could see her do it. “Thank you, Partridgetangle.” She heard Coldfeather muttering something about sleep. “Spottedstride is fetching Cricketmoon.”
She felt a breeze on her fur and had the tingling sensation of some cat being close by before a tail guided her by her shoulder. “We can meet them outside. There is plenty of moonlight.”
Greystar followed the medicine cat’s lead and turned back out of the cave. She blinked in the moonlight and couldn’t help but lick the fur on her shoulders, relaxing now that her senses had returned. It was just as well, as Coldfeather had only just followed them out when she saw Spottedstride stalking their way with the small silver tabby leader in tow. His eyes were downcast as an apprentice caught sneaking outside of camp in the rain.
The deputy directed them all to a secluded den where it was unlikely they’d be overheard, then settled into one of the moss nests while the rest dropped into the hollow and arranged themselves in a rough circle. “So, Greystar. What’s this about a new Starwatcher?”
[ 7 ]
Hailstar
Not completely done yet. Good one-line quips this chapter tho <3