CHAPTER 15

Bluestar stood and began to pad toward Mothermouth.

Tigerclaw walked beside her, matching her strides step for

step.

“Come on, Ravenpaw! ” cal ed Graypaw. Ravenpaw was

stil sitting on the rock, staring up at the rocks. At Graypaw’s

mew, he stood and began to fol ow slowly. Firepaw realized

his friend had hardly said a word the whole journey. Is he

just worried about ShadowClan, or is there something else

troubling him? Firepaw wondered.

It took the cats only a few moments to reach

Mothermouth. Firepaw stood on the threshold and peered

inside. The blackness beyond the stone archway was

darker than the cloudiest night. Firepaw narrowed his eyes,

trying to see where the tunnel led, but he couldn’t see a

thing.

Beside him, Graypaw and Ravenpaw craned their

heads nervously around the entrance. Even Tigerclaw

seemed unsettled by the black hole ahead of them. “How

wil we find our way in such darkness? ” he asked.

“I wil know the way, ” answered Bluestar. “Just fol ow my

scent. Ravenpaw and Graypaw, you wil remain on guard

outside. Firepaw, you wil accompany me and Tigerclaw to

the Moonstone. ”

Firepaw felt a thril jolt through him. What an honor!

Firepaw glanced sideways at Tigerclaw. The warrior sat

with his chin boldly raised, but Firepaw could detect a

subtle fear-scent coming from him. It grew stronger as

Bluestar stepped forward into the blackness.

Tigerclaw shook his mighty head and padded after

Bluestar. With a brief nod to the other apprentices, Firepaw

fol owed.

Inside the cave, his eyes stil detected nothing. The

complete and utter blackness felt strange, but he was

surprised to find that he wasn’t frightened. His eagerness to

discover what lay ahead was stronger.

The cold, damp air reached through his thick fur and into

his bones, stiffening his muscles. Even the coldest nights

did not hold the same chil as the air here. This ground has

never known the warmth of the sun, thought Firepaw,

feeling the rock smooth like ice beneath his paws. Freezing

air fil ed his lungs with each breath, until he felt light-

headed.

He fol owed Bluestar and Tigerclaw through the

darkness, judging his way by scent and feel alone. They

were walking along a tunnel that sloped down and down,

winding first one way and then the other. Firepaw’s

whiskers brushed the side of the cave, tel ing him where to

walk and where to turn. His nose told him that Bluestar and

Tigerclaw were only a tail-length ahead of him.

On and on they went. How far have we come? Firepaw

wondered. Then he felt a tingle in his whiskers. The air in

his nostrils seemed fresher than before. He sniffed again,

relieved to smel the familiar world above. He could smel

peat, and prey, and the scent of heather. There must be a

hole somewhere in the roof of the tunnel. “Where are we? ”

he mewed into the darkness.

“We have entered the cavern of the Moonstone, ” came

Bluestar’s soft reply. “Wait here. It wil be moonhigh soon. ”

Firepaw folded his hind legs under him on the chil y

stone floor and waited. He could hear the steady breathing

of Bluestar and the more rapid, fear-scented panting of

Tigerclaw.

Suddenly, in a flash more blinding than the setting sun,

the cave was lit up. Firepaw’s eyes were wide open after

the blackness of the tunnel. He closed them quickly against

the cold, white light. Then slowly he opened them into tiny

slits and peered ahead.

He saw a gleaming rock, which glittered as if it were

made from countless dewdrops. The Moonstone! Firepaw

looked around. In the cold light reflected from the stone, he

could make out the shadowy edges of a high-roofed

cavern. The Moonstone rose up from the middle of the floor,

three tail-lengths high.

Bluestar was staring upward, her fur bleached white in

the glow of the Moonstone. Even Tigerclaw’s dark pelt

shone silver. Firepaw fol owed Bluestar’s gaze. High in the

roof was an opening that revealed a narrow triangle of night

sky. The moon was casting a beam of light through the

hole, down onto the Moonstone, making it sparkle like a

star.

Beside him, Firepaw smel ed Tigerclaw’s fear-scent

growing, until it became overpowering. Firepaw felt

startled. Could the warrior see something else here,

something dangerous? He saw a flash of movement, felt fur

rush past him, and heard the fleeing pawsteps of Tigerclaw

racing back to the entrance.

“Firepaw? ” Bluestar’s voice was quiet and calm.

“I’m stil here, ” he answered nervously. What had

frightened Tigerclaw?

“Bluestar? ” Firepaw mewed again when she didn’t

answer. His heart was beating fast, making the blood roar

in his ears.

“It is al right, young warrior; don’t be afraid, ” Bluestar

murmured. Her calm voice settled him a little. “I think

Tigerclaw was surprised by the power of the Moonstone. In

the world above, Tigerclaw is a fearless and mighty warrior,

but down here, where the spirits of StarClan speak, a cat

needs a different kind of strength. What do you feel,

Firepaw? ”

Firepaw sniffed the air deeply, and forced his body to

relax. “Only my own curiosity, ” he admitted.

“That is good, ” Bluestar replied.

Firepaw looked back at the Moonstone. His eyes had

gotten used to its light and he was no longer dazzled.

Instead, it soothed him. With a twitch of his tail, he

remembered his dream. This was the bril iant bal of light he

had seen!

Spel bound, Firepaw watched as Bluestar padded up to

the stone and lay down beside it. She reached her head

forward and touched the Moonstone with her nose. Her blue

eyes sparkled with its reflection for a moment before she

closed them. Now she rested her head on her paws, her

eyelids flickering, her paws twitching occasional y. Was

she sleeping? Then Firepaw remembered Graypaw’s

words: “new leaders have to sleep near the stone, and as

they sleep, they have special dreams. ”

He waited. The chil was not so intense here, but stil he

found himself shivering. He had no idea how much time had

passed, but suddenly the rock stopped glowing. The cavern

was plunged into darkness once more. Firepaw looked up

to the opening in the roof of the cavern. The moon had

passed on, out of sight. Al that remained were tiny stars

shimmering in blackness.

Firepaw could just make out the pale shape of his

leader, lying beside the Moonstone. He wanted to cal out

her name, but did not dare break the silence.

After more endless moments, she spoke to him.

“Firepaw? Are you stil there? ” Her voice sounded remote

and agitated.

“Yes, Bluestar. ” Firepaw heard Bluestar’s pawsteps

approaching.

“Hurry, ” she hissed. He felt her fur brush past him. “We

must return to camp. ”

Firepaw raced after her, astonished by the speed with

which she rushed through the blackness. He fol owed her

scent blindly, up and up the stone tunnel, until she led him

safely back to the outside world.

Tigerclaw was waiting at the opening beside Graypaw

and Ravenpaw as Bluestar and Firepaw climbed out of the

cave. His expression was cold and his fur was slightly

ruffled, but he sat motionless and dignified.

“Tigerclaw. ” Bluestar greeted him but did not mention

the warrior cat’s flight from the depths.

Tigerclaw relaxed a little. “What did you learn? ”

“We must return to camp immediately, ” Bluestar

meowed briefly.

Firepaw saw a look of desperation in his leader’s eyes.

Now the horror of his dream forced its way back into his

memory: the fleeing cats; the great, dark warriors; the ear-

splitting wail of distress. Firepaw tried to ignore the cold

fear that gripped his muscles, and fol owed Bluestar as she

and the others raced down the dark slope away from

Mothermouth. Was his nightmare vision about to come

true?