“Go on, then,” growled Tigerclaw. Firepaw looked from Tigerclaw to the Thunderpath, and then walked out from beneath the hedge. He waited at the edge, as Bluestar had done. A monster was rushing toward him. Firepaw looked at the approaching monster. After this one, he thought, and waited for it to pass. Suddenly his heart lurched as he realized the monster had veered off the Thunderpath and was bumping along the grass. It was heading straight for him! A Twoleg was jeering from an opening in its side. Firepaw leaped backward, claws out, battered by the storm of wind from the Twoleg monster as it roared past him only a whisker away. He crouched, trembling, in the dirt and stared as it swerved back onto the path and disappeared into the distance. Through the roaring of blood in his ears, Firepaw realized the Thunderpath was quiet again, and he raced across, running faster than he had ever done in his life.
“I thought you were fresh-kill!” cried Graypaw as Firepaw cannoned into him, almost knocking him over.
“Me too!” Firepaw gasped. He was trying to stop shaking. He turned back to watch Tigerclaw dart over the path toward them.
“Twolegs!” he spat as he arrived at their side.
“Do you want to rest before we go on?” Bluestar asked Firepaw.
Firepaw looked up. The sun was low in the sky. “No,” he answered. “I’m okay.” But he had leaped so frantically out of the monster’s way that his claws felt frayed and tender.
The cats carried on, with Bluestar in the lead. The earth was darker on this side of the Thunderpath and the grass felt coarser underpaw. As they approached the foot of HighStones, the grass gave way to bare, rocky soil, dotted with patches of heather. The land sloped up now, toward the sky. Craggy rocks topped the slope, blazing orange in the sun.
Bluestar stopped once more. She chose a sun-warmed rock to sit upon, flat and wide enough for all five cats to rest side by side.
“Look,” she meowed, tilting her nose toward the dark slope before them. “Mothermouth.”
Firepaw peered upward. The glare of the setting sun blinded him, and the slope was engulfed in shadow.
The cats waited in silence. Gradually, as the sun dropped down behind HighStones, Firepaw began to make out the cave entrance, a square black hole that yawned darkly beneath a stone archway.
“We’ll wait here until the moon is higher,” meowed Bluestar. “You should hunt if you are hungry and then get some rest.”
Firepaw was pleased to have a chance to find food. He was starving now. Graypaw clearly felt the same and leaped away into a clump of heather, following the prey-scent that was thick in the air. Firepaw and Ravenpaw followed him. Tigerclaw set off in the opposite direction, but Bluestar remained where she was. She sat still and silent, gazing unblinkingly at Mothermouth.
The three apprentices gathered plenty of fresh-kill. With Tigerclaw they crouched on the stony hillside and feasted. But in spite of their easy hunt, no cat said much, and the air still felt thick with tension and anticipation.
Afterward, the cats rested beside their leader until the warmth had seeped out of the rock on which they lay and cold black shadows reached up on all sides. Only then did Bluestar call out, “Come. It is time.”
Chapter 15
Bluestar stood and began to pad toward Mothermouth. Tigerclaw walked beside her, matching her strides step for step.
“Come on, Ravenpaw!” called Graypaw. Ravenpaw was still sitting on the rock, staring up at the rocks. At Graypaw’s mew, he stood and began to follow slowly. Firepaw realized his friend had hardly said a word the whole journey. Is he just worried about ShadowClan, or is there something else troubling him? Firepaw wondered.
It took the cats only a few moments to reach Mothermouth. Firepaw stood on the threshold and peered inside. The blackness beyond the stone archway was darker than the cloudiest night. Firepaw narrowed his eyes, trying to see where the tunnel led, but he couldn’t see a thing.
Beside him, Graypaw and Ravenpaw craned their heads nervously around the entrance. Even Tigerclaw seemed unsettled by the black hole ahead of them. “How will we find our way in such darkness?” he asked.
“I will know the way,” answered Bluestar. “Just follow my scent. Ravenpaw and Graypaw, you will remain on guard outside. Firepaw, you will accompany me and Tigerclaw to the Moonstone.”
Firepaw felt a thrill jolt through him. What an honor! Firepaw glanced sideways at Tigerclaw. The warrior sat with his chin boldly raised, but Firepaw could detect a subtle fear-scent coming from him. It grew stronger as Bluestar stepped forward into the blackness.
Tigerclaw shook his mighty head and padded after Bluestar. With a brief nod to the other apprentices, Firepaw followed.
Inside the cave, his eyes still detected nothing. The complete and utter blackness felt strange, but he was surprised to find that he wasn’t frightened. His eagerness to discover what lay ahead was stronger.
The cold, damp air reached through his thick fur and into his bones, stiffening his muscles. Even the coldest nights did not hold the same chill as the air here. This ground has never known the warmth of the sun, thought Firepaw, feeling the rock smooth like ice beneath his paws. Freezing air filled his lungs with each breath, until he felt light-headed.
He followed Bluestar and Tigerclaw through the darkness, judging his way by scent and feel alone. They were walking along a tunnel that sloped down and down, winding first one way and then the other. Firepaw’s whiskers brushed the side of the cave, telling him where to walk and where to turn. His nose told him that Bluestar and Tigerclaw were only a tail-length ahead of him.
On and on they went. How far have we come? Firepaw wondered. Then he felt a tingle in his whiskers. The air in his nostrils seemed fresher than before. He sniffed again, relieved to smell the familiar world above. He could smell peat, and prey, and the scent of heather. There must be a hole somewhere in the roof of the tunnel. “Where are we?” he mewed into the darkness.
“We have entered the cavern of the Moonstone,” came Bluestar’s soft reply. “Wait here. It will be moonhigh soon.”
Firepaw folded his hind legs under him on the chilly stone floor and waited. He could hear the steady breathing of Bluestar and the more rapid, fear-scented panting of Tigerclaw.
Suddenly, in a flash more blinding than the setting sun, the cave was lit up. Firepaw’s eyes were wide open after the blackness of the tunnel. He closed them quickly against the cold, white light. Then slowly he opened them into tiny slits and peered ahead.
He saw a gleaming rock, which glittered as if it were made from countless dewdrops. The Moonstone! Firepaw looked around. In the cold light reflected from the stone, he could make out the shadowy edges of a high-roofed cavern. The Moonstone rose up from the middle of the floor, three tail-lengths high.
Bluestar was staring upward, her fur bleached white in the glow of the Moonstone. Even Tigerclaw’s dark pelt shone silver. Firepaw followed Bluestar’s gaze. High in the roof was an opening that revealed a narrow triangle of night sky. The moon was casting a beam of light through the hole, down onto the Moonstone, making it sparkle like a star.
Beside him, Firepaw smelled Tigerclaw’s fear-scent growing, until it became overpowering. Firepaw felt startled. Could the warrior see something else here, something dangerous? He saw a flash of movement, felt fur rush past him, and heard the fleeing pawsteps of Tigerclaw racing back to the entrance.
“Firepaw?” Bluestar’s voice was quiet and calm.
“I’m still here,” he answered nervously. What had frightened Tigerclaw?
“Bluestar?” Firepaw mewed again when she didn’t answer. His heart was beating fast, making the blood roar in his ears.