𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐧 #3: 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐭

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄

Dovesong curled up in her nest and tucked her nose under her tail. That day, Gorseberry reluctantly decided he couldn't be a mentor anymore. Frozenfang took his place and was now mentoring Icepaw instead. She had promised she would do her very best. She was also really excited to finally be trusted enough to be a mentor.

But that seemed like the happiest part of the day. Not that anything was particularly happy about the day. Dovesong couldn't stop thinking about the sudden change of events with Gorseberry. It was bad enough that she had to live with the knowledge that Shadowheart had died. But now Gorseberry couldn't do something as simple as talking, and Dovesong was devastated, just as a lot of the cats in her Clan were.

When Dovesong finally slid into sleep after what seemed like moons of just laying there, wide awake, she found herself in StarClan's forest. Her heart leaped with joy.

Dovesong turned around when she heard someone come into the clearing. It was Shadowheart. "You're here! You made it to StarClan." She breathed a sigh of relief. She couldn't bear knowing that Shadowheart was somewhere besides StarClan, but now she knew he wasn't.

Shadowheart dipped his head in thanks. "I did. It's much more peaceful here," he added with a humorous twitch of his whiskers. "I got to see Tawnyflight again."

"How is she?" Dovesong asked, her heart bursting with joy for the older tom. He had been longing to see Tawnyflight again. She knew because of the wistful glimmer in his eyes that he had whenever he talked about Tawnyflight.

"She's doing well. She was impressed I made it this far," he added.

Dovesong purred with amusement. "That's good. I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I . . . I told your kits. So they know. But it hurt so much to tell them. To see the grief in their eyes."

Shadowheart's gaze darkened. "Well, at least they know. Be sure to tell them where I am next time you see them. I thought all MoonClan cats didn't go to StarClan, and I'm sure they believe it too."

Dovesong nodded. "I'll be sure to."

"Thank you." Shadowheart dipped his head again. Then he looked at Dovesong with such an intense look that she shuffled her paws nervously. "Dovesong, time is running out for you to go."

"Go where?" Dovesong was pretty sure she knew where, but she wanted to be assured that she was going the right way.

"Trust yourself," was all Shadowheart responded with. And with that, he disappeared.

***

"We have to go," Spottedsong heard Dovesong tell Badgertooth quickly. The two medicine cats were in the back of the medicine den, while Spottedsong visited Gorseberry in the front. "Now."

Badgertooth's tone was surprised. "Why now? Who's going to take care of Gorseberry?"

"One of us can go, one of us can stay," Dovesong replied.