“Your brother understands that he can’t be an apprentice like you,” Meadowslip told her briskly.
“I’ll teach him a few hunting tricks,” Hickorynose promised. “Just because he’s not an apprentice doesn’t mean he’ll be stuck in camp.”
Talltail flicked his tail with irritation as he overheard. Why had everyone given up on Hopkit so easily? He jumped into the Meeting Hollow and sat down, ears pricked as his Clanmates gathered around him. He’d show everyone that Hopkit would make a great warrior.
Heatherstar leaped down from Tallrock and padded to the middle of the hollow. “Sorrelkit, Pigeonkit!” she called.
Sorrelkit and Pigeonkit scrambled into the hollow and trotted over to the Clan leader.
“It’s been a hard leaf-bare, with too many losses.” Heatherstar dipped her head to Ryestalk, watching hollow-eyed from the nursery. “But today WindClan has new apprentices. Pigeonpaw.” She flicked her tail along the gray tom’s spine. “Your mentor will be Doespring.”
Doespring stepped forward looking proud and touched her nose to Pigeonpaw’s head. Pigeonpaw plucked excitedly at the ground.
“This is your first apprentice, but I have no doubt you will train him well. Share your spirit and speed with him,” Heatherstar instructed Doespring. The pale brown she-cat purred with delight.
The WindClan leader turned to Sorrelkit. “Sorrelpaw, your mentor will be Stagleap.”
Sorrelpaw’s eyes widened as the broad-shouldered tom padded forward to greet her. Her tail twitched nervously as he touched her head.
“Don’t worry, Sorrelpaw,” Stagleap whispered. “You’ll be a great apprentice. And I promise not to eat you.”
“May you learn boldness and loyalty from him.” Heatherstar’s eyes shone.
“I will!” Sorrelpaw promised.
Heatherstar lifted her head and looked at the medicine den. “Hopkit, come here.”
Hopkit stared back, eyes stretched wide. “Me?”
Heatherstar nodded. She caught Talltail’s eye and gave a tiny flick of her tail-tip, inviting him to join her. Talltail stepped onto the sand, his heart quickening with excitement. Hopkit limped down into the hollow and hobbled toward Heatherstar.
“Welcome. Your apprentice name will be Deadpaw,” Heatherstar announced.
“Deadpaw?” Meadowslip’s gasp rang over the hollow. “Heatherstar, no! You can’t name him because of what’s wrong with him!”
Deadpaw raised his chin. “It’s okay; I don’t mind! I’m going to be a warrior. My paw may be dead, but the rest of me is still alive!”
“Well done, Deadpaw!” Whiteberry rasped.
Hickorynose looked thoughtful. “A name like that could trick our enemies into thinking he can’t fight. You’ll show them, won’t you, Deadpaw?”
The little black tom nodded earnestly, and purrs of approval rippled around the Clan.
Heatherstar went on. “Your mentor will be Talltail.” She beckoned Talltail forward with a nod, but he was already hurrying across the sandy earth. “Share your sense of adventure and courage with him, Talltail.”
Deadpaw pushed up his head to meet Talltail’s muzzle. “I’m so glad it’s you!”
“Deadpaw!”
“Sorrelpaw!”
“Pigeonpaw!”
The Clan lifted their voices, calling the names of the new apprentices.
“I’ll teach you to be a great warrior,” Talltail whispered in Deadpaw’s ear. I’m a mentor! Only a few moons ago he’d been living a rogue’s life far beyond the borders of the Clan. Now he was helping to make WindClan strong. Deadpaw depended on him to learn how to hunt and fight. We’ll show them. Even on three paws, you’ll be able to outfight a ShadowClan warrior! Deadpaw’s purr rumbled beside him.
Talltail looked up, across the top of the heather and beyond the rolling green moor. I wish you could see this, Jake. His old friend would be proud to see how much he had changed. You always said I was a warrior. His heart swelled. Now I truly am.
CHAPTER 45
“Are you ready?” Barkface’s eyes glowed in starlight as he paused at the entrance to the tunnel. Mothermouth loomed ahead, gaping black in the silver cliff.
Talltail nodded. “I’m ready.”
The journey across the valley had been filled with memories. As he walked the same fields he’d walked so many moons before, Talltail had been swept back to the troubled curiosity of his youth. But now the boundaries that had once made him feel trapped and restless were his to protect and honor. If StarClan accepted him, he would be WindClan’s leader by dawn.
Grief wrenched at his heart with sharp claws. Heatherstar’s last moments had been cruel. Greencough had wracked her body, choking her savagely into an agonizing death.
“Talltail.” She had beckoned him closer as she lay in her nest, heat pulsing from her flanks, her pelt clumped and stinking. Swallowing back sorrow, Talltail had crouched over her.
“Have courage, Talltail,” Heatherstar had croaked. “You followed your heart once and it made you stronger. It forged a bond between you and WindClan that nothing can ever break.” A cough shook her body. She didn’t fight it, too weak to do anything but submit. As it released her, she dragged in a shuddering breath. “Always follow your heart, Talltail, as you did then. Let it guide you in everything you do.” Her chest rattled as she struggled to breathe. “WindClan is yours now.” With a rasp, she stiffened and fell still.
Barkface squeezed past Talltail and nudged Heatherstar gently with his muzzle, straightening her twisted body and curling her tail around her paws so that she looked as though she were comfortably asleep. “Mudclaw!” he called through the entrance. “Tell the Clan it’s time for them to sit in vigil for their leader.” He nosed Talltail to his paws and guided him from the den.
Outside, the dying sun streaked the grass red. A cold wind whistled across the heather. “We should go to the Moonstone so you can receive your lives,” Barkface told him.
Talltail nodded. He could feel strength seeping back into him as he watched his Clanmates padding slowly toward Heatherstar’s den. He was responsible for them now.
Onekit scampered behind Wrenflight. “Is she really dead?”
“Hush,” his mother scolded. “Show some respect.”
“But she’ll be in StarClan!” Onekit squeaked. He gazed up at the sky as stars began to show. “Do you think she’s watching us yet?”
“Come on, Talltail.” Barkface flicked his tail toward the camp entrance. “If we leave now, we’ll be back in time to join the vigil.”
Now, at Highstones, Talltail shivered—half with cold, half with fear—as Mothermouth yawned before him. All his life, it had seemed as if tunnels shaped his destiny. Now this one would guide him to becoming WindClan’s leader. He glanced at the sky, wondering if Sandgorse was watching. Or Palebird, who’d died moons before. Squaring his shoulders, he padded into the darkness. Barkface followed, his breath billowing in the cold before the shadows swallowed it. Talltail’s paws seemed to guide him without thinking, leading him along the twists and turns, as though the Moonstone drew him on.
Light glowed ahead. The moon was already shining on the Great Rock. As Talltail turned the corner, the light blinded him. Fear flashed through him. Last time he’d been here, StarClan hadn’t shared anything with him. He’d been an apprentice, confused about where his path would lead, doubtful that he truly belonged in WindClan. What would his ancestors say to him now?
As he hesitated, Barkface padded past, no more than a dark shape against the dazzling rock. “It’s time,” he meowed, and his voice echoed around the unseen walls of the cave.
Talltail padded forward and settled beside the sparkling stone. Closing his eyes, he stretched his muzzle forward and touched the Moonstone. He twitched as the stone floor lurched beneath him, then blinked open his eyes. He was on the moor. Stars spiraled down until they sparked among the heather like silver flames becoming cats. Talltail stared, openmouthed, as countless starry pelts lined the hillside.
>
Mole stepped forward from the glittering ranks. “Welcome, Talltail.”
Talltail gaped at him in disbelief. “You’re in StarClan! But . . . but you weren’t a warrior.”
“I believed in StarClan.” Mole looked over his shoulder at the rows of glittering cats. “And they believed in me.”
“You never said anything while you were alive.” Talltail didn’t understand. “Why didn’t you join WindClan if you believed the same as us?”
“How could I abandon my companions?” Mole asked him. “They were like kin to me.” He leaned forward and touched his nose to Talltail’s.
Energy surged through Talltail at once, more powerful than a gust of wind. He rocked on his paws like heather.
“With this life, I give you courage, Talltail.” Mole’s mew sounded through the fury. “The courage to do what you believe to be right.”
Stillness enfolded him like the shadow from a bird’s wings. Talltail opened his eyes. Mole was gone. “Where is he?” Talltail cried.
“He is where he belongs.”
Talltail recognized his mother’s voice as Palebird stepped from among her starry Clanmates. Her pelt glowed with a warm light that made Talltail’s eyes ache. He narrowed them as she leaned close and touched his muzzle.
“I give you the love of a mother for her kits,” she whispered.
Talltail’s heart swelled, warmth surging through it. Suddenly he felt Palebird’s love for him more strongly than he’d ever known before—a burning certainty that he’d never doubt again. He felt weak as she stepped away, swaying on his paws. Palebird began to fade in front of him. Don’t go! He felt like a kit again.
“Talltail?” A young cat padded forward, her pelt shining brighter than any star.
“Who are you?” Talltail stared at her, wondering how any kit so small could be in StarClan. Then he realized. “Finchkit!” It was his sister, as young as the day she died.
“I have watched you,” she mewed. “And envied you so much for having the chance to live in WindClan.”
Shame washed over Talltail. Had he really wished he had died in her place, believing that Palebird would have loved her more than she loved him? How foolish he’d been. And how wrong to be so ungrateful for the life he’d been given. “I am lucky,” he agreed. “I will never waste another moment.” He gazed at her. “I’m sorry that I never had a chance to know you.”
“You will know me one day,” she purred softly. She reached up and Talltail had to stoop to touch her nose. “I give you this life so that you may seize every opportunity that comes before you, like a rabbit waiting to be hunted. I give you the strength to act without fear or hesitation.”
Excitement thrilled through every hair on Talltail’s pelt, shocking in its intensity. When Finchkit pulled away, he gasped. “Thank you!” The words caught in his throat as he watched Finchkit pad away and take her place beside Palebird.
A she-cat appeared in front of him next, her sparkling pelt no more than a shimmer on the grass. Talltail blinked in surprise. Why was she so faded? A breath of wind might blow her away.
“I am Mothflight.”
Talltail shifted his paws. He’d heard stories about this ancient WindClan medicine cat. “I am honored to meet you,” he meowed.
Mothflight’s eyes flashed. “I was once a cat just like you. I still am, even though I walk with StarClan. The only difference is that I have watched over all the generations that followed me, as you will one day.”
“Did you watch me?” Talltail felt the words sharp on his tongue. There had been so many times when he felt StarClan didn’t care. “You weren’t there when I first came to the Moonstone.”
“We were always there,” Mothflight replied gently. “But you weren’t ready to see us. You had to find your own path before you could walk ours.” Her eyes shone even brighter than her pelt. “You did well, Talltail, and we are proud of you. And you have only just begun your journey.”
Talltail blinked at her. What did she mean?
“You will discover something that will bring great change, not just for WindClan, but for all the Clans,” Mothflight warned. “You must have faith in your destiny, for only then can you lead your Clan to where it truly belongs. Never forget the time you spent beyond the boundaries of your Clan. You alone know that a Clan cat can survive anywhere.” She leaned forward and touched his muzzle.
Talltail’s body was wracked with spasms as power jolted though him like lightning. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he barely heard Mothflight’s final words. “With your fourth life I give you a sense of adventure so that you may embrace even the greatest challenge with determination.”
He struggled to stay on his paws as the starlit cat moved away and the surge of energy released him. Heatherstar stepped forward. Talltail’s heart leaped. She looked young and strong, her pelt glittering and sleek, with no sign of the illness that had taken her ninth life. She touched her muzzle to his.
“I’m proud of you and I know you will lead WindClan well. With this life I give you the power to judge wisely. You above all know how to see through the clouds that trouble our Clan, and you will always choose the best path forward.” A feeling of great joy and confidence surged through Talltail, his mind clearing until it seemed to sparkle with the crystal purity of the Moonstone itself.
“Woollytail!” As Heatherstar vanished, Talltail greeted the old tunneler with a purr. How had he not seen him glittering in the shadows?
“It is good to see you again, Talltail,” Woollytail meowed. “You know how the tunnelers have shaped WindClan’s history. We may not tunnel anymore, but you must never let the skills that once protected and fed your Clan be forgotten.” His gaze pierced Talltail like sunlight. “WindClan must never be afraid to seek out new places to shelter and to hunt. I give you this life for honoring old traditions on behalf of the future.” His nose touched Talltail’s with a spark. Talltail felt heaviness pull him down until wisdom seemed to sit like stones in his paws. He might struggle to carry this weight at first, but he knew it would give him strength and clear-sightedness for all the moons to come.
As Woollytail pulled away, Talltail relished the lightness returning, which turned to joy as Dawnstripe stepped forward. He leaned forward to greet her.
“I’m so proud of you, Talltail,” she meowed. “I always knew you’d be a great warrior. You were right to train as a moor runner and turn your tail on tunneling.” She glanced over her shoulder. Was she flashing a triumphant look at Woollytail? Talltail’s whiskers twitched. Even in StarClan, they bickered over who was best.
Dawnstripe turned back and touched his nose with her wind-cold muzzle. “With this life I give you patience. Training the young takes kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. They are small gifts, but they will be rewarded many times.” Talltail felt a sense of calm wash over him with the softness of her breath on his muzzle.
“Thank you,” he murmured. “For your kindness and patience and for everything you taught me. It meant a lot.”
Dawnstripe’s eyes sparkled as she turned away. Shrewclaw took her place.
Talltail stepped back in surprise. “Are you here to give me a life?” His old rival was the last cat he expected to see on this night. He searched Shrewclaw’s dark brown pelt, looking for signs of the wounds that had killed him. But the tom’s glittering fur showed no scars, only starlight.
Shrewclaw lifted his muzzle. “I know we were never friends, Wormcat.”
“I’ll be Wormstar soon,” Talltail corrected him with a purr.
Shrewclaw’s ear twitched. “But loyalty isn’t rooted in friendship. It is much stronger than that. It comes from being born and raised under the same sky, from walking the same path as our ancestors, and from sharing the warrior code.” He pressed his nose to Talltail’s. “With this life I commit you to upholding the warrior code, whatever challenges you might face. This is the wisdom of our ancestors, all our traditions distilled. Trust the code to lead you along the right path.” Stars swirled
through Talltail’s mind as the life pulsed through him. He and Shrewclaw were one. Not friends. But they would fight side by side in any battle.
Shrewclaw drew away, dipping his head. Talltail took a deep breath. His paws ached from the effort of staying upright with so many lives flowing into him, and his mind was full of dizzying images. But there was one more life to come.
A broad-shouldered tom appeared, his amber gaze glowing with reflected stars. Sandgorse! Talltail felt his eyes glisten as he recognized his father.
“I knew you would be a great warrior, Talltail.” Sandgorse’s mew was thick with emotion.
“Really?” Talltail whispered.
“Really.” Sandgorse’s eyes shone even brighter. “You never needed to kill Sparrow to prove it.”
“Didn’t you want me to avenge your death?”
Sandgorse shook his head. “There was no reason for vengeance.”
“So you really did give your life to save Sparrow?” There had always been a shadow of doubt at the back of Talltail’s mind that the rogue might just have lied in a desperate effort to save his own life.
“What if I hadn’t?” Sandgorse didn’t move. “Would you still have killed him?”
Talltail’s thoughts whirled. “I don’t know.” He remembered his rage so clearly it took his breath away. But he also remembered the relief when it faded, and he had saved Sparrow from the Thunderpath. He dipped his head. “I guess that whatever happened to you in the tunnel, I’m glad I didn’t kill him.”
“I did save his life, Talltail,” Sandgorse told him. “Sparrow was telling the truth.”
Talltail’s heart seemed to shift and lighten in his chest, as though an ancient wrong had been righted. Sandgorse took a pace forward and touched his nose to Talltail’s. At once stars swept down and swirled him through the night-black sky. Dizzy, he heard Sandgorse’s words over the rushing of the silver wind.
“I give you this life for forgiveness. No death need ever be avenged. Forgiveness brings peace far more surely than vengeance.”