Chapter 19

Feathertail had been right about the weather.

Mistyfoot glanced up at the clouds through the trees, wondering if RiverClan cats really could predict the weather. A raindrop splattered on her nose and she shook her muzzle with frustration. The clouds had come quickly as the cats had started to move, and they had to take shelter in a copse that wasn't too far from the barn they'd left that morning. It was just too difficult to proceed in the rain – with the sky clouded, they could get lost very easily.

"This sucks!" hissed Stoneheart. He was pacing, his paws splashing in the softened earth.

"I know," Mistyfoot agreed. Her pelt was uncomfortably damp. "I just wish we knew where we were going."

Stoneheart sighed and settled beside her, wrapping his tail around his paws. "Stormfur was right to make us stop," he meowed. "I just wish we'd gotten farther."

"Me, too." Mistyfoot looked over at where the others were, about a fox-length away from her. Stormfur was wrestling with Shadepaw, and Mistyfoot could overhear him giving her advice on her swiping if she focused. It was a good idea to get the apprentices practicing if they couldn't be moving – it kept their minds off of their frustration at their lack of progress.

Stoneheart's whiskers twitched. "I'm surprised you're not over there," he grunted. "Don't you want to help the apprentices?"

Mistyfoot swallowed, glancing at her brother. She kneaded her paws into the earth and sighed. "I… I'm not a worthy mentor," she admitted quietly.

Stoneheart's ears pricked. "What?" he breathed. "Who said that?"

"No one said it," Mistyfoot insisted. No one but Ashfur, she reflected. "I just… Stoneheart, I had an apprentice."

"What?! And you didn't tell me?" There was no anger in her brother's voice – just concern.

Mistyfoot's throat felt dry. "It was before the last Gathering we attended. I… his name was Shrewpaw. He got caught by that badger… and it killed him. He was just trying to protect Nightpaw. If I had been a proper mentor he never would have gotten into that situation, and he'd still be alive, and-"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down," Stoneheart meowed, nudging Mistyfoot with a shoulder. His eyes sparkled with sorrow. "I'm so sorry, Mistyfoot," he breathed. "I had no idea."

Mistyfoot leaned on her brother. She stared down at her paws, and murmured, "I just… I'm not a worthy mentor, Stoneheart. I don't think I ever was. I keep thinking of everything I could have done to save him and…"

Stoneheart sighed. "Oh, Misty," he mewed, "you can't beat yourself up about it forever. You've got to let it go eventually; learn from it, and let yourself recover."

"It still hurts, though," Mistyfoot meowed. "How can I forget what a failure I am?"

"Mistyfoot, it sounds like that was just a really bad situation," Stoneheart told her. "You said Nightpaw was involved, too? What if they both had died?"

"I think about that, too," Mistyfoot admitted.

Stoneheart sighed again. His tail rested on Mistyfoot's flank. "Nightpaw seems okay, at least," he mentioned. "Is that why he came with you? Because of what happened?"

Mistyfoot looked over at Nightpaw, who was boxing with Crowpaw. Crowpaw was clearly using his superior height to his advantage, and loving every moment of Nightpaw's frustration. Mistyfoot swallowed, thinking of all that had happened before they had left ThunderClan – and how happy Nightpaw seemed now, in comparison.

"Tinystar just… started treating us differently," Mistyfoot told Stoneheart. "I don't know why. I think Nightpaw just wants to prove himself to Tinystar."

Stoneheart grunted. "It was only a matter of time," he mewed. "I left ThunderClan because of how everyone was treating me, after all."

Mistyfoot felt her shoulder fur rise – and then fall. She wanted to tell her brother that Tinystar hadn't been prejudiced, but she knew she had no idea where Tinystar's change in attitude had really come from.

"Something happened," was all she said. "I love ThunderClan, Stoneheart. It's my home; where I belong."

Stoneheart blinked at her. "We all have to go where our hearts lead, I suppose," he mused.

Mistyfoot looked at her brother. There was a strange emotion in his eye, something like regret. "Before all this stuff happened… I remember you and Rowanclaw were really close," she ventured. "Did you two ever… become mates?"

Stoneheart flinched. Mistyfoot regretted bringing it up, suddenly. Stoneheart frowned at the earth and explained, "We're mates, yes. But Rowanclaw… he wanted to start a family. The visions and dreams… I had to put it off." Stoneheart looked beseechingly into Mistyfoot's eyes. "And aren't we too young for kits, anyway?"

Mistyfoot's whiskers twitched. Something about Stoneheart being surrounded by tiny kits was amusing. "I don't know," she admitted, "but if you keep wondering about whether or not you're the right age, you'll be elders before you decide."

Stoneheart scoffed, flicking his tail. "You're one to talk," he chided, "what with how close you and Stormfur are suddenly."

Mistyfoot bristled, suddenly, her pelt hot. "There's nothing going on!" she insisted indignantly.

Stoneheart rolled his eyes. "He's a noble cat," he went on, "but he's from another Clan, Mistyfoot. You need to figure this out before it goes too far."

Mistyfoot looked away from her brother, frowning, not wanting to confront that idea. And yet her eye landed on Stormfur, who was trying to wrestle with all three apprentices, now, and failing miserably. Mistyfoot swallowed. Was there really something between she and the RiverClan warrior? How would she know?

"Now isn't the time for that sort of thing," Mistyfoot insisted, to herself more than Stoneheart. "We've got a mission to focus on."

"I suppose," Stoneheart sighed.

"Hey, guys!" Feathertail's voice rose from where she sat observing her brother and the training session. She was looking up at the sky. "I think the storm is almost done!"

"Really?" Nightpaw wondered from his place pinning down Stormfur's flank. "I'm itching to get going! Crowpaw isn't fighting fair, anyway."

"Hey!" hissed Crowpaw. He rose up and cuffed Nightpaw over the ear. "WindClan moves can beat ThunderClan's any time!"

Nightpaw growled and pounced, tackling Crowpaw to the soggy earth. The WindClan tom wiggled, annoyed, as Nightpaw battered him with his paws.

"Stop that!" Shadepaw hissed, bristling. "You'll open up Crowpaw's wounds!"

"Come on, you two," Stormfur meowed, getting to his paws. He used one of his massive furry paws to push Nightpaw and Crowpaw apart. "We'll have plenty of time for more practice later."

Mistyfoot blinked. Sunlight was beginning to poke through the clouds, and a shaft of yellow light touched Stormfur, making his dark gray fur glow. The gentle, confident way he handled the apprentices made Mistyfoot's pelt prickle with warmth.

He's so… she didn't finish the thought. What would Stoneheart say if he caught her looking moony at Stormfur after she'd insisted there was nothing there?

She gave herself a mental shake to clear the haze. I need to act like that, too, she insisted to herself. That's the only way I'll be a better mentor.

I need to learn, and let Shrewpaw go.