Crowfeather's Trial

“Then I won’t see you again?” Crowfeather asked, feeling as if a forest tree had crashed down on top of him.

“Not like this,” Ashfoot responded. “But I’ll always watch out for you, from StarClan.”

Crowfeather heaved a long sigh, forcing himself into acceptance. “Good-bye, then,” he meowed. “I’ll always love you, and miss you.”

“Take care of your kin,” his mother meowed. “And remember that I’m always with you…”

Her voice died away on the last few words. Crowfeather saw her shape begin to fade, until it was no more than a frosty glimmer in the air, and then was gone.

Chapter 34

The sun was almost touching the top of the moor as Crowfeather and Featherpaw carefully pressed a flat stone against the side of one of the tunnel entrances, shoring up a spill of crumbling earth.

“Good,” Crowfeather meowed, stepping back with a purr of satisfaction. “We should get this job finished before nightfall.”

More than a half-moon had passed since the battle against the stoats, and so far none of the survivors had returned. Even their scent had well and truly faded. Onestar had ordered the tunnel entrances to be blocked more securely, all except for one, and had decided that WindClan needed to patrol the tunnels to discourage any other animals from settling there in future.

“Imagine if a family of badgers decided to live there!” he had meowed.

As Featherpaw went off to find more stones, Nightcloud and Hootpaw emerged from the entrance and stood beside Crowfeather, shaking dust from their pelts.

“That’s done!” Nightcloud exclaimed. “The whole place is clear of the last of the old prey.”

“It was disgusting!” Hootpaw added, passing his tongue over his jaws as if he could taste the crow-food. “I thought we’d never finish.”

“Well done,” Crowfeather mewed with an approving nod, surprised at how comfortable he felt around Nightcloud now.

“You’ve done enough!” Heathertail’s voice came from farther along the bank; Crowfeather turned to see her with Breezepelt. “Onestar has chosen you to go to the Gathering, so you should rest first.”

Breezepelt gave her a friendly shove. “I’m perfectly fine,” he mewed.

Crowfeather could hardly believe how carefree Breezepelt sounded, as if more had been healed within him than just the infection from the stoat bite. It’s good to hear him like that.

He exchanged an amused glance with Nightcloud as they listened to the two young cats’ amiable wrangling.

Nightcloud leaned closer to him and whispered into his ear, “I wouldn’t be surprised if there are new kits in the nursery soon.”

“Really?” Crowfeather asked. “I know you said that before, but—”

“Just look at them, mouse-brain!” Nightcloud’s words were harsh, but her eyes were sparkling and her tail curled up playfully.

“Kits…,” Crowfeather murmured. “Great StarClan, this soon…?” I’m just figuring out how to be a father…

Onestar’s voice, calling the Clan together, interrupted his musing. The sun was beginning to set, casting scarlet light across the moor. A chilly breeze had sprung up, but the sky was clear, a good omen for the night’s Gathering.

“Duties are over for the day,” the Clan leader announced as his cats padded up to him. “We’ll head back to the camp, and the cats I’ve chosen for the Gathering should go to their dens and rest.”

At least, Crowfeather thought as he began to climb the hill behind his Clan leader, this time we have good news to report.

Crowfeather slipped into the shifting mass of cats in the clearing beneath the branches of the Great Oak. Once again WindClan was the last to arrive, but the Clan leaders seemed to be in no hurry to start the meeting. The WindClan cats had time to mingle with the earlier arrivals, greeting their friends from other Clans.

Crowfeather found a space for himself not far from the roots of the Great Oak, where Harespring had taken his place with the other deputies. Not far away, he spotted Leafpool and Jayfeather with their fellow medicine cats.

For a long time before the battle against the Dark Forest, Crowfeather had been barely able to look at either of them, but now all he could feel toward them was gratitude.

Leafpool had helped him heal his heart after Feathertail died, even though in the end they couldn’t be together, and Jayfeather might still hate Breezepelt, but he’d done what was right to save his life.

Finally, Blackstar lifted his head to get every cat’s attention: “Before we begin, let us remember the fallen…”

This again, Crowfeather thought, although it did feel important to not forget the fallen warriors.

As soon as he’d finished, Blackstar then declared that prey was running well in ShadowClan territory. “My patrols picked up fox scent near the Twoleg greenleafplace,” he continued, “but it faded quickly and hasn’t returned. We think that the fox was only passing through.”