Warriors: Omen of the Stars #6: The Last Hope (22 page)

Jayfeather flinched as Crowfeather slowed to a halt in front of them. He tasted the scents of Whitetail and Owlwhisker as they joined their Clanmate.

“He’s not allowed to cross Clan territory,” Crowfeather growled.

Mothwing didn’t move. “This is not your territory. We’re within a tail-length of the water.”

“It’s not a full moon!” Crowfeather snarled. “There’s no truce.”

Jayfeather dug his claws into the pebbles. He couldn’t believe this bad-tempered warrior was his father.

“We’re medicine cats,” Mothwing meowed calmly.

Crowfeather padded closer. “He’s not.”

Owlwhisker growled, “Let’s escort him back to his border.”

Whitetail shifted her paws. “He’s not doing any harm,” she meowed.

“He’s a murderer!” Owlwhisker hissed.

“Do you believe
everything
ShadowClan says?” Whitetail snapped at her Clanmate.

Stones rattled beneath Mothwing’s feet as she stepped closer to the WindClan patrol. “Let us pass,” she insisted.

Crowfeather’s tail lashed the air. “Jayfeather is trespassing.”

“Do you want to fight me?” Mothwing challenged. “Because you’ll have to if you lay a claw on him.” There was a growl in her mew. “Would StarClan approve of you harming a medicine cat?”

Jayfeather felt frustration flare from Crowfeather’s pelt. “You can pass.” He leaned closer to Jayfeather. “But this is the second time we’ve caught you trespassing on our territory.” His breath smelled of rabbit. “Make it the
last.”

Mothwing’s tail flicked past Jayfeather’s nose. “He’ll have to travel back,” she pointed out. “Will I need to escort him? Does WindClan take pride in attacking blind cats?”

Jayfeather swallowed a hiss. He hated his blindness being used as an excuse, but this was no time to let pride get in the way.

“Very well.” Crowfeather backed away, his Clanmates retreating with him.

Shaking raindrops from her whiskers, Mothwing headed along the shore. Jayfeather trotted after her, impressed by her courage. “You should have been a warrior,” he meowed as the WindClan patrol faded from earshot.

“Maybe, but I am a medicine cat,” Mothwing replied in a tone that didn’t invite further questions. She led him across the RiverClan border and into the reed beds. The ground grew boggy underpaw and marsh grass brushed Jayfeather’s pelt as he followed the medicine cat along a twisting path.

“What’s that?” Jayfeather stiffened as the faint smell of smoke touched his nose.

“That’s what we’re going to see.” Mothwing kept going and Jayfeather hurried after her. “Duck,” she warned as the marsh grass thickened.

Dripping fronds trailed over Jayfeather’s nose, filling his muzzle with wet seeds that made him sneeze. Spluttering, he padded after Mothwing until suddenly she halted, and Jayfeather lost his footing in the mud as he tried to avoid crashing into her.

“Here,” Mothwing announced.

The smell of smoke was even stronger. Why had she led him to a fire? “What is it?” he asked.

“One reed is smoldering,” she told him. “It’s been smoldering for days.”

“In this rain?”

“The rest of the reed bed is soaked, but this one keeps burning,” Mothwing explained. “It doesn’t burn completely. The tip just glows with a tiny flame.”

Jayfeather leaned close, the smoke making his eyes sting. Pain stung his nose as it touched the smoldering reed. He stepped backward. “How long has it been like this?”

“Three sunrises,” Mothwing told him. “Ever since the Gathering.”

“It’s a sign!” Jayfeather turned to Mothwing. “You know it’s a sign, don’t you?”

She sat down. “For me, it’s a trick of the marshes,” she meowed. “But I knew you’d find an omen in it. That’s why I showed you.”

“Has Willowshine seen it?” Surely Mothwing would show it to her own Clanmate first?

“Willowshine isn’t looking for signs,” Mothwing told him. “Not like you.”

Jayfeather leaned closer to the tiny flame. As its heat touched his nose again a vision flared in his mind. Fire shot like a stalk in front of him, spearing up toward the sky, glowing orange like a… Jayfeather’s mind whirled … like a tail!

Flametail!
StarClan was sending him a sign.
Find Flametail!

He’d already been to the Moonpool in his search for the dead ShadowClan cat. But that time he hadn’t even made it to StarClan’s hunting grounds. Maybe StarClan was ready now.

“Thank you!” Jayfeather ran his tail gratefully over Mothwing’s flank. Was he right about her being the fourth cat?
Maybe
it’s Flametail.
This sign changed everything! If he could talk to Flametail and persuade him to tell Littlecloud he drowned accidentally, the medicine cats could unite once more. And with the medicine cats working together, the Clans might join forces in time to face the Dark Forest.

“I have to get back.”

Mothwing stilled him with a paw. “Do you know what it means?”

“I think so.” It would take too long to tell her everything. Jayfeather wanted to get home, curl into his nest, and dream his way to StarClan’s hunting grounds. “It means I can find Flametail now.”

“But he’s dead, right?” Mothwing asked uneasily.

“Not to me!”

Jayfeather felt sorrow flood Mothwing. “I envy your faith,” she murmured. “You can always find hope, even in the darkest moments.”

Jayfeather tipped his head. “If only that were true.” A few sunrises ago he’d given up all trust in the prophecy and his power to fulfill his destiny. Now there seemed a tiny chink of light, but the darkness still loomed on every side.

“I’ll always be here if you need me,” Mothwing told him. “I may not share your faith, but I will always help you fight for what you believe in.”

“Thank you.” Jayfeather broke away, his paws itching for home.

“Do you want me to go with you?” Mothwing offered as he headed back along the trail.

“I’ll be okay!” Running, he followed his own scent along the narrow path until he burst out onto the shore.

Mothwing’s mew sounded from the reeds behind him. “I’ll keep watching the flame!” she yowled. “If it goes out, I’ll know you’ve found what you’re looking for!”

Jayfeather shivered. A cold wind had
woken him. He sat up, feeling rain spatter his pelt.
Where am I?
He’d awoken on a grassy hillside, the sky darkened by rainclouds and the dismal landscape patched together by dying trees and storm-battered meadows. Was he in the Dark Forest? StarClan had always seemed to exist in perpetual greenleaf, with only the lightest breeze to stir the prey-scented air. Jayfeather fluffed his pelt against the chill and headed for a cluster of trees lower down the slope. No bird sang, no creature moved. He strained to hear paw steps. Were there cats here?

Fur brushed bark. Heart thumping, Jayfeather ducked beneath a tangle of dripping bracken. He pressed his belly to the ground and peered out. Four muddy paws padded toward him. Was it a Dark Forest warrior? He scrabbled backward, deeper into the bush. A familiar scent bathed his tongue.
Spottedleaf!
Light-headed with relief, he dived out from under the bush.

Spottedleaf stopped. “Jayfeather! What are you doing here?”

“Are these StarClan’s hunting grounds?” Jayfeather gazed up at the browning leaves.

Spottedleaf flicked her ears. “Yes.”

“What’s happened?”

“Leaf-fall.” Spottedleaf hunched against the chilly wind. “The first StarClan has ever known.” Her mew was flat. “And I can taste leaf-bare on the wind.”

“Leaf-bare in StarClan? That’s impossible!”

“Not anymore. The Dark Forest is rising,” Spottedleaf shivered. “And StarClan could fall.”

Jayfeather whisked his tail. “Not if I can help it!” He scanned the woodland, hoping to see more pelts. “I’ve come to speak with Flametail.”

Spottedleaf looked surprised. “Why now?”

“I saw the sign,” Jayfeather explained.

Spottedleaf stared at him blankly. “The sign?”

“The one StarClan sent. The burning reed.”

“StarClan sent no signs.” Spottedleaf tipped her head to one side. “We can’t even
see
the lake.”

“One of you must have!” Jayfeather shook rain from his pelt. “Last time I tried to find Flametail, I never made it past the Moonpool. But now I’m here!”

“StarClan sent no sign,” Spottedleaf insisted.

Jayfeather padded past her and stared into the trees. “Well, someone did.”
Was it Rock?
“I have to speak to Flametail. I have to reunite the medicine cats.”

Spottedleaf glanced around warily. “You know StarClan is divided. You won’t find Flametail. He’ll be in ShadowClan’s part of the hunting grounds.”

Jayfeather snorted. “There are no borders here.”

“There are now,” Spottedleaf snapped.

“They’re not real!” Why was she making this so difficult? “I’m going to find Flametail!”

Spottedleaf narrowed her eyes. “Things have changed!”

“The truth hasn’t,” Jayfeather spat. “And I’m going to make Flametail tell Littlecloud that I didn’t kill him.”

“It won’t be as easy as you think,” Spottedleaf warned. “ShadowClan won’t let you cross their scent line.”

Frustration surged through Jayfeather. “You don’t have to help me!”

He flinched as Spottedleaf thrust her muzzle close. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t help you!” she hissed. “I’m just warning you it won’t be easy. Yellowfang’s been feeding StarClan’s fears like a mother feeding her kits! The stupid old fleabag!”

Jayfeather backed away, startled by her anger. “Then you’ll take me to Flametail?”

“Of course!” She began to head up the trail. “ShadowClan’s territory is this way.”

Jayfeather scurried after her.

“Did you actually think I’d abandon ThunderClan?” Spottedleaf muttered.

“This isn’t just about ThunderClan,” Jayfeather corrected her. “It’s about all the Clans now.”

They broke from the trees and crossed a meadow. The long grass was crushed, battered flat by wind. Jayfeather narrowed his eyes against the stinging rain, his paws squelching over rotting flowers. He heard the river ahead. As they reached the bank, his heart twisted. The water was brown and foaming, running in full flood, crashing over rocks and swirling between the muddy banks.

“Where is everyone?”

Spottedleaf flicked her tail toward a huddle of cats crouching upstream, beneath a rocky overhang.
Whitestorm?
Jayfeather hardly recognized the white warrior. His pelt clung to him, showing jutting ribs beneath the soaked fur.

“Prey’s scarce now,” Spottedleaf explained.

Longtail was sitting beside Whitestorm, staring out from the cramped cleft. His eyes were clear and bright, his eyesight restored, but his gaze was tinged with sadness.

Jayfeather broke away from Spottedleaf and headed toward his Clanmates. “Longtail!” He greeted the old tom with a purr.

Longtail dipped his head. “It’s good to see you,” he murmured.

A pelt flashed at the corner of Jayfeather’s vision. Brindleface was picking her way down the steep bank edging the rocks. “Jayfeather? Is that you?” She broke into a trot as she drew near. “Something terrible has happened to StarClan! We can’t see the Clans anymore.”