Mossdapple's Faith

Chapter 21

   Red and orange leaves littered the forest floor, damp and glittering with sunlight. The trees shone with sunhigh light, peeking through the branches and turning the leaves bright.

Mosspaw collected her bunch of yarrow under her jaw and began her walk back to camp. Dizziness flooded her as she stood. She pushed past it, determined to get the herbs back to the medicine den.

"Hey!"

Mosspaw turned her head to see Spottedleaf. She was trotting to catch up to her, her mouth filled with yellow flowers. She stopped beside Mosspaw.

"Walking back to camp?" she mumbled through the flowers.

"Yup," Mosspaw nodded.

"Let me walk with you."

The two started walking again, their paws crunching on the leaves.

"It's going to be a hard leaf-bare," Mosspaw sighed.

"How do you know?"

"StarClan. And it's already chilly."

"Right," Spottedleaf sighed. "As long as we aren't hit with greencough, we should be fine. Prey is still plentiful."

They arrived back at camp. Mosspaw was about to enter the medicine den to check on Sparrowpelt when a patrol entered the camp with something Mosspaw never thought she would see.

"Sunstar," she whispered, dropping her yarrow.

The bloody Clan leader was being dragged across the clearing, his eyes half open and glazed over. Bluefur was carrying him, her eyes misty with grief. Mosspaw ran up to her.

"Bluefur," she mewed, her voice squeaking. "What happened?"

"Dog," she mewed flatly. She released him in the center of the clearing. "He couldn't outrun it."

Mosspaw realized with guilt, heavy and overbearing, that the Clan leader had been more sick than he had let on. He had asked for herbs the day before, and Mosspaw hadn't asked any more questions.

I should never have let him go on patrol.

"Sunstar?"

Featherwhisker appeared alongside Spottedleaf behind Mosspaw. She moved so her mentor could see his brother.

"Sunstar, no," he whispered, dropping to his haunches. "No, no, no."

Bluefur blinked away her tears and hopped on to the highrock, calling for a Clan meeting.

"Cats of ThunderClan," she started. "Our leader, Sunstar, has died of a dog attack."

The air amongst the Clan was heavy and dull with grief. Sunstar was much beloved, and he would be dearly missed.

"I will leave to receive my nine lives shortly," Bluefur called to the Clan. "We will never forget Sunstar, but we must move on."

"ThunderClan!" a cat called.

"ThunderClan! ThunderClan!" more warriors joined in, until the whole Clan was chanting.

Bluefur hopped down from the Highrock. Mosspaw followed Spottedleaf to the nursery, where patches of mint and rosemary were growing. They picked them while Featherwhisker cleaned Sunstar's body, and then rubbed the herbs into his fur to hide the scent of death.

"Mosspaw, Spottedleaf," Featherwhisker mewed. "I need to take Bluefur to Highstones soon if we want to make it back before sunset. Will you finish here?"