Crowfeather's Trial

The lion-cat looked up; his snarl changed to a scream of pain as the spike thrust its way into his neck. He fell to the ground, writhing in agony, as Feathertail tumbled from the spike, hitting the cave floor beside him. For a moment Crowpaw was frozen with shock as he gazed at the gentle she-cat. Her eyes were closed. Crowpaw couldn’t tell whether she was breathing. Is she alive?

Stormfur hurtled down the rock toward his sister’s side. Beside them the lion-cat twitched for a few heartbeats, then gave a massive shudder and was still.

Sharptooth was dead.

“Feathertail?” Stormfur whispered.

Crowpaw stumbled out of his crevice, still shaking, and crouched beside the two RiverClan cats. “Feathertail?” he rasped, hardly able to keep his voice steady. “Feathertail, are you okay?”

Though Feathertail did not respond, Crowpaw could now see the faint rise and fall of her chest. “She’s alive!” he mewed, his pads prickling with hope.

“She’ll be fine.” Stormfur’s voice cracked, as if he didn’t believe what he was saying. “She’s got to be. She… she has a prophecy to fulfill.”

But a terrible fear was growing inside Crowpaw. What if Feathertail just did fulfill the prophecy? It had spoken of a silver cat who would save them from a terrible lion-cat. Crowpaw had never imagined that it would actually come true — or that the silver cat would be Feathertail. But did that mean her story ended here?

What if she never goes home to help lead her Clan to its new territory?

He crept forward until his nose touched Feathertail’s shoulder. Breathing deeply, he let her sweet scent flow through him, and gently began to lick her ruffled pelt. He thought about the future he had dreamed of, where they found a way to be together even though they were from different Clans. “Wake up, Feathertail,” he mewed. “Please wake up.”

He let out a gasp as Feathertail’s eyes fluttered open. She looked warmly at Crowpaw, then turned her head slightly to look up at Stormfur.

“You’ll have to go home without me, brother,” she murmured. “Save the Clan!”

“Feathertail,” he croaked through a painful lump in his throat. Then her head shifted again, her gaze focusing once more on Crowpaw. He trembled at the intense love he saw in her blue eyes. I don’t deserve her, he thought. I never deserved her.

“Think you have nine lives, do you?” Feathertail whispered. “I saved you once… Don’t make me save you again.”

“Feathertail… Feathertail, no!” As she weakened before him, Crowpaw felt as if a huge weight were crushing his chest, so that he could hardly speak. “Don’t leave me.”