Jaypaw felt Leafpool’s startled gaze like sunlight on his pelt. “Is that what
“I would do what was best for the Clan.” A pebble moved just in front of his paws. He darted forward and slapped his forepaws down, only to find that the mouse had escaped into its burrow. He lifted his muzzle, disappointed.
Leafpool had stopped. Fear seemed to enfold her like a cloud. Had he done something wrong?
“What’s up?”
“Nothing,” she replied, and padded on.
Jaypaw hurried after her.
“You know, that was pretty amazing what you did back there,” she meowed. Her light tone didn’t hide the anxiety sparking from her—or was it excitement? Why was she so edgy?
Jaypaw shrugged. “Aren’t you supposed to see stuff like that at the Moonpool?”
“But this wasn’t any old dream. You actually entered my dream. You saw what I saw.”
“So?”
“I have entered another cat’s dream only once.”
“When?” Jaypaw asked.
“Feathertail led me into Willowpaw’s dream so that I could tell her where to find catmint,” Leafpool explained.
“But Feathertail was already with StarClan. She invited me in. You entered my dream on your own, without the permission or knowledge of StarClan.”
With a shudder Jaypaw remembered the fierce stare of the broad-faced warrior. “Are you sure they didn’t know?”
“They would have told me,” Leafpool meowed.
“Why did you call Cinderpelt’s name?” Jaypaw asked. “Was there something you wanted to ask her?”
“I just wanted to know if she was there,” Leafpool mewed quietly.
“She didn’t answer.”
“No, she didn’t.”
“But she’s dead, right? Where else could she be?”
Jaypaw heard Leafpool’s pawsteps halt. She was expectant, anxious; he could feel it like rain in the air. “What did you feel when you saw StarClan?” she asked. “Were you scared?”
“Scared of a bunch of dead cats?”
“They are your warrior ancestors,” she reminded him. “They have seen and heard more than you could ever imagine.”
“Of course they’ve
“You’re not blind in your dreams, Jaypaw. Tell me, apart from the journey to the Moonpool, have you ever dreamed of anything else that has come true?”
Jaypaw shrugged. “Not really. Dreams are just dreams, aren’t they?”
“Not to every cat.”
“Sometimes I dream about when I was very small, traveling through snow,” he confessed. “Is that right? That wasn’t the Great Journey, was it?”
Tension crackled through Leafpool’s fur. “No, the Great Journey was long before you were born. But your . . . your mother did make a long journey with you through the snow when you were very small. You were born outside the hollow, and she had to wait until you were all strong enough to travel.”
Jaypaw could feel Leafpool staring at him, turning something over in her mind, like a fish too huge to be hooked out of the water. “What is it?” he asked.
“I think that you were destined to be a medicine cat,” she meowed.
“Don’t be silly,” Jaypaw retorted. “I’m going to be a warrior.”
“But you entered my dream,” Leafpool pointed out.
Jaypaw’s tail shot up indignantly. “You think I want to be stuck in camp worrying over kits and elders?”
Leafpool bristled. “There’s more to being a medicine cat than that!”
“If there is,” Jaypaw snapped, “let it be some other cat’s destiny! I want to be out in the forest, hunting and fighting for my Clan. You’re just like Brightheart! Always treating me differently just because I’m blind!”
“I’m treating you differently because you can see StarClan in
But Jaypaw didn’t want to listen anymore. He padded
angrily ahead. “I don’t care about having stupid dreams,” he called over his shoulder. “I’m going to be a warrior. Besides, you’ve already got Hollypaw, remember? You can’t have
Chapter 14
Lionpaw jerked up his head. Firestar’s call had woken him from his warm nest. It was dawn, and he could feel Berrypaw stirring beside him.
Jaypaw was already stretching, curling his tail back till the tip brushed his spine. “What does Firestar want so early?” he yawned.
“Clan meeting!” Lionpaw leaped to his paws. He hurried to be first out of the den, squeezing ahead of his denmates.
“Stop pushing,” Berrypaw complained.
“The fastest hunter catches the most mice,” Lionpaw mewed cheerfully.
The air outside the den hit him like the lash of a birch sapling. Frost glittered on the bushes around the edge of the camp, and the icy ground made Lionpaw’s pads ache. Breath billowing, he trotted into the clearing, where the cats were already gathering, huddling close for warmth.
Firestar sat on Highledge flanked by Brambleclaw and
Graystripe. Brambleclaw’s pelt shone, the muscles beneath it taut. Graystripe’s pelt was well-groomed, the knots and tangles smoothed at last, but it was dull and his ribs still showed beneath.
“He must have decided who the deputy should be,”
Hollypaw mewed, hurrying over from the medicine den and sitting down next to Lionpaw. She wriggled closer to him, shivering.
Jaypaw padded to join them, sitting beside Hollypaw.
“Graystripe and Brambleclaw are on Highledge with Firestar,” Hollypaw told him.
“I know,” Jaypaw answered sleepily. Lionpaw wondered why he looked so worn-out when he had not been outside the hollow in days.
Firestar’s pelt glowed like fire in the cold dawn light as he gazed over the Clan. Millie settled beside Ferncloud, her eyes round with curiosity. Sorreltail, Whitewing, and Cloudtail sat in front of her, Brackenfur and Thornclaw behind. The gray kittypet no longer seemed intimidated by the warriors hem-ming her in and stared calmly up at Firestar.
“I know you’ve all been wondering what will happen now that our previous deputy has returned,” the Clan leader began.
Graystripe wrapped his bushy tail tighter over his front paws. One of Brambleclaw’s ears twitched.
“When we left the forest, I thought I would never see Graystripe again,” Firestar confessed. “There were many
nights when I stared up at Silverpelt and tried to imagine him among our ancestors.”
Lionpaw glanced at Hollypaw and wondered what it would be like to lose her. He didn’t like the feeling that stabbed at his belly.
