AtlierSky- You'll have to wait until the last book for that StarClan conversation but it will happen! And for the twist...read on.
"Yes!" Pebble Heart exclaimed, "it worked." Beside him, Runningnose was feeding another dose to Wolfstep. The worst of them, like Littlecloud and Ashheart's kits, were completely cured.
"Okay, come on, Pebble Heart, you should share dreams with StarClan, so they may approve you," Runningnose meowed as the two toms exited the den.
"Um…I can't," Pebble Heart murmured. How could he if StarClan didn't see him? And what if the cure didn't actually work.
"Come on, you," Blackfoot meowed good-naturedly. He and the others had been accepted back into ShadowClan. Nightstar himself had given his blessing before he…died.
And now ShadowClan was leaderless.
Runningnose planned to ask at the next medicine cat meeting which was only tomorrow.
"Why not?" Runningnose and Blackfoot were looking at him like he was crazy.
"Uh…cause I'm sick," he said and then coughed lamely.
Blackfoot took a step towards him and Pebble Heart dashed into the den. He grabbed some yarrow and started chewing it fast.
Blackfoot yanked him back into the open. "C'mon. You need to talk to StarClan! What if they have an important message?"
Pebble Heart swallowed thickly and after a few seconds, he felt bile rise in his throat and he vomited.
All over Blackfoot's paws.
Some of the ShadowClan cats still awake gaped or snickered as Blackfoot glared at him.
Pebble Heart grinned back sheepishly.
"Was that really necessary?" Runningnose asked, later on in his den as Pebble Heart lay in his mossbed.
"Yes. I'm not ready to see StarClan yet." I just need a dream tonight from them. Preferably my mother to tell me I did it!
He closed his eyes and opened them to the usual glade where he talked with Turtle Tail. Said tortoiseshell was standing in front of him, smiling.
"Did I do it?" He asked.
"Yes!" She purred. "The cure has worked. I'm so proud of you, Pebble Heart." He pressed his head against her shoulder, feeling lighter than before.
He had saved ShadowClan.
"But…we don't have a leader," he meowed.
"Runningnose will find out who shall lead ShadowClan next." Pebble Heart wondered why she had said it like that. Did she know something he didn't?
He awoke with a start. The den was quiet but the moon was still in the sky. He pushed out of the den to see Runningnose and his clanmates murmuring to each other.
"Who will be the leader now?" Flintfang yowled.
Pebble Heart looked to Runningnose, who closed his eyes as if asking StarClan for answers…as if they had heard him, Runningnose gasped and opened his amber eyes.
"I had a vision of who the leader should be!" Everyone leaned forward in anticipation. "I saw our camp being wrapped in very long shadows that stretched across the sky…like tall shadows. The camp was safe as if it were a barrier from any dangers."
Everyone looked at one another while others put two and two together and looked towards a cat at the back of the crowd.
Pebble Heart smiled.
"Why are we here?" Pebble Heart asked. He stood by Runningnose outside of Mothermouth. The other medicine cats were there as well.
Cloud Spots smiled at his former apprentice because after he had joined ShadowClan he had pretty much switched over to being Runningnose's apprentice.
"What else? You saved ShadowClan and I think it's time you became a full medicine cat," the gray and white tom purred.
Pebble Heart gasped and looked around at the other medicine cats. Mudfur and Barkface nodded in approval while Acorn Fur purred beside Dappled Pelt. The tortoiseshell smiled at him.
He looked at Cloud Spots. "Thank you for teaching me first. I've really learned a lot from you," the gray tabby tom meowed. "I just hoped I made you proud."
"Oh, Pebble Heart, don't you know you've already done that? You have been a true medicine cat since you were just born."
Pebble Heart grinned and touched noses with the white-patched black tom.
Inside Runningnose began the ceremony. "I, Runningnose, medicine cat of ShadowClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of a medicine cat, and with your help he will serve his Clan for many moons. Pebble Heart, do you promise to uphold the ways of a medicine cat, to stand apart from rivalry between Clan and Clan and to protect all cats equally, even at the cost of your life?"
"I do!" Pebble Heart immediately answered, confident.
"Then by the powers ofStarClanI give you your full status as a medicine cat. Pebble Heart, StarClan honors your dedication and confidence, and we welcome you as a full medicine cat of ShadowClan."
Pebble Heart closed his eyes as the other medicine cats chanted his name. He never imagined growing up to be ShadowClan's medicine cat, but here he was. And he was happy about it.
Over the moons he'd gotten to know each ShadowClan cat and had learned to value them. They were friends. They were family.
And he would take care of them for the rest of his life.
As he pressed his nose against the Moonstone and was transported to Four Trees, he gasped.
Not only was there Turtle Tail but he could see Rainswept Flower, Bright Stream, Storm, Fox, Shaded Moss. And there was also Fluttering Bird. The aunt he never got to meet.
Petal was also there beside Fircone, looking healthy and happy again.
"Welcome Pebble Heart," Rainswept Flower murmured.
"What message do you have for me?" Pebble Heart asked.
"Do you know how many petals the Blazing Star has?" Shaded Moss asked.
"Um, five, why?"
"Grow and Spread like the Blazing Star," Turtle Tail murmured. "I think it's time SkyClan choose where they all really want to settle for good."
"What, you want SkyClan to disperse? But then they won't be a Clan anymore!"
"Don't worry," Bright Stream murmured, looking him in the eyes. "No matter what, SkyClan will always stand."
As the sun set, the Clan settled down to eat. Fire Heart, who had already eaten, shared tongues with Raven Hope.
Over the past moon the Clan had sat vigil for Yellowfang and Petal and had worked hard to rebuild their home.
Lightning Tail had been devastated to lose his second mentor, but he wasn't as sad this time. It might have been because he was close with Thunder again.
"Fire Heart…" Raven Hope sighed and pressed his head against the ginger tom's shoulder. "During our stay in RiverClan…Cinder Flower and I talked to Graystripe and Brindleface."
"What?" Fire Heart stiffened. "What happened?"
"Nothing, they just knew we were alive because of the battle One Eye led us into against them. They only wanted to talk and see how we're doing."
Fire Heart nodded but still felt uneasy. While those two ThunderClan cats were good-natured he was still wary of them.
But I'm sure they wouldn't tell…
Once everyone had eaten, the chosen cats gathered around Gray Wing and Skystar.
"We must not look weak tonight at the Gathering," Skystar simply announced before leading them out of the camp.
Fire Heart fell in next to Jagged Peak and Thunder as they trekked to Four Trees.
The hollow below was untouched by the fire. Fire Heart glanced around as the others stopped to wait for Skystar's signal.
WindClan and RiverClan were already there when they leaped down into the hollow. There was no sign of ShadowClan. Had the sickness grown so terrible they couldn't attend the Gathering? Were Pebble Heart and Tall Shadow okay?
"Fire Heart, Jagged Peak!" Onewhisker called, pushing through the crowd to join them. Behind him was Gorsepaw and Whitetail. A young golden-brown she-cat followed.
"Hi, Onewhisker," Fire Heart greeted. "Whitetail, Gorsepaw," he nodded at the other two.
"This is Tawnypaw," Gorsepaw meowed, nodding at the other apprentice, who shuffled her paws shyly.
"Nice to meet you," Jagged Peak purred kindly.
"And I heard you had kits, Jagged Peak," Whitetail meowed.
"I have. Three of them."
Fire Heart tuned them out and looked around the hollow, awaiting ShadowClan's arrival as Cloud Tail and Owl Eyes raced over to talk to Gorsepaw.
Skystar impatiently shuffled his paws from atop the Great Rock. Thistlestar lazed on it nearby, tail tip flicking. For once the two nemesis weren't hissing or spitting at each other.
Suddenly, he turned toward the far slope as three ShadowClan cats were sliding down into the clearing. Runningnose flanked by Littlecloud and Flintfang.
The other Clans moved out of the way as the ShadowClan warriors skidded to a halt. "ShadowClan is free of the sickness!" Runningnose announced happily. "I have been sent ahead to tell you. ShadowClan's new leader is on their way."
"New leader?" Tallstar called from down below as Crookedstar moved through the crowd towards the rock.
"Nightstar is dead," Runningnose answered bluntly.
A stunned ripple spread through the crowd. Skystar never knew there could be a sickness so strong it took away all nine lives. He shivered.
"Is Cinderfur the new leader?" Crookedstar called.
"Cinderfur also died of the sickness." Runningnose shrugged, looking to the ground.
"Then who is the leader?" Skystar demanded from the shadow of the Great Rock.
Runningnose looked up at him. "You'll see for yourself in just a moment. But I believe you know them."
What?
Skystar watched Fire Heart approach the ShadowClan medicine cat. He guessed he was telling him about Yellowfang's death. Runningnose had been her apprentice, after all.
Skystar watched as the gray and white tom listened to Fire Heart, eyes wide before the happy glimmer died in his eyes. Fire Heart touched his nose to the other tom's head before heading back to Jagged Peak and Air Leap.
The rest of the crowd was starting to chatter. "We can't wait much longer!" Stonefur called. "The moon is starting to set."
"Some leader, showing up late to their first Gathering," Quick Water scoffed.
Tallstar had climbed onto the Great Rock. Guess we'll start without ShadowClan.
"She's here!"
So it's a she-cat? Who? No ShadowClan she-cat had ever really stuck out as leader-like to Skystar.
He craned his head to look around Thistlestar and Crookedstar.
Below he gasped as Pebble Heart appeared from the arriving ShadowClan crowd and joined Runningnose with the other medicine cats.
"Pebble Heart?" Owl Eyes' cry rang out in surprise.
Skystar knew they had joined ShadowClan, they had told him during the whole fire chaos, but he never knew Pebble Heart would become one of their medicine cats.
Just then, a dark blur rushed through the crowd and jumped onto the Great Rock in front of all the other leaders, smirking.
"No freaking way!" Shattered Ice yowled from his clanmates.
"Tall Shadow!" Skystar gasped.
"That's Shadowstar to you!" She meowed, green eyes glimmering.
Okay, yeah you guessed it because I probably made it obvious. I know it all happened very fast, but I just wanted to wrap the fourth book up.
Anyway, that's the end of Book Four. More drama happening in the next starting with Pebble's new message from his ancestors.