The Fourth Apprentice

PEBBLEFOOT- mottled gray tom

APPRENTICE, RUSHPAW (light brown tabby tom)

MALLOWNOSE- light brown tabby tom

ROBINWING- tortoiseshell-and-white tom

BEETLEWHISKER- brown-and-white tabby tom

PETALFUR- gray-and-white she-cat

GRASSPELT- light brown tom

QUEENS

DUSKFUR- brown tabby she-cat

MOSSPELT- tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes

ELDERS

BLACKCLAW- smoky black tom

VOLETOOTH- small brown tabby tom

DAWNFLOWER- pale gray she-cat

DAPPLENOSE- mottled gray she-cat

POUNCETAIL- ginger-and-white tom

CATS OUTSIDE CLANS

SMOKY- muscular gray-and-white tom who lives in a barn at the horseplace

FLOSS- small gray-and-white she-cat who lives at the horseplace

OTHER ANIMALS

MIDNIGHT- a star-gazing badger who lives by the sea

Map

PROLOGUE

Water poured over the lip of the rock in a smooth curve and roared down into a chasm. Far below, it tumbled and foamed into a pool. The rays of the setting sun set a myriad of trapped rainbows dancing in the spray.

Three cats sat on the edge of the river just upstream of the waterfall. They watched as a fourth cat approached, stalking delicately across the shaggy moss that covered the riverbank. Starlight sparkled at her paws and misted on her gray-blue fur.

The newcomer halted and raked the waiting cats with an icy blue stare. “In the name of all Clans, why did you choose to meet here?” she demanded, irritably shaking one forepaw. “It’s far too wet, and I can’t hear myself think.”

Another she-cat, with ragged gray fur, rose to face her. “Stop complaining, Bluestar. I chose this place because it’s damp and noisy. I have things to say that I don’t want any other cat to overhear.”

A golden tabby tom beckoned with his tail. “Come and sit by me. There’s a dry spot just here.”

Bluestar padded across to him and sat down with a contemptuous sniff. “If this is dry, Lionheart, then I’m a mouse.” Turning to the gray she-cat, she added, “Well, Yellowfang? What is it?”

“The prophecy has not been fulfilled,” Yellowfang meowed. “The Three have come together at last, but two of the cats might not recognize the third.”

“Are you sure we’ve got the right Three this time?” Bluestar asked sharply.

“You know we have.” The speaker, a beautiful tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat, dipped her head gently toward the cat who had been her Clan leader. “Didn’t we all have the same dream on the night the One was born?”

Bluestar flicked the tip of her tail. “You could be right, Spottedleaf. But so much has gone wrong that it’s hard to trust anything now.”

“Of course she’s right.” Yellowfang twitched her ears. “But if Jayfeather and Lionblaze don’t recognize the One, there could be more trouble. I want to send them a sign.”

“What?” Bluestar rose to her paws again, waving her tail commandingly as if she still held authority over the old medicine cat. “Yellowfang, have you forgotten that this prophecy isn’t even ours? It could be dangerous to interfere with it. I think we should leave it alone.”

Spottedleaf blinked, puzzled. “Dangerous?”

“Do you think it’s a good idea to have cats in the Clans who are more powerful than the stars?” Bluestar challenged, facing each cat in turn. “More powerful than us, their warrior ancestors?” She swept her tail in a gesture to include her unseen Clanmates, who were elsewhere in the beautiful, prey-filled forest. “What will become of ThunderClan if-”

“Have faith, Bluestar,” Lionheart interrupted gently. “These are good and loyal cats.”

“We thought that about Hollyleaf!” Bluestar retorted.

“We won’t be wrong again,” Yellowfang mewed. “Wherever the prophecy came from, we have to trust it. And we have to trust our Clanmates beside the lake.”

Spottedleaf opened her jaws to speak, only to turn sharply at the sound of another cat brushing through the undergrowth a few fox-lengths farther upstream. A silver-furred she-cat burst out into the open and raced toward them, starlight swirling around her.

“Feathertail!” Bluestar exclaimed. “What are you doing here? Are you spying on us?”

“We’re all Clanmates now,” the former RiverClan warrior reminded her. “I guessed why you were meeting, and-”

“This is ThunderClan business, Feathertail,” Yellowfang pointed out, with just a hint of her sharp yellow teeth.

“No, it’s not!” Feathertail flashed back at her. “Jayfeather and Lionblaze are half WindClan-Crowfeather’s sons.” Her blue eyes filled with distress. “I care about what happens to them. I have to watch over them. And I grieve for Hollyleaf just as much as you do.”

Spottedleaf stretched out her tail to touch the silver she-cat on the shoulder. “She’s right. Let her stay.”