Dread swelled at the edge of her thoughts and she wondered, for a moment, why. Then she remembered.
Anguish struck her like a wave. She struggled to breathe.
Micah’s muzzle was still a whisker from hers, cold and stiff.
She blinked at it numbly. Grief had dragged her through the long, dark night. Foxes had screeched from the depth of the woods. Owls had glided, curious, through the glade, the breeze from their silent wings the only clue they had passed. Paws had scuffed the forest floor as cats came and went, dipping their head in respect to Micah, exchanging sympathies in hushed mews.
“It’s time we buried him.” Wind Runner’s mew cut through Moth Flight’s grief like claws.
Panic seized her. “No.” They couldn’t lay him deep in the earth and cut him off from sunlight forever. “I need to see him.”
Wind Runner got to her paws and touched her muzzle to Moth Flight’s head. “Foxes will come for his body if we don’t.”
Moth Flight blinked at her. Why was her mother being so cruel?
Swift Minnow shifted beside her. “Burying him will show our respect.”
Wind Runner nodded. “He’ll be safe in the earth.”
Anguish slammed into Moth Flight. “But what about me?” I need him.
“You still have your family,” murmured Wind Runner.
“And your Clanmates,” Swift Minnow added.
Moth Flight leaped to her paws and glared at them. “I don’t want you!” she hissed. “I want him!”
They exchanged looks, then Wind Runner signaled to some cat with her tail. Gorse Fur padded toward them, with Nettle, Blossom, and Acorn Fur following close behind. The splintered branch had already been cleared away, leaving Micah’s body exposed to the brightening day.
Nettle thrust his gray muzzle beneath Micah’s flank, heaving him onto his back. Gorse Fur and Blossom crowded beside him, helping to take the weight of Micah’s body. Acorn Fur slid among them, pressing her shoulder beneath Micah’s hindquarters. Together, they carried the body from the glade.
Moth Flight watched them wade through the bluebells, the purple blossoms sweeping Micah’s matted pelt.
Wind Runner nudged her gently forward. “Come and say good-bye.”
Moth Flight’s paws felt as heavy as stone as she followed the cats out of the glade. Daylight was beginning to glimmer among the leaves overhead as the sun lifted higher. At the top of the rise she saw cleared earth and a hole dug deep into it. Clear Sky stood at its head, Star Flower at his side. SkyClan gathered around them as Nettle and Gorse Fur paused at the edge of the hole.
Moth Flight blinked at the solemnity in Clear Sky’s gaze.
Didn’t he realize that he’d caused this, with his fox-hearted craving for borders?
Acorn Fur’s eyes were misted with grief. She pressed against Birch while Quick Water, Alder, Fern Leaf, and Thorn stared bleakly at Micah’s body. Red Claw hung back behind
Clear Sky, his gaze fixed on his paws. Moth Flight felt anger flash in her belly, eclipsing her grief for a moment. You killed him! You and your stupid fight! She glanced around, wondering if Willow Tail had dared come.
The pale tabby she-cat was watching half hidden behind
Dust Muzzle. Moth Flight glared at her, anger seething beneath her pelt. “Don’t skulk behind my brother!” she spat. “Come and see what you’ve done.” She jerked her muzzle toward Micah, lying stiffly on Nettle’s back.
Moth Flight felt Wind Runner’s pelt brush her flank. “It was an accident,” she murmured.
“It didn’t have to happen! If they hadn’t been fighting”—Moth Flight glared at Red Claw—“Micah would still be alive.”
Clear Sky caught her gaze and returned it steadily. “Micah died because he was brave. It was a noble death.”
“He didn’t die because he was brave!” Moth Flight stared at him, stunned. “He died because you sent Red Claw after him.”
Clear Sky didn’t blink. “He chose to climb back up the tree,” he meowed simply. “He could have stayed on the ground.”
Moth Flight’s mind whirled. Was Clear Sky blaming Micah?
Star Flower stepped forward, her emerald gaze round with sympathy. “You are angry,” she mewed. “A cat you loved has died. But what is the point of blaming Clear Sky? Or Red Claw or Willow Tail? The tree was rotten. Do you blame the tree?”
“Yes!” Moth Flight’s pelt bristled. “And Rocky’s cough for sending us there! And Clear Sky! And Red Claw and Willow
Tail!” Her thoughts seemed to whirl as rage flared. “And Micah for being so dumb!”
Star Flower blinked at her. “Would Micah have blamed anyone?”
I’m glad I spent this time with you. His dying words echoed in her mind. Shame washed her pelt. He could have hated me for bringing him here… but instead, he was grateful. She felt the eyes of the other cats fixed on her and backed away, grief welling once more in her chest as her anger withered.
Wind Runner brushed her cheek with her muzzle. “Let’s say good-bye to Micah kindly.”
Nettle crouched and let Micah’s body slip from his shoulders. It dropped into the hole with a thud. Clear Sky stepped forward and looked into the darkness.
No! Moth Flight closed her eyes and pictured Micah on the stepping-stones, the river sparkling around him. That night, as they’d curled in their nest in Dappled Pelt’s den, he’d asked her to be his mate. While Dappled Pelt slept they’d planned a future in soft whispers. They’d told each other that StarClan would find a way for them to be together; they could be medicine cats to both Clans, traveling between them, but always at each other’s side.
Moth Flight felt her mother’s flank pressing against hers.
She watched as Clear Sky pushed a pawful of earth into the hole. Would either leader have let them live that way? Would StarClan?
She’d never know now.
Her throat tightened. A wave of sadness flooded her, so strong that the ground swayed beneath her. Wind Runner pressed harder against her. Gorse Fur padded to her other side and pushed his shoulder beneath hers.
Clear Sky lifted his muzzle. “I had doubts about taking Micah in,” he meowed. “When he cured Tiny Branch, I regretted my promise to let him stay. He was a farm cat, sleek from easy living, too sure of himself to be trusted. I didn’t think he had any place in a Clan.”
Nettle nodded. Quick Water murmured in agreement.
Clear Sky went on. “But I was wrong.” He gazed sadly into the grave. “He devoted every thought and every moment to his Clanmates.” His gaze flitted from Nettle to Quick Water. “All of us who doubted him came to respect his intelligence and value his kindness.” The SkyClan cats nodded solemnly.
Star Flower moved closer to the SkyClan leader as he continued. “I respected Micah. He stood up to me. He did what he thought was right, not what would please me. He died doing what he thought was right.” He looked at Moth Flight. “He had to climb back into the tree; he was being true to himself. He died as he lived—caring about others, bravely and without hesitation. We were lucky to have known him, even for so short a while.”
The forest seemed to spin around Moth Flight. She felt Wind Runner and Gorse Fur press closer, supporting her as her paws buckled beneath her.
Clear Sky’s gaze was still on her. “Will you speak for him?”
“I can’t—” Moth Flight faltered. Grief seemed to be tearing her heart in two. The other cats stared at her expectantly. She glanced into the hole, glimpsing a flash of Micah’s pelt where the rising sun’s rays pierced the depths. “May StarClan light your path.”