CHAPTER SEVEN

The next few days passed quickly. The Tribe was a little confused as to why their leader had named her kits like those weird outsiders, Snow Falling on Rock and Wolf with Sharp Claws, but they shrugged it off. Everyone loved the new arrivals, and there was a line to visit the nursery to visit with Half Moon and purr over her kits. I could tell that Jay's Wing and Half Moon were very pleased with this.

Shortly after the kits were born, Broken Shadow fell ill. Half Moon, when she could be dragged away from her kits, spent a lot of time with the elders with Jay's Wing, trying to heal her. When I talked to Jay's Wing about it, he told me helplessly, "Her mind is gone. It went when Fallen Leaves left for the tunnels and never came back. Now her body is going, too. She's just old, Snow. There's nothing we can do about it."

The fragments of Broken Shadow's mind still functioning loved seeing the new kits, especially the tom, Leaves Falling into Pool. Jay's Wing gently told her, while Half Moon looked on, that they had named him after Fallen Leaves. I think the only words the broken she-cat understood in the sentence were "Fallen Leaves", and the elder immediately loved Leaf, as everycat called him.

Every day, Leaf was carried to the elder's den so Broken Shadow could mother him for a while, before he cried for milk and was taken back to the nursery. It was sweet and sad to watch, but it gave the elder so much joy that we couldn't stop it.

Despite all of Jay's Wing and Half Moon's efforts, Broken Shadow weakened every day. I was not present at her side most of the time, but each of the Tribe members, who had gradually began calling themselves "the Tribe of Rushing Water" to please Wolf and I, took a shift watching her, even in the middle of the night.

It was the end of my shift, in the early morning, and I went to go wake Half Moon so she could take Leaf to his visit with Broken Shadow. I carried the bleary-eyed kit to the elder's den, following behind Half Moon. She slipped into the shallow cave and gasped.

I poked my head into the den to see what was the matter. Leaf mewled in protest. "What's wrong, Half Moon?" I mumbled through his fur.

She turned around, the look in her eyes bleak. "Broken Shadow is dead," she said quietly.

Broken Shadow's funeral was a long, solemn thing that I did not enjoy. For the first time, Half Moon addressed her group of cats as the Tribe of Rushing Water, something that made my bones hum with importance, as they had after the Great Battle of Fourtrees and the Dark Forest War. It signified that something of great measure was happening.

She began calling herself the Healer of the Tribe, though she did not claim her title of Stoneteller quite yet. She was also taking trouble, as her kits grew older through the moons, to learn various herbs and healing methods from Jay's Wing, who retained his knowledge of medicine.

One other thing of importance occurred in the next few moons. Owl Feather and Jagged Lightning's kits, Strong Pounce, Running Fox, and Lapping Wave became full members of the Tribe of Rushing Water in a formal ceremony, after their two-day journey through the mountains to find prey. This seemed to be a rite of passage that Dove's Wing, Fish Leap, and the other older softpaws had completed earlier, to replace the tunnel challenge. I approved of this, and told Half Moon so. We had become friends, somewhat, since she had forgiven me and I her.

Lion's Roar had grown up a little in the past few moons. He was now a bigger and bulkier tom, much like the Lionblaze I had known back at the Lake. We occasionally snuck out at night together to spend some time together, as the Tribe would find it very strange indeed that one of their own—especially a to-be—was mates with one of those weird outsiders.

I missed our brief, happy three weeks of marriage back in the human world. Hadn't StarClan, or whoever it was who kept sending us here, had enough of us? Didn't they realize that we didn't appreciate our lives being postponed?

Of course, I owed them for meeting Lionblaze in the first place. But I was sick and tired of being torn from my life back home and sent to save the Warriors world. I wanted my life in one piece from now on.

But we were here now, so we needed to fix what was wrong so we could get back, if we could find out what we were here to fix. I hoped that this time they don't make us wait until we die to return home.

It was late one night when the Tribe was woken by Dove's Wing's shrill shriek of fear: "Where am I‽"

I poked my head out of my den, curious as to the commotion and a little concerned for my friend. "Dove's Wing?" I called out in concern. "Are you all right?"

She was standing, fur all fluffed out, in the middle of the Cave of Rushing Water. She whipped around, incredulous, at the sound of my voice. "Gingerstar? Is that you? But you're—"

Jay's Wing walked up to her and slapped his tail over her mouth. "Just a mild case of hysteria," he said weakly. "I'll give her a few herbs, and she should be back to normal..." He motioned to Wolf and I to follow him into his den-cave. Exchanging a worried glance, we followed him.

When we were settled down with the panicking Dove's Wing, Half Moon and Lion's Roar poked their heads into the den. "Can we come in?" Lion's Roar asked warily.

"Lionblaze? What's going on? Where am I? I was in my den, and I was tired, so tired..." Dove's Wing trailed off. "I thought for sure I had died... but here I am. Where am I?"

"The mountains," Wolf replied, shooting Jay's Wing a troubled look.

"Dove's Wing," Half Moon said.

Dove's Wing shook her head. "L-look, I don't know who you are, but I'm not Dove's Wing. I'm Dovewing. There's no ss sound..."

I widened my eyes. "Dovewing..." I shot Lion's Roar a worried glance, and he nodded. My suspicions were shared.

"I'm Half Moon, Dovewing," the white she-cat said gently. "Jay's Wing—you would know him as Jayfeather—is my mate."

"Welcome to the party," I mumbled sarcastically.