Eclipse

“It did look strange,” Sorreltail agreed. “Not a WindClan cat, that’s for sure.”

“Just so long as it doesn’t cross our border,” Thornclaw growled.

Cinderpaw was nosing her way out of the medicine cat’s den as Hollypaw padded into camp. She limped around the clearing, heading for the thorn tunnel.

Hollypaw fell in beside her. “Where are you going?”

“Swimming.”

“On your own?” Hollypaw asked in surprise.

“Jaypaw’s busy sorting herbs, and Leafpool says I’ll be okay if I take it slowly.”

Hollypaw noticed that Cinderpaw’s words were no longer punctuated with gasps of pain. “Is it feeling better?”

“Lots.” Cinderpaw stopped and stretched. Her injured leg trembled with the strain, but she didn’t flinch.

“Can I come with you?” Hollypaw asked.

“Aren’t you tired?”

“Not anymore.” The sight of the “lion” on the moorland had jerked her wide-awake.

Cinderpaw purred. “I’d love the company.” She glanced sideways at Hollypaw. “Do you want me to teach you how to swim?”

Hollypaw shivered at the thought of a cold, wet pelt. “No, thanks!”

They padded nose-to-tail through the thorn tunnel. The sun was climbing the sky, warming the forest, and birds chattered in the trees. Hollypaw loved how the woods had lost the neat crispness of early greenleaf and had grown unkempt and disheveled, the undergrowth spilling over paths and trees sending willowy shoots out from among their roots. It seemed that the forest was fuller and lusher than ever.

She slowed as they climbed the slope toward the lake, so that Cinderpaw could match her step for step despite her limp.

“Have you seen how Honeyfern keeps following Berrynose with that drippy look on her face?” Cinderpaw mewed.

“Oh, yes!” Hollypaw agreed. “Anyone would think he was StarClan’s gift to the Clan!”

“Can’t she see what a bossy know-it-all he is?”

“I think she likes him almost as much as he likes himself.”

“Then it must be love!” Cinderpaw’s whiskers twitched.

“That reminds me! Have you noticed how Birchfall has started sharing tongues with Whitewing?”

“The nursery could start getting crowded,” Hollypaw purred.

“I don’t know if there’ll be room once Millie has her kits,” Cinderpaw mewed. “Leafpool says there’re going to be at least three.”

“Has Millie chosen names yet?” Hollypaw wondered if Cinderpaw had heard any gossip while she’d been confined to Leafpool’s den.

“Leafpool says a kit needs to be seen before it can be named.”

“Then I must have been a prickly kit,” Hollypaw joked.

It was good to talk about nothing in particular. It was like things used to be, before the prophecy. For the first time since returning from the mountains, she felt like an ordinary apprentice again.

But she wasn’t. A stab of envy jabbed her belly. Cinderpaw could chat like this forever, with no worries about being more powerful than her Clanmates. Her only ambition was to become a warrior and do the best she could for her Clan.

I have so much more to aim for. Hollypaw frowned. And I don’t even know for sure what that could be.

Chapter 11

A warm breeze circled the hollow, drawing the night scents of the forest into the camp. The moon was high; Jaypaw could feel its light wash his pelt. He shifted his paws, stiff from waiting.

“Are you sure there’s nothing I can do?” he whispered to Leafpool through the brambles covering the entrance of the medicine cats’ den. She’d sent him outside when his pacing had knocked the poppy seeds flying across the floor. She was gathering them up now.

“I could help you clean up,” he offered.

“No, thanks,” Leafpool called back. “You just keep your ears pricked for any noise from the nursery.”

Millie had been circling her den restlessly since sunhigh, and, though her pains had not started properly, Leafpool had warned her the kittens might come anytime. The rest of the camp was asleep, except for Graystripe, who kept his own vigil outside the nursery. Jaypaw tried not to let the fear drifting from the gray warrior taint his own thoughts.

Millie will be fine.

The nursery brambles shivered, and paws pattered over the clearing.

“The kits are coming!” Daisy called, keeping her voice low.

Leafpool darted out of her den. “Follow me,” she hissed to Jaypaw.

Jaypaw hurried after her, his heart racing as Leafpool and Daisy squeezed into the nursery.

“Look after Millie.” Graystripe’s anxious growl made him jump. The warrior was so close their pelts touched. “If you have to choose which life to save, save hers.”

Before Jaypaw could answer, he was swept into Graystripe’s memory. A silver tabby she-cat lay in a pool of blood at the bottom of a ravine. Grief wrenched Jaypaw’s heart, and he fought to escape the vision, relieved when he blinked and found the world black once more.

“Leafpool won’t let anything bad happen,” he promised as he scrabbled inside the nursery. He was scared of sensing any more of Graystripe’s pain. He must have loved the silver she-cat very much.