Spottedleaf, Barkface, Littlecloud, and Mudfur padded into the clearing at FourTrees and exchanged glances.
"You're looking well," Mudfur mewed at Spottedleaf. He glanced at Littlecloud with a frown. The young tom looked dead on his feet and he sat down, shoulders hunched. "Whereas you look like crow-food."
Littlecloud blinked at him owlishly. "Darkflower had a very long kitting, and only for one kit! You try staying on your paws from sunhigh to moonhigh and tell me how well you look!"
Barkface chuckled, shaking his head. "My sympathies, young'un." He flicked his tail. "May as well get on with it."
The four cats turned towards Highstones and headed out of the hollow.
Spottedleaf glanced towards the farm where the loners lived and her stomach growled at her. She growled back, causing Barkface's ears to twitch. He glanced at her. "How's prey in ThunderClan?"
The tortoiseshell sighed, ears flat. "Hiding from the cold." Her whiskers twitched as she looked around at the bare earth. "Meanwhile there's yet to be snow this Leaf-bare."
Mudfur's fur rippled along his spine. "We've been enjoying a slightly longer period of being able to fish in RiverClan." He gazed up at the clear sky with a frown. "Although yes, the weather's been very odd."
Littlecloud stretched as he walked, yawning. "Still nice and warm-ish in the pines around our camp, which is nice. Keeps prey from hiding." He blinked sympathetically at Spottedleaf.
The cats paused at Highstones before proceeding into the Mothermouth, letting their familiarity with the tunnels guide them to where the Moonstone lay.
One by one, the medicine cats lay down by it, tails twitching as they waited for the moon to pass overhead. They flinched as the stone flared with light and then they touched their noses to the cool stone, letting it lull them to sleep.
Spottedleaf blinked as she found herself standing in StarClan's hunting grounds, and a few passing StarClan cats blinked greetings at her before resuming their activities. She looked around, wondering it would be a shared dream or if it was hers alone. Not seeing anyone, she shrugged and sniffed the air curiously.
"Looking for someone?" mewed a voice behind her, and she turned to see Featherwhisker and a pale ginger tom with yellow eyes she didn't recognize walk towards her. Spottedleaf and her mentor touched muzzles before Spottedleaf peered quizzically at her companion.
"This is Tailchaser. He's Rusty's kin."
Spottedleaf blinked in surprise. "I wasn't aware he had family."
Tailchaser chuckled, ears twitching. "Not surprising. We Folk aren't usually ones to gossip around other cats, especially if we don't know them." He gazed at Spottedleaf and nodded. "You're as lovely as Rusty described. I can see why he's so taken with you."
Spottedleaf's ears burned and she ducked her head shyly. She looked at him curiously. "What are you doing here?"
Tailchaser shrugged. "Passing by, for the most part. Not much else to do when you're dead, after all."
Something tugged at the back of Spottedleaf's mind and she tilted her head. "Is this what Fireleap was talking about when she mentioned dreaming about you?"
Featherwhisker shook his head. "No, we talked about how spirit cats can take a body if its current spirit leaves." He chuckled wryly. "This would be a little easier for everyone if you remembered your dreams or could share them with others."
Spottedleaf blinked. "Are the other medicine cats having similar dreams?"
Featherwhisker's fur rippled uncertainly. "Unlikely. They're probably talking with cats familiar to them and their clan. You don't dream about WindClan, RiverClan, or ShadowClan cats, do you?"
"Is that a good thing?" Tailchaser asked. "Seems like it'd be easier to keep a peace if there were less boundaries, both in dreams and territory."
Featherwhisker glanced at him, brow furrowing. "Maybe," he admitted. "But there's a lot of tradition and wariness to get over first." His eyes turned thoughtful. "There's a lot the clans could learn from one another that way." His whiskers then twitched in amusement. "Although it's only really useful for medicine cats, since useful herbs don't always grow evenly or equally on all the territories, which is why crossing borders to find some in a pinch is allowed, and why they help any injured cat regardless of clan affiliation."
"So everyone should be a medicine cat," Tailchaser mewed.
"I'll get right on that," Featherwhisker mewed dryly. "I'm sure it'll go swimmingly."
"Ah," Tailchaser said, eyes brightening. "I understand that, because most cats don't like to swim, ergo it would be foolhardy."
Featherwhisker closed his eyes with a sigh, muttering under his breath. Tailchaser blinked in amusement. Spottedleaf stared at him blankly.
"While it might not seem like it at first glance," Tailchaser explained. "I'm not completely fluent in your territories' dialect. Where I'm from, our singing is different and a little more involved at times."
"You certainly know enough to get by," Spottedleaf noted. "That explains your accent, at least."
"Not the most pleasant thing to listen to, or so I've heard," Tailchaser mewed cheerfully. "But at least it's decipherable."
"Will you be staying in the area long? I'd love to know more about where you come from," Spottedleaf mewed.
"Rusty more-or-less said the same thing, albeit in not as many words," Tailchaser mewed thoughtfully. "Could always ask him too. I think he still remembers the lands out va'an – west, even though he left at a very young age to avoid a wave of sickness. Which then passed and he never came back, so…" He shrugged. "Much like his father, in that sense. Who was my grandson, who also had restless paws and decided to wander away from home to see what lay beyond the horizon. And judging by the fact I've got great-grandkits, it seems he found happiness, which is about all I can hope for with him."
Spottedleaf noted his pelt curiously. "Rusty's stripes aren't quite as pronounced as yours though."
"I've noticed," Tailchaser said with a sigh. "I'm rather disappointed by that, but such is the way, I suppose."
"Have you seen your grandson in your travels?" Featherwhisker asked, glancing at Spottedleaf before flicking back to Tailchaser. "Nobody seems to know if he's living or dead."
Tailchaser shrugged. "While I can't be sure, I don't think he's dead yet. He's smart enough to stay out of trouble. Might have settled down somewhere and is living out the rest of his days quietly with a pretty fela by his side."
Featherwhisker's ears came up and he looked around as the field began to dissolve. "Seems like it's time for you to go." He gave Spottedleaf's forehead a lick and purred. "Thank you for coming all this way, and I hope the rest of Leaf-bare is as kind to you as it has been so far."
"Give my regards to Rusty if you see him," Tailchaser called as he faded from view.
Spottedleaf woke up beside the Moonstone, which was dark once again, and blinked as she felt the others wake.
"Any doom and gloom?" Mudfur called.
"Still quiet," came Barkface's soft mew.
"Just talked to some old faces," Littlecloud mewed, voice thick as he swallowed heavily.
"Saw my mentor and a passing spirit from the west," Spottedleaf mewed.
"West?" Mudfur mewed, getting to his paws. "I've heard rumors of cats that live past Highstones, but nothing about ones to the west. What were they like?"
"Like you or I, although with a slightly different way of speaking," Spottedleaf replied. "He called it singing."
"Ah yes, an older way of communicating," Barkface mewed. "Tallstar's learned a little of it from Rusty a few moons back, when Tallstar visited to talk to him about Jake." His tail whished through the air. "I can see why our ancestors chose a different method of speech."
Quiet purrs wafted through the cave and the medicine cats then returned to their homes.
