Chapter 8

Swirlstem leaped up the path to Curlstar’s den, Spiralpaw on her heels. She stopped at the entrance to catch her breath. They had run all the way back to camp from the climbing clearing.

“Curlstar?” Swirlstem called. “We need to speak with you.”

“Come in,” Curlstar replied impatiently. “If it’s urgent you should be able to barge in whenever you need to!”

Swirlstem ducked into the den with Spiralpaw. Curlstar was sitting in her nest, her gray-and-white tail wrapped neatly around her paws. “Thank you,” the ThunderClan leader meowed. “It gets so lonely in here.”

“You could go out,” Swirlstem suggested.

“I already have!” Curlstar exclaimed. “Honestly, sometimes being a leader is really boring.” She sat up straighter and her yellow eyes became serious. “So what is it? You two look like you’ve just seen the most horrible thing ever.”

“Well, we went out into the forest,” Swirlstem told her.

“On your own?” Curlstar yelped. “What? Didn’t I say that every cat is confined to camp unless you join a patrol?”

“Spiralpaw forced me to,” Swirlstem explained. “I don’t know why, but she kind of dragged me out of my den and just ran out into the forest, so I had to follow her.”

“I felt like it,” Spiralpaw hissed. “I had a weird feeling that was forcing me to go into the forest!”

“We had a vision,” Swirlstem cut in. “We were drowning in water.”

“And a kit was also drowning next to us,” Spiralpaw added. “I couldn’t really make out how it looked like, though.”

“Are you sure it was a vision?” Curlstar asked.

“Yes!” Spiralpaw meowed exasperatedly. “Everyone should know that my visions are real! I’ve proven it already!”

“Of course, Spiralpaw,” Curlstar replied patiently. “We’ll try to figure out what it means.” She tilted her head, thinking. “So you were drowning, with a kit,” she meowed.

“Yes,” Spiralpaw answered. “I think the kit might be important. Maybe the vision was showing something in the future. And we have to stop it.”

“Or it could be the past,” Swirlstem suggested. “Something in the past that happened that will help us in the future?”

“A kit…” Curlstar murmured, as though lost in a reverie.

“A ThunderClan kit?” Spiralpaw mewed. “There’s so many, though. Maybe one from the other Clans? Why is this so hard? Can’t StarClan just tell us the answer, not give us some vague interpretation?”

Curlstar suddenly rose to her paws. Spiralpaw and Swirlstem turned toward her. “I think it’s Rubykit,” the gray-and-white tabby announced.

“Rubykit?” Swirlstem echoed. “Why?”

“I’ve always sensed something special about her,” Curlstar muttered. She padded forward and sat down with them. “Every time I went into the nursery, even when I was an apprentice. There was just something…different.”

“Yeah,” Spiralpaw breathed. “Me, too! When I was a kit, Nightstar told me to watch over her. Maybe she already knew something about her then.”

But Rubykit…she’s still too young right now, Swirlstem thought uncertainly. “So we’re sure it’s Rubykit?” she asked. “Then what does this have to do with drowning?”

“I think,” Curlstar meowed slowly, “she’s supposed to be the—”

“—next medicine cat,” Spiralpaw finished, her blue eyes suddenly blazing. “I know, I know, I know all this already! Come on, guys! We’ve been stuck at the same spot for ages now, trying to keep Bubble away, seeking out the next medicine cat, when there was already a clue that it’s Rubykit! And where have we gotten with Bubble? Nowhere! We just fought a battle with her, two cats died for nothing, and we’re not even thinking of gathering a large patrol of cats to find Bubble’s camp and end this whole thing!”

“Spiralpaw,” Curlstar mewed in a calm but stern voice. “Out.”

The anger in Spiralpaw’s eyes turned into guilt. “I—I’m sorry,” she stammered. “I didn’t mean to—”

“That’s not the reason,” Curlstar meowed softly. “Swirlstem and I need to talk alone.”

“I—”

“Now!”

Spiralpaw dipped her head and backed out of the den, trembling all the way.

Swirlstem turned back to her sister. “Okay, so…should we tell Rubykit that she’s supposed to be the next medicine cat? I don’t know if it’s a good idea for her to know at such a young age.”

Curlstar nodded. “Then we will keep it to ourselves.”

“Until the time is right.”

“Until it’s the right time,” Curlstar agreed. “There’s another problem, though.”

“She won’t have a mentor,” Swirlstem guessed.

“Exactly,” Curlstar mewed. “We might have to borrow a medicine cat from another Clan.”

“WindClan is the only available Clan,” Swirlstem added. “They have two medicine cats.”

Curlstar sighed. “I guess we’ll have to see how this turns out. Go get some prey and rest,” she ordered. “It’s nearly dusk.”

Swirlstem licked her sister’s ears, then dipped her head. She turned and padded out of the den, one thought spiraling in her mind over and over again. How will this turn out?

 

Swirlstem rolled over in her nest again. She couldn’t sleep. Even though her body was aching with tiredness from the day’s events, she couldn’t stop her mind from going back to thinking of their problems. Bubble. No medicine cat. How are we going to use our powers to help?

She shifted again, which woke Lilyflame, a few nests away from her. The gray she-cat was probably the lightest sleeper in the Clan. And the most paranoid, as far as Swirlstem could tell.

“Can’t sleep?” Lilyflame hissed quietly.

Swirlstem pushed herself to her paws. “I’ll go for a walk,” she murmured, heading out of the den.

She padded to the center of the camp and sat down, closing her eyes and breathing in the scent of the night air. She sat still for a few moments, letting the silence calm her. Then she pricked her ears, alert. There were pawsteps coming from the leader’s den.

Swirlstem glanced toward her sister’s den and glimpsed a shadow scurrying out from the leader’s den, into the thorn tunnel, and disappeared into the forest. Realization slammed into her like a giant block of ice. She immediately bolted toward the den, fear coursing through her.

Swirlstem burst into the leaders den and rushed to Curlstar’s nest. No. She heart dropped. No! She put a gentle paw on her sister’s limp form and felt no heartbeat.

Suddenly she had no more strength to even stand. Swirlstem collapsed where she was, half lying on her sister. Only two words rang in her mind, and a desperate feeling washed over her.

Not again.