The Fourth Apprentice

Berrynose pressed himself close to her side. “I couldn’t bear to lose you, too,” he murmured.

“Don’t worry.” Poppyfrost’s voice shook a little. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Yes, you are. You’re going back to the nursery right now.” Berrynose nudged her. “I’ll bring you some fresh-kill, and then you’re going to rest.”

Jayfeather stayed where he was as their paw steps retreated. Daisy and Ferncloud came out of the nursery to greet Poppyfrost, and Berrynose guided her inside, still scolding her gently.

Berrynose is a real pain in the tail, and yet he gets two apparently sensible she-cats padding after him, Jayfeather thought with a shake of his head. Weird.

Turning away, he limped across the clearing to his den, but as he settled down in his nest he knew he wouldn’t sleep. He felt as restless as the trees clattering their branches above his head. There’s a storm coming, and more than rain and thunder. The forces of the Dark Forest are rising…

Finally, after squirming around in his nest, failing to get comfortable or to put his worries out of his mind, Jayfeather decided to go down to the lake and find his stick. Maybe Rock knows something about the battle.

On the way out of his den he encountered Cinderheart, who was padding across the clearing toward the thorn tunnel.

“Thanks for bringing Poppyfrost back,” she mewed, touching his ear with her nose. “We were all so worried.”

“You’re welcome,” Jayfeather mumbled, just wanting to get away.

But Cinderheart stopped him as he tried to move off. “Are you okay?” she queried, her voice growing sharper with anxiety. “You seem…sort of upset. And-oh!” She gasped. “You’ve got an awful scratch down your side.”

“It’s nothing,” Jayfeather muttered.

“Nonsense!” Cinderheart meowed. “You’re a medicine cat; you know very well it’s not nothing. Come on. You’d never let any of us leave camp without having that treated.”

Taking no notice of Jayfeather’s protests, she herded him back into his den and headed for the storage cleft. A moment later she came back with a bunch of chervil leaves in her jaws. “This should stop any infection,” she announced, beginning to chew them up.

When the poultice was ready, Cinderheart’s paws moved deftly and confidently as she plastered it on Jayfeather’s side. He let out a sigh of relief as the throbbing pain ebbed.

Does Cinderheart ever wonder why she feels so comfortable in the medicine cat’s den? She knew exactly which herb to use and what to do with it. Will it ever be the right time to tell her that she used to be Cinderpelt?

Another pang of foreboding shook him. If there is a battle coming that involves every warrior since the dawn of the Clans, we’ll need all the medicine cats we can get.

Once Cinderheart was satisfied, Jayfeather headed out again, his pelt sticky with her poultice. Branches rustled above his head, and huge plops of cold water began to fall, splashing on his fur and flung against the trees by the rising wind.

“It’s starting to rain!” Foxleap’s voice came from among the trees, and a moment later a patrol caught up to Jayfeather, with Squirrelflight, Rosepetal, and Icecloud.

“Hey, Jayfeather!” Foxleap chattered on. “Isn’t this great? If it keeps raining, we won’t have to go get water anymore.”

An irritated hiss came from Squirrelflight. “Foxleap, now look what you’ve done! You’ve dropped your moss, and it’s all dirty. Stop getting so excited, and concentrate.”

“Sorry,” Foxleap meowed, though he didn’t sound at all subdued. “I’ll wash it off when we get to the water.”

Jayfeather padded beside the patrol until they drew closer to the lake. Then he veered off, heading for the place where he had hidden his stick, and dragged it out from under the roots of the elder bush. Dropping it into the shelter of the bank, he sat down beside it and ran his paws over the scratches.

The voices of the ancient cats were faint and far away.

“Rock…” Jayfeather murmured. “Were you at the Moonpool last night? Do you know what is happening in the Dark Forest?”

“Yes, I know.” A voice breathed in Jayfeather’s ear, sending a shiver through him from ears to tail-tip. “But I cannot stop it-and even if I could, I would not. This is a storm that needs to break, Jayfeather.”

Jayfeather’s ears twitched up in shock. “Why?”

“There have been too many lies,” Rock replied. “Too much pain has been caused among the Clans. Cats will have their revenge, and the oldest grievances will be settled.”

Jayfeather turned his head toward the voice, and he saw the hazy shape of the ancient cat, with his hairless body and sightless, bulging eyes.

“Did you know?” he demanded. “About Leafpool and Crowfeather?”

Rock let out a sigh that stirred Jayfeather’s whiskers. “Yes, I knew.”

Jayfeather sprang to his paws. “Then why didn’t you tell me? Don’t you know how much pain we went through?”

“It was not your time to know, Jayfeather.” The ancient cat’s voice was calm and matter-of-fact. “You had to be raised as a ThunderClan cat, trained in medicine by your mother, Leafpool. That was your destiny, Jayfeather.”

“It’s not the destiny I wanted!” Jayfeather snapped.

“There was no room for you to be half-Clan from birth,” Rock went on, as though Jayfeather hadn’t spoken. “No room for you to be rejected because your mother had broken the code of the medicine cats and the warrior code.”

Jayfeather stared at him, hardly able to believe what he was hearing. “So you lied, and every cat lied, for the sake of the prophecy?” Rage was building inside him until he was angrier than he’d ever been before in his life; he dug his claws hard into the ground to stop himself from raking Rock’s eyes out. “Do you think it was worth it? Do you? I thought you were my friend!”

Slowly Rock shook his head. “I am no cat’s friend. I know too much for friendship. Be glad that you will never be burdened with the knowledge that I have. My curse is to live forever, knowing what has been and what has yet to be, powerless to change anything.”

His outline began to fade. As it vanished, Jayfeather’s fury erupted. He felt around on the ground until he located a sharp stone. Then he snatched up the stick, balanced it across the stone, and brought his forepaws smashing down on one end. He heard the stick break, and splinters pierced his paws. Rock and the ancient Clans had betrayed him, too. Did no cat tell the truth, ever?

In the same heartbeat, thunder crashed out overhead, rolling around the sky. Rain cascaded down onto the lakebed. Jayfeather crouched under the bank, his jaws wide in a soundless wail, and wrapped his paws over his ears.

CHAPTER 24

Dovepaw sank her claws into a branch as the wave of floodwater swept her downstream. The yowling of terrified cats was all around her, but she could see nothing except the heaving dark water and the tops of the trees as they spun past. Her pelt was drenched, she was shivering with cold, and she was more afraid than she had ever been in her life.

“Hold on!” Lionblaze’s voice rose above the chaos of the storm.

“Where are you?” Dovepaw wailed, but there was no reply.

A wave crashed over her, filling her mouth and nose with water. Still managing to cling to the branch, she forced her head to the surface, spluttering and coughing as she fought to breathe. Harsh yellow light flashed