CHAPTER 6-The Nestling

"Try to use your tail for balance," Millie suggested.

It was gathering towards dusk, and we were training in the hollow as the sun set, and she was teaching me a battle tactic with the other apprentices. I was supposed to do an upright lock: rear up on my hind legs, wrestle and flip the opponent underneath me, and try to avoid getting attacked in the process.

My opponent was Dewpaw. Even though I was much older than him, he was too quick for me to pin him down properly. He weaseled out of my grasp as easily as water.

"Jump, Ashley! Try to pin him down," Millie instructed. I tried, but in the end, he managed to pin me down instead.

I lay panting from underneath him, my black fur ruffled and my ears flat against my head. I was exhausted, and I didn't have the strength to push him away.

Dewpaw sneered at me, and then backed away to let me sit up. Amberpaw, Snowpaw, Seedpaw, and Lilypaw stared at me from across the clearing. They saw all of it happen. I was so embarrassed!

Millie licked my forehead sympathetically and mewed, "It's alright. Just keep practicing, and you'll do fine." We moved aside to watch Snowpaw and Lilypaw practice.

They crouched down and circled eachother. Their gazes were focused and concentrated, and while the tension grew, Snowpaw suddenly bounded forward and jumped. Lilypaw let out a squeal of surprise as he let out a blow to her face with sheathed claws. He jumped back to dodge her blows, and then leaped onto her back. Lilypaw was prepared this time, and she rolled over, crushing the tom underneath her.

She got back up before she could do any serious harm. Snowpaw leaped up and grinned. "Nice moves, Lilypaw!"

I wilted. I was such a lousy fighter! How am I ever supposed to be a warrior? I sighed. Being a medicine cat would be so much easier, but Jayfeather already had Briarlight as his apprentice.

Snowpaw padded towards me. His white coat was dusty from rolling around, but his amber eyes shone brighter than ever. He called to Millie, "I'm going to show Ashley some parts of the forest, okay?"

"Alright. But don't wander too far."

Snowpaw looked at me and chirped, "Come on, I need to show you something!"

I watched him bound out of the camp. I sighed, and slowly followed him.

He led me to the parts of the forest that I had never seen before. As we ventured further, the shadows became darker. The wind whistled through the leaves. I began to grow uneasy.

"Snowpaw," I called. "How much further?"

"It's not far," came the muffled answer. The white tom peered at me through the crevices of the branches and scurried off.

I hurried after him. The shadows grew longer. The stars started to appear, but the branches overhead mostly blocked them from view.

I saw his snowy white pelt disappear through an opening in the brush, and I slipped in.

I blinked wide in surprise, and my jaw gaped open. Surrounding me in every side was a clearing, a wide opening in the forest where no trees grew. Soft, pale green grass swayed up to my shoulders, wafting into the air with its sweet aroma. Dandelions swayed among them to a soundless tune. Their small, yellow petals were tiny and petite. The seed dandelions, the one with the fluffy grey seed caps, were also there. They dotted the meadow like countless fallen stars. Poppies and tulips, red ones, orange ones, yellow ones, any color you could name, they were there also. My brown eyes were wide. It was so beautiful. In the darkness of the evening, the flowers seemed to glow with an inner warmth, like fire.

Fireflies danced in the air and buzzed their wings, and emitted a gentle glow. Snowpaw padded up towards me, his eyes shining. He pointed up. "Look," he mouthed silently, so he wouldn't disturb the soundless tune of the magic.

I looked up, and held my breath. Up above me, there were countless stars. Millions of them. An infinite amount of stars, all floating above there, pulsing and quivering and shining down on us.

Some were small, others were quite large. Some of them glowed faintly, and others glowed with a shining red ferocity. I felt Snowpaw sit down next to me, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the stars.

The lanterns floated so close to me, I felt that I could touch them if I tried.

"Oh," I breathed. Wouldn't it be wonderful if I could just fly up there and dance with them all?

A particularly large one twinkled brightly. Snowpaw whispered, "That's the North Star. If you have him, you'll never get lost."

And he told me the names of all the ones he knew: Pegasus, Orion, Columba, Fornax, Capricornus, Leo Minor, Virgo, Ursa Major, and many, many more.

They dazzled and shone, and seemed to flutter with invisible wings like the fireflies. Snowpaw and I lay down on the soft grass and watched their display painted on the inky, purple and black night sky.

I asked, "Does anyone else know this place?"

Snowpaw answered, "Of course not." He winked at me. "This will be our secret okay? Make sure no one else knows."

I felt a bit comforted, knowing that someone trusted me.

I shifted so that I was propped against one arm, and gently tugged a dandelion, the one with the fluffy grey seed cap, free from the earth. I said, "Someone once told me that if you blow the seeds from one of these and wish for something, your wish will come true."

"Oh really?" His ears perked up. He gently picked one up, and closed his eyes. His brow furrowed, as if he was thinking hard. Then, he opened them again and blew. The seeds floated away easily and traveled through the air, as if wafting down an invisible river. A wind blew, and we watched them as they disappeared, one by one, upwards into the stars.

I took mine, thought for a while, and then blew the seeds away as well. Snowpaw asked, "What did you wish for?"

"If I tell you, it won't come true," I replied.

"Oh."

We sat in silence for a few moments.

He asked, "Hey, Ashley, how do you know about making wishes on dandelions?"

I shrugged. "Oh, it's something all humans know."

"What?"

I stammered, "Uh-I-er-Well, someone just told me."

I couldn't tell him that I was a human. Not yet.

"I know something else about dandelions," I mewed. I plucked one of them and twirled it around in my paws. "You rub it against your chin. And if the pollen comes off and leaves your chin yellow, that means you're in love."

I had read it in a book somewhere.

Snowpaw's eyes glittered with excitement. "Let me try!" he squeaked. I let him have the dandelion, and he rubbed it against his chin. "Is it yellow?" he asked.

I looked. "No," I said. He looked disappointed, but only for a second. "Okay, you can try!" He held the dandelion towards me, but I shook my head. "No, it's alright. I don't think the pale yellow will show against my black fur."

The stars danced and sang in unison. And I felt, somehow, that they were calling out to me.

The stars in the sky. Mother and Father and everyone back home must be watching them too. I was sad.

I lay down and felt my arm against my chest. My heart beat in a slow, melancholy and dreary tune like the pendulum of a very old and very ancient clock.

OoOoOooOOOoOooOOOoOOO

The stars must have had some magic to them, because day after day, I was improving. I was still a terrible fighter, but my hunting skills got better. I remember how proud I was when I caught my first mouse.

The other cats were slowly warming up to me. Once, Squirrelflight and Leafpool had offered to sit next to me to share tongues with, and I found myself play-fighting with the other apprentices. Dewpaw didn't like me very much, though. He scowled when he saw me, and when we slept in the den, he scooted as far away from me as possible.

After training, every night, Snowpaw and I would secretly scamper off towards the hidden meadow. We made sure that no one followed us.

We would sit down on the soft, long grass and point to the star constellations. Once, there were several shooting stars.

"Quick, make a wish!" he said. "The shooting stars are the ones with magic."

And we would wish, and dream, and wish some more, and once, he asked me what I wished for on the falling stars. I said, "To have wings."

Wouldn't it be glorious, if I could fly? I wanted to soar among the clouds, high up to the heavens, and higher still, far, far away from my troubles, to some dreamland above.

It was only a wish of mine. I often fell asleep thinking about it.