CHAPTER 3
Jayfeather closed his eyes, listening tothe leaves crunch1 as Leafpool padded away. He could sense starlight dancing on his pelt2. Far below, tiny waves splashed at the shore. Though he hated to admit it, Leafpool was right.
When he reached the Moonpool, Jayfeather called out hopefully. “Is anyone there?”
His mew echoed back, unanswered. He was alone.
Pushing away disappointment, he followed the dimpled path that spiraled down into the heart of the hollow. The wind whined3 overhead, worrying at the encircling rock like an abandoned kit4 searching for its mother. Jayfeather longed to feel the pelts5 of long-dead cats that used to jostle and hurry him down to the water’s edge. But there was no sign of the Ancients who had dented6 the stone with their pawsteps over so many generations. Jayfeather stopped alone at the water’s edge, hollow with a loneliness he’d never felt before. Closing his eyes, he crouched7 beside the Moonpool and touched his nose to the water.
“Jayfeather.”
Jayfeather sat up. He had expected to wake in the warm meadows of StarClan. But he was still in the hollow.
“Jayfeather.” A she-cat sat beside him.
He’d awoken into a vision; he could see her white pelt, spotted9 black along her flanks. Her pink nose stretched toward him, twitching10 as she sniffed11.
Jayfeather blinked at her. “Who are you?”
“Brambleberry of RiverClan.”
Brambleberry? Jayfeather suddenly recognized the pelt he’d seen often in StarClan’s hunting grounds. This was the gentle RiverClan medicine cat who tended to her Clan8 in the days before Leopardstar and Mistystar.
“Did Willowshine send you?” Jayfeather felt a flash of hope. Perhaps the RiverClan medicine cat was trying to communicate with him despite the rift12 between Clans13.
Brambleberry shook her head. “I came to appeal to your wisdom, not hers.”
“But you’re RiverClan.”
“So?” Starlight twinkled in Brambleberry’s round blue eyes. “The Clans are like honeysuckle. One tendril chokes the other to reach for the light, believing they grow from separate stems.”
“When the sun shines, young leaves fight for its warmth. The struggle makes the bush strong, each branch seeking out the light and climbing ever higher.” Brambleberry’s eyes darkened. “But when there is no sun, when the leaves begin to fall and the branches wither15 one by one, the stem must look to its roots for nourishment16.”
“So instead of four branches, there is one root,” Jayfeather murmured. “But how? The Clans have been divided since the beginning of time.”
“You have created your own boundaries, setting them and patrolling them.” Brambleberry tipped her head to one side. “But they exist only in your minds. Why else would you have to mark them each day with fresh scent17?”
Was she saying they should live as one Clan? Jayfeather frowned. “But we need boundaries,” he argued. “To grow strong. You said so.”
“Perhaps,” Brambleberry conceded. “When the sun shines.” She leaned closer. “But a great darkness is coming.”
Jayfeather shifted his paws. “But I don’t want to become mixed up with ShadowClan, or WindClan, or RiverClan.”
Brambleberry gazed at him softly. “You’re already half-Clan.”
“It was you who fixed19 your heart on ThunderClan,” Brambleberry insisted. “But you’re half-WindClan, just as Graystripe and Silverstream’s kits20 were half-RiverClan. And Stormfur’s heart beats for the Tribe now. Who knows where Feathertail’s loyalties21 would lie if she’d lived?” The old medicine cat dipped her head. “Loyalty22 makes Clan cats strong. But no Clan has pure blood running beneath every pelt.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Jayfeather’s tail twitched23. “Being half-Clan isn’t a sign of strength. It’s what happens when cats are disloyal.” He unsheathed his claws. “It’s what happens when they betray the warrior24 code!”
Brambleberry’s gaze hardened. “Are you listening to me?” she growled25. “Or are you too busy worrying about whether your blood smells of forest or moorland?” She snorted. “The Clans must unite! Don’t look for boundaries that aren’t there. Look for the ones that are.”
Wind spiraled down into the hollow and set the Moonpool rippling27. Jayfeather turned and saw its surface color and change until it reflected a landscape. A circle of water shone at its center, surrounded by hills and trees.
“It’s the lake!” he gasped28. “And there’s ThunderClan territory!” He gazed at the bright green forest. This must be how an eagle would see the Clans’ territories. Jayfeather squinted29, trying to make out more detail.
“It’s too far away.” Jayfeather could only see one landscape blending into another, the gentle slope of valleys and glittering trails cut by rivers and streams.
“This is how StarClan sees your home,” Brambleberry explained. “We see the beauty of it and the richness. We don’t see which tree belongs to which Clan. Don’t look for boundaries that aren’t there…”
“…look for the boundaries that are.”Jayfeather echoed her words, searching the landscape again. “But where are they?”
Brambleberry touched his cheek with her tail-tip, guiding his gaze back to her. “The only true borders lie between day and night, between life and death, between hope and loss.”
Jayfeather stared at the medicine cat. “So why is StarClan telling us to stay inside our territories, to listen only to our Clanmates?” he asked.
Brambleberry shifted her paws. “We can’t see your lands anymore,” she confessed. Her gaze flashed toward the pool. “It’s all dark to us now and we are frightened.”
Jayfeather whisked his tail. “What can I do?”
“Make them see!”
“The Clans?”
“StarClan!”
“Why can’t you do it?”
“I wasn’t born with the power of the stars in my paws!” Brambleberry turned and began to follow the curving path out of the hollow. “Make them understand that the Clans must fight together or die divided.”
“Wait!” Jayfeather dashed after her. “How can I convince them?”
Brambleberry glanced back. “You already know the answer.” Her voice echoed as she reached the edge of the hollow. “Three must become four to save all the Clans.”
Jayfeather stared as her white pelt vanished into the darkness. He glanced back at the Moonpool. It reflected only the starlit sky. Blinking, he tried to wake from his vision, and the hollow disappeared. Relieved, Jayfeather welcomed back his blindness.
Then something flashed at the edge of his vision.
I’m not blind! I’m still dreaming!
Shapes moved around him. Trees towered on every side. Darkness clung to everything.
“You won’t see us coming,” a voice whispered in his ear.
Jayfeather jerked away. A pelt brushed against him from the other side. Terrified, he turned, trying to see who was there. But the shapes kept moving, too dark to make out.
“There is nothing you can do to prevent it.”
I know that voice!He tasted the air, the scent curling his tongue. He’d met this cat before, in the Dark Forest with Yellowfang. “Brokenstar?”
Jayfeather lifted his chin. “We’re ready for you!”
“Really?” The eyes blinked. “I think some of your Clanmates are more ready than you know.”
“Listen.”
Jayfeather pricked his ears.
“Line up!” Somewhere in the trees, a tom was hissing36 orders. “Unsheathe your claws and prepare to attack!”
“They’re training,” Brokenstar explained.
“Which attack move do we use?”
“The throat grip might work.” That was Birchfall!
“Not straight for the throat!” Breezepelt of WindClan snarled38. “Death shouldn’t come too quickly. We must terrify our enemies before we kill them.”
“First scare them, then scarthem.”
“Nice one, Icewing.” Beetlewhisker congratulated his Clanmate.
This was worse than Jayfeather had imagined. We’ve lost so many to the darkness!Jayfeather thought in horror. The Clans mustfight as one, more fiercely than ever before, if they were going to defeat the Dark Forest army.
Pelts brushed bushes, fur snagging on thorns. Paws thrummed the ground. They’re coming!Jayfeather unsheathed his claws as he heard cats approaching swiftly through the trees. Hawkfrost broke from the shadows first. Behind him raced ranks of warriors40, lean and low to the ground. Jayfeather scanned their faces. He recognized no one. He saw only eyes glittering with cruelty. These were different cats, Dark Forest warriors. They streamed toward him, teeth bared.
Jayfeather tried to run but his paws were frozen. As the first wave flooded around him, buffeting41 him, growls42 rumbling43 from every throat, Jayfeather blinked open his eyes.
He was blind again. The Moonpool lapped at his nose. With relief he felt smooth rock beneath his paws. His pelt was drenched44 with stinking45 dew, his breath fast as he struggled to his feet.
A voice startled him. “Jayfeather?”
“Mothwing?” Still struggling to push away his vision, Jayfeather tasted the air. The cold stone tang of the hollow was warmed by the scent of the RiverClan medicine cat.
“Are you all right?” Her whiskers brushed his cheeks as she leaned close.
“I’m fine.” Jayfeather shook his pelt and frowned. Why was Mothwing here? Although she was skilled with herbs and could treat any sickness, she had no connection with StarClan. She’d stopped coming to the half-moon Gatherings46 ages ago, letting her apprentice47, Willowshine, share tongues with RiverClan’s ancestors instead.
“Are you the only one who came?” she meowed.
Jayfeather sat down. “Yes.”
“Willowshine refused.” Mothwing padded to the edge of the pool and Jayfeather heard her sniffing48 the water. “What is going on with StarClan? Willowshine told me they’d ordered her to stay away from the other medicine cats.” Her paws scuffed49 the stone as she turned to face Jayfeather. “It doesn’t make sense. Our shared code helps the Clans fight sickness. In the past it’s helped keep the peace.”
Jayfeather fixed his blind gaze on her. “Our code is no longer enough. StarClan is frightened.”
Surprise pulsed from Mothwing. “Of what?”
“The Dark Forest.” Jayfeather wondered whether to share what he knew. If Mothwing didn’t believe her ancestors lived on in the stars, she certainly wouldn’t believe in a forest filled with wicked cats. And yet, perhaps her lack of belief might be helpful. She couldn’t be touched by either StarClan or the Dark Forest warriors.
What if she’s the fourth cat!
Mothwing padded around him. “Willowshine says there will be a battle between StarClan and the Dark Forest.”
“She’s right,” Jayfeather meowed. “But when it comes, it won’t be just in our dreams; it’ll be real.It’ll be fought between living warriors on Clan territory.”
Mothwing halted. “How can that be?”
“The Dark Forest warriors have been training Clan cats as they sleep.” Jayfeather waited for disbelief to cloud Mothwing’s thoughts but, though fear sparked beneath her pelt, her mind was like a wide-open sky.
Jayfeather pricked his ears. “Who?”
“Hollowflight, Icewing—”
“What about Beetlewhisker?”
Mothwing shifted her paws. “How did you know?”
Jayfeather ignored her question. There wasn’t time. “We need to unite the Clans.” He began to pace. “The battle won’t be fought over boundaries this time. Our very survival will be at stake.”
Mothwing’s breath quickened. “What can I do to help?”
Her offer sent a rush of hope through Jayfeather, but he knew he had to be honest. “Hawkfrost is involved.”
“My brother?” Mothwing’s tail swished over the rock. “How?”
“He has chosen darkness over light.”
Grief flared51 from Mothwing but she pushed it away. “I am not my brother,” she declared. “I have always chosen a different path from him. My loyalty is to living Clanmates, not dead littermates.”
“So you’d fight him if you had to?”
“Fight him? He’s already dead!”
“But the living and dead are training together to destroy the Clans!” Jayfeather pictured his Clanmates training in the Dark Forest. They can’t know what they’re doing, surely? No cat could persuade Birchfall or Blossomfall to harm their Clanmates!“They are using our own Clanmates against us.”
Mothwing’s paws scuffed on the stone. “How will we know who to trust?”
Jayfeather let out a slow breath. “We won’t until the battle begins. But if we can stop StarClan from driving the Clans apart, we stand a chance of winning.”
“I can’t help you change what dead cats do,” Mothwing meowed. “But I might be able to help guide the living ones. I’ll try to persuade Willowshine to visit the Moonpool again.”
“Will she listen to you over StarClan?”
Mothwing paused. “I don’t know. But I have to try.” Jayfeather felt the RiverClan cat’s determination tingling52 beneath her pelt. “And if I think of a way to make the other medicine cats listen, I’ll come and find you.” Her breath touched his muzzle53 as she leaned closer. “You’re not alone anymore, Jayfeather.” She turned and padded up the spiraling path out the hollow. “Are you coming?”
Jayfeather followed. Mothwing was the last cat he imagined would help him fight the Dark Forest. But perhaps she was the only cat who could.
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1
crunch
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| n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声 | |
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pelt
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| v.投掷，剥皮，抨击，开火 | |
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whined
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| v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨 | |
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kit
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| n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物 | |
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pelts
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| n. 皮毛，投掷, 疾行 vt. 剥去皮毛，（连续）投掷 vi. 猛击，大步走 | |
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6
dented
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| v.使产生凹痕( dent的过去式和过去分词 )；损害；伤害；挫伤（信心、名誉等） | |
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crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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clan
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| n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派 | |
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spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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twitching
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| n.颤搐 | |
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sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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rift
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| n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入 | |
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clans
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| 宗族( clan的名词复数 )； 氏族； 庞大的家族； 宗派 | |
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pricked
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| 刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛 | |
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15
wither
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| vt.使凋谢，使衰退，(用眼神气势等)使畏缩；vi.枯萎，衰退，消亡 | |
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16
nourishment
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| n.食物，营养品；营养情况 | |
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scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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spiked
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| adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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kits
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| 衣物和装备( kit的名词复数 )； 成套用品； 配套元件 | |
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21
loyalties
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| n.忠诚( loyalty的名词复数 )；忠心；忠于…感情；要忠于…的强烈感情 | |
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loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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23
twitched
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| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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24
warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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25
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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26
growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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rippling
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| 起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的 | |
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gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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29
squinted
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| 斜视( squint的过去式和过去分词 )； 眯着眼睛； 瞟； 从小孔或缝隙里看 | |
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30
flicked
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| （尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的过去式和过去分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等） | |
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31
spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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amber
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| n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的 | |
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taunted
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| 嘲讽( taunt的过去式和过去分词 )； 嘲弄； 辱骂； 奚落 | |
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stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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spine
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| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
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36
hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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37
bushed
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| adj.疲倦的 | |
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38
snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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39
shred
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| v.撕成碎片，变成碎片；n.碎布条，细片，些少 | |
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40
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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41
buffeting
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| 振动 | |
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42
growls
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的第三人称单数 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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43
rumbling
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| n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词 | |
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44
drenched
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| adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体） | |
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45
stinking
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| adj.臭的，烂醉的，讨厌的v.散发出恶臭( stink的现在分词 )；发臭味；名声臭；糟透 | |
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46
gatherings
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| 聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集 | |
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47
apprentice
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| n.学徒，徒弟 | |
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48
sniffing
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| n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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49
scuffed
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| v.使磨损( scuff的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚走 | |
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50
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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51
Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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52
tingling
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| v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 ) | |
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53
muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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