Dawnheart found himself face to face with a cat he had never met, a cat he had no memory of, and yet his heart twisted as the realization of who she was washed over him. Her striking blue eyes hungrily swept over his face. She was shorter than he was, and plumper. Her distinctive gray-brown markings matched his own.
Her eyes grew wide and shone with the same light that used to sparkle in Spottedfur's gaze. Jasmine stepped forward and lifted a small, shaking paw to his face. The gesture was like nothing any Clan cat had ever done, but Dawnheart could feel the tender emotion behind it.
She brushed his cheek lightly with her paw. He shivered at her touch.
"My baby," She said. Her voice quavered. "StarClan promised I would see you again, but I didn't dare hope-" Her words were choked off by a tight gasp. She stepped back and looked up at him.
"I..." Dawnheart managed to say. His thoughts flew to Spottedfur, Blackmoth, and Lilypool. They had nursed him, raised him, protected and fought for him. All that this cat had done was give him away to a life of hardship, pain, and loss.
And yet as he remembered his mothers and mentor, he also remembered the joyous days of kithood. He thought of the warmth of newleaf and the taste of fresh caught mouse. He felt within him an echo of the excitement and pride that had filled him the day he was made an apprentice. He thought of Slatefang and standing beside him at their warrior ceremony.
He saw the pain, grief, and pride of a mother reflected in Jasmine's eyes, and he knew he could not judge her. She had given him the gift of his life as a warrior. Where had she found the strength?
He leaned forward and brushed his cheek against hers. He felt her stiffen and then relax. A purr rose in her throat, so loud it made Dawnheart's whiskers vibrate.
"Hello, mother." Dawnheart said into her neck fur. She somehow purred louder.
"My kit, my Ginseng," Jasmine purred. She froze for a moment and then backed up quickly until they were face to face again. Her eyes were just as round as Kibby's and they seemed to grow just as wide.
"But that isn't your name!" she gasped. "The Clan would've given you a proper one!" Dawnheart had expected to see sadness in her eyes but all he saw was excitement and pride.
"Yes," Dawnheart said, trying to stifle a bemused purr. "I was named Dawnheart."
Jasmine gave a little skip and a squeal of joy.
"A warrior! Already? And what a noble name!" She bounced up and nuzzled Dawnheart's neck. He heard a muted mrrow of laughter and looked up to see Oliver and Kibby standing just off to the side. Oliver was looking sternly at his denmate while she looked sheepishly from behind his ringed tail.
Dawnheart shook his head slightly. His sister was as bad as a chatty apprentice. The Clan would never let him live it down if they found out he was related to such a puff-ball.
His belly lurched. The Clan. They needed the catmint. He was wasting time. He pulled away from Jasmine.
"It's great to meet you," he said. "But I have something I need to find."
Jasmine twitched an ear. "Catmint, right?"
Dawnheart nodded, hopeful.
"You're in luck! My human grew some in the house just for me." Jasmine said brightly. By her tone it was obvious that she didn't quite know how important what she just said was. A wave of relief flooded through Dawnheart. The catmint had survived. His Clan would survive.
"Show me." Dawnheart said quickly.
Jasmine nodded and turned towards the Twoleg nest. She flicked her tail, indicating for him to follow. Dawnheart glanced at Oliver and Kibby.
"We'll stay here." Oliver said. Kibby shot him a betrayed look. He nudged her and muttered something in her ear. The she-cat kicked at a pinecone at her paws but didn't complain.
Dawnheart nodded to Oliver and followed Jasmine away.
He looked up at the looming, unnatural structure. Dead ivy crisscrossed the red, rock-like walls. Several holes were cut out of the front and had been filled with a reflective substance. It was like the surface of the lake, but no ripples crossed the face. As they grew closer Dawnheart could feel his skin crawling beneath his pelt.
Jasmine hopped lightly onto some angular, stacked stones. Dawnheart hesitated. He had managed to avoid direct contact with any twoleg thing so far. His belly squirmed at the thought of setting paw on this unnatural structure.
"Are you alright?" Jasmine said from the top of the stack. Dawnheart looked up at her curious face and shook himself. A warrior of CedarClan wasn't afraid of anything, let alone silly twoleg things. He took a breath and leapt up the rocks in two bounds.
He landed next to Jasmine and gave her a curt nod. She turned and walked right up to the slab of wood that had swung open earlier. To Dawnheart's horror, Jasmine opened her jaws and let out a yowl.
A silhouette moved behind the ice-like barrier in the wood. He heard the inquisitive call of a twoleg and something much more alarming; the rough bark of a dog.
Instinct taking over, Dawnheart spun and scrambled back down the stones. He dove into the cluster of snowy, leafless bushes that flanked the nest.
Heart pounding, Dawnheart huddled under the bush and listened. He heard a creak and the twoleg's call got louder. It was raised in confusion. The dog barked again and the twoleg scolded it with a snap. After a moment there was another creak and a click and the twoleg's voice faded away. Dawnheart exhaled and let himself relax slightly.
A rustling announced Jasmine squeezing under the bush next to him. He felt his ears grow hot with shame. A brave CedarClan warrior, indeed.
"I'm sorry!" Jasmine gasped. She touched his ear with her nose. "I forgot that you aren't used to dogs and twolegs."
"It's fine. I was just startled." Dawnheart said. At least he could keep his voice from shaking. "Could we find another way in?"
Jasmine cocked her head in thought.
"I could distract Skarloey while you slip inside." She said after a moment. "The catmint is in the kitchen."
Dawnheart's head spun. "Skarloey? Kitchen?"
"Skarloey is the dog. The kitchen is where my human eats food. You'll be able to smell it." Jasmine was getting to her paws. Dawnheart reluctantly did so too.
"Once I've gotten Skarloey to follow me, my human will chase us both. Then you can go inside." Jasmine explained. "Go left to get to the kitchen. The catmint is on the windowsill."
Dawnheart nodded and before he could remember to ask what a 'windowsill' was, Jasmine had ducked out from under the bush.
Dawnheart waited. He heard Jasmine yowl. The dog began to bark again and a frustrated sounding twoleg called out. The creak of the door followed. A moment later there was a flurry of barks and the sound of claws against stone. Dawnheart watched from behind branches as Jasmine sped across the snowy ground away from the nest. A tall, white and brown dog with curly fur chased after her.
Dawnheart's warrior instincts demanded that he rush to Jasmine's aid and stand against the enemy, but as he watched he saw a playful familiarity in the chase. Jasmine was hardly trying to stay ahead of the dog, and in return the animal was nipping at her tail with a soft mouth. It was almost like they were denmates playing a game of hunter and prey.
A loud call from the twoleg jolted Dawnheart out of his slack-jawed amazement. He watched as a short, stooped female twoleg bustled across the snow after Jasmine and the dog. This was his chance. Dawnheart leapt up out of the bush and up the stones.
Without pausing to think or let his fear turn his paws away, Dawnheart sped past the wooden slab and into an entirely different world.
A storm of new scents and sounds bombarded his senses. His paws skidded on the suddenly smooth ground and he yelped as he smacked against a solid wall. Dazed, he got to his paws and tried to gather himself.
The light of sun-high streamed into the nest through the opening he had run through. It was almost blinding. He turned to the left and opened his mouth, trying to scent something familiar. Everything reeked of dog and twoleg. Jasmine's scent was here too, but all the unfamiliar smells were drowning her out.
Dawnheart scrambled across the weird, smooth floor and underneath a structure that looked like it was made from a tree. He crept along beneath it, trying to calm his thumping heart.
Just move. Find the catmint and get out, he thought.
He closed his eyes and drew in the cacophony of scents. There! A pungent, intoxicating scent was wafting to him from the left. He wriggled out from under his hiding place and skittered across the floor, his claws clacking uncomfortably on the hard surface.
He found himself in a large room with sunlight pouring through a pane of the transparent stuff. There were other tall wooden twoleg things in here as well, but Dawnheart tried to ignore them. He only needed one thing. His eyes fell on a clump of green sitting on a ledge below the see-through wall. His heart soared.
He ducked beneath what looked like several saplings that were holding up a slab of wood and jumped up onto the ledge. A curious black box overflowing with soft green leaves sat before him. The scent of them made his mouth fill with water. He leaned forward, jaws slightly parted. Great StarClan, it smelled so good. Surely one leaf wouldn't be missed.
An image of his Clanmates' faces, ragged and crusted with sickness, burst in Dawnheart's mind. Shame burned at his ears. This was going to save CedarClan. Every leaf was precious.
Dawnheart paused. Every leaf was precious. How was he going to get them all home? He sniffed at the box and pushed at it with one paw. It was much too heavy to pick up.
The shout of the twoleg made Dawnheart jump. He was running out of time. Shoving down the panic, he tried to think.
The dog barked; a high pitched, excited sound.
"No, chase me! Don't go in there!" Jasmine's yowl made Dawnheart's belly lurch. A scrabbling sound told him that the dog had caught his scent and had followed him into the den.
Fear overcame Dawnheart for a heartbeat, but thoughts of his duty drove away the instinctive terror. He held his ground as the dog rocketed into the kitchen. It caught sight of Dawnheart almost immediately and pelted over.
The dog began jumping up on the wall. Its white curly fur was clumped with snow and its dark eyes were bright with excitement. Dawnheart arched his spine and pressed himself against the solid surface behind him. Every muscle in his body screamed to flee but he forced his paws to stay.
The dog wasn't quite tall enough to reach Dawnheart and it began to whine in frustration. Dawnheart unsheathed his claws and hissed.
"Go away." He spat. The dog dropped to its paws and cocked its head. It whined and made to jump up again. Dawnheart felt a surge of fury and swiped at the animal.
"Go away!" he repeated. His claws barely missed the dog's shiny black nose. It whined again and backed away from Dawnheart's perch. Jasmine sped into the room and skidded to a halt behind the dog. Her eyes were wide and her tail was bushed out in distress.
She opened her mouth to say something but was cut off as her twoleg ambled in behind her. The old twoleg was shorter than most adult twolegs Dawnheart had seen at the lakeside in Greenleaf. She had curly gray hair on her head and wore a variety of colored pelts. She reached a shaky, naked paw towards Dawnheart and made a surprised noise. Dawnheart froze.
The twoleg patted her leg and snapped a sharp command at the dog. The dog made a huffing sound and shuffled away. Jasmine turned her nose up at it as it passed.
The twoleg took a step towards Dawnheart. He arched his back and leaned away from her. His heart pounded. He had never been this close to a twoleg before. The smell was strange; floral and musky. As he breathed in rapidly, her scent touched a buried memory.
He blinked wide eyes. The twoleg made a nickering sound and held out her thin paw. Dawnheart's chest pounded but he couldn't bring himself to move. Did he recognize this twoleg? Her brown eyes were soft as she looked at him. There were such strong emotions there that Dawnheart was taken aback. Twolegs weren't supposed to feel like cats felt.
The moment her paw brushed his ear fur instinct took over. He flung himself down onto the smooth, slippery floor. As his paws landed, he heard a loud crash from behind him. The sudden noise sent him into a terror fueled frenzy as he pelted away from the twoleg. He barely heard Jasmine calling after him as he rounded the corner and dashed out the door.
Primal fear drove his paws and blinded his vision as he bounded across the snow and back into the trees. He ran without thought until he came upon a break in the trunks. Unwilling to leave the safety of branches over his head, Dawnheart slowed and huddled beneath a hawthorn bush.
He sat, tail wrapped around his paws and spine hunched. His heavy breath misted out from his open mouth. He didn't feel the cold and yet he shivered. A twoleg had almost touched him. And he had almost let it happen. Great StarClan what was wrong with him?
Part of him still wondered how it would feel. It could be terrible and strange as the stories said it would be, or it could be even worse; he might find that he was comforted by her touch.
Shame, confusion, and disgust as hot as the snow was cold burned at his ears. How could he even entertain that thought?
He saw in his mind's eye a vision of himself, fat and lazy, basking in a pool of sunlight inside a twoleg nest, his Clan and their troubles just a fading dream.
Spottedfur and Blackmoth's lifeless faces flashed in his mind's eye. The horrible sounds of greencough running rampant through the Clan echoed in his ears.
What would happen if he didn't return? He would spare his Clanmates the troubles of having a kittypet among their ranks. He would never have to feel the heart-rending pain of losing some cat he loved ever again.
But StarClan had called on him. He was supposed to save the Clan, wasn't he? He remembered the words of Petalpaw's prophecy. 'Follow his heart'… Was this what StarClan wanted from him? Had he been wrong about the true meaning of their words?
Dawnheart lifted his head and searched the gray sky for some sign.
Oh, StarClan, he thought, Why did you send me here?