Petalpaw woke to find herself in the familiar warmth of StarClan territory. She could still taste the lingering sweetness of the moon fruit she and Plumleaf had just eaten in preparation for this moment.
Petalpaw swiped her tongue around her jaws and stood up. Anticipation made her legs wobble just a touch. Plumleaf rose beside her, looking quite relaxed and unbothered. Seeing her mentor so calm gave rest to Petalpaw's spiking emotions.
Plumleaf wasn't concerned, why should Petalpaw be?
The two medicine cats waited by the edge of a little stream that ran through a green glade. Trees stretched in all directions, and tiny motes of lavender light spun and danced in the air. Petalpaw watched these instead of dwelling on what was to come.
After what seemed to Petalpaw like seasons, a rustling of the undergrowth announced the arrival of a newcomer. The she-cat that approached them was pale gray with darker spots peppering her coat. The light of stars glimmered in her fur and around her head. Her soft blue eyes drifted from Plumleaf to Petalpaw before she sat down and curled her tail around her white front paws.
"Dewberry." Plumleaf said, bowing her head in respect.
Petalpaw copied Plumleaf's gesture. The sight of her mentor's old mentor further reassured her.
Then Dewberry spoke.
"It is good to see you both," her voice was oddly stiff. "Let us begin."
Plumleaf blinked in surprise. "But-"
She was cut off by a wave of Dewberry's tail. Petalpaw couldn't help but stare at her mentor. No cat could subdue Plumleaf with just a gesture.
"The cats of StarClan are very busy at the moment. I alone was sent to witness this ceremony." Dewberry said. She was avoiding looking at Petalpaw.
A cold dread spread from Petalpaw's ears to tail-tip. Were her fears true? Was StarClan angry with her?
Plumleaf turned to her apprentice and caught her eye. Immediately, Petalpaw began to feel calmer.
"I guess you'll have to do," Plumleaf grumbled, "Come here, Petalpaw."
Petalpaw stepped up so that she and Plumleaf were face to face, with Dewberry making the third point of the triangle.
"I, Plumleaf, medicine cat of CedarClan, call upon the spirits of our warrior ancestors to witness and approve," Plumleaf began. Her brown eyes were slightly harder than usual, but her voice and posture were firm. Petalpaw straightened her spine to match.
"We witness," Dewberry recited. "And will provide judgment."
Petalpaw shivered but she dared not take her eyes off of her mentor.
Plumleaf gave Dewberry a short nod before continuing.
"I, Plumleaf, present this apprentice, Petalpaw, and give testimony that she has been trained to the standard of a fully-fledged medicine cat. And beyond."
Petalpaw knew that Plumleaf had added the 'and beyond' part. She felt her heart glow warm with the praise.
"StarClan accepts this testimony." Dewberry said.
Petalpaw's shoulders nearly sank with relief. One affirmation down, one to go. She refocused on Plumleaf for the next part of the ceremony.
"Petalpaw, 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?"
Petalpaw held Plumleaf's intense gaze and nodded firmly. "I do."
"Then by my power and position as a medicine cat, I ask that StarClan grant you a name fitting your new wisdom and station."
This was it. The moment where StarClan could refuse her. Petalpaw tried to keep her face impassive, but her heart was thumping painfully against her ribs and her paws itched uncomfortably.
There was a moment of silence during which Petalpaw suffered horrible thoughts of rejection and shame.
Then Dewberry spoke. "StarClan grants this request. From this moment on, this cat will be known as Petalstep. She is now known to us all as a full medicine cat of CedarClan." The old she-cat turned to Petalstep and gave her a deep bow. Petalstep hastened to return the gesture.
"We honor your determination and your fire, young one." Dewberry said as she straightened up. Her eyes shone with warmth for the first time since she had appeared.
Petalstep was so glad to see that familiar expression again that she almost forgot her next ceremonial obligation.
She hastily bowed to both Dewberry and Plumleaf. "I accept this name and all the responsibilities that come with it." she said.
Plumleaf purred, indicating that the ceremony was over. She strode forward and rested her chin atop Petalstep's head.
"Well done," she said. Her purr rumbled through Petalstep's bones, making her slightly dizzy.
"Thank you for teaching me so well." Petalstep purred back. "And thank you for letting me fly on my own."
Plumleaf drew away, emotion brimming in her brown eyes. She quickly looked elsewhere.
"I wish you luck going forward." Dewberry said. She was watching Petalstep with a hard-to-read expression. It wasn't one of hostility or suspicion, but it still made Petalstep uncomfortable. "Farewell, both of you."
The old she-cat turned and vanished into the undergrowth without another word. Petalstep glanced at her mentor.
Twelve moons of training under the staunch she-cat told Petalstep that something was bothering Plumleaf, but those same twelve moons told her that she'd have better luck draining the lake than getting Plumleaf to talk if she didn't want to.
"Well," she said instead. "Is that it?"
Plumleaf shook her head. "No. I leave you to have your own dream now."
Petalstep wanted to ask Plumleaf to stay, but bit back the kit-like plea. She was a fully-fledged medicine cat now. She could be left to wander StarClan alone. She'd done it before with no trouble.
"See you when we wake." Petalstep said. She tried to inject some cheer into her mew.
Plumleaf seemed to hesitate for the briefest moment before giving Petalstep a firm nod and padding away through the trees. Once the sounds of her retreat faded, Petalstep began to feel uncomfortable again. She tried to soothe herself by walking through the tranquil greenleaf forest.
Despite the evidence that, yes, StarClan had accepted her and hadn't turned her away, she still harbored a deep anxiety within her.
Her relationship with her warrior ancestors hadn't been the same since she discovered her strange ability to bring cats back from the brink of death.
It was almost like StarClan were jealous or afraid of her. Answers to her questions had been terse and flippant of late, as if she should already know better, if she received an answer at all.
Perhaps she was reading into things too much. Maybe StarClan was just busy with the aftermath of Cougarstar's attack on the forest. Surely rebuilding an entire Clan would take a lot of attention.
Petalstep stopped. She had heard something. The snap of a twig. She flicked her ears, curious. As far as she knew, there were no predators or enemy claws to worry about within StarClan's borders.
A moment later, a tiny gray and white she-cat slipped out from between two ferns. She still had kit-fluff around her face, and her tiny ears barely came up to Petalstep's belly fur.
Petalstep blinked in surprise. "Oh! Excuse me." She stepped back a pace to allow the kit to pass by unimpeded.
The she-kit looked up at her and cocked her head. "I am here to see you," she said in a voice that reminded Petalstep of Plumleaf's impatient tone.
Petalstep blinked again. "Oh. I'm sorry."
The she-kit waved her stubby tail impatiently. "Nevermind. I have a message for you."
Petalstep couldn't bite back her curiosity. "Who are you?"
The kit sat down on her haunches and looked up at Petalstep with huge blue eyes. "I am Dovekit of CedarClan."
"Heronflight's sister." Petalstep said with a small gasp.
The little she-cat nodded quickly, and glanced around with twitching ears. "Listen, I don't have much time. I need you to hear me and understand." She met Petalstep's gaze. The seriousness in the tiny kit's blue eyes made Petalstep shiver.
"StarClan has shut their eyes." Dovekit said.
Petalstep blinked. The words didn't seem to make any sense. "What do you-"
"They want us to move past this. Cougarstar is dead, so the threat is gone."
Petalstep was confused. "But there's still so much going on! What about that thing Heronflight fought? Is it dead too?"
Dovekit snorted. "Not even close." She curled her lip. Her next words were tinged with bitterness. "The powers that be are refusing to talk about it."
"'The powers that be'?" Petalstep echoed. The words didn't make any sense to her. StarClan had always been united, or, that's what she had always assumed. StarClan was a single will and entity. They led as one.
Didn't they?
"StarClan doesn't work the way we were led to believe." Dovekit said.
Petalstep began to panic. StarClan was her foundation, everything she had been taught to trust. Her life as a medicine cat relied on them. "Surely StarClan won't abandon us." Her words came out thin and helpless as a newborn kit's mew.
"Oh no, most of us still have the Clan's best interest at heart." Dovekit said with a wave of her stubby tail. "But you saw how they barely welcomed you. They're afraid of questions. They're afraid of what you are."
Petalstep shook her head. "What I am?"
Dovekit met Petalstep's eye. "From what I can figure out, what you can do is not because of StarClan."
Petalstep's legs wavered beneath her. She had been right. She was on her own with her strange power.
"I don't have much more time." Dovekit said again. "Listen, you have to do everything you can to learn about your ability. Heronflight's, too."
Petalstep was taken aback. "What does that have to do with the…the…'' she cast her mind around. What had Heronflight called it? "The shapeshifter?" she settled.
Dovekit's eyes narrowed and for the first time her mask of business-like importance slipped. "I don't know. I just know they're connected."
A snap of a twig made both she-cats jump.
"I have to go." Dovekit hissed.
Petalstep's mind was whirling. StarClan was keeping things from her. She felt as if the ground was giving way beneath her paws.
"If I can't trust StarClan, who can I trust?" she wailed aloud.
Dovekit paused in her escape, and turned to face Petalstep. Her blue eyes twinkled. "Cats who are alive, for starters. And you can still trust some of us up here." With a flick of her tail, the kit disappeared.
Petalstep stood alone on the path, trying to think.
She spent the rest of her dream wandering the paths of StarClan territory alone. She came across a few residents who congratulated her but offered no wisdom or warning. They all seemed eager to leave her as quickly as possible. No cat wanted to stick around and answer a single question.
Eventually Petalstep found herself waking at the edge of the pool in a slowly-lightening cave. A soft breeze passed over the surface of the water, turning its flawless face into a cascade of ripples. The Moontree itself stood on its tiny island at the center of the pool. White branches laden with crimson fruit hung out over the clear water.
Petalstep felt like stone, cold and stiff. She forced her legs to lift her up. They protested, but that was to be expected. She had been crouching at the water's edge all night.
Plumleaf was stirring next to her. Petalstep waited for her mentor to get up and have a good stretch before the pair headed for the tunnel in silence.
The journey though the low tunnel always seemed faster on the way out than the way in, and soon the two medicine cats were stepping out into the watery sunlight of an early newleaf morning.
Now that they were out in the open, chilly air, they could speak.
"How was it?" Plumleaf asked as she settled herself down on the rocks. She pulled her plumy gray tail towards herself and began to groom it.
Petalstep sighed and gave her white chest fur a couple of licks. "Troubling." She relayed Dovekit's message.
Plumleaf paused in her grooming and fixed the horizon with thoughtful brown eyes.
"That would explain why StarClan is acting so strange." she said after a moment. "I couldn't get anyone to talk to me."
Petalstep's heart sank. "So, no word on Blizzardstar?"
Plumleaf shook her head. "Nothing."
The familiar pain of grief and guilt lodged itself in Petalstep's throat. She dropped her head and turned away from the brilliant view of the sun rising over the lake and the surrounding territories.
"You have to stop blaming yourself." Plumleaf said quietly.
Petalstep closed her eyes. How could she not blame herself?
The return journey home was a mostly silent one. They stopped briefly on the rocky slopes above AlderClan territory to hunt, and then made their way down into the shallow ravine that separated AlderClan from WillowClan territory.
Their crossing was unhindered. They came across an AlderClan patrol that waved them along with friendly nods and pleasantries. They saw nothing of WillowClan, even as they cut across the rival Clan's territory to get home.
By the time they reached the river and the stepping stones that allowed them to cross into CedarClan land, it was past sun-high and the shadows were growing longer. As Petalstep waited for Plumleaf to cross the water, movement on the tree-line caught her eye.
Petalstep focused on a spot beneath a sprawling beech tree. A cat sat among the thickest roots, watching the medicine cats pass. It was too far to determine details, except that their coat was dark.
Petalstep raised her tail in greeting. The cat stood and vanished behind the tree's massive trunk.
"I wonder how they're doing." Plumleaf said. She had made the crossing and was standing at Petalstep's side, watching the spot where the cat had disappeared.
Petalstep wondered the same thing. WillowClan had been absent from the last five Gatherings. They were hardly seen within their own borders, and no cat had spoken to a WillowClan warrior in moons.
No cat knew if they had chosen a new leader, or even how many of them were left. All they knew was that the leaders of the other three Clans had agreed to leave the territory be for the time being. The lake needed four Clans, after all.
Being so close to home now gave Petalstep new energy. With an effort she put the more troubling aspects of her visit to the Moontree at the back of her mind. She could worry about that later. Right now she could focus on her accomplishment. The dream she had carried in her heart since she was a kit had finally come true.
She hurried up the slope that led to the grove camp with a spring in her step, despite her exhaustion from the journey. Plumleaf followed more slowly, muttering about these young cats and their energy. Petalstep imagined Morningsong and Sweetsorrel waiting for her return. They would be eager to learn her new name. If she was lucky, she might even see Heronflight before she had to go check on her patients in the medicine den.
She could practically hear his sarcastic mew. "Attract the attention of any cougars up there this time?". She purred a little to herself.
Her wish came true as the camp entrance came into view and she saw who was on guard for that evening.
Heronflight sat straight-backed on a flat stone near the fern tunnel. His back was to her, and his gray and black tail was twitching with black stripes shone brownish-red in a ray of the setting sun's light that peeked through the cedars.
As Petalstep approached, his black ears twitched and he turned to face her. His yellow eyes lit up.
"You're back!" He got to his paws and hurried over. His eyes were round with suppressed worry. "How was it?"
Petalstep took a deep breath and shrugged in what she hoped was a casual way. "Oh, you know, took a little hike, had a little dream, made a little oath."
Heronflight purred. "I knew StarClan would have to have had bees in their brains to turn you away."
As he said it, Petalstep couldn't help but feel foolish for her previous worries. Down here, away from the thin air of the mountain peak and the closeness of the cave walls, her fears felt as thin as cobwebs.
"So? Do I get to know your new name?" Heronflight pressed.
Petalstep rolled her eyes. "Impatient as always. Plumleaf has to announce that."
Heronflight's ears drooped. "But I might not hear from out here."
"Listen hard, then!" Petalstep leapt lightly past him, letting her tabby tail flick him on the nose. She could hear his fading purr as she pushed through the mixed bracken and new growth and into the CedarClan camp.
The camp was bustling with the usual evening activity. Two apprentices, Wolfpaw and Coyotepaw, were dragging a hare to the elder's den. Warriors were milling around the fresh-kill pile which looked well-stocked for the first time in moons. The soft dirt underpaw was sprinkled with tiny green shoots and moss was starting to creep up and over the surface of dens and stones.
To her left stood the gnarled old root-tree with room enough for several full-grown cats to sit comfortably under its sprawling exposed roots. To her right was-
"Petalpaw!"
Petalstep purred as her sister, Morningsong, and her mother, Sweetsorrel, came bounding over to her from where they had been sitting outside the mouth of the warrior's den.
Petalstep came running to meet them.
Looking at her mother was like looking into her reflection in water. Soft tabby fur framed a round face and smallish ears. Their white paws were identical, and their eyes were both the same shade of pale green. The only difference was that Petalstep's chest was white and Sweetsorrel's coloring was a little darker.
Morningsong, Petalstep's sister, looked much more like her father. Her long white coat was patched with black and ginger tabby fur, and she was the tallest of the three she-cats. Her green eyes were darker than her mother or sister's. Neither sister had inherited their father's blue ones.
Sweetsorrel's eyes shone with worry and excitement. "You're back safely!" she purred. The weariness in her voice caused another pang of guilt within Petalstep. The older queen had been through so much the past few moons.
"Well?" Morningsong demanded. Her tail twitched.
Petalstep opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted as Plumleaf finally entered camp.
"I'll let Plumleaf tell it." Petalstep purred.
They didn't have to wait long. In a flash Plumleaf jumped up onto the Highbranch where the Clan leader made their announcements. The cats of CedarClan began to gather around even before the medicine cat spoke.
"I have an introduction to make." Plumleaf called out from her perch.
Sweetsorrel turned shining eyes on her daughter. Morningsong just shook her head and muttered. "I knew it."
Petalstep couldn't help but purr.
Once every available cat was gathered, Plumleaf began the short meeting.
"As you know, I took my apprentice to the Moontree to present her before StarClan. She comes back to you now as Petalstep, a fully trained and recognized medicine cat."
The end of Plumleaf's statement was nearly drowned out by the swelling of cheers and yowls that erupted from the Clan. Cats pressed in on all sides and began calling out congratulations and affirmations. Petalstep felt warm throughout from the praise. She looked up and caught Plumleaf's eye. The gray she-cat gave an approving nod before jumping down from her perch and heading across the clearing to the medicine den.
Petalstep let her Clanmates celebrate over her for a little while longer. The apprentices brought her a juicy mouse and the elders and senior warriors gathered around to pester her for details and reprimand one another for invading her privacy simultaneously.
The sun had set by the time Petalstep was able to break away. She may have a new name and title, but her duties were very much the same. In fact, they were even more important now.
She left the celebrating Clan and the adoring presence of her mother and sister and slipped behind the lichen-spattered rock wall at the far end of camp. The medicine clearing was just as they had left it. Quiet, clean, and filled with the calming scent of herbs. The little stream that ran through the area bubbled gently in welcome.
Petalstep took a deep breath. This was truly her place now. She didn't feel like a guest anymore.
She scanned the line of empty nests that lay in the shadow of an overhanging lip of rock on the inside edge of the clearing. She sighed. Not again. She really just wanted to go to her nest.
"Finally managed to get away?" Plumleaf emerged from their shared den; a cleft in the rock that stretched back into a dry cave.
Petalstep nodded and gestured with her head to the empty nests. "I'm assuming you know where they got off to."
Plumleaf snorted and rolled her eyes. "What do you take me for? They're being supervised, but he's been asking for you."
Petalstep stiffened. "He's asking for me by name?"
"In a manner of speaking. They are just down the stream by the sandy hollow." Plumleaf said with a flick of her fluffy tail.
Petalstep wasted no time. She jumped into a trot and hurried her way down the stream. On one side of the stream the terrain was flat. On the other there was a large cliff of sandy, rocky dirt and roots. This nature-made wall protected the medicine clearing and the far end of the CedarClan camp from unwanted visitors.
As Petalstep followed the stream, the cliff of roots and stones grew lower and lower until it barely reached her belly-fur. Here the stream widened and flowed past drifts of sand caught up on the inside corners of its winding path.
Sitting on some rocks trapped in one of these drifts of sand were the two cats she was looking for; a scraggly black tom and…
Her father.