The Apprentice's Quest

While he was chewing up the marigold, Needlepaw pushed her way through the bushes with a dripping ball of moss in her jaws. “I couldn’t find any herbs,” she meowed, setting the moss down beside Sandstorm, “but I brought this. I thought she might be thirsty.”

“That was a really good idea,” Alderpaw told her, feeling warmer toward the ShadowClan cat than ever before. Needlepaw ducked her head to lick her chest fur, embarrassed at his praise.

“Sandstorm.” Alderpaw gently stroked the old cat’s head. “Wake up and have a drink.”

Sandstorm’s green eyes blinked open. “Oh, that’s good,” she breathed out, lapping at the moss.

While she drank, Alderpaw plastered the marigold poultice to her wound. I just hope it’s enough, he thought. I wouldn’t worry so much about the infection if she weren’t so weak from the bleeding. He let out a long sigh. Oh, I wish Leafpool or Jayfeather were here to help me!

Sandstorm reached out her tail to touch him briefly on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Alderpaw,” she rasped. “I’m going to be fine, and we must set out again soon. The…” For a heartbeat she hesitated. “The others need us,” she finished.

“Which others?” Sparkpaw asked curiously.

Alderpaw’s belly lurched. “Oh, she’s feverish,” he mewed quickly. “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.” But inwardly he felt worse than ever. Sandstorm must be losing her sharpness, to mention the secret.

“You have to rest,” he told her. “You have to get better. We can’t finish this quest without you!”

But he was not even sure if Sandstorm had heard him. When he looked down at her, he saw that she had drifted back into a fevered sleep.

Chapter 14

Alderpaw stood on the grass outside the sheltering elder bushes. Above his head the sky blazed with stars. Although the night wasn’t cold, he was shivering as though he had just clambered out of icy water.

Just ahead, a cat was walking away from him, toward the fence they had crossed the day before. Her head and tail were proudly raised, and she moved with a strong, purposeful gait.

Starlight glimmered at her paws and around her ears.

“But that’s—” Alderpaw cut off his words with a gasp, and he spun around to check on the nest beneath the elder bushes.

But the elder bushes were no longer there.

When Alderpaw turned back, the fence had vanished, too. He stood in the middle of a stretch of lush grass, with whispering groves of trees all around. The starry cat was facing him now, and he saw clearly that it was Sandstorm.

“Oh, no, no… ,” he whispered.

The ginger she-cat looked taller and stronger than he had ever seen her, and her infected wound had disappeared. Her pelt was thick and sleek, and her green eyes gleamed with love for him.

“It is my time to leave you,” she meowed, with no pain or confusion in her voice. “But don’t worry, Alderpaw. StarClan is where I belong now.”

“No!” Alderpaw protested with all the strength that was in him. “You can’t leave us now. We need you!”

“This is my destiny,” Sandstorm responded.

“And you do not need me anymore. You are stronger than you know. Listen.” She took a pace toward him. “You must lead the others now. Continue heading toward the rising sun. It is many days’ journey, and you will have to cross a very big and busy Thunderpath. After that, you will come to a river. Follow it upstream, and you will find the gorge where SkyClan has their camp.”

Alderpaw tried to memorize what Sandstorm was telling him. The rising sun… a big Thunderpath… then the river. At the same time, he felt hot with shame that she wouldn’t be there to guide him. He turned his gaze away, unable to go on looking at her.

“I failed you,” he muttered.

“No,” Sandstorm murmured gently. “No cat could have done more to help me. I doubt that even Jayfeather or Leafpool could have kept me alive so long. I knew the risks when I chose to come on this quest,” she reminded him. “I know how important your visions are.”

“But you could have lived for many seasons in ThunderClan,” Alderpaw mewed wretchedly.

“And now I will live for many more in StarClan,” Sandstorm pointed out. “I will get to see Firestar again, and all the cats I have loved and lost. Alderpaw, this is how it was meant to be. You have nothing to feel ashamed of, or guilty about.”

Alderpaw turned in an anxious circle, unable to believe what Sandstorm was telling him. What will I do without her? How will I lead this quest?

“This isn’t a vision!” he insisted, fear overwhelming him. “It’s just a dream. I’m going to wake up, and you’ll be sleeping beside me, just like always. You’re going to be all right.”