Emerging at the edge of Sunningrocks, Mosspaw peered down to the river below. It was filled with the reflection of the stars, blending the night with rippling currents. Her reflection met her eyes.
A white cat sat next to her. She looked up at the cat and recognized Snowfur.
"Mosspaw." She dipped her head. "Admiring the river?"
"It's beautiful," she purred. "I could stare at it all night!"
"You can, if you wish." She licked a paw and ran it over her face. "Mosspaw, do you understand your power?"
Mosspaw shook her head. "Not at all."
"StarClan laid out two paths for you, small one," she sighed. "In one, you would have joined us when you were very young. If you followed the other, you would live to be a cat with amazing power."
Mosspaw stared at the star-covered cat. "I need to know more about my power!"
"You will understand in time," she mewed simply. "And remember, I will always be here to guide you."
"Can you tell me more?"
"In time," Snowfur mewed simply. "For now, I have something else to teach you."
Mosspaw tilted her head at her kin.
"You've been struggling with hunting," she observed. Mosspaw's ears turned hot.
"Hunting is easy here," Snowfur assured her. "Prey is plentiful, so if you miss something, there's always something more to catch."
Mosspaw nodded and followed her through the foliage, her mouth watering at the scent of mouse. She instinctively dropped to a hunter's crouch and looked around for the mouse using slow, subtle movements.
"That's beautiful," Snowfur whispered. "Keep your tail straight and off the ground so you don't make any noise."
Mosspaw followed her instruction and approached the mouse, careful to keep her pawsteps soft. Once she was a tail-length away from the mouse, who was absently chewing on a leaf, she wiggled her haunches and pounced. She landed right next to it and it bolted off into the forest.
"Mouse-dung!" she cursed.
"Let's try again," Snowfur suggested, crouching. They spent a while practicing hunting crouches, and eventually Mosspaw managed to catch a squirrel and a vole. She proudly marched alongside her mentor until they found Moonflower, who was very proud of her granddaughter's catches.
"Would you be up for some battle training?" Moonflower suggested. "Tawnyspots wanted to meet you."
Mosspaw looked around for the tabby tom, but didn't see him. "I don't know if I'm up for that tonight," she admitted, feeling the heaviness in her paws.
"She's already been training with me all night," Snowfur explained.
"Then let's rest at warm-rocks," she suggested. Snowfur agreed and they followed Moonflower to a group of rocks bathed in sunlight that were warm to the touch. Mosspaw fell into and rolled around on a large, flat rock, absorbing the heat through her fur. Before long, she fell asleep.
Mosspaw struggled to her paws, feeling like she hadn't slept at all.
"You look like you wrestled with a fox!" Spottedpaw's whiskers twitched. Embarrassed, Mosspaw started washing.
Featherwhisker entered the den with a jaw full of leaves. He placed them in a pile behind his nest, and turned to the apprentices.
"Mosspaw, Spottedpaw. I have training for you both."
Mosspaw's ears perked in interest. My first training session as a medicine cat!
"We're going to go over the elders for ticks, then give them their herbs."
Mosspaw's tail dropped in disappointment.
"But I already know how to do that!" Spottedpaw protested.
"Then you'll be able to teach Mosspaw," Featherwhisker argued. "You promised me you'd help Mosspaw catch up, Spottedpaw."
Spottedpaw opened her mouth to argue back, but quickly shut it and sighed. "Come on, Mosspaw. Let's go."
The two of them left the medicine clearing. Once Feather- whisker was out of earshot, Spottedpaw whispered to Mosspaw. "I promise it's usually more fun than this!"
Mosspaw gave her friend a quick lick on the ear. "It's good for me to learn, I guess."
They padded over to the elder's den. Fuzzypelt, Goosefeather, and Larksong were laying in their nests. Mosspaw guessed that Stonepelt was hunting. Goosefeather looked asleep.
Spottedpaw dipped her head. "Greetings, Fuzzypelt, Larksong. How is prey running?"
"Fine, thanks," Larksong mewed. She nudged Goosefeather, who was beside her. "Goosefeather, your kin has come to visit us."
The tom blinked several times before his eyes focused on Mosspaw. He grumbled something, but stood up to stretch before laying down again.
"I'm going to show Mosspaw how to search you for ticks. Is that alright?" Spottedpaw asked Larksong.
"That's fine," she mumbled.
Spottedpaw positioned herself next to Larksong, and Mosspaw squeezed in beside her. "So you want to run your paws over her pelt, spreading the fur so you can see skin," she explained. "Ticks are often found in places where it's dark, and close to skin. So it's good to check the ears, neck, and behind the toes first."
Mosspaw nodded, repeating the information in her head and watching as Spottedpaw carefully went over the spots. She found a tick at the base of Larksong's neck, then bend over and crunched it with her teeth. Mosspaw suppressed a shudder.
"You crunch them like that. Now it's your turn."
Mosspaw gulped, then started searching through Larksong's fur. She found a tick at the base of her tail, and quickly leaned in to bite it. As soon as she did, Larksong flinched wildly and hissed. "You bit me!"
"Sorry!" Mosspaw exclaimed. "I didn't mean to."
"New apprentices can never get it right," she growled.
"Larksong, Mosspaw is still learning," Spottedpaw explained. "Please give us some patience. Mosspaw, try again."
Mosspaw continued searching through her pelt and worked up to her ears, where a fat one was burrowed in. Mosspaw held her breath and bit it, more carefully this time. Larksong flinched, but said nothing.
"That's better!" Spottedpaw encouraged. "Let's search the others."
The two cats searched the other elders for ticks, and Mosspaw steadily improved, though had a few slip ups. Spottedpaw went back over Mosspaw's cats and found a few remaining ticks that she didn't catch.
"Use that power carefully," Mosspaw," Goosefeather whisp- ered as she went over him. Mosspaw froze. "What?" is all she could choke out.
"Nothing has gone as it was supposed to," he growled. "And now StarClan has to atone for their mistakes."
Mosspaw stepped back, fur bristling. "Mosspaw?" Spottedpaw asked.
Goosefeather said nothing more and just rested his head back on his nest and closed his eyes. Mosspaw's eyes met Spottedpaw's.
"I- I think I'm done," Mosspaw stuttered.
"Me, too." Spottedpaw quickly went to leave the den. "Thank you for your patience, everyone."
The elder's exchanged murmurs as the two apprentices rushed out of the den. "What happened?" Spottedpaw asked, eyes wide. "Did you have another vision?"
"No- I just," Mosspaw stopped herself, suddenly aware of all the eyes on her. "Let's go back to the medicine den."
They entered the medicine clearing, where Featherwhisker was organizing herbs.
"Now tell me!" Spottedpaw mewed, almost yowling.
"What are you mewling about?" Featherwhisker asked, turning his head "What's going on?"
"Just... Goosefeather..." Mosspaw struggled to find the words. "He said to be careful with my power."
Featherwhisker's eyes went wide. "What does he mean?"
"I don't know!" Mosspaw wailed. "I was just checking him for ticks and he said that!"
Featherwhisker looked off in the distance, looking distracted. She muttered something under her breath and looked away. "Don't worry about it too much," he meowed eventually. "Goosefeather's always been... Yeah, just don't worry about it." He trailed off.
Mosspaw and Spottedpaw exchanged an anxious glance. "Let's get some fresh-kill," Spottedpaw suggested. "Or go find some herbs. Everything is fine, right? We should just go on as normal."
Mosspaw nodded, half paying attention to what the she-cat had said. She couldn't shake what Goosefeather had said.
What kind of harm could my power cause?
"Mosspaw?" Spottedpaw pressed. "What do you want to do?"
Mosspaw blinked. Her paws ached, and her eyes weighed down like stones. The thought of collecting herbs made her head spin. "Let's get some fresh-kill," she decided. What's gotten into me? Why am I so tired?
"Mosspaw!" Spottedpaw urged, standing by the entrance. "Come on."
Mosspaw followed her out of the medicine clearing. She saw Lionheart, Goldenflower, and Brindleface returning from a patrol, and Tigerclaw teaching battle moves to Redpaw under the Highrock. Bluefur and Oakheart were outside the warrior's den sharing a mouse. Bluefur looked up at Mosspaw and beckoned her with her tail.
"I'll be right back," Mosspaw meowed, separating from Spottedpaw. Spottedpaw nodded and Mosspaw padded over to her mother.
"Your pelt is a mess!" Bluefur gasped as Mosspaw approached. Mosspaw wriggled between her parents. "It's not that bad," she mewed.
"Are you alright?" Oakheart asked, licking her ears.
"I'm fine, just tired," Mosspaw insisted. She wished she could tell them more. No! She scolded herself. You can't tell anyone.
"Have the rest of this mouse," Oakheart offered. "I'm stuffed."
Mosspaw gratefully crouched down and took a bite out of the mouse. It was rich and overlain with the flavors of the forest. She gulped it down quickly, not realizing how hungry she had been.
"Really, Mosspaw, you can tell us anything." Bluefur leaned in closer to Mosspaw. "Is anything bothering you?"
Mosspaw sighed. "I just feel different from everyone else is all. I don't know what to do. The only cat I get along with other than Mistypaw and Stonepaw is Spottedpaw." She chose her words carefully, trying not to give anything away.
Bluefur and Oakheart exchanged a glance. "I felt that way too, when I was an apprentice." Bluefur meowed.
"You? No way," Mosspaw rolled her eyes. "Everyone likes you."
Bluefur stifled a purr. "I don't know if that's true," she meowed, whiskers twitching. "And it certainly hasn't always been that way."
"But what made you so different?" Mosspaw asked. Her mother seemed like she had it all- she was a powerful warrior, had a loving mate, and three strong, healthy kits. What more could she ask for?
Bluefur gave Oakheart a long look before looking back to Mosspaw. "Let's go on a walk," she mewed, standing and arching her back in a long stretch.
Not a walk! I feel like my paws are going to fall off!
"I'll stay here," Oakheart mewed. "I need to get some rest. I was on the dawn patrol."
Bluefur rested her tail on Mosspaw's back as they left the camp. They walked in silence for a bit, until the camp was out of sight.
"Are you sure there isn't anything you want to tell me?"
Mosspaw sighed. No! You can't! She told herself.
"Can I tell you a secret?" She held her breath, beginning to feel like she was in a dream.
"Of course," Bluefur mewed softly. "You can tell me anything."
Mosspaw looked away. "No..." she mumbled. "I can't."
"Then can I tell you one?" Bluefur asked, starting straight at her.
"Y-Yeah," Mosspaw mewed, surprised. What kind of secrets could her mother have? Her biggest secret had been Oakheart, and he had been in the Clan for moons.
"You know Goosefeather?"
Mosspaw's heart dropped. No! He couldn't have told her!
"He used to be our medicine cat, before Featherwhisker?" Bluefur pressed.
"Yeah," Mosspaw gulped. "I know him."
"When I was only a kit, he told me, "You are fire, and you will blaze through the forest.' I didn't know what it meant at the time."
Thank StarClan! He didn't tell her.
"What did he mean?" Mosspaw asked, trying to keep the relief out of her voice.
"It was a prophecy. I have yet to fulfill it, but I understand it better now. It made me feel like such an outsider. That I was the only cat in the Clan with a prophecy, and nobody else knew about it."
"Who knows now?" Interest piqued in Mosspaw's mew.
"Oakheart, and you." She sighed. "It's still hard sometimes. I feel like I have a great expectation on me, but I don't know how to meet it. But I know I can, and the prophecy was given to me for a reason. Oakheart helped me realize that."
Mosspaw thrust her head into her mother's fur. She stopped suddenly. "Are you alright, my dear?"
"Thank you," she mumbled. I'm not alone.
Her mother leaned over and licked her shoulder. "It's alright. Everything will be alright."