Lost Hope: Book 1: The New Star

Chapter 2

Dandelionkit was awoken by a rustling in the bramble wall. When he looked up, he saw two cats emerging through the entrance. Even though it was dark, he recognized them as his father Stonestream, and the medicine cat Starfur. Wait, he's Stonestar now, ins't he? Curious, Dandelionkit rose to his paws and swiftly padded over to them.

      "Dandelionkit?" his father had spotted him.

      Dandelionkit sat down beside him. "Are you Stonestar now?" he asked.

      "Yes," Stonestar let out a rumbling purr. He swept his tail around Dandelionkit. "What are you doing up, so late at night?" he asked.

      "I heard you and Starfur coming back," Dandelionkit responded. "I wanted to make sure you were leader now."

      "Well, I am," Stonestar meowed. "And you are supposed to be in the nursery," his voice was stern, but his eyes glinted with amusement in the moonlight. He grabbed Dandelionkit gently by his scruff and carried him back into the den. His mother and sister were peacefully sleepy. Stonestar set him down close to Burrowkit and gave him an affectionate lick on his forehead. "Goodnight," he whispered.

      "Goodnight," Dandelionkit said tiredly. Before he realized it, he was asleep.

***

Dandelionkit woke up the next morning, feeling more tired than usual. He suddenly remembered waking up in the middle of the night to see if Stonestar was leader. He yawned and stretched in his nest.

      "Morning, sleepyhead!" Burrowkit chirped from behind him. Dandelionkit saw that she was being groomed by their mother. She was being very fidgety.

"Oh, good morning," he said absently. He was watching the the outside. Stonestar was sharing some fresh-kill with Darkmoon as they chatted seriously about something. Straining, he caught a few snippets of their conversation like, "BrookClan. . . Crossing the border. . . Been very hostile. . . ." Bored, he stopped listening and focused on something else. He saw Starfur come stumbling into camp holding a large bundle of herbs.

      "Can I go help Starfur?" he asked his mother without turning around.

      "What? Oh sure," Honeyflower replied, in between licks. "But be quick about it, and make sure you stay with Starfur."

      "I will!" Dandelionkit said, as he bounded away toward the golden medicine cat. He slowed to a stop in front of her. "Can I help?" he asked, slightly out of breath.

Nodding, Starfur dropped some of her herbs and Dandelionkit picked them up. "Thanks," she mumbled around her mouthful.

"No problem!" Dandelionkit squeaked, smiling. He followed her into the medicine den. Starfur dropped her herbs in a pile, and Dandelionkit followed suit.

      "Now, these herbs are a mixer of water mint, fennel, and burnet." Starfur showed him each herb, and he tried his hardest to memorize all of them. "I want you to sort all of them into three piles." she told Dandelionkit.

"What are you going to do?" Dandelionkit asked as he began to pick out the leaves from the pile and started to put them in separate piles.

      "Phoenixwing was complaining about a belly ache earlier, I'm going to give her some water mint," Starfur said. She took some of the leaves from the pile he was separating, and left the den.

Dandelionkit watched her leave, then continued sorting the herbs. He was careful to examine each leaf closely before putting it in one of the other three piles. After awhile, he put the last piece of fennel into the appropriate pile. He grinned at his work. Starfur's going to be so proud! he thought. Then it occurred to him, It would be so fun to be a medicine cat! Maybe he should tell Stonestar. . . Or Honeyflower.

"Yeah, I'll do that," he said happily.