“Look here,” Purdy meowed, padding over when Briarlight had flopped down in a sunny spot. A mouse dangled from his jaws. “Let’s share this mouse, an’ I’ll tell you how I once chased a dog out of my Upwalker’s garden.”
“No thanks, Purdy,” Briarlight mewed. “I’m not really hungry. But I’d love to hear the story,” she added hastily, as the old cat looked disappointed.
“I’ve collected some thrush feathers for your nest,” Snowpaw announced, bouncing up with the feathers in his jaws and one or two clinging to his pelt. “They’re really soft. I’ll go in now and make it all cozy for you.”
“Thank you,” Briarlight called hoarsely after the apprentice as he dashed away.
“You’re doing brilliantly, little one,” Millie praised her daughter, stroking the young cat’s shoulders with her tail. “It won’t be long before you’re feeling in top form again.”
“I guess.” Briarlight sighed. She rested her chin on her paws and watched Millie walk over to the fresh-kill pile, where Graystripe was pulling feathers from a blackbird.
Bramblestar padded over to Briarlight. “Is something up?” he asked. “Can I help?”
Briarlight twitched her ears. “I doubt it.” She lifted her head and looked at Bramblestar with sky-colored eyes. “I’m fed up with being treated as if I’m special!” she confessed. “I just want to be like every other cat.”
“What?” Bramblestar tried to sound amused. “You want to be like Purdy? Are you going to tell me a story? Or maybe you want to be like Spiderleg, too shy to speak to Daisy even though she’s been the mother of his kits? Or perhaps you want to be Dewpaw, and live in the apprentices’ den with your fur smelling of mouse bile? We’re all different,” he reminded her briskly.
Briarlight let out a small mrrow of laughter. “I know,” she mewed. “But sometimes it’s really difficult to be Briarlight.”
Bramblestar gazed down at her, feeling helpless. He turned at the sound of paw steps. Leafpool had returned to the camp. Her pelt was dusty and there was dirt wedged under her claws from tending the herbs by the Twoleg nest.
“Everything’s tidy over there,” she reported to Jayfeather. “A little rain would help the catmint to grow.”
“Jayfeather, I’m tired!” Briarlight called. “I’d like to go back to the den, please.”
“But you’ve only been outside for a couple of heartbeats,” Jayfeather objected.
“It’s not good for you to be shut up in there all by yourself,” Leafpool added.
“I want to go back now,” Briarlight insisted.
Jayfeather was opening his jaws to argue when Purdy, who had been sitting a tail-length away, nibbling at his mouse, brought the half-eaten prey over to Briarlight and dropped it at her paws.
“You were going to help me with this,” he reminded her. “I can’t finish it. An’ I haven’t told you my story yet.”
“You’ve hardly eaten anything!” Briarlight scolded him. “Come on, share the rest with me, and I’ll listen to the story.”
Purdy flashed Bramblestar a knowing look as he tucked his paws underneath him and waited for Briarlight to take her first bite of mouse. “Well, there was this dog, see,” he began. “Nasty, flea-bitten creature…” He paused as Briarlight swallowed her mouthful, and nudged the fresh-kill closer so she could take another bite.
You clever old cat! Bramblestar thought.
Beside him, Jayfeather was listening to Briarlight’s movements with his head on one side. Grunting in satisfaction, he straightened up and turned to Bramblestar. “It’s full moon tonight,” the medicine cat announced. “We missed the last Gathering because the sky was covered with clouds. It will be interesting to hear how the other Clans have coped with these last two moons of cold and hunger.”
Bramblestar looked around for Squirrelflight and spotted her chatting with Graystripe beside the fresh-kill pile. He beckoned her over with a wave of his tail. “Which cats should we take to the Gathering tonight?” he asked her.
His deputy thought for a moment. “Cloudtail and Cherryfall haven’t been for a while.”
“True, and neither has Cinderheart,” Bramblestar mewed. “I think we should take all the apprentices, too.”
Squirrelflight’s eyes stretched wide. “All five? You must be joking!”
“I’m not. Lilypaw and Seedpaw missed their chance last moon, and it wouldn’t be fair not to take the other three as well. It’s time they found out what goes on at a Gathering.”
Squirrelflight let out a snort of amusement. “If they get across the tree-bridge without one of them falling in, I’ll eat my fur!”
Bramblestar flicked her ear with his tail. “They’ll be fine.” Glancing around, he spotted Blossomfall and Thornclaw in the entrance to the warriors’ den. He felt his pelt prick with suspicion when he saw them with their heads together, and with a pang of guilt he swiveled his ears so he could hear what they were saying.
“I hope I’m chosen to go to the Gathering,” Blossomfall murmured.
“Me too,” Thornclaw agreed. “It’s been ages since we’ve seen the others.”
Bramblestar’s uneasiness intensified. “I hope those two aren’t expecting to rekindle friendships they made in the Dark Forest,” he muttered.
“We need to trust all our Clanmates equally.” Lionblaze spoke up from behind Bramblestar, who turned to face him. “What’s done is done, and can’t be undone.” His golden gaze was fixed on Bramblestar. “In the end, our Clanmates realized where their loyalties lay.”
Bramblestar nodded, remembering that during the Great Battle, as soon as the ThunderClan cats had realized that the Dark Forest warriors were bent on death and destruction, they had all switched their allegiances and fought fiercely for their own Clan.
He saw Squirrelflight’s gaze fixed on Thornclaw and Blossomfall, and knew that she struggled to forgive them. She lost so much in the Great Battle, Bramblestar thought. Her father, Firestar… and Hollyleaf, who was like a daughter to her.
“I understand how you feel,” he whispered into Squirrelflight’s ear. “But if we treat them like outsiders, won’t that encourage them to start looking beyond the Clan again for support?”
“Leafpool has volunteered to stay behind,” Jayfeather put in. “So I’ll be able to come.”
“And I presume I can join you?” Lionblaze meowed. He half released his claws so that they flashed in the sunlight. “Just in case ShadowClan causes more trouble.”
Bramblestar looked around at the three cats: his deputy, his medicine cat, and one of the Clan’s bravest warriors. But they meant far more than that to him. They are my family, he thought, even though they’re not my blood kin. These cats will always be the most precious parts of my life. He felt a jolt of grief as he pictured a black-furred cat with sharp green eyes. If Hollyleaf were still alive, my family would be whole once more.
The sun had gone down when Bramblestar led his cats out of the hollow and down toward the lake. The horizon was still streaked with scarlet, and the surface of the water reflected the dying glow. Bramblestar looked up to see the moon, a huge silver circle, hanging above the trees in a clear indigo sky.
Amberpaw let out a yowl of excitement as the lake came into sight. She charged down the slope toward it, with her two littermates hard on her paws. Lilypaw and Seedpaw glanced at each other as if they were far too mature for such overexcited behavior, then squealed, “Wait for us!” and pelted after them.
“Hey, be careful!” Squirrelflight called after them.