“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.”
Sandstorm’s eyes glowed with a mixture of pity and affection. “I was dying,” she reminded Alderpaw. “You knew that, didn’t you?”
“No—you’re going to get better!” Alderpaw retorted, even though deep within him was the cold certainty that she was right. “I’m going to make sure of it!”
Sandstorm gave a sad shake of her head. “There was nothing you could have done to save me. It was my time to die. No cat lives forever. This is one of the most important lessons that you—or any medicine cat—will ever learn.”
On the last few words her voice began to fade, while the starry light around her blazed brighter and brighter, until Alderpaw couldn’t go on looking at the dazzling glory. A moment later he jerked awake in his nest under the elder bushes.
Thank StarClan! It was only a dream. Sandstorm is right here beside me.
Scrambling to his paws, Alderpaw turned to nudge Sandstorm awake. But as soon as his pads touched her fur, he knew that he hadn’t been dreaming. Sandstorm’s fur was limp, the body beneath it cold, and her ribs weren’t rising and falling with her breath.
It was a vision. Sandstorm is dead.
Alderpaw backed away in horror, his fur pricking up and his belly clenching. He couldn’t keep back a wail of distress. “No! No! It wasn’t her time!”
Cherryfall’s head popped up from her nest. “Alderpaw? What’s happening?”
The other cats were waking, too, confused and questioning. A shocked silence fell over them as Alderpaw pointed to Sandstorm’s body with his tail. Slowly they all padded over to Sandstorm and stood looking down, a tail-length away from the huddle of cold fur.
Sparkpaw was the first to break the silence. “She’s . . . she’s dead, isn’t she? Now what do we do?”
“Sandstorm was the only one who knew the route,” Molewhisker pointed out gloomily. “We were relying on her to help us complete the journey. Is her death telling us that the quest is doomed?”
Murmurs of agreement, with a note of fear, came from the other cats.
In spite of his grief, Alderpaw felt a surge of purpose flooding through him from ears to tail-tip. “Sandstorm wouldn’t want us to stand around like this, wondering what to do,” he told the sad and confused cats in front of him. “She would want us to sit vigil with her, and then bury her, before we decide what to do next.”
“You’re right,” Cherryfall meowed. “Let’s do that.”
Together the ThunderClan cats dragged Sandstorm out of the nest and laid her on the grass, gently stroking her fur and fluffing up her tail. It was dark; the sky was studded with stars, as if all the spirits of their warrior ancestors were waiting to welcome Sandstorm and to honor her.
As they began to settle down around her, Needlepaw padded up to Alderpaw. “I know Sandstorm wasn’t my Clanmate,” she murmured; to Alderpaw’s surprise she sounded almost shy. “But I traveled with her long enough to know what a great cat she was. May I keep vigil with you?”
“Sure,” Alderpaw replied, warming once again to the silver she-cat. “Come and sit by me.”
Sparkpaw crouched down beside Sandstorm’s head, and gave her ears a lick. “We’ve come all this way,” she mewed sorrowfully. “We’ve come so close to being killed by monsters or foxes; we’ve fought so hard to survive. . . . It doesn’t seem fair that Sandstorm died anyway.”
“I know,” Cherryfall sighed. “She deserved so much more than this.”
“What do you think, Alderpaw?” Molewhisker asked, turning to him. “Do you still want to go on?”
Alderpaw bit back a sharp retort. I just told them they could agonize after we laid Sandstorm to rest. “I’ll think about it during the vigil,” he replied.
“Maybe StarClan will send you a sign,” Cherryfall suggested.
The questing cats gathered around Sandstorm’s body, staying there throughout the night. Sustained by the day spent drowsing in the den, Alderpaw didn’t find it hard to keep awake. He tried to focus on the future, but he couldn’t help wondering if there was anything he could have done to keep Sandstorm alive.
She told me in my vision that it was her destiny to die now, he thought. So why does my heart still ache? And if every cat is going to die eventually, why bother trying so hard to stay alive?
Eventually he dozed, and he roused to hear the voices of the other cats. Blinking his eyes open, he found himself surrounded by the gray light of dawn.
“Back in camp,” Cherryfall was mewing, “the elders bury our dead Clanmates. Molewhisker and I are the oldest cats here, so we ought to do it.”
“But I want to help,” Sparkpaw protested, raw grief in her voice. “She was my mother’s mother.”
“Okay, you can,” Molewhisker told her comfortingly.
Alderpaw staggered
to his paws, his legs stiff after the night spent in vigil. “Let me say the proper farewell to her.” He took a deep breath, looking up at the sky where a few warriors of StarClan still lingered. “May StarClan light your path, Sandstorm,” he meowed, speaking the words used by medicine cats for season upon season. “May you find good hunting, swift running, and shelter when you sleep.”
All the cats bowed their heads for a moment.
“We need to find a good spot for her burial,” Molewhisker mewed after a moment. “What about under these bushes where she died?”
Cherryfall shook her head. “She’d be hidden from the stars there. Just beside the bushes would be better.”
Molewhisker nodded agreement. As he and Cherryfall were preparing to move Sandstorm’s body, he said quietly, “I think we should consider turning around and going home. This quest might be doomed.”
“What?” It was Needlepaw who spoke, her neck fur bristling. “Sandstorm died trying to help us complete this quest. If we stop now, won’t she have died in vain?”
Molewhisker swung around on her. “It’s not your decision,” he spat, his voice sharp as a claw. “In case it escaped your notice, you’re not a ThunderClan cat.”
Alderpaw felt his whole pelt quiver as he listened to the quarrel breaking out. Not waiting for Needlepaw’s response, he turned and padded away, keeping to the line of the fence they had crossed two days before. He just wanted to get out of earshot, to find a little peace and quiet where he could think.
His chest fur burned with grief for Sandstorm, and his head swam with indecision. Should we even go on? Sandstorm so wanted to see SkyClan again, and that made me feel that we were meant to be on this quest. But now that she’s gone, do I even believe that these strange cats could be what StarClan says will solve our problems? Not even Bramblestar seemed certain of it. Sighing, he remembered his last vision of the SkyClan cats, when they were shrieking for help. Why do they need me? he asked himself. What can I do for them?
Looking up, he saw that the last starry spirits had vanished and the sky was brightening toward sunrise. I wonder if Sandstorm can see me now. Can she hear my thoughts? I really wish I could ask her for guidance.
Letting out another long sigh, he spoke aloud. “What am I going to do?”
“Tell them the truth,” a voice replied.
Alderpaw started and swung around, arching his back, even while he recognized the voice as Needlepaw’s. The ShadowClan cat showed none of her usual mischief as she approached him.
“The others have come this far,” she began, “and they won’t turn away from you now. You must go on. But first you must tell the others the truth about why you’re on this journey.”
“Do you even know why?” Alderpaw asked tartly.
“No, I don’t. I only heard a little bit of what you and Sandstorm said,” Needlepaw admitted, her eyes serious. “But I know there’s more behind it than you’ve told us, and I think it’s time every cat knew the truth. If you don’t tell them, I will.” As Alderpaw opened his jaws to protest, she added, “Or I’ll tell them what I know, and that will force you to tell the rest.”
Alderpaw stared at her in outrage. “I didn’t think you would betray me like that!”
Needlepaw flinched as if he had struck her a blow. “It’s not a betrayal,” she said, defending herself. “I’ve seen how you think things over—and over and over and over again. I know you’d never tell the others the truth on your own, but I think it’s important for them to know.”
“Why?” Alderpaw challenged her.
“It will help bind them together after losing Sandstorm,” Needlepaw explained; Alderpaw realized she must have thought long and hard about this. “And it will help every cat recognize how important the quest is. I saw how you and Sandstorm looked at each other when you talked about it; I know how serious it is.”
Alderpaw thought about that, then gave a nod, trying to hide his surprise. I can’t believe it’s Needlepaw of all cats giving me such wise advice. “I’ll do as you suggest,” he meowed.
The gleam returned to Needlepaw’s eyes. “First, let’s go hunting,” she suggested. “Full bellies will help the truth go down easier!”
Alderpaw was about to argue when he felt a gnawing in his belly and realized that no cat had hunted since the previous morning. “You’re right,” he responded. “I’ll hunt with you.” Not that I’m likely to be much use, he added to himself.
Alderpaw crept across the grassland, trying to pick out prey-scent over the stink of farm animals that the breeze was carrying toward them. Just ahead of him, Needlepaw padded forward, slowly but decisively.
She must have found a scent, but I can’t smell anything except those weird creatures back there.
Suddenly Needlepaw halted, raising her tail to signal that she had spotted prey. Half turning toward Alderpaw, she jerked her head to one side, telling him to go that way.
Alderpaw obeyed, putting on speed as he wove his way through the long grass. I hope I’m not getting this totally wrong! Finally he caught the scent that Needlepaw must have picked up long before. Rabbit! At the same moment he spotted the creature a couple of fox-lengths in front of him, nibbling at some low-growing plant. Its ears shot up as Alderpaw tried to slide soundlessly around it, and it took off, its white tail bobbing as it raced away. With rising excitement Alderpaw gave chase.
Needlepaw appeared from nowhere, right in the rabbit’s path. She lashed out with one paw, and the rabbit’s shriek was cut off abruptly as it fell limply to the ground. “Thank you, StarClan, for this prey,” she meowed.
Then Needlepaw looked up, her eyes alight with the thrill of the hunt. “Wow, you’re fast!” she exclaimed. “You drove it right toward me. That’s pretty impressive.”
Alderpaw turned away, embarrassed, though his chest was swelling with happiness. I was useful on a hunt! I wish Sparkpaw had been here to see that!
Padding over to Needlepaw, he nuzzled her head with his nose. “Thanks for your help,” he mewed. “We may be from different Clans, but I’m glad you stayed with us.”
When he and Needlepaw returned to the elder bushes with the rabbit, Alderpaw found his three companions cleaning earth from their paws. They sounded more cheerful as they greeted him and settled down to feast on the rabbit.
When they had finished eating, Alderpaw rose to his paws, clearing his throat nervously. “I have something to tell you,” he began.
He paused, looking for the right words, and Molewhisker twitched one ear impatiently. “Spit it out, then,” he meowed.
“It’s about the vision that sent us on this journey,” Alderpaw responded. “It’s more complicated than you know. I saw a group of cats—the cats of SkyClan—and I believe they need help.”
“SkyClan? Who are they?” Sparkpaw asked.
“I’ve never heard of them,” mewed Cherryfall.
“I don’t know much about them,” Alderpaw explained. “Only what Bramblestar and Sandstorm told me. Long ago, back in the old forest, there were five Clans, not four. But Twolegs took SkyClan’s territory, and the other four Clans drove them out. They made camp in a gorge, beside a river, but eventually their Clan withered and died.”
“And that could happen to us, if we don’t find what lies in the shadows,” Sparkpaw pointed out. “Firestar said a time of great change is coming. It doesn’t sound like good change.”
“That’s true,” Alderpaw meowed, struck by the balance. I wonder if SkyClan is what lies in the shadows, he mused.
“If SkyClan died out, who were the cats you saw?” Molewhisker asked.
“Firestar restored their Clan. He and Sandstorm went on a quest, long ago, and they brought cats together—descendants of the old SkyClan—and established the Clan again. When I told Sandstorm what I saw in my vision, she recognized some of the cats.”
“So that’s how Sandstorm knew the way!” Cherryfall exclaimed. “But how can we get to SkyClan, now that she’s dead?”
“Because she told me where
to go,” Alderpaw replied. “If we head toward the rising sun, eventually we’ll come to a river, and if we travel upstream, we’ll find SkyClan’s camp in the gorge.”
His Clanmates exchanged uncertain glances; Alderpaw wasn’t sure that they believed him.
“Why did the other Clans drive SkyClan away and let them die out?” Molewhisker asked eventually.
“It’s a very shameful part of warrior history,” Alderpaw replied. “No cat knows the whole story, and the only living cat—apart from us—who knows anything is Bramblestar. I shouldn’t even be telling you, but I thought it was important for you to know the truth.”
After a few moments’ silence, while the cats were clearly thinking over what they had heard, Cherryfall got up and rubbed her cheek against Alderpaw’s. “That was brave of you,” she meowed. “Your first act as our leader.”
Alderpaw was touched, especially by her admission that they would follow him now.
“It will take us a few days to get used to all this,” Cherryfall went on, “but I’m glad you told us the truth.”
“So am I,” Needlepaw agreed.
Molewhisker rose to his paws and glanced around at his Clanmates. “I think I speak for all of us,” he mewed, “when I tell you that we pledge ourselves to do whatever it takes to find SkyClan and complete the quest.”
As his friends murmured their agreement, Alderpaw thought that his heart would burst with pride.
CHAPTER 15
Alderpaw led the way cautiously along the cliff edge, his belly fur brushing the dusty ground. On one side, rough grass stretched into the distance, dotted here and there with scrubby trees and bushes. On the other, the ground fell away into a precipice; at the bottom a river tumbled along between sandy rocks.
We’re almost there! he thought, exultation breaking through his weariness. This must be close to the place where SkyClan made their camp.
Many sunrises had passed since Alderpaw had told his friends the truth about their quest. Afterward they had hardly stopped to rest. Following Sandstorm’s directions, they had passed through more farms, crossed busy Thunderpaths, and skirted Twolegplaces until they reached the river and turned upstream.