Violetpaw’s heart ached with sudden happiness. By the time the moon rose, she’d be settled into a fresh nest with a full belly, Clanmates at her side. She purred to herself. Clan life was better than she’d ever imagined before.
Violetpaw dreamed. Sunlight bathed a wide field. Ahead of her, a fat mouse scuttled through the grass. Licking her lips, she prepared to pounce. Something pricked at her pelt. Go away. She burrowed deeper into her dream. The mouse was moving sleepily in the sunshine. It would be an easy catch. Her pelt pricked more sharply. Stop it! Irritation tightened Violetpaw’s belly. Something was trying to wake her. She grumbled in her sleep, trying to ignore the feeling that was pestering her.
It nagged harder, dragging her at last into wakefulness.
She opened her eyes.
Darkness shrouded the small hollow. She could hear the soft breathing of her sleeping companions.
What had woken her? Puzzled, she lifted her head and tasted the air.
The cool night air carried the scent of Needletail.
She came back! Quickly, Violetpaw scrambled out of her nest. She threaded her way between her Clanmates and padded out of the hollow. The hillside was drenched in moonlight. She scanned the rippling grass for Needletail. Please be here. A shadow moved near the bottom of the slope where heather crowded. As Violetpaw raced toward it, the shadow slipped into the heather. “Needletail!” she hissed desperately as she neared. “Stop!” She crashed through the bushes, spying Needletail’s pelt moving between the branches.
“Wait!” Fury pounded in Violetpaw’s chest. “Why do you wake me up just to run away?” Was this Needletail’s revenge? “I’m sorry I left! You told me to, remember? I wanted to save you! I just felt like there was nothing I could do. If I’d stayed, Darktail would have killed me, and then he’d have killed all our Clanmates. Did you want that?”
Needletail’s pelt swished between the bushes. Then there was silence. Had she left?
Violetpaw pushed her way through the heather until it opened into a small clearing. Needletail waited there, her green eyes glinting in the moonlight.
“Are you angry with me?” Violetpaw stared at her. “Is that why you keep appearing?”
Needletail nodded toward a tom, curled in a moss nest beneath a clump of heather.
Violetpaw froze, then hurried toward Needletail and lowered her voice. “Who is he?”
Needletail blinked at her. “He’s a cat I met many moons ago.”
Violetpaw was so surprised to hear Needletail’s voice again that she hardly heard the words. Why now? She forced herself to concentrate as Needletail went on.
“I knew him when I was alive. Now he’s around every time I return.”
“Return?” Violetpaw’s thoughts were spinning. “Return from where? Are you with StarClan?”
Needletail looked down at her softly glowing pelt. No stars showed there. “Do I look like I’m with StarClan?”
Violetpaw stiffened. “The Dark Forest?” she asked anxiously.
“No.” Needletail shifted her paws. “I don’t know where I go. I only know that when I open my eyes, I’m near him.”
“Can he see you?”
“Yes.” Needletail flicked her ears. “He’s the only one who can. Well, him and you.”
“Is he dead too?” Violetpaw’s pelt rippled nervously along her spine.
“No.” Needletail looked at her as though she were a mouse-brain. “That’s why I wanted to show him to you. I think he’s important to the Clans. I think that’s why I’m stuck here and why he’s always near.”
“What can I do to help?” Violetpaw was puzzled.
“Take him with you,” Needletail ordered. “Take him to the Clans.”
“Why?”
Needletail shrugged. “I don’t know. All I know is that I can see him and I can see you. I think that I’m meant to make you two meet and that you’re meant to take him to the Clans. If I help the Clans, then maybe I’ll find StarClan.”
Violetpaw gazed into Needletail’s eyes, pity twisting her heart. It must be so lonely here. “I’ll take him,” she promised.
Needletail turned toward the heather.
“Are you leaving?” Violetpaw blinked at her.
“This is your quest now.”
“Don’t go!” One thought blazed in Violetpaw’s mind. Are you still angry with me? Too scared to ask out loud, she stared imploringly at Needletail. Urgency flashed in her friend’s eyes.
“Please,” Needletail begged.
She needs me! Violetpaw’s heart lifted, glad she could help. But has she forgiven me? “Wait—” Before she could finish, Needletail disappeared among the heather. As the breeze whisked away her scent, Violetpaw knew she was gone.
She heard moss stir beside her. The tom was waking. She backed away, her pelt bristling as he lifted his head and yawned.
He stiffened as he caught sight of her. “Who are you?” In a moment, he was on his paws, hackles high.
“Needletail brought me here,” Violetpaw mewed quickly.
“Needletail?” The tom looked surprised. “Can you see her too?”
“Yes.” Violetpaw didn’t entirely trust this tom. She glanced toward a gap in the heather. She could dart away there if he turned nasty. “She was my friend, when she was alive.”
“I met her when she was an apprentice.” The tom narrowed his eyes. “I didn’t see her again until after she died.”
“Why do you keep following her?” Violetpaw asked.
The tom looked indignant. “She keeps following me.” He glanced around the small clearing. “Is she here?”
“She just left.” Violetpaw shifted her paws. “She brought me here to meet you.”
The tom’s eyes sparkled mischievously. “That was kind of her. Perhaps she thinks we’re soul mates.”
“Soul mates?” Violetpaw was confused.
“It is kind of romantic, don’t you think? The moonlight? The heather?”
Romantic? Violetpaw bristled. “Do you flirt with every strange cat you meet?”
“Only the ones who appear in the middle of the night claiming a ghost brought them.”
Violetpaw struggled for words. This tom was being impossible. “Stop it!” she snapped. “Needletail brought me to you for a reason.” She saw his eyes flash with mischief again and pushed on quickly. “She thinks you might help the Clans.”
The tom rolled his eyes. “You’re a Clan cat.” He sounded disappointed.
“So?” Violetpaw glared at him.
“There are two things I know about Clan cats.” He climbed out of his nest. “They don’t like strangers on their land, and they take everything way too seriously.”
“I don’t!” Violetpaw mewed indignantly.
The tom’s ears twitched. “You seem to be taking this very seriously.”
“That’s because it is serious!” Violetpaw turned her tail on him, fuming, and began to march through the heather.
“Hey, wait!” He hurried after her. “I thought you and Needletail wanted me to help the Clans.”
“I doubt that you’ve ever helped anyone but yourself.” Violetpaw kept walking.
“That’s not fair. You don’t even know me.” The tom wove ahead of her and blocked her way as she emerged onto the moonlit hillside.
She stared at him, not speaking.
“My name is Tree.” He rounded his eyes apologetically. “I didn’t mean to tease. I didn’t realize it would upset you.”
Violetpaw stared at her paws, annoyed that he’d been able to ruffle her fur so easily. “My name is Violetpaw,” she mumbled.