The Apprentice's Quest (11 page)

“It's amazing, isn't it?” Willowshine murmured, emerging from the bushes at his side. “I'll never forget the first time I saw it. And it still takes my breath away.”

Leafpool and Jayfeather had already begun to pad down the spiraling path that led to the pool. Alderpaw followed them, awestruck as his paws slid into the impressions made by those ancient cats so long ago. His pelt tingled. The ancient cats, who had left . . .
many, many seasons ago . . .

The other medicine cats followed him down the path and gathered at the edge of the pool. Leafpool beckoned Alderpaw to come and stand beside her. “Alderpaw,” she meowed, “is it your wish to share the deepest knowledge of StarClan as a ThunderClan medicine cat?”

This is it,
Alderpaw thought. “It is,” he replied, his voice sounding as if a claw were scratching his throat.

Leafpool gazed up at the stars, her amber eyes glowing like
small fires in the night. “Warriors of StarClan,” she began, “I present to you this apprentice. He has chosen the path of a medicine cat. Grant him your wisdom and insight so that he may understand your ways and heal his Clan in accordance with your will.”

Alderpaw stood there blinking, aware that something tremendous was happening. He almost thought he could see the assembly of starry warriors, seated around him on the slopes of the hollow. Then Leafpool touched his shoulder with her tail.

“Crouch down beside the water, lap a few drops, and then touch the surface with your nose,” she instructed.

As Alderpaw obeyed, he could see the other medicine cats around the Moonpool, their noses lowering to the water. It felt icy cold when he lapped it, and when he touched his nose to it, he thought that an icicle was stabbing him to the heart. Biting back a yowl, he closed his eyes and waited.

Alderpaw wasn't aware of the passing of time, but he found himself walking alongside a shallow, sparkling stream with no clear idea of how he had gotten there. Lush vegetation grew on the banks, and the air was full of rich scents. Alderpaw wondered if he should be afraid, but he felt too peaceful, and he wandered on, enjoying the warmth of the sun on his pelt.

After a little while, he saw that a large tom with a flame-colored pelt was walking along beside him. “Greetings,” the tom said. “I'm so happy to finally meet one of Squirrelflight's kits.”

Alderpaw's belly lurched as he realized that this must be
Firestar, his mother's famous father, who died in the Great Battle before he and his sister were born. Alderpaw would have expected to be overcome with shyness in the presence of such an awesome cat, but instead he felt at ease with him right away. There was something about Firestar that seemed oddly familiar.

Is this the same cat that I had that weird dream about?

“Come,” Firestar meowed, leading Alderpaw farther along the stream until they reached a place where the water spread out into a pool. Firestar motioned to Alderpaw to stand right on the edge. “Look into the water,” he instructed.

At first all Alderpaw could see was the pebbly bottom of the pool, and a few tiny fish darting here and there. Then the water and the pebbles seem to dissolve, and he found himself staring down into a deep gorge, with a river edged by bare, sandy rocks. Cats were moving here and there among the rocks, gathering into a ragged circle with one cat in the middle.

It's like I'm a bird, looking down on it all.

As if the bird were swooping lower, Alderpaw found himself suddenly much closer, so that he could see the individual cats more clearly. The cat in the center of the circle was a mottled brown-and-cream she-cat with a noble air, and she beckoned with her tail to some cat at the edge of the circle.

Two cats moved forward: a powerful ginger tom and a smaller black-and-white she-cat. The brown-and-cream she-cat and the ginger tom spoke to each other. Alderpaw felt frustrated; although he could see, he couldn't hear what the cats were saying.

Then the ginger tom stepped back. The older she-cat spoke to the younger one, and the younger one replied. Alderpaw suddenly realized what he was seeing.

“It's a warrior ceremony!”

Firestar touched his shoulder lightly with his tail. “Watch.”

The Clan leader—for Alderpaw knew that was who the older she-cat must be—rested her muzzle on the new warrior's head, and the new warrior gave her leader's shoulder a respectful lick.

The cats who were gathered around erupted into joyful yowls, pressing around the new warrior and brushing her pelt with their tails and muzzles. The young she-cat looked overwhelmed but very happy.

As the ceremony broke up, Alderpaw noticed a small silver tabby she-cat pad up to the Clan leader and exchange a few words with her. Then the silver tabby looked up, and Alderpaw caught a flash of green eyes before the vision faded and all he could see was the bottom of the pool again.

It's almost like she could see me!

Trembling, Alderpaw backed away from the edge of the pool. “Firestar, who are they?” he asked urgently. “They look like Clan cats—they were holding a warrior ceremony, just like Clan cats—but they're not from any of the Clans around the lake. Where are they? Are they cats from the past, or the future? What are you trying to tell me?”

Firestar dipped his head toward Alderpaw, his green eyes filled with meaning, but he did not reply to any of his questions. If he was trying to tell Alderpaw something without
words, Alderpaw couldn't understand what it was.

A moment later, a white mist drifted around him, blotting out the pool and the flame-colored figure of Firestar. Alderpaw found himself back beside the Moonpool, with the other medicine cats beginning to wake all around him.

Happiness thrilled through Alderpaw, warming him from ears to tail-tip.
I've had a vision! That proves I
am
meant to be a medicine cat.
He opened his jaws to tell the other cats about it, but before he spoke, doubts crowded in on him.
I don't know if it was a real vision. It could have been just a weird dream, like the one I had before.

His doubts increased when none of the other cats said anything about what they had seen.
I'll keep my dream to myself for now,
he decided.
At least until I'm sure what it was.

Alderpaw was alone in the medicine-cat
den, except for Briarlight, who was curled up in her nest, asleep.

“She had such a restless, painful night,” Leafpool had told him when he arrived in the den to start work. “Try not to wake her.”

Jayfeather had straightened up from where he was bent over Briarlight, listening to her breathing. “I think she'll be okay now. We're going into the forest to collect herbs,” he added to Alderpaw. “You can stay here and organize the store. Throw out anything that looks too withered to be useful.”

Now that the two medicine cats had gone, Alderpaw was left to get on with the boring job. But for once he didn't mind. It gave him a chance to think over his dream at the Moonpool the night before.

I'm sure it was just a dream,
he assured himself.
It's not even worth telling Jayfeather and Leafpool about. They'd think I was crazy!

Instead Alderpaw had decided to make himself useful. In the last few days, he felt he was actually starting to get the hang of being a medicine cat.

Maybe I'll be a good medicine cat after all,
he told himself.
Or at least I'll be good enough.

Absorbed in separating the catmint from the tansy, and in picking out the wrinkled juniper berries that had lost their healing juices, Alderpaw was startled to hear the paw steps of another cat approaching the den. He turned to see Cherryfall brush back the bramble screen and limp inside.

“Hi,” he mewed, pointing with his tail at Briarlight and signaling to Cherryfall to keep quiet. He was glad to see her, though he didn't like the pained expression on her face. “Is anything the matter?”

“It's my paw,” Cherryfall replied, holding it up. “It hasn't healed yet, and it's still painful. Could you take a look at it?”

“Sure,” Alderpaw responded. “But it's early days for it to heal.”

With a sigh of relief Cherryfall lay on her side in a nest of moss and fern and stretched out her injured paw. Alderpaw examined it, giving it a good sniff and noting that the wound was clean and hadn't started bleeding again. He was especially careful to look for the signs of infection that Jayfeather had told him about.

It's not red, and it's not hot to the touch.

“It's not infected,” he told Cherryfall. “It's just a deep cut and it's taking time to heal.” He hesitated, then added, “That's normal.”

“I'm glad it's not serious,” Cherryfall meowed, “but is there anything you can give me to help the pain? It isn't terrible, but it's distracting me, and I want to get back to warrior duties.”

Alderpaw padded back to the store and began to look through the herbs, touching each one and trying to remember what they were for. There were a lot of different kinds, but he knew what he wanted to find. He was sure that comfrey root was what Cherryfall needed. He remembered chewing up the root for a poultice when they first brought Cherryfall back to camp, and Jayfeather had told him that comfrey root helped soothe the pain of a wound.

Soon he spotted the pile of black roots and bit off a piece, remembering the tangy taste from last time as he chewed it into a poultice. When it was mashed up fine, he spat it out and spread it onto Cherryfall's wound.

Cherryfall's pained expression faded and a look of relief spread over her face. Alderpaw watched her carefully, thinking how important it was for a medicine cat to be aware of how other cats were feeling.

“I think it's already starting to work,” Cherryfall mewed after a moment. “Thanks, Alderpaw. I'm so glad to be rid of the pain.”

“It's nothing,” Alderpaw mumbled, embarrassed.

Cherryfall got up, keeping her injured paw off the ground, and touched her nose to Alderpaw's ear. “I'm so pleased you've found your place as a medicine cat,” she told him. “Jayfeather and Leafpool will be very proud of you.”

Alderpaw watched Cherryfall as she left the den, feeling his pelt tingle with pride at her words.
I've treated my first injury all on my own!

Voices sounded from outside the den, and Alderpaw realized that Jayfeather had returned. He couldn't hear what he
and Cherryfall were saying, but he could guess.

Cherryfall must be telling Jayfeather what a great job I'm doing!

But when Jayfeather entered the den with a bundle of yarrow in his jaws, his neck fur was bristling and his tail-tip was twitching to and fro. “Is it true what Cherryfall just told me?” he demanded, dropping the herbs. “Did you give out a remedy without asking?”

Alderpaw felt his heart plummeting and his whole pelt burning with shame as he realized he had managed to do the wrong thing again. “Well . . . y-yes,” he stammered. “But Cherryfall said her wound hurt, and I remembered you said a poultice of comfrey root would help. I chewed it up really well, just like you taught me.” When Jayfeather made no comment, he added more desperately, “I wouldn't have given her anything if I wasn't very,
very
sure I knew what it would do. But I was certain that's what comfrey root is
for
. And it helped! She felt much better!”

Jayfeather let out a long growl deep in his throat. “Yes, it will help with the pain. But sometimes pain is a warning sign, telling a cat that something is wrong. What if Cherryfall had an infection and you dulled the pain? Then her infection would have gotten worse, without any cat knowing. Infections can be very dangerous.”

“But . . . but . . .” Alderpaw tried to protest, but he felt so guilty it was hard to get the words out. “I
checked
for infection, and Cherryfall showed no signs of it.”

I was only trying to help,
he thought.
I didn't realize I could have made things worse.

“I'm so sorry,” he mewed miserably. “I never should have done it. I won't ever do it again!”

Jayfeather relaxed slightly, angling his ears toward the sleeping Briarlight, and Alderpaw realized that his voice had risen on the last few words.

“You were right,” Jayfeather conceded. “I checked Cherryfall myself, and she didn't have an infection. But sometimes the signs can be hard to spot, especially if a medicine cat is still learning . . . which you will be for quite some time. Until you've had more training, you should stick to doing only whatever Leafpool and I tell you.”

Alderpaw bowed his head. “Okay, Jayfeather.”

“So for now,” Jayfeather went on more briskly, “you can get some mouse bile and go do the elders' ticks.”

Alderpaw stifled a sigh. “Yes, Jayfeather.”

When Alderpaw reached the elders' den under the hazel bushes, carrying a twig with a ball of bile-soaked moss dangling from the tip, only Sandstorm was there.

“Hi,” she meowed, a friendly look in her green eyes. “I'm glad to see you. Graystripe and Millie have gone for a walk, and Purdy is sunning himself somewhere. I've got a huge tick on my shoulder, just where I can't get at it.”

Alderpaw parted Sandstorm's fur to find the tick, then
dabbed mouse bile on it. This time he couldn't suppress a sigh, to think that he was back on tick duty just as if he had never become a medicine-cat apprentice.

Sandstorm wriggled her shoulders gratefully as the tick fell off. “That's much better, Alderpaw. But there's something wrong, isn't there? Would it help to tell me about it?”

Alderpaw shook his head, embarrassed that he hadn't hidden his feelings.

Sandstorm brushed her tail along his side. “There's no shame in being sad sometimes,” she mewed. “No reason not to show it. And besides,” she added with a faint
mrrow
of amusement, “you're not very good at hiding it!”

Her joke made Alderpaw feel a little better. He kept searching her fur for more ticks as Sandstorm went on talking to him in a gentle voice.

“You're my kin, and you should feel comfortable telling me things. Maybe I can help. And as the others aren't here just now, it can stay just between us.”

Alderpaw relaxed. He dabbed mouse bile on the tick he had just found, then set the twig down. “I gave Cherryfall a poultice of comfrey root when Leafpool and Jayfeather were out,” he confessed. “Jayfeather was furious.”

“Wow!” Sandstorm exclaimed. “What a dreadful thing to do! Bramblestar will certainly throw you out of the Clan.”

For one horrible moment Alderpaw thought she meant it. Then he realized that she was joking.

“You shouldn't feel bad,” the old she-cat went on more
seriously. “You were trying to do your best, and you deserve praise for that. Now you'll know better for next time. Being an apprentice is all about learning and growing, and aren't you lucky to have the opportunity? And to have Leafpool and Jayfeather, such wise cats, to guide you?”

“I . . . I don't want to disappoint them,” Alderpaw stammered.

“Did Jayfeather seem upset?” Sandstorm asked him. “I don't mean cranky—Jayfeather is always cranky—but
upset
?”

Alderpaw thought about that for a moment. “No,” he meowed at last. “He didn't.”

“Because he just wants you to learn,” the ginger she-cat went on. “And you're doing that. You shouldn't expect to understand everything right away. You're thoughtful and cautious, and that will serve you well as a medicine cat.”

She really knows me well!
Alderpaw thought, beginning to feel a bit better.
It's so good to have older, wiser cats to give me advice.

“Is anything else bothering you?” Sandstorm asked after a moment.

Alderpaw's mind flashed back to the strange vision at the Moonpool.
I'm almost sure it was just a dream . . . but what if it was more?

Sandstorm's guidance had inspired him, and the encouraging look in her eyes made him want to confide in her. “Something happened last night at the Moonpool,” he began, and went on to tell her about his meeting with Firestar and how he had watched the unfamiliar Clan in the water of the pool.

“It was so strange . . . ,” he told Sandstorm. “These other cats seem to live in a rocky gorge with a river running through it. And it looked like their leader was making a new warrior.”

Sandstorm narrowed her eyes, her green gaze suddenly intense. “Describe these cats to me,” she meowed. “Tell me as much as you can remember.”

“Well,” Alderpaw began. “The cat I thought was the leader was a cream-and-pale brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes. And there was a big powerful ginger tom, and a small silver-gray tabby she-cat with dark gray paws and deep green eyes.” He shivered. “She looked up at me; it was like she knew I was there.”

Sandstorm jumped to her paws, her pelt bristling with excitement. “I know those cats! They sound like Leafstar and her deputy, Sharpclaw—and the small silver tabby is Echosong, their medicine cat.”

“That's really weird,” Alderpaw murmured. “Why would I dream about real cats I've never met—never even heard of?”

Sandstorm's green eyes glowed. “That wasn't a dream . . .
it was a vision
.”

“Really?” Alderpaw began to share the older cat's excitement. “So who are the cats that I saw?”

“They are from another Clan, SkyClan,” Sandstorm replied. “And they may need our help.”

Alderpaw gaped at her. There was another Clan he'd never heard of? He had to believe Sandstorm, because he knew how wise she was. And he was excited to have had a vision, like a real medicine cat. But at the same time he felt that the vision
was wasted on him. “Why me?” he blurted out.

“Why not?” Sandstorm's voice was calm. “If you weren't supposed to have the vision, you wouldn't have had it. StarClan chose you, and you must honor their choice. And that means you must tell Leafpool and Jayfeather.”

Alderpaw's belly lurched with nervousness. He shrank from the idea of telling his mentors.
Jayfeather already thinks I'm doing stuff I'm not ready for. . . . What will he think when I tell him about my vision? Won't he think this is more of the same?