Chapter 6

Mistyfoot and Longtail caught up to Shadepool quickly, leaving the camp behind them. Shadepool's pace was swift and purposeful, and she barely regarded either warrior as she put her paws on the trail to the Divide.

Mistyfoot might've been bothered by that, but a quick glance at the sky told her that Shadepool was late - it was sunhigh now, and Shadepool might miss the meeting entirely unless they hurried. Mistyfoot lowered her muzzle, watching Shadepool's ears bob up ahead - it would disappoint Brackenfur greatly if she couldn't speak with StarClan tonight.

Shadepool wasn't the only cat on Mistyfoot's mind. Glancing behind her, she saw that Longtail's sides were already heaving in an effort to keep up. She couldn't imagine how he was struggling with the new terrain - he'd been on several exploratory patrols since coming to the lake to familiarize himself with the forest, but those had been done at his own pace, and the blind warrior wasn't as young or fit as he used to be.

Should I have brought him along? Mistyfoot felt guilty for thinking it. Blind or not, Longtail was still a warrior, one of ThunderClan's most senior at that, with only Mousefur beating him out in age. He had managed the Great Journey, even tackling the unpredictable lands of the mountains with little complaint - he could handle this, and Mistyfoot knew he wouldn't appreciate being doubted.

Mistyfoot turned her attention back to Shadepool, who had suddenly made a sharp change in direction - instead of the usual path to the river, which was gentler, she veered off, clambering up a steep hill riddled with roots.

"Are you going the right way?" Mistyfoot asked, watching the young she-cat climb.

"I won't make it unless I take a shortcut," Shadepool panted, hauling herself up to the top of the hill. She looked down, peering at them. "Can you make it?"

Mistyfoot's tail flicked, frustrated by her lack of warning. Longtail drew up beside her and grunted, "Of course we can - what do you think we are, kits?"

"Then hurry," Shadepool decided before disappearing into the undergrowth above.

Mistyfoot sighed and nudged Longtail. "You go first," she mewed. "I'll keep an eye out."

Longtail grimaced but said nothing about it as he began to climb, carefully testing each foothold with a paw before hauling himself up. It wasn't a tall hill, really, but Longtail's care made the climb twice as long. Mistyfoot resisted the urge to hurry him, waiting until he had finally reached the top before nimbly bounding up the slope herself in less than half the time.

"All that mountain climbing did you well, eh?" Longtail grunted as their pelts brushed.

Mistyfoot nodded. "It must have," she responded. Looking around, she noted that Shadepool had disappeared. Her tail lashed in frustration - couldn't she wait just a moment? She tried to scent for her Clanmate, but a tickle in her nose made her sneeze instead.

The pale tabby nodded his muzzle at a thicket of bracken. "She went that way," he reported.

"Thanks," Mistyfoot said, shaking her muzzle.

They hared after Shadepool, taking a winding route through the woods that Mistyfoot didn't know off of the top of her head. The steep incline didn't seem to slow Shadepool, but it kept Longtail from going as quickly as Mistyfoot could, causing her to have to keep herself at his pace rather than catch up to Shadepool - with the possibility of a fox trap or other dangers, she couldn't leave the blind warrior behind.

"She should slow down," Mistyfoot grumbled, staring ahead. She could just barely see the white tip of Shadepool's tail ahead of them, a symbol of the rush the medicine cat was in. A glance at the sky said that sunhigh had passed, and the evening was coming. "She'd still make it in time."

Longtail huffed, "She doesn't want to disappoint Brackenfur. Given how they've been lately, I don't blame her."

Mistyfoot frowned, pausing in confusion. Shadepool and Brackenfur had a long history of disagreeing with one another, true, but Mistyfoot had never seen it as the two of them disliking each other. Longtail trotted ahead as Mistyfoot asked, "Haven't they been getting along better now?"

Longtail glanced back, the faintest bit of his eyes visible beneath the scarring. He meowed, "I thought so too, but since the battle, something's changed."

Mistyfoot caught up to him, and they walked shoulder to shoulder. "What do you mean?" she wondered. "Is it because Brackenfur got hurt?" Shadepool had been shouldering a lot of responsibility on her own because of that - but the way Longtail was speaking, this change seemed negative, rather than the idea of earned respect that Mistyfoot had thought.

"You'd think that, and you probably wouldn't be wrong," Longtail grunted, "but I don't think that's the reason. There's something different about how they talk to one another now, unlike what was there before." Longtail considered it for a moment, then elaborated, "It's almost like a parent that's given up on a kit that's disappointed them."

Mistyfoot pinned her ears, troubled. "How do you figure that?" she pressed.

Longtail scoffed. "When you go blind, you start to hear things more clearly. You feel things differently," he said. "And mark my words, something's changed with those two - but I can't tell you whether that's good or bad or even if it's any of our business. You know how medicine cats are - they like their secrets."

Feeling even more troubled, Mistyfoot stared at the white tail-tip bobbing between the buds of new growth ahead of them, wondering what could have happened between Shadepool and her mentor.

The half-moon was bright in the sky when they arrived. Mothwing, RiverClan's beautiful medicine cat, was waiting for Shadepool, greeting her with a purr and a flourish of her dappled tail before she acknowledged Longtail and Mistyfoot with a nod.

"Brackenfur couldn't make it?" Mothwing wondered to Shadepool.

Shadepool shook her head. "No. I'll tell you why later."

Mistyfoot understood her caution - up ahead, near a thicket of hawthorn, were Littlecloud of ShadowClan and Ryewhisper, WindClan's sole medicine cat. A few paces away were Ryewhisper's escorts - Poppyfoot and Whitetail. The two she-cats kept their chins high, doing everything they could not to look at the ThunderClan warriors, but Mistyfoot knew what they were thinking - barely a half moon ago, they had been engaged in battle, and the bad blood that had caused that battle wouldn't dry for a long, long time.

"Who's there?" Longtail wondered, murmuring in Mistyfoot's ear. "I smell WindClan."

Mistyfoot told him, "Poppyfoot and Whitetail. They're not doing anything." Yet, she thought worriedly.

Longtail's hackles rose. "Yet," he growled.

Mistyfoot laid her tail along his shoulders, hoping to cool the older warrior's temper. Shadepool wouldn't appreciate a scuffle breaking out at the Moonpool meeting - more importantly, StarClan wouldn't abide bloodshed on the half-moon.

Yet Mistyfoot couldn't help but feel tense, too. I'll behave if they do, she told herself, looking at the two she-cats. Poppyfoot flicked an ear her way, as if she could feel Mistyfoot's gaze.

"It's time," Littlecloud announced. His voice carried easily in the open uplands, and the small tabby tom rose to his paws, his body lit by moonlight. He swept his gaze over the escorts and remarked firmly, "Keep to yourselves, and remember that tonight is for medicine cats and StarClan."

"Of course, Littlecloud," Poppyfoot meowed, dipping her head low. "WindClan would never disrupt the sacred ceremonies."

Mistyfoot felt the fur between her shoulders rise, and beside her, Longtail bristled. A look from Shadepool strangled the sharp retort that Mistyfoot was preparing, and, despite it all, she understood that antagonizing WindClan would not bode well for anyone tonight.

The medicine cats disappeared into the hawthorn, and instead of moving any closer to them, Mistyfoot led Longtail over to a cluster of rocks on the side of the hill and decided to settle there. From this perch, she had a good view of the narrow trail from the forest and up the slope, and if the WindClan cats were doing their jobs, they could cover other directions from their higher ground.

It kept them far apart, too, which was a bonus to both of them, Mistyfoot figured, and it let her get a good view of a part of the lake territory that she hadn't seen much of yet. She stifled a yawn, looking around.

From here, she could see just over the treetops of ThunderClan territory. The lake was a shimmering strip, so thin from this angle it was almost like a river, separating the forest from the lowlands that RiverClan called home. Mistyfoot could see lights from the small Twolegplace peeking between the trees like little orange stars beyond the willow woods, and she knew that further beyond that was the sun-drown-place.

She sighed, thinking of it - the water that stretched on into infinity, swallowing the sun and spitting it back out again, shimmering and deep, beautiful and terrible. She had seen it with Stormfur on their journey, and they had cuddled together there, watching the sun set.

Guilt pricked her heart. That felt like a lifetime ago, and it had been a sweeter time. She still remembered promising to save Stormfur if he fell in and heard the worry pitch his voice when he retorted that she would drown herself if she did.

Mistyfoot's heart ached. When she blinked, she saw him lying on the cold, wet stone, drowning in rainwater. She hadn't kept her word in the end.

Her ears pricked at a sound - muffled mews were coming from the top of the hill near the hawthorn. Poppyfoot and Whitetail were clearly entertaining themselves with gossip. Longtail grumbled to himself, saying something pointed that Mistyfoot didn't catch.

Curious, desperate to put her mind to anything else, she asked, "What is it? Can you hear them?"

Longtail's twitching ears should've been answer enough, but he still hissed, "Of course I can."

"What're they saying?"

Longtail's lip curled, and Mistyfoot saw his claws flexing in the thin, wispy grass. He growled, "They're wondering why you bothered to bring a blind warrior along for this. Whitetail thinks it's charity, but Poppyfoot thinks it's a waste of effort." Longtail huffed. "I think they're both rabbit-brained!"

Mistyfoot frowned. She forced herself to stamp down her urge to slash the two she-cats across their face for the sake of her Clanmate. "Why do you think I chose you?" she asked.

Longtail whipped his tail. "I don't know, really," he hissed. "Because I was there? I'm not much good for anything these days."

"That's not true, Longtail," Mistyfoot insisted. Her pelt prickled with unease. Mousefur harbored similar doubts about herself since the battle - it made sense that Longtail was beginning to question himself, too.

"Isn't it?" Longtail drew his head up to look at her as best as he could. "I thought I could be a warrior again after the Great Journey, but I could barely defend myself in the battle!"

"They piled onto you!" Mistyfoot hissed, recalling the flow of the fight. She had to force herself to keep her voice low: "WindClan fought without a shred of honor that night - they killed Sootfur! They even attacked Shadepool twice over, remember?"

"I know that, but I should've been able to defend myself, at least!" Longtail snapped. The fur along his spine rippled unevenly around his new scars. "What use am I to the Clan otherwise?"

Mistyfoot opened her jaws to protest, but Longtail kept going: "I'm of no use to ThunderClan anymore - if I can't defend myself, and there's no way I can defend anyone else." His chin trembled, and he murmured, "What kind of warrior am I now?"

"Longtail..." Mistyfoot struggled for words. This was different than what Mousefur had been feeling, a hopelessness that felt like staring into a yawning, wide abyss. She could only say, "There's always a place for you in ThunderClan, Longtail. And for the record, I brought you along because even though you might not see it now, you're still a warrior, and I know you would do anything to defend your Clanmates."

Longtail huffed. "You sound like Tinystar," he grumbled.

Mistyfoot twitched her whiskers. The fur along his spine had flattened, but the pale warrior still seemed upset. Mistyfoot let her tail down to touch his flank.

"Even if you think you can't fight anymore, there's no better nose or ears in all of ThunderClan," Mistyfoot pointed out. "Not even Cloudtail can compare. That's as good a reason as any to bring you along for something like this."

Longtail chuckled. "Now you sound even more like Tinystar."

"Is that a bad thing?" Mistyfoot asked.

"I used to think so," Longtail admitted. His ear twitched. "But of all the cats you could emulate, you could do far worse than Tinystar."

Mistyfoot swallowed what she had been about to say. It would only sour Longtail's mood to remind him of how he had followed Bluestar long ago, before Mistyfoot was born and before Bluestar had truly revealed her ugly nature. He had broken away and devoted himself to ThunderClan to make up for it. She had wanted to see uplifting, but now it just felt hypocritical.

What would he think of me now, dreaming of my mother as I do? Mistyfoot wondered, her stomach curdling. She was certain the pale warrior would lose his respect for her if he found out.

"I'm glad he chose you, you know," Longtail meowed. "He needed to choose someone, and we wouldn't be here at all if it weren't for you." Longtail's eyes twitched, the scarred lids struggling to blink. "I think you got the better parts of her, you know. The parts that really matter."

Mistyfoot blinked back at him, touched. "I hope that's true," she admitted. His words cut close to her heart. She murmured, "Thank you, Longtail."

The pale tom hoisted himself onto the rock beside her, his lean body blocking the breeze. "Old cats like me don't like change, Mistyfoot," he meowed airily. Lifting his chin, he mewed, "Like I said - things would've been a lot worse without you."

Mistyfoot yawned, her eyes dry and bleary. A cold wind cut across the moorland, chilling her bones. She had managed to stay up through the night, though she had felt herself fading towards the end. Longtail had struggled, too, his eyes sliding shut more than once - but now the sky was turning pink, and their watch was ending.

Mistyfoot glanced back. The hawthorn that guarded the entrance to the Moonpool was unmoving - the medicine cats weren't done in the hollow yet. Not far from it was a sight that had Mistyfoot's whiskers twitching with amusement - Poppyfoot and Whitetail were curled up in a heap together, their sides rising and falling evenly.

She nudged Longtail. "They fell asleep, can you believe it?" she hissed.

Longtail snorted derisively, "Lot of good they were, then!"

"I'd give anything to tell Mudstar," Mistyfoot chuckled, curling her tail with amusement, "just to see his reaction!" The wind shifted, plastering her pelt to her side. Mistyfoot's nose tingled, and she sneezed.

"I'm sure he'd blame us somehow," Longtail purred. "I'm sure he blames ThunderClan when his bedding isn't changed on time! He's such a-"

Longtail cut off, his nose and ears twitching. Mistyfoot stared at him, his sudden alertness driving away the exhaustion dragging at her limbs.

"What is it?" she hissed. "The medicine cats?"

"No, not them," Longtail said. "I can't hear or smell anything in the hollow. But..."

"There's something?"

Longtail nodded. Wordlessly, he used his tail to point across the hill. Mistyfoot couldn't see anything there but a lump of earth and swaying bushes, but she twitched her whiskers against his cheek in signal, and together they leaped off the rock.

She let Longtail take the lead, her mind racing. What had he scented? She tried to scent it herself, but it only made her want to sneeze again. She prepared herself for anything - foxes, badgers, snakes, even Twolegs or dogs - but nothing prepared her for what they found when Longtail brought himself to a halt.

"Here," he said with a flick of his tail.

Mistyfoot was confused. There was nothing here but a little dip in the earth and a tussock of thick grass. When she said as much, Longtail curled his lip.

"Youngsters," he grumbled. "There's something here. I can smell it."

Mistyfoot opened her jaws and breathed deeply. Below the scent that tickled her nose, she could smell new plants and newleaf air - but there was something else, something strange beneath it all, a scent that Mistyfoot could barely make out:

The smell of freshly-turned earth.

Small creatures like mice or birds would often scrabble in the soil in search of food, and other animals obviously made their dens in the ground, but it didn't smell like this when they did - distant, yet close at the same time. Heady and powerful, like a lot of it was being moved around.

"You smell it too?" Longtail guessed.

"Now I do," Mistyfoot admitted, sniffling. "But where is it coming from?"

All around them were grass and hills, with stones here and there and trees too far off to matter. It was open and quiet but for the wind in the grass, with not even birdsong or the sound of prey. When Longtail put his nose to the ground and made his way down the slope, Mistyfoot followed, puzzled.

It seemed like he was onto something. He thrust his muzzle into the thickest part of the grass, his head nearly disappearing into the dip in the earth. When he pulled his muzzle back out again, he had a smudge of soil on his nose.

"Something was here," he reported, shaking it off. "Digging. I felt air."

Mistyfoot was even more confused. She crept close, gently pushing Longtail aside to take his place before the grass. Longtail's body had bent the stalks just a little, but they still dutifully concealed whatever lay behind them.

Everything she knew told her not to stick her head into strange places. Taking a deep breath and trying to suppress the urge to sneeze, Mistyfoot shoved her head into the grass.

All she could see was darkness, but the smell of soil clogged her senses, with fresh bits falling softly onto her head. This was too big to be a common prey hole - by her whiskers, Mistyfoot sensed there was more than enough room for her to walk right into the shadows - and, as Longtail had said, she smelled fresh air coming from deep within. It was faint, sure, but still bizarre.

She drew back and used her paws to hold the grass aside from the hole. She pressed it down as hard as she could, forcing it to stay put for a moment so she could better see what she was working with.

It was indeed a hole burrowed into the soft earth, and it looked as if it had been expanded recently - Mistyfoot ran her free paw around the markings along its edges, noting the thin, regular lines they made in the soil.

"Something with claws did this," she reported to Longtail, her voice rasping against the tickle in her throat. "I think it expanded the hole."

Longtail flicked his ear. "Why?"

"I don't know," Mistyfoot admitted. "Maybe it wanted this for its den and gave up?"

She stared down into the darkness again, wondering if it would give her an answer. Instead, she felt her pelt prickling uncomfortably, as if something was deep down there, watching her.

"What in StarClan's name are you two doing?"

Mistyfoot jumped at Shadepool's voice, the grass coming up from beneath her paw and slapping her in the face. She shook her head, the fresh, sudden smells making her feel dizzy, and it took her longer than it should have to see Shadepool's dark shape coming to a halt at the crest of the hill above.

"We scented something odd," Longtail reported, tilting his muzzle towards her. "Don't think it's anything, really."

Mistyfoot rubbed her muzzle with a paw, hoping to rub away the scents stinging in her nose and misting in her eyes. Longtail sounded dismissive, so perhaps he was right that this was nothing, but Mistyfoot had doubts. It was just so strange! Instead of speaking up, though, she could only sneeze.

"You really shouldn't be sticking your head into strange holes," Shadepool remarked, flicking an ear at Mistyfoot. "Especially you, with your allergies!"

Mistyfoot's pelt burned more than her nose, like she was an apprentice being scolded. Shadepool sighed, shaking her head. "We're done here now," she meowed. "We should head back."

Eyes still watering, Mistyfoot asked, "What did StarClan say?"

Shadepool chuckled, "You know I can't tell you that," she purred, amused. She twitched her whiskers and added, "But, I can say that they were kind to us this moon." She paused, then added, "Very kind."

"Finally," Longtail groaned in relief. "We could use some peace after all we've been through..."

Through blurry eyes, Mistyfoot tried to see whether or not Shadepool was hiding anything, but it didn't seem so. The young she-cat seemed much happier than she had been the day before, and there wasn't as much urgency in her gait as she began to lead the way toward the forest. Whatever she had seen, it really must have been good news.

Mistyfoot got to her paws to follow, only to sneeze twice more, smelling grass, then dirt, both in her nose and in her mouth. Staggering a little, she felt her eyes and nose finally begin to recover - and then she sneezed again and cursed.

I must look like a fool! She thought, forcing herself to walk after her Clanmates. She felt her nose stream. That's the last time I go sticking my head in the grass!

She sniffled, then paused.

What was that?

She sniffled again, deeper this time.

That's not grass or dirt.

Mistyfoot sneezed once more for what felt like the last time, and the strange scent beneath what had clogged her senses came forward very faintly. Her pelt prickled as she identified it, confusion giving way to anxiety. She looked over her shoulder at the partially bent grass.

I smell cat!