She purred loudly, hesitating as memories of Emberkit and Morning Whisker flashed in her thoughts. “I saw my littermates,” she told Wind Runner. “They were with the spirit-cats and they spoke to me.”
Wind Runner’s eyes glistened with emotion. “Are they okay?” Her mew caught in her throat.
“They are still kits,” Moth Flight told her. “But they look well and happy, and they have grown wise.”
Wind Runner jerked her muzzle toward Gorse Fur. “They are happy.” The words were no more than a breath but they were filled with joy.
Gorse Fur pressed his cheek against his mate’s. “They will always be safe,” he murmured.
The ShadowClan cats were starting to climb the slope toward the pine forest. Thunder was leading his cats away through the trees.
“We should go too.” Wind Runner signaled to her cats with a flick of her tail and began to head for the moor.
Clear Sky and Star Flower led SkyClan into the brambles as RiverClan disappeared into the long grass that reached toward the reed beds.
Dust Muzzle nudged Moth Flight’s shoulder. “Are you coming?”
Moth Flight scanned the empty clearing, relieved to see Micah hanging back at the bottom of the slope. “I’ll catch up with you,” she told Dust Muzzle.
Her brother glanced quizzically at Micah, then headed after their Clan.
Moth Flight hurried toward Micah. “We did it!” she mewed excitedly.
Sadness clouded his gaze.
“What’s wrong?” Wasn’t he happy that they’d convinced the Clans?
“I’m going to miss you,” he mewed softly.
Her heart quickened. She’d forgotten! He was going to live in SkyClan’s camp. They’d only been together a few days, yet leaving without him seemed strange. “I’ll miss you too.”
He leaned forward and touched his muzzle to hers. “I’ll see you at half-moon.”
“We can travel to the Moonstone together,” Moth Flight murmured.
Eyes flashed from the top of the slope. “Micah! Hurry up!”
Clear Sky’s mew rang around the hollow.
“I’d better go.” Micah headed for the undergrowth. “I don’t want to start off on the wrong paw.”
Moth Flight watched him disappear. The pricking sadness in her heart was suddenly swept away by excitement. She’d changed the future of the Clans! Nothing would ever be the same again. She glanced up at the sky, wondering if Half Moon was proud of her.
Green wings flitted in the moonlight overhead.
The moth!
It fluttered toward her, dancing closer until it settled on her muzzle. Her whiskers twitched as it tickled her nose. Her breath stirred its wings, then the moth swooped away, circling higher and higher until it was lost among the oak branches.
Had it come to say good-bye?
Thank you! Moth Flight heard the bracken rustle at the top of the slope. Her Clan was heading onto the moor. She hurried after them, pushing through the stiff stems. Her life was going to be different now. Her heart quickened. Half Moon, she whispered into the chilly night air. Help me be strong enough to fulfill my destiny.
Chapter 16
“Moth Flight, look at me!”
Silver Stripe’s mew sounded behind her. Shaking leaf crumbs from her paws, Moth Flight turned impatiently to watch the pale gray she-kit.
Silver Stripe was wedged into the prickly gorse halfway up the wall of her den. Black Ear was tugging at his sister’s tail, while White Tail was trying to climb up beside her.
“Please, get down!” Moth Flight marched across the freshly dug floor of her den and snatched Silver Stripe’s scruff in her teeth.
It was Wind Runner who had suggested hollowing out a den especially for Moth Flight. Storm Pelt, Reed Tail, Fern Leaf, Holly, and Dew Nose had spent days digging out a dip beneath the stems and tearing away branches to shape a cave in the heart of the thickest part of the gorse wall. The floor was wide enough for three nests. One for herself, and two for any sick cats who might need to be watched. The branches would make a great place to store the plants she collected. She could slot her herbs among the spiny stems and keep them sheltered from the weather.
Moth Flight dropped the kit on the ground. “If you want to climb, go outside.”
Silver Stripe blinked at her. “But Slate told us to stay with you.”
Moth Flight glanced back at the piles of leaves she’d collected. She was hoping to sort them and store them among the gorse stems at the back of her den before sunhigh.
Black Ear followed her gaze and hurried toward the piles.
He began sniffing them, sneezing as he reached a pungent heap and scattering leaves across the floor of the den. “Sorry!”
Moth Flight swallowed back frustration. I have to tell Slate that she needs to find another cat to watch her kits now that I’m a medicine cat. Moth Flight loved the kits, but she had new responsibilities now.
In the days since the full-moon Gathering, she’d gradually become used to the strange new way her Clanmates treated her.
When she disappeared into thought, Swift Minnow no longer teased her. When she brought plants back to camp, Wind Runner was the first to ask her if she’d found something interesting. Jagged Peak nodded a respectful greeting whenever she passed him. Only Slate didn’t seem to have noticed the change, still lost in her grief for Gray Wing.
The entrance rustled as Reed Tail poked his head in. “Do you need any help?”
“Can you look after these three?” Moth Flight grabbed Black Ear’s tail and hauled him away from the herbs.
“Swift Minnow’s just back from hunting,” Reed Tail told her. “I’ll see if she can watch them.”
White Tail frowned. “But we want to stay in Moth Flight’s cave!”
“Kits need fresh air and sunshine.” Reed Tail slid into the den and nosed the gray-and-white tom-kit toward the entrance.
“Wait!” Black Ear was sniffing the herb piles again. “What’s this?” He wrinkled his nose at a lush green leaf.
Moth Flight’s ears twitched. “Horsetail.” I think. She was having trouble remembering all the names.
Silver Stripe pushed past her brother and sniffed it. “What’s it for?”
Moth Flight frowned. “It cures twisted tails,” she guessed.
Reed Tail blinked at her sympathetically. “It’s chervil and it’s good for bellyache.” He padded past Silver Stripe and hooked a leaf with his claw. “But the root is better than the leaves. They aren’t really strong enough.”
Moth Flight’s pelt grew hot. “Of course!” She remembered now. Reed Tail had told her yesterday when he’d taken her out collecting herbs. Why couldn’t she remember the simplest things?
White Tail stared at her with wide eyes. “I thought you were our medicine cat?”
“Maybe Reed Tail should be the medicine cat,” Silver Stripe suggested.
Moth Flight shifted her paws uneasily. Perhaps the kit was right. How was she ever going to learn everything she’d need to know? She wondered for a moment if the spirit-cats had made a mistake choosing her. I’m too featherbrained.
Reed Tail shooed White Tail toward the entrance and nudged Silver Stripe and Black Ear after them. “Go and find
Swift Minnow. Tell her I sent you.”
“It’s not fair,” Silver Stripe complained.
“We were only helping,” added Black Ear.
As the kits disappeared, grumbling, from the cave, Moth
Flight looked gratefully at Reed Tail. “You know so much more than me about herbs and healing. Perhaps they’re right. Perhaps you should be WindClan’s medicine cat.”