enthusiasm, and once again Firestar was reminded of the apprentice she had been. What a warrior she would have made! But her accident had diverted all her energy, like a clear, sparkling stream, into the path of a medicine cat.
âOkay, Firestar,â she prompted. âYouâre busy too, so you havenât come here just to gossip. What can I do for you?â
Twitching her ears for Firestar to follow her, she made her way to the cleft in the rock and began to put away the remaining stems of borage. Firestar sat beside her, suddenly reluctant to tell any cat about the strange visions he had seen.
âIâve been having these dreamsâ¦.â
Cinderpelt shot him a swift glance; usually only medicine cats received dreams from StarClan, but she had learned long ago that their warrior ancestors came to Firestar too.
âIt wasnât a dream from StarClan,â Firestar went on. âAt least, I donât think it was.â He described the mist-shrouded moorland where the desperate wailing of cats had surrounded him. He couldnât bring himself to tell Cinderpelt about the pale gray cat he had seen in the ravine when he was awake, or the reflection in the puddle and the cats struggling in the river. They could be explained away too easily: odd cloud formations, tricks of the light, or the pattern of starlight in the dark water.
Cinderpelt finished tidying the herbs and came to sit beside him, her eyes thoughtful. âYouâve had this dream twice?â
âThatâs right.â
âThen I think itâs more than a tough bit of fresh-kill stuck in your belly.â She blinked several times and added, âThat many cats could only belong to a Clanâ¦and youâre sure it wasnât WindClan?â
âPositive. The moor wasnât anywhere in WindClan territory, Iâm sure of it, and I didnât recognize any of the voices.Besides, thereâs been no report of trouble in WindClan.â
Cinderpelt nodded. âAnd none in any of the other Clans, either. Do you think youâre remembering the battle with BloodClan?â
âNo, Cinderpelt, what I heard wasnât battle yowling. It was cats wailing as if something was terribly wrong.â Firestar shuddered. âI wanted to help them, but I didnât know what to do.â
Cinderpelt brushed her tail across his shoulder. âI could give you some poppyseed,â she suggested. âAt least that would give you a good nightâs sleep.â
âThanks, but no. Itâs not sleep I want. Itâs an explanation.â
Cinderpelt didnât look surprised. âThatâs something I canât give you, not right now,â she meowed. âBut Iâll let you know if StarClan show me anything. And be sure to come and tell me if you have any more dreams.â
Firestar wasnât certain he wanted to do that. Cinderpelt had enough to keep her busy without worrying about him. âIâm probably making a fuss about nothing,â he told her. âIâm sure the dreams will go away if I stop thinking about them.â
He hadnât managed to convince himself, and as he padded away through the fern tunnel with the medicine catâs pale blue gaze following him, he was sure that he hadnât convinced Cinderpelt, either.
Â
On the second night after his talk with Cinderpelt, Firestar had the dream again. He stood on the pathless moorland, straining to make out the blurred shapes that were allaround him, yet never close enough to see clearly.
âWhat do you want?â he called. âWhat can I do to help you?â
But there was no reply. Firestar was beginning to feel as if he were doomed to stumble across this mist-shrouded moor forever, calling out to cats who could not or would not hear him.
The sun had risen high above the trees when he woke the next morning. A warm wind ruffled his fur as he stepped out into the clearing. Sootpaw was hurrying across