At last the brambles twitched and Leafpool led Mothwing and Willowpaw out into the clearing. Hollykit glanced back at Lionkit, still sleeping, and Ferncloud, busy with her kits. As quietly as possible she slithered out under the bramble wall of the den, dislodging a wad of leaves that Squirrelflight had pressed into place the day before. I’ll fix it later, Hollykit vowed as she scooted across the clearing.
“Hello!” she mewed to Willowpaw.
Willowpaw’s ears twitched. She blinked at Hollykit, and the faraway look cleared from her gaze. “Hi,” she mewed.
“Did Leafpool help you?”
Willowpaw nodded. “I can tell you about the dream now, if you still want to know.”
Hollykit flicked her tail excitedly. “Yes, please.”
“Well,” Willowpaw began, “I dreamed that clouds were streaming across the sky, flowing and tumbling across the blue. And then they stopped and the sun scorched down onto the RiverClan camp, shriveling the plants and drying up the nests until there was no shelter from the burning heat.”
Hollykit shuddered. “What did it mean?”
“Leafpool thought it could be a warning of trouble with our water supply. But there’s been plenty of rain this leaf-bare, so it probably doesn’t mean a drought. She advised me to tell Leopardstar to check all the streams near the camp and make sure they are safe.”
Hollykit leaned forward. “How did you become Mothwing’s apprentice?” she asked.
“I helped her with some of her patients when there was an outbreak of illness,” Willowpaw told her. “I enjoyed the tasks she gave me, so I just kept going back to the medicine den and helping out until Mothwing suggested I should become her apprentice.”
“Did you always want to be a medicine cat?”
“I didn’t really think about it,” Willowpaw admitted. “It just sort of happened, and then I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Being a medicine cat is great!”
Hollykit opened her mouth to agree, but before she could speak, Mothwing called her apprentice away. “Willowpaw, we’re leaving.”
Mothwing brushed muzzles with Leafpool and headed for the thorn tunnel. Willowpaw bounded after her. “Bye, Hollykit!” she called over her shoulder.
Hollykit watched the two cats disappear through the tunnel. Willowpaw had made her even more determined to be Leafpool’s apprentice. Forgetting that she was not meant to be out of the nursery, she hurried after Leafpool, following her into her den.
Jaykit was sprawled in his nest, the soft gray fur of his belly showing. He was clearly sleeping more comfortably than last time Hollykit had visited.
Leafpool turned as Hollykit followed her in. “Do you need more herbs for Lionkit?”
Hollykit shook her head. A question fizzed on the tip of her tongue, but she was struggling for the right words.
“Is something wrong?”
Jaykit flipped over and lifted his head. “What do you want, Hollykit?” he asked, his ears pricking as though he sensed that something important was happening.
Leafpool glanced at him. “Go back to the nursery, Jaykit,” she meowed softly.
“Am I well enough?” Jaykit mewed, sitting up.
“As long as you don’t start play fighting the moment you get back,” Leafpool warned him. “But you might as well sleep in your own nest now.”
Jaykit got to his paws. His first steps out of his nest were a little unsteady, but he soon found his balance and padded toward the bramble-covered entrance. “Thanks, Leafpool,” he mewed. His sightless gaze flicked toward Hollykit, taking her by surprise. Sometimes it was almost as if he were looking straight at her, though she knew he couldn’t see her.
“I’ll come and check on you at sundown,” Leafpool promised him.
As soon as Jaykit had disappeared through the brambles, Leafpool sat down. “Now,” she meowed, gazing at Hollykit, “tell me what’s troubling you.”
“Nothing’s troubling me,” Hollykit answered at once. “But I have something important to ask you.”
A look close to alarm flashed momentarily across Leafpool’s gaze. “What?”
Hollykit took a deep breath. “I want to be your apprentice!” She tensed as she waited for the reply. What if Leafpool refused to take her on?
Leafpool looked stunned. “I never would have thought—” She stopped midsentence, then meowed gently, “Being a medicine cat is a big commitment. You will rarely fight in battles or go on patrol. You won’t be able to take a mate, or have kits.” Hollykit saw her eyes darken with sadness. Was that regret she saw in their amber depths? There was no time to wonder. “What has made you want to be a medicine cat?”
“I want to be able to help the Clan,” Hollykit told her. “If I were a medicine cat, I could heal my Clanmates when they were sick, and I could share dreams with StarClan.” Leafpool was still gazing at her questioningly, so she went on. “As a warrior I could feed the Clan and defend it—I would die to protect the Clan if I had to—but as a warrior I would be limited to fighting with tooth and claw. As a medicine cat I could fight with all the knowledge and power of StarClan. What better way could there be to serve ThunderClan?” She stopped, breathless, and stared hopefully up at Leafpool.
Leafpool’s tail twitched. “Those are all good reasons,” she agreed.
Hollykit’s heart soared. Was she going to say yes?
“But,” Leafpool went on, “before I can make a decision, I must talk with Firestar.”
Hollykit blinked, feeling a flash of doubt. But she pushed the doubt away. She hasn’t said no. “Thanks, Leafpool!” she mewed. She turned and trotted from the den. Of course Leafpool would have to talk to the Clan leader before making such an important decision, she thought as she bounced back across the clearing.
She wriggled into the nursery and found Ferncloud asleep, her kits quiet for once. Lionkit was plucking the feathers from the remains of the thrush. They would make a good nest lining.
Jaykit looked up from his nest as she squeezed through the entrance. “What was so secret that I had to leave the medicine den?”
“I’m going to be her apprentice,” Hollykit announced.
“Whose apprentice?”
“Leafpool’s, of course.”
Lionkit looked up from the thrush, delighted. “Did she say yes?”
“Well, she’s got to talk to Firestar first, of course.”
“You want to be a medicine cat?” Jaykit mewed, putting his head to one side.
“Why shouldn’t I?” Hollykit demanded.
“I’d hate to be stuck in the medicine den, worrying about sick cats and sorting out piles of old herbs.” Jaykit sank his claws into the moss that lined his nest. “I’d much rather be a warrior, patrolling and hunting and fighting in Clan battles!”
Hollykit looked at her brother, fierce and proud. Firestar had to let him become a warrior!
Hollykit awoke before dawn. The nursery was dark and cozy, warmed by her sleeping denmates. She lay in her nest and listened to an owl calling from the trees lakeside of the camp. She was too excited to go back to sleep. Brambleclaw had told her last night that Firestar would be going ahead with the naming ceremony after all.
“You’ve behaved well and not left the nursery without permission,” he meowed as she took prey from the fresh-kill pile.
Hollykit glanced over to her brothers, who were already eating by the half-buried rock. “What about Jaykit?”
“Don’t worry,” Brambleclaw had reassured her. “Firestar hasn’t forgotten about Jaykit.”
Hollykit rolled over in her nest and stretched. By sunhigh she would know if she was to become Leafpool’s apprentice. She pictured herself working in the medicine den, soothing bellyaches with herbs, rubbing salves onto bruises, going out into the forest with Leafpool to gather herbs—herbs that she’d know the names of, what they smelled like, how to prepare them. Her pelt bristled at the thought of all the knowledge that would be inside her head. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine how StarClan would appear in
her dreams, but instead she saw only herself, a full-fledged medicine cat, leading her own apprentice through the wood, showing one plant after another, demonstrating all the skills and techniques Leafpool had taught her, wandering farther and farther into the darkening forest….
Hollykit blinked open her eyes. Dawn was creeping through the knotted bramble walls. Lionkit and Jaykit were still asleep beside her. Squirrelflight’s nest smelled stale and cold. She must have returned late from patrol again and chosen to sleep in the warriors’ den.
Hollykit sat up and stretched.
“Awake already?” Ferncloud meowed. The queen was feeding her kits, her pale gray pelt glowing softly in the half-light.
“I’m too excited to sleep!” Hollykit mewed.
“You may go outside if you like,” Ferncloud allowed. “The dawn patrol will be back before long. They might bring warm prey.”
Icekit wriggled around and stared at Hollykit with round blue eyes. “You won’t be sleeping in the nursery tonight,” she mewed.
Hollykit blinked at her. “No. Hopefully I’ll be in Leafpool’s den.”
Foxkit pushed away from his mother. “I’d rather be in the apprentices’ den with Lionkit!”
“You will be soon,” Hollykit promised.
“Not soon enough!” Foxkit mewed. He reached out and caught Icekit’s twitching tail between his auburn paws. “I can’t wait to be a warrior.”
Icekit flicked her tail away from him. “Will you come back and tell us what it’s like being an apprentice?”
“Of course,” Hollykit purred. She dipped her head to their mother. “Bye, Ferncloud.”
Foxkit and Icekit scrambled out of Ferncloud’s nest.
“Bye, Hollykit,” Icekit mewed, reaching up to push her white muzzle against Hollykit’s cheek.
“Bye, Icekit.” Hollykit bent down and licked Foxkit between the ears. “Don’t get into trouble.”
With a twinge of sadness she turned and squeezed out of the nursery.
The clearing sparkled with dew. Mist clouded in the bushes and clefts that ringed the base of the enclosing rock wall. Hollykit stretched, first her forepaws, then her hind, arching her back and enjoying the fresh scents of the forest.
“Good morning!” Squirrelflight called. She was sitting in front of the warriors’ den, a paw raised, ready to wash behind her ears. Brambleclaw sat next to her.
“Hi!” Hollykit mewed, trotting over to greet them.
Brambleclaw purred loudly. “It’s your big day!” He touched Hollykit’s head with his muzzle.
“It sure is,” Hollykit agreed, trying not to think how close she had come to ruining her chance of being made an apprentice.
The thorn barrier trembled; the dawn patrol was returning. Cloudtail emerged from the entrance with his apprentice, Cinderpaw, and Stormfur trotting behind. They each carried prey in their jaws.
Brambleclaw padded away to meet them as they dropped their catch, his dark tabby pelt glistening where it had brushed dew from the branches overhanging the warriors’ den. “All clear?”
“No cat has crossed the boundaries,” Cloudtail reported. “Although WindClan and ShadowClan are keeping their markers fresh.”
Hollykit noticed Squirrelflight’s ears prick warily.
“Do you think that’s a problem?” Brambleclaw asked.
Cloudtail looked thoughtful. “No, but it feels as if they’re both making an effort to remind us that they’re there.”
“You think they’re showing signs of aggression?”
“Not aggression,” Cloudtail corrected. “But they never used to be so thorough about marking their boundaries.”
“Should we be stepping up patrols?” Ashfur slid out of the warriors’ den, making Hollykit jump. He padded toward Cloudtail and Brambleclaw, and Squirrelflight followed him, leaving Hollykit alone.
“We’ll ignore it for now,” Brambleclaw decided.
“Isn’t that a decision for Firestar to make?” Ashfur meowed.
Brambleclaw looked sharply at the gray warrior, but Ashfur’s eyes showed no disrespect, only concern.
Brambleclaw nodded. “I’ll speak to him about it, of course,” he meowed. “But there’s no point overreacting if ShadowClan and WindClan are just trying to provoke us.”
Squirrelflight looked at Cloudtail. “Did you refresh our boundary markers?”
Cloudtail nodded.
Hollykit felt another pelt brush her side. Lionkit had joined her, and Jaykit was scrambling out of the nursery after him.
“What’s going on?” Lionkit mewed.
“The dawn patrol’s reporting back,” Hollykit told him. The idea that ShadowClan and WindClan were pressing on their borders worried her. But if she was going to be a medicine cat, she must learn not to be so bothered by warrior concerns and concentrate instead on the needs of her Clanmates.
She glanced around the clearing. Whitewing, Spiderleg, and Thornclaw shared a pigeon beside the halfrock. Honeypaw and Poppypaw were play fighting on the grass patch outside their den. As she watched, the apprentices stopped and looked up at Highledge. Hollykit followed their gaze, her paws pricking with anticipation.
Firestar was leaping down the tumble of rocks that led from his den. Sandstorm nimbly picked her way after him. Hollykit’s heart felt as if it flipped right over when Firestar called to the Clan: “Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highledge. It is time to fulfill a promise I made to three of our kits.”
Hollykit glanced at her brothers. This was it! The moment when they would begin serving their Clan!
Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight hurried toward them. Squirrelflight quickly smoothed the fur between Lionkit’s ears.
“Are you ready?” Brambleclaw’s eyes were shining.
“Totally!” Hollykit mewed.
“Good.” Brambleclaw padded away and sat beside Birchfall.
Does that mean Birchfall’s going to be a mentor? Hollykit wondered.
Squirrelflight licked Jaykit’s cheek. “Good luck, all of you.” She went to join Brambleclaw.
Mousefur emerged stiffly from the elders’ den, guiding her blind denmate, Longtail, with her tail. Honeypaw, Poppypaw, and Berrypaw clustered together, whispering. Whitewing, Spiderleg, and Thornclaw padded over from the halfrock, leaving the remains of their meal behind. Within moments, the whole Clan stood gazing at Firestar. For the first time that morning, Hollykit’s excitement felt closer to anxiety. The expectations of Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight, of Firestar, of the whole Clan, pressed down on her shoulders like a badger’s paws.
She felt a soft muzzle nudging her from behind. She turned to see Leafpool ushering her toward the circle. She searched Leafpool’s eyes, but they gave no clue about what would happen next, only encouraged her forward with a gentle blink.
Hollykit pushed her way between Ferncloud and Daisy and halted. Lionkit and Jaykit squirmed into place beside her, and she felt herself trembling against Daisy’s flank. The cream-colored queen glanced fondly at her and ran a smoothing tail over her black pelt.
“I gather you all for one of my favorite duties,” Firestar announced. “Hollykit, Lionkit, and Jaykit have reached their sixth moon.”
So Jaykit was going to be included in the apprentice-naming ceremony after all.
“They have had an adventurous kithood,” Firestar went on with a hint of amusement in his voice, “but I hope they have learned valuable lessons, and I believe they are ready to become apprentices.”
The Clan meowed in approval. Firestar waited for the noise to die away before going on. “Lionkit!”
The golden brown tabby kit bounced forward, quivering with excitement.
“From this day until you receive your warrior name, you will be Lionpaw.”
Berrypaw called his name and the other apprentices joined in. Firestar looked at the cloud-darkened sky. “I ask StarClan to watch over you and guide you until you find in your paws the strength and courage of a warrior.”
Lionpa
w’s eyes sparkled as he gazed up at his leader.
“Ashfur,” Firestar called.
The pale gray tom lifted his head. His eyes brightened, and excitement showed in the tiny twitch of his tail as he stepped forward.
“You mentored Birchfall, and he is a credit to his Clan,” Firestar meowed. “Now ThunderClan asks you to prove yourself once more a great mentor.”
Ashfur dipped his head as the Clan leader went on. “I trust you to pass on all you have learned to Lionpaw and help him become a warrior the Clan can be proud of.”
“I won’t let ThunderClan down,” Ashfur promised.
Lionpaw hurried forward and raised his muzzle to touch noses with his new mentor.
“Hollykit,” Firestar announced.
Hollykit suddenly forgot to be nervous, and she raced to the center of the clearing, skidding to a halt beside Firestar.
His whiskers twitched. “From this day until you receive your warrior name, you will be Hollypaw.”
“Hollypaw! Hollypaw!” Cinderpaw led the chant this time.
Hollypaw stared at the apprentices as they called her new name. Berrypaw and Hazelpaw seemed so big and strong. In the nursery she had been older than Icekit and Foxkit. Now she would be one of the youngest of her denmates. Her heart drummed like paws racing over the forest floor. Then she remembered: I might not be sleeping in the apprentices’ den!
“Leafpool,” Firestar called.
Yes! Hollypaw felt so light on her paws she was afraid the breeze would carry her away over the trees. She was going to be a medicine cat apprentice!
Leafpool padded forward and stopped beside Hollypaw.
“I know that I am putting Hollypaw in safe paws,” Firestar meowed. “I pray that StarClan gives your apprentice all the strength and wisdom she will need.”
“I will teach her everything I know,” Leafpool promised. She touched Hollypaw’s muzzle with hers, but she didn’t meet Hollypaw’s eyes; instead, she looked past her, her expression clouded.