enjoyed the tasks she gave me, so I just kept going back to the medicine den and helping out until Mothwing suggested I should become her apprentice.”
“Did you always want to be a medicine cat?”
“I didn’t really think about it,” Willowpaw admitted. “It just sort of happened, and then I couldn’t imagine doing any
thing else. Being a medicine cat is great!”
Hollykit opened her mouth to agree, but before she could speak, Mothwing called her apprentice away. “Willowpaw, we’re leaving.”
Mothwing brushed muzzles with Leafpool and headed for the thorn tunnel. Willowpaw bounded after her. “Bye, Hollykit!” she called over her shoulder.
Hollykit watched the two cats disappear through the tunnel. Willowpaw had made her even more determined to be Leafpool’s apprentice. Forgetting that she was not meant to be out of the nursery, she hurried after Leafpool, following her into her den.
Jaykit was sprawled in his nest, the soft gray fur of his belly showing. He was clearly sleeping more comfortably than last time Hollykit had visited.
Leafpool turned as Hollykit followed her in. “Do you need more herbs for Lionkit?”
Hollykit shook her head. A question fizzed on the tip of her tongue, but she was struggling for the right words.
“Is something wrong?”
Jaykit flipped over and lifted his head. “What do you want, Hollykit?” he asked, his ears pricking as though he sensed that something important was happening.
Leafpool glanced at him. “Go back to the nursery, Jaykit,”
she meowed softly.
“Am I well enough?” Jaykit mewed, sitting up.
“As long as you don’t start play fighting the moment you
get back,” Leafpool warned him. “But you might as well sleep in your own nest now.”
Jaykit got to his paws. His first steps out of his nest were a little unsteady, but he soon found his balance and padded toward the bramble-covered entrance. “Thanks, Leafpool,”
he mewed. His sightless gaze flicked toward Hollykit, taking her by surprise. Sometimes it was almost as if he were looking straight at her, though she knew he couldn’t see her.
“I’ll come and check on you at sundown,” Leafpool promised him.
As soon as Jaykit had disappeared through the brambles, Leafpool sat down. “Now,” she meowed, gazing at Hollykit,
“tell me what’s troubling you.”
“Nothing’s
A look close to alarm flashed momentarily across Leafpool’s gaze. “What?”
Hollykit took a deep breath. “I want to be your apprentice!” She tensed as she waited for the reply. What if Leafpool refused to take her on?
Leafpool looked stunned. “I never would have thought—”
She stopped midsentence, then meowed gently, “Being a medicine cat is a big commitment. You will rarely fight in battles or go on patrol. You won’t be able to take a mate, or have kits.” Hollykit saw her eyes darken with sadness. Was that regret she saw in their amber depths? There was no time to wonder. “What has made you want to be a medicine cat?”
“I want to be able to help the Clan,” Hollykit told her. “If
I were a medicine cat, I could heal my Clanmates when they were sick, and I could share dreams with StarClan.” Leafpool was still gazing at her questioningly, so she went on. “As a warrior I could feed the Clan and defend it—I would
What better way could there be to serve ThunderClan?” She stopped, breathless, and stared hopefully up at Leafpool.
Leafpool’s tail twitched. “Those are all good reasons,” she agreed.
Hollykit’s heart soared. Was she going to say yes?
“But,” Leafpool went on, “before I can make a decision, I must talk with Firestar.”
Hollykit blinked, feeling a flash of doubt. But she pushed the doubt away.
She wriggled into the nursery and found Ferncloud asleep, her kits quiet for once. Lionkit was plucking the feathers from the remains of the thrush. They would make a good nest lining.
Jaykit looked up from his nest as she squeezed through the entrance. “What was so secret that I had to leave the medicine den?”
“I’m going to be her apprentice,” Hollykit announced.
“Whose apprentice?”
“Leafpool’s, of course.”
Lionkit looked up from the thrush, delighted. “Did she say yes?”
“Well, she’s got to talk to Firestar first, of course.”
“You want to be a medicine cat?” Jaykit mewed, putting his head to one side.
“Why shouldn’t I?” Hollykit demanded.
“I’d hate to be stuck in the medicine den, worrying about sick cats and sorting out piles of old herbs.” Jaykit sank his claws into the moss that lined his nest. “I’d much rather be a warrior, patrolling and hunting and fighting in Clan battles!”
Hollykit looked at her brother, fierce and proud. Firestar had to let him become a warrior!
Hollykit awoke before dawn. The nursery was dark and cozy, warmed by her sleeping denmates. She lay in her nest and listened to an owl calling from the trees lakeside of the camp. She was too excited to go back to sleep. Brambleclaw had told her last night that Firestar would be going ahead with the naming ceremony after all.
“You’ve behaved well and not left the nursery without permission,” he meowed as she took prey from the fresh-kill pile.
Hollykit glanced over to her brothers, who were already eating by the half-buried rock. “What about Jaykit?”
“Don’t worry,” Brambleclaw had reassured her. “Firestar hasn’t forgotten about Jaykit.”
Hollykit rolled over in her nest and stretched. By sunhigh she would know if she was to become Leafpool’s apprentice.
She pictured herself working in the medicine den, soothing bellyaches with herbs, rubbing salves onto bruises, going out into the forest with Leafpool to gather herbs—herbs that she’d know the names of, what they smelled like, how to prepare them. Her pelt bristled at the thought of all the knowledge that would be inside her head. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine how StarClan would appear in her dreams, but instead she saw only herself, a full-fledged medicine cat, leading her own apprentice through the wood, showing one plant after another, demonstrating all the skills and tech-niques Leafpool had taught her, wandering farther and farther into the darkening forest. . . .
Hollykit blinked open her eyes. Dawn was creeping through the knotted bramble walls. Lionkit and Jaykit were still asleep beside her. Squirrelflight’s nest smelled stale and cold. She must have returned late from patrol again and chosen to sleep in the warriors’ den.
Hollykit sat up and stretched.
“Awake already?” Ferncloud meowed. The queen was feeding her kits, her pale gray pelt glowing softly in the half-light.
“I’m too excited to sleep!” Hollykit mewed.
“You may go outside if you like,” Ferncloud allowed. “The dawn patrol will be back before long. They might bring warm prey.”
