River Of Fire

CHAPTER 21

A cool dawn breeze swept through the forest, and the warriors of StarClan were winking out one by one, by the time Alderheart reached the ThunderClan camp with Dovewing and her kits. He was so exhausted that he could barely put one paw in front of another, and his head was still spinning with wonder.

I can hardly believe that Tigerstar has been brought back from the dead, he thought. Surely it’s a sign that he’s something special.

Relief flowed over Alderheart like a cooling breeze as he reflected that now there were five Clans again. I’m sure we were on the edge of disaster, but now, thank StarClan, I’m starting to think that everything will be all right.

On the long trek from the Moonpool, Dovewing had questioned Alderheart about what had been happening since she left ThunderClan. She listened eagerly as he told her about Ivypool’s and Cinderheart’s kits, and grieved at the news of Briarlight’s death.

“She was such an amazing cat,” Dovewing meowed. “I sometimes think she had more courage than the rest of the Clan put together. I’ll never forget her. I just wish I could have been there to say good-bye to her.”

All the while the three kits were bouncing around their mother’s paws, demanding to know all about Clan life and their kin.

“Will we be made warriors?” Pouncekit asked.

“Not right away,” Dovewing told them. “You have to be apprentices first, and you’re not quite old enough for that yet.”

That drew a groan of protest from all three kits, but soon they were chasing around again, extending their tiny claws and bushing up their soft fur.

“I’m a warrior! Get off our territory!”

“No, you get off, mange-pelt!”

“I don’t know where they get their energy from,” Dovewing sighed.

Now, with the camp entrance in sight, she halted and faced Alderheart. Even in the faint light of the waning moon, he could see how nervous she looked.

“Do you think ThunderClan will forgive me?” she asked. “I ran away, and now I’m leaving to join another Clan. How can they see it as anything but a betrayal?”

Alderheart had an uneasy feeling that she might be right, but he tried to reassure her. “Every cat has been worried about you,” he mewed. “They’ll be so relieved to see you that they’ll understand.”

Dovewing didn’t look as if she entirely believed him, but she said no more, and let Alderheart lead the way through the thorn tunnel and into the camp.

Inside the stone hollow the Clan hadn’t yet begun to stir, and at first Alderheart thought that no cats at all were outside their dens. Then two figures loomed up beside him: Twigbranch and Finleap, keeping their warrior vigil.

At first Twigbranch simply dipped her head to Alderheart as he entered, but when she saw Dovewing and her kits following him, she let out an excited squeal, completely forgetting the rule that she should stay silent.

“Dovewing!”

Her cry echoed around the camp. For a moment it was followed by silence; then cats came bundling out of the warriors’ den, racing across the camp to surround Dovewing and the kits. Graystripe and Millie bounded over from their nests under the hazel bush, while Jayfeather and Leafpool appeared, blinking, at the entrance to the medicine cats’ den.

So Leafpool is home from RiverClan, Alderheart thought, pleased to see her again.

Fastest of all, Ivypool shot out of the nursery and skidded to a halt beside her sister, pressing up against her and drinking in her scent. For a few moments she was unable to speak, she was purring so hard.

“Where have you been?” Dovewing’s father, Birchfall, thrust his way through the crowd, with her mother, Whitewing, hard on his paws. “We thought you were dead.”

“It’s so wonderful to see you again!” Whitewing exclaimed.

Dovewing seemed almost overwhelmed at first, trying to answer every question at once, until Ivypool’s kits came wriggling their way through the crowd, sniffing inquisitively at the newcomers.

“Are these yours, Ivypool?” Dovewing asked. “What lovely kits!”

“Yes, they’re mine and Fernsong’s,” Ivypool replied proudly. “This is Bristlekit, this is Thriftkit, and this is Flipkit.”

“They’re kind of small,” Lightkit remarked, stepping up warily to touch noses with Bristlekit. “Not like us!”

“They’re only a few days old,” Ivypool explained. “Their eyes only opened this morning.”

“They’re beautiful!” Dovewing introduced her own kits, explaining to them, “These kits are your kin. Their mother is my sister, Ivypool—you remember I told you about her.”

The two sets of kits examined each other with wide-open eyes. “It’s great to have kin,” Pouncekit mewed with a purr of satisfaction.

Bumblestripe, who had been Dovewing’s mate for a brief time, padded up and dipped his head stiffly to her. “I’m glad you’re okay,” he told her.

Alderheart could tell that he really meant it, but at the same time he recognized the hurt in Bumblestripe’s voice. It can’t be easy, knowing she chose to be with a cat from another Clan.

“And there’s more to tell you,” Alderheart meowed. “Tigerstar is alive.”

His news caused barely a ripple among the Clan; they were all too focused on Dovewing’s unexpected return.

“Yes, these are Tigerstar’s kits,” Dovewing added. “He’s my mate now. I had to leave, because I was afraid I wouldn’t be welcome here anymore, carrying kits with a father in ShadowClan.”

For a moment there was an awkward pause, the ThunderClan cats exchanging doubtful glances. Alderheart supposed it was asking a bit much for them to be thrilled with the news that Tigerstar was the father of Dovewing’s kits.

“Well, a lot of things have changed between the Clans,” Squirrelflight declared at last. “Anyway, Dovewing, we’re just happy that you’re back.”

“And there was another reason I left,” Dovewing went on. “I was having terrible dreams where our nursery was destroyed and my kits died.”

A murmur of sympathy rose from the surrounding cats.

“I wish you’d let me know,” Daisy mewed, stroking Dovewing’s shoulder with her tail-tip. “I could have told you that all she-cats have weird dreams when they’re expecting kits.”

Dovewing flicked her tail, looking irritated. “I did what I thought was best.”

Alderheart wasn’t so sure that they had just been the weird dreams of a queen expecting kits. He remembered that the nursery had been damaged in the storm, though Cinderheart’s and Blossomfall’s kits had been safely bedded down with the elders. But who knows what might have happened to Dovewing’s kits, if they’d been here? “Just a moment.” Bramblestar, who had listened to all this in thoughtful silence, took a pace forward. “Did I hear you say Tigerstar? What did happen at the Moonpool?”

Alderheart launched into the explanation of how StarClan had sent Tigerstar back to be the leader of a newly revived ShadowClan. Bramblestar pressed him with questions, his gaze intent and his tail-tip flicking to and fro. Alderheart could tell that something was disturbing him deeply.

“I don’t like this,” he meowed when Alderheart had finished. “There’s something ominous about a Tigerstar leading ShadowClan again.”

Shock jolted through Alderheart as he remembered that once there had been another Tigerstar, the infamous cat who nearly tore the Clans apart in his efforts to control the whole forest.

He was Bramblestar’s father, and this new Tigerstar is his kin as well. No wonder Bramblestar has his doubts!

“Yes, I remember those days well,” Graystripe put in with a shiver. “No cat wants to go through that again. What will ShadowClan be now?”

“Honestly, you don’t need to worry,” Dovewing responded with an irritable twitch of her whiskers. “Tigerstar is the same reasonable, good-hearted cat you’ve known all along. And StarClan chose him and brought him back to life to revive ShadowClan. He must have a great destiny.”

Her eyes glowed as she spoke of her mate, and Alderheart could understand how badly she wanted to reassure her former Clanmates. But he could see she realized that the first happiness at her return had faded.

“Well, kits,” Dovewing mewed, gathering them closer to her with a sweep of her tail. “It’s time to go. We need to get back to your father and ShadowClan.”

For a heartbeat a frozen silence settled on the cats of ThunderClan. Alderheart’s belly clenched as he realized that they had all thought Dovewing was returning for good.

“You’re going to ShadowClan?” Sparkpelt exclaimed. “You traitor!”

Ivypool said nothing, only turning her back on her sister and gathering her kits away from her.

“I’ll come back to visit.” Dovewing’s voice was pleading. “I had to make this choice. I couldn’t be torn between my Clan and the cat I love.”

Her words did nothing to soothe the outrage that rose like a powerful scent from the cats who surrounded her. Even Whitewing and Birchfall looked deeply disappointed as they gazed at her.

Eventually Bramblestar stepped forward. “You need some protection for those young kits,” he mewed. “I’ll send a patrol with you to the ShadowClan border.”

“We’ll go,” Birchfall offered, taking a pace that brought him to his daughter’s side.

Bramblestar nodded. “Good. Fernsong, you can go too. Once you see Dovewing safely onto ShadowClan territory, you can do the dawn patrol along the border.” Turning to Dovewing, he added, “We look forward to seeing you at the next Gathering. But if you’re not part of the Clan anymore, you can’t just drop by the camp whenever you feel like it.”

For a moment Dovewing looked taken aback, as if she hadn’t realized quite what her choice would mean. Then she dipped her head in acceptance. With a last glance at Ivypool, who was still refusing to look at her, she gathered her kits together and headed out of camp, escorted by Birchfall, Whitewing, and Fernsong.

As the dawn light strengthened, Squirrelflight began to arrange the remaining patrols, while some cats moved away to pick over the remains of the fresh-kill pile.

Alderheart felt so tired that his paws seemed to have turned to rocks. He dragged himself over to the medicine cats’ den, muttered greetings to Leafpool and Jayfeather, and collapsed into his nest.

His wonder at the return of Tigerstar had faded into sadness. I thought everything would be fine now. We listened to StarClan’s warnings, and the missing ShadowClan cats have found their way home.

But things hadn’t worked out like that. Instead of relief that the storm had passed, there was still so much tension between the Clans and within ThunderClan itself.

Please, StarClan, show me the way forward, he prayed as he sank into the darkness of sleep.

Sunlight striking through the bramble screen woke Alderheart, and he realized that the morning was well advanced. Neither Leafpool nor Jayfeather was there. Rising from his nest, Alderheart shook scraps of debris from his pelt and gave himself a quick grooming. Then he slipped out between the brambles and into the camp.

The sky above the hollow showed a clear blue, with not a cloud in sight. There was a tang of frost in the air, but the sun was shining. Alderheart’s worries of the night before seemed distant, less urgent. Now he felt fresh and invigorated.

Maybe this beautiful weather is a sign from StarClan that all will be well, now that there are five Clans again.

Wandering aimlessly around the camp, enjoying the feeling of sunlight on his fur, Alderheart reached the apprentices’ den, where Velvet had stayed briefly before she went home. On the ground outside the den, in the shadow of the ferns, he spotted what he thought at first was a dead mouse. But when he hooked it out with one paw, he realized it was the scrap of fur Velvet had brought with her from the Twolegplace.

Her favorite toy, he thought. Did she leave it behind on purpose, or did she drop it as she left?

A little way away, outside the nursery, Ivypool was questioning Fernsong about everything that Dovewing had said when he escorted her to the ShadowClan border.

“Did she send me a message? Did she say anything about leaving ThunderClan?”

Fernsong was shifting his paws uncomfortably, obviously finding it hard to deal with his mate’s persistent questioning.

On the other side of the camp, at the bottom of the tumbled rocks, Bramblestar and Squirrelflight had their heads together in some intense, worried discussion.

Suddenly Alderheart didn’t want to deal with the tensions in camp. He wanted to hold on to the hopeful feeling he’d had when he first woke. Picking up the scrap of fur, he headed out of the camp, reflecting that ThunderClan could spare him long enough to take a walk.

It surely can’t do any harm to return Velvet’s toy to her . . . and see her one more time. . . .

Alderheart knew the general direction of the Twolegplace, across the unknown territory beyond the ThunderClan border. After a while, he was able to pick up the scent trail of the cats who had returned the night before.

But when he reached the Twolegplace, it was far bigger and louder than he had anticipated. His fur bristled as he crept along a narrow Thunderpath between two rows of Twoleg dens, and his heart thumped painfully in his chest. Somewhere close by he could hear the shouts and thumping paw steps of Twoleg kits, and farther away a dog was barking.

Monsters were sleeping in front of some of the Twoleg dens. Alderheart was scared of waking them, so he slunk past, trying to keep out of their sight and stay well away from their round black paws. He didn’t know where he might find Velvet, and when he tasted the air in an attempt to pick up her scent, he was assailed by so many weird, competing smells that he couldn’t distinguish any of them.

Maybe I should go back, he thought, hesitating at a spot where another Thunderpath crossed the one he was following.

Then Alderheart heard a voice. “It was so cool, living with the wild cats! I became an amazing hunter. And I know all about herbs!”

Fuzzball!

Following the sound of the voice, Alderheart leaped up onto a fence that surrounded a Twoleg den. On the other side, short, smooth grass stretched from the fence up to the den, edged by bushes covered in bright, unfamiliar flowers.

Fuzzball stood in the middle of the stretch of grass. He was talking to another cat: a white tom. Alderheart stared in astonishment as he recognized him.

That’s Rippletail, one of the missing ShadowClan cats!

“Rippletail!” Alderheart called out, leaping from the fence into the garden.

Rippletail whirled around and gave Alderheart one stunned look. Then he dashed across the grass and thrust his way into the Twoleg den through a small gap in the bottom of the den door. With a whisk of his white tail, he disappeared.

“Hey, Rippletail!” Alderheart yowled after him, dropping Velvet’s toy. “It’s me, Alderheart from ThunderClan!”

Rippletail didn’t reappear.

Fuzzball trotted up to Alderheart and touched noses with him. “Hi, Alderheart,” he meowed. “It’s good to see you. What did you call that cat?”

“Rippletail,” Alderheart replied. “He’s a ShadowClan warrior.”

Fuzzball looked puzzled. “No, I think you’ve got it wrong. That cat’s name is Buster. And I’ve told him all about life with the Clans,” he added. “He would have mentioned if he knew them.”

“Has he been here long?” Alderheart asked, certain that he wasn’t making a mistake.

“A while.” Fuzzball shrugged. “He seems very happy with his Twolegs.”

Alderheart wasn’t sure what to do. If Rippletail is happy, maybe I should leave him alone.

“Fuzzball, when you see him next, could you give him a message?” he mewed at last.

“Sure. What message?”

“Tell Buster that ShadowClan is whole again.” Alderheart spoke slowly, thinking what would be best to say. “Darktail is dead and the rogues are gone, and Rippletail’s littermates, Cloverfoot and Berryheart, have come back. Can you remember all that, Fuzzball?”

For once the little tom looked uncertain. “I’ll try. Let’s see . . . ‘Tell Buster that ShadowClan is down a hole . . .’”

Alderheart suppressed a sigh. “Repeat it after me.”

It took several repetitions before Fuzzball got it right and Alderheart was reasonably sure that he would remember it.

“Okay, I’ll tell him,” Fuzzball promised at last. “But even if he’s who you think he is, I don’t think he’ll want to leave.”

Alderheart guessed that he was right, if the way Rippletail had fled revealed how he felt. “Well, it’s up to him,” he declared. “Now, can you show me where Velvet lives?”

Fuzzball’s eyes shone. “She’ll be so glad to see you! She misses you.”

Alderheart retrieved Velvet’s scrap of fur and followed Fuzzball through a gap in the Twoleg fence and down another narrow Thunderpath until they stood outside a second Twoleg den. This one had a wall of red, square-cut stones around a bigger garden with small paths leading through clumps of bright flowers.

“This is Velvet’s den,” Fuzzball told Alderheart. “And I’d better be getting back. My housefolk’s kit sometimes cries if I’m away too long.” He flicked his tail at Alderheart and padded off down the Thunderpath, pausing at the corner to look back and call out, “Tell Jayfeather hi from me. And come and see me anytime!”

Alderheart leaped up onto the top of the wall and examined the den. Almost at once he spotted Velvet, looking out through the hard, transparent stuff that blocked the gaps in the den walls.

“Velvet!” he yowled.

Velvet looked up and to Alderheart’s dismay immediately disappeared.

What’s wrong with me today? Alderheart wondered. First Rippletail flees at the sight of me, and now Velvet. A cold, hollow place opened up inside him. Doesn’t she want to see me?

Then Alderheart saw a Twoleg open the door of the den and Velvet slip past it into the garden. He leaped down from the wall and bounded forward to meet her beside one of the clumps of flowers.

“I’m sorry I took so long,” Velvet mewed, stretching forward to touch noses with Alderheart. “I had to get my housefolk to let me out, and honestly! They don’t understand anything. A newborn kit has more sense!”

“It’s okay.” Privately Alderheart was appalled. It’s a good thing I didn’t come with her. I wouldn’t want a Twoleg telling me when I could go out and when I had to come in. “You’re here now. Look,” he added, pushing the scrap of fur over to her with one paw. “I brought you this.”

“My toy!” Velvet’s eyes stretched wide with delight. “Oh, thank you, Alderheart! I completely forgot it when we were leaving your camp.” She let out a purr, then continued, “In the Clan, I didn’t need it as much as I thought I would. I suppose it shows how different life is there.”

Alderheart nodded sadly. Yes, our lives are so different. . . .

“It’s wonderful to see you,” Velvet went on softly. “Would you like me to show you around a bit?”

It can’t hurt to linger a while, Alderheart thought, hoping to convince himself. “Yes,” he replied. “I would like that a lot.”

The sun was going down by the time Velvet led Alderheart back to her own den. “I suppose it’s time for you to go,” she mewed regretfully.

“Yes, I must be getting back,” Alderheart responded. “Good-bye, Velvet.”

“Good-bye.” Velvet gave Alderheart a quick lick around his ear. “I’m glad you came,” she went on. “I’ve missed you. But I’m not sure we can be friends. You’ve chosen one life, and I’ve chosen another.”

Her amber eyes were full of sadness, but there was wisdom there too, and Alderheart knew she was right. He had been sure all along, deep down, that this was the last time he would see her.

“I’ll always be grateful to ThunderClan for taking me and Fuzzball in,” Velvet told him. “I want to give you something, to say thank you. Come with me.”

Velvet led Alderheart around the back of the Twoleg den. The garden was different here: there weren’t so many flowers. Instead leafy green plants grew in neat rows.

“Over here,” Velvet mewed, showing Alderheart a corner where some small bushes were growing.

Alderheart examined the woody stems and sniffed the broad, pointed leaves. “Is that thyme?” he asked. “It looks a bit like it, but it’s different from the thyme that grows in the forest.”

“Yes, it’s a different kind of thyme,” Velvet explained. “Twolegs plant it, and I think it’s stronger than the kind you have. It’s good for coughs and colds and indigestion.” She began scratching at the soil until she had uprooted one of the small bushes. “There. I’d like ThunderClan to have it.”

“Thank you,” Alderheart responded, touched that Velvet had been so thoughtful. “I’ll plant it and take care of it.”

Velvet leaned into his shoulder, and for the last time he drank in her sweet scent. “Good-bye, Velvet,” he murmured. “I’ll never forget you.”

“Good-bye, Alderheart.” Velvet gazed at him for a moment longer, blinking affectionately, then whisked away around the side of the Twoleg den.

For a moment more, Alderheart stared after her. He tried to imagine a life for himself here, eating kittypet food, sleeping in a Twoleg nest, and waiting beside the door for a Twoleg to let him in or out.

No, I can’t. Jayfeather was right. I’m a medicine cat, and a good one.

Yet he could not deny the pain in his heart as he remembered Velvet’s beautiful eyes and soft gray fur, and more than that, her gentleness and care for every cat. But I can’t let myself think about that.

Picking up the thyme bush, Alderheart leaped up onto the garden wall. In the sky in front of him he could see a pale half-moon rising.

Alarm clawed through him. Oh, no . . . I’d better hurry if I’m going to make it to the Moonpool for the half-moon medicine-cat meeting!

Night had fallen, and the half-moon floated high in the sky by the time Alderheart reached the Moonpool. He had raced there straight from the Twolegplace without returning to the ThunderClan camp, and as he climbed the last rocky slope, his spine prickled with nervousness.

Jayfeather will have something to say to me about this!

The water cascading down the rocks into the Moonpool looked like liquid starshine, and the surface of the water reflected the silver light of the moon. The beauty calmed Alderheart and made him feel that this was the place, above all others, where he belonged.

As Alderheart pushed his way through the bushes and began to follow the spiral path down to the Moonpool, he could see the other medicine cats waiting for him at the water’s edge. Satisfaction warmed his pelt when he saw that Mothwing and Willowshine were there, reunited with their fellow medicine cats for the first time since Darktail had attacked their Clan.

“Greetings, Mothwing, Willowshine,” he meowed as he reached the bottom of the path. “It’s good to have you back.”

The two RiverClan medicine cats dipped their heads in response.

“Never mind greetings,” Jayfeather snapped. “Where have you been? We’re wasting moonlight here.”

“Yes, we were worried about you,” Leafpool added.

“I’m sorry,” Alderheart explained. “I went to the Twolegplace to see how Velvet and Fuzzball were doing.”

Jayfeather gave him a scorching look from his sightless blue eyes.

“They’re fine,” Alderheart went on, meeting his gaze levelly. “I won’t need to go there again. And look at this.” He set down the thyme that Velvet had given him.

Jayfeather gave it a sniff. “It’s thyme.”

“Yes, but it’s a different sort of thyme,” Alderheart mewed. “Velvet says her Twolegs planted it, and it’s stronger than the kind that grows in the forest. There’s not enough to divide between the Clans,” he added to the others, “but I’ll plant it, and when it grows, we’ll share it with you if you need it.”

Jayfeather grunted, obviously unwilling to admit he was pleased. “We can give it a try, I suppose.”

“There’s something else,” Alderheart confessed. He felt bad, because the ShadowClan tom clearly wanted to be left alone, but it wasn’t a secret he felt he could keep. “I saw Rippletail, living as a kittypet in the Twolegplace. I called out to him, but he bolted into his Twoleg den and wouldn’t come out.”

The other medicine cats exchanged shocked glances.

“It’s good to know that he’s okay, at least,” Puddleshine mewed at last. “I’ll tell Tigerstar and Tawnypelt, and they’ll decide if they want to send some cat to talk to him.”

The mention of Tigerstar brought the previous night’s events back into Alderheart’s mind, and he felt a renewed touch of wonder at the way Tigerstar had been sent back to his Clan. He could tell that the other medicine cats felt the same.

“What exactly happened?” Kestrelflight asked, curiosity alight in his eyes.

“StarClan appeared,” Puddleshine replied. “They brought Tigerstar back and gave him nine lives.”

And that doesn’t really tell us anything, Alderheart thought. But then, it’s always been forbidden to tell other cats what happens at nine-lives ceremonies.

Frecklewish let out an irritated snort. “It’s certainly convenient that StarClan gave ShadowClan the chance to rebuild itself,” she mewed. “But you’d better not be planning on reclaiming the territory you ceded to SkyClan. We’ll be patrolling our borders, you can be sure of that!”

Puddleshine looked taken aback at the SkyClan medicine cat’s waspish tone. But Alderheart could understand Frecklewish’s irritation. Clearly, she shared Leafstar’s opinion that the ShadowClan cats who had joined SkyClan and then left had taken advantage of SkyClan’s generosity.

“Of course,” Puddleshine meowed after a moment. “I’m sure all the ShadowClan cats value their friendship with SkyClan.”

“And now, can we please get started?” Jayfeather’s tail-tip twitched irritably. “Are we going to meet with StarClan tonight, or aren’t we?”

At his words, all the medicine cats took their places at the water’s edge and leaned over to touch their noses to the surface of the Moonpool. Alderheart felt the familiar rush of darkness and icy cold, and opened his eyes to find himself sitting in dappled sunlight and shade. The scent of fresh, growing things filled his nose; he could hear birds singing in the branches and, a little way away, the gurgle of a stream.

Rising to his paws, Alderheart looked around him. At first he couldn’t see any cat, and he wondered what StarClan meant to show him in this place. Then he saw fronds waving in a nearby bank of fern, and a gray she-cat stepped into the open. Her eyes were a clear, intense blue, and starshine glimmered in her fur and around her paws.

Alderheart couldn’t remember ever seeing her before, though she looked familiar. As she approached, he dipped his head to her in a gesture of deepest respect.

“Greetings, Alderheart,” the she-cat meowed. “I am Cinderpelt.”

Understanding flooded over Alderheart. She looks so much like Cinderheart. That’s who she reminds me of! He remembered too the story that Leafpool had told him when he was first apprenticed as a medicine cat: how Cinderpelt had died defending her Clan, and how StarClan had sent her spirit back for a while to live another life in Cinderheart’s body. This is a really special cat!

“I was once Firestar’s apprentice,” Cinderpelt went on, “but I was injured on the Thunderpath and could never live the life of a warrior. Instead I became ThunderClan’s medicine cat.” She brushed her tail along Alderheart’s side, purring warmly; Alderheart shivered at the touch.

“I loved Firestar,” Cinderpelt continued; memories swirled in the depths of her blue eyes. “But I chose my duty over the hope that he would love me, and it was the right choice. ThunderClan needs you, Alderheart, just as it needed me. For the future to remain unclouded, medicine cats must choose their duty to their Clan over anything else.”

“I understand,” Alderheart murmured. “But it’s hard.”

“True, but the rewards are great,” Cinderpelt assured him. “And now,” she went on more briskly, “now that the five Clans are finally united once more, there will be new challenges. The sky has cleared at last, but the Clans must come together to make the forest grow.”

Her voice began to fade on the last few words, and the sunlight dazzled Alderheart’s eyes. His last sight was of Cinderpelt’s gentle, approving gaze. Then he woke beside the Moonpool to see his fellow medicine cats stirring from their own visions.

Happiness warmed Alderheart from ears to tail-tip as he rose to begin the journey home. But he couldn’t feel completely at peace. I wonder what Cinderpelt meant, he asked himself. What challenges will we face, now that the five Clans must learn to live together?