Chapter Two
"Moonpaw! Wake up!"
Moonpaw opened her eyes sleepily. Jayfeather was leaning over her.
"We need to tend to Squirrelflight," he meowed.
Moonpaw remembered last night. She wasn't supposed to tell Jayfeather. Just Squirrelflight.
"How's Squirrelflight?"
Jayfeather shook his head. "Not doing so well."
Moonpaw yawned and followed her mentor over to where Squirrelflight and Pinepaw lay.
Squirrelflight's ginger fur was caked with blood. It was slicked down with herbs, but the gash on her side was flowing with blood.
Pinepaw's brown fur was cleaner, but he looked bad. One of his legs was bent at a strange angle.
"Is it broken?"
"Yes."
Moonpaw suddenly felt dizzy. She murmured something about fresh-kill and padded outside. Her brother and sister were fighting by the fresh-kill pile.
"I don't care if you dared Pinepaw to do it!" screamed Fernpaw. "It was a stupid and disloyal thing to do!"
Flamepaw sneered. "What do you know? You've never done anything wrong in your life!"
Moonpaw padded up to them. "Whoa. What's going on?"
Fernpaw turned to her, her green eyes bright with anger. "This—this traitor dared Pinepaw to see if Squirrelflight would notice if she walked into a fox trap! He did it! That's why he's hurt!"
Moonpaw gasped. "Flamepaw? You did this?" It had been her brother who had injured Squirrelflight? That couldn't be true!
"Yes, I did," hissed Flamepaw. "And if you tell anyone, be sure I'll rip your throat out."
Moonpaw shook her head. "I don't care what you say, Flamepaw. I'm going to tell Bramblestar."
"Then I'll kill you."
Flamepaw stalked away, his amber eyes glowing murder.
"I can't believe he did that," whispered Fernpaw, her voice trembling.
"Who did what?"
Both sisters spun around. It was one of their fellow apprentices: Snowpaw, Pinepaw's sister. Her white fur glowed in the dawn light, and her yellow eyes were welled with sadness.
"Medicine cat stuff," murmured Moonpaw.
Snowpaw nodded with understanding. "Will Pinepaw be okay?"
"I don't know," replied Moonpaw. "His leg…"
Snowpaw thrust her head into Moonpaw's face. "His leg is what?"
Moonpaw suddenly realized that Snowpaw had the right to know about Pinepaw and Squirrelflight.
"Snowpaw," she said seriously, "you must swear by StarClan that you won't tell anyone what I am about to tell you."
Snowpaw nodded. "I promise."
"Flamepaw dared Pinepaw to lure Squirrelflight into a fox trap and see if she would noticed," Moonpaw mewed in a low voice.
Snowpaw gasped. "Are you serious?"
Moonpaw nodded sadly. "I am."
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey come beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!"
"That's right!" exclaimed Snowpaw. "I'm becoming a warrior!"
"How could you have forgotten?" meowed Fernpaw.
Snowpaw shrugged and darted off to sit beside her mentor, Berrynose. Moonpaw and Fernpaw sat down together, next to Jayfeather.
"Snowpaw is worthy of becoming a warrior."
Snowpaw stepped forward, fur shining. Her yellow eyes were gleaming.
"I, Bramblestar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon this apprentice. She has trained hard in the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn. Snowpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, even at the cost of your life?"
Snowpaw trembled visibly, and hesitated for a second. Her eyes flickered back and forth.
Moonpaw darted to her side. "Go on," she murmured. Snowpaw flicked her tail in thanks.
"I do."
"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name. Snowpaw, from this day forward you will be known as Snowbreeze. StarClan honors your speed and cunning, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."
"Snowbreeze! Snowbreeze!"
Moonpaw flicked her tail. "You see? It wasn't that hard."
"Thank you," breathed Snowbreeze. "I thought I was lost for a moment there. You saved me."
Moonpaw dipped her head in thanks. "Thank you."
She turned to Fernpaw, who had padded up behind her. The golden apprentice's green eyes were dark with grief.
"What is it?" murmured Moonpaw.
Fernpaw gestured to the medicine cat's den. "Come."
Moonpaw followed her into the den. She gasped.
On the ground lay a pool of blood. The earth sponged it up fast, but it kept flowing. Moonpaw followed its source up to a nest of moss. A ear peeked out from the edge. The silver she-cat ran forward.
"No!"
It
was Squirrelflight.
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"Stormpaw," meowed Stormpaw's mentor, Breezeheart. "Stormpaw, listen to me!"
"Sorry," mewed Stormpaw. He couldn't get his mind off Moonpaw. The way her silver fur glowed, the way her blue eyes sparkled, the dainty way her black paws stepped as she walked.
"What was I saying?" snapped Breezeheart.
"Uh…um…"
The dark gray tom sighed. "Perhaps we'd better try again tomorrow. It is almost sunset, after all, and we've been training all day."
Stormpaw nodded, his mind back on Moonpaw. He padded after Breezeheart to the camp.
Once they were there, he padded slowly to the fresh-kill pile, longing for a shrew.
"Stormpaw!"
It
was Starpaw. The white she-cat threw herself at Stormpaw.
"Stormpaw," she whispered, "we must act as if we are still siblings."
Stormpaw nodded. "But I don't know who my parents are," he whispered.
"Let's go ask Ashstar," replied his friend.
The two apprentices padded side by side to Ashstar's small clearing. The gray she-cat was lying there, dozing in the sun.
"Ashstar?"
Ashstar sat up. "What is it?"
Stormpaw stepped into the clearing. "I want to know who my parents are."
Ashstar's face changed. It was full of fear.
"You really want to know?"
Stormpaw nodded.
"Very well," replied Ashstar. "You aren't even from WindClan. Your mother was Russetfur, deputy of ShadowClan."
"Yes?" Stormpaw.
"And your father…your father was Hawkfrost."
Starpaw's head came up from where she had been staring at the ground. Her eyes were wide.
"Hawkfrost?" whispered Stormpaw.
Then anger overcame him. "So why am I here?" he yowled. "Why am I not in one of my birth Clans?"
Ashstar opened her mouth, but Stormpaw didn't give her a chance.
"Well, I'm going to ShadowClan! I'm going to find my mother!"
He stormed out of the clearing and out of the camp. Once in the forest, he headed for the ThunderClan border, for ShadowClan was on the other side of the lake.
"Stormpaw?"
He had reached the border, and as he jerked his head up, he collided with a silver shape.
"Moonpaw?"
The two apprentices stepped back. Stormpaw stared at Moonpaw. Moonpaw's eyes were fixed on her black paws.
"Why were you here?" both apprentices blurted at the same time.
"To see…" said Moonpaw and Stormpaw.
"You," replied Moonpaw.
Moonpaw turned on her heel and ran, her silver tail streaming out behind her. She soon disappeared into the forest. Stormpaw ran after her, and soon found her trembling with sadness, her blue eyes closed and her head bent. He sat down beside her.
"What happened?"
Moonpaw stared up at him with her dark blue eyes. "Squirrelflight…my aunt…died."
"Oh, I'm so sorry," meowed Stormpaw softly. "How did it happen?"
"My brother…" answered Moonpaw in a constricted voice. "My brother, Flamepaw, has turned evil. He killed her. He also injured her apprentice, Pinepaw, and broke his leg."
Stormpaw sighed. "I'm so sorry." But he let out a purr.
"It's not good!" exclaimed Moonpaw. "Why are you happy?"
"Ever since I met you," replied Stormpaw softly, "on the night you came to bring the news of Leafpool's death to us, I haven't been able to get you out of my mind."
Moonpaw gave a small gasp. "Neither have I, Stormpaw."
Stormpaw brightened. "And so I came to this conclusion: I love you, Moonpaw."
Moonpaw shook her head. And then she fled again.
Only this time she ran far, far away, where Stormpaw couldn't get her.
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He loved her!
That was all Moonpaw could think. Her heart pounded, and she feared everyone could hear it, all across the lake.
He loved her.
Moonpaw knew, now, that she loved him. And she couldn't think of how bad this was.
For she was a medicine cat, and he a warrior of a different Clan.
No. They could not be together. It was that simple.
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"They must come together," mused a blue-gray she-cat with frosty blue eyes. Her gaze was fixed upon Stormpaw. The stone-colored tom's eyes were wide as he watched Moonpaw flee.
"Yes," replied a light brown tabby she-cat. "They must…"
Her voice trailed off, and she looked down at the ground.
"It will be okay," responded a tortoiseshell she-cat with glowing amber eyes, much like the light brown tabby's eyes. "I know it will be, Leafpool."
She turned to the first she-cat. "You are right, Bluestar. But how will it happen? Moonpaw is smart, and she will not allow herself to fall for him."
"Good point, Spottedleaf," replied Bluestar. "That is yet another obstacle."
"How will we do it?" interrupted a golden tom.
"Always right to the point, aren't you, Lionheart?" laughed Bluestar. Then her eyes clouded. "As of your other question…we do not know."
"StarClan knows much, Lionheart," nodded a tortoiseshell tom with a distinctive red tail. "But we do not know everything."
Lionheart lashed his tail. "We must do something now, Redtail! We cannot wait!"
"Lionheart, Lionheart," soothed Spottedleaf. "You must be patient. We will do something. But you must wait." She padded over to the golden tom.
"I volunteer to go," meowed a black-and-white she-cat with deep blue eyes. She touched her small strikingly pink nose to Spottedleaf's, and then faced the rest of the StarClan warriors. "I volunteer to visit Moonpaw."
"Do you know how much work keeping up with your live cat is, Brambleberry?" asked Bluestar. "Are you sure?"
Brambleberry nodded.
"Then yes," replied the former ThunderClan leader. "You will visit Moonpaw."
Brambleberry dipped her head. "Thank you," she murmured.
Then all of the StarClan cats turned toward the fast-rising sun, and soon vanished with the stars.
