Tigerstar's Family

Tigerpaw

Tigerpaw thudded along the path to camp, his tail dragging in the mud. He'd have to clean it off later so that mud didn't get in Mistpaw's nest, but right now he didn't feel like lifting the long, thin extremity. 

"Tigerpaw, you're back!" Nightpaw mewed, running at him. "It was awesome, Lionheart showed me around Fourtrees. Oaks are so tall, and wide, and big, and it was so cool!!!"

"Okay, geez, Nightpaw," he hissed. "Back off, you're in my fur." he wiped his tail on the ground and stalked off, grabbing a thrush from the fresh-kill pile.

A spirit appeared in front of him. It was a ginger tabby she-cat with cobalt blue eyes and a white muzzle. "Buzz off, ghosts," he muttered, flicking the spirit with his tail. He squatted at the edge of camp, near the tunnel, and starting eating his thrush. In the middle of his meal, he felt way too full, so he called out to Mistpaw.

"Hey Mistpaw?"

"Yeah Tigerpaw?"

"Could you finish this thrush for me? I'm full, you see," he explained.

"Yes, of course," Mistpaw mewed. Tigerpaw hurried off, but bumped into another ghost. This one was white, with grayish patches.

"Look after my granddaughter," it whispered. "The blue-furred one."

Tigerpaw veered away, and rushed over to Bluefur. 

"Can we go back to the Star Cave?" he mewed quietly.

"Why, Tigerpaw?" she replied. 

"Something about what Sw-"

"We do not tell others which StarClan cat we saw," she reprimanded him. "It is a rule of the Star Chasers. Please continue, though."

Tigerpaw didn't dare disobey his mentor, so he continued. "Something about what the StarClan cat said isn't adding up. May I visit again?"

"Very well," Bluefur meowed. "But you go alone this time. I will watch you through the gorse, or hide in nooks and crannies where you will not see me." Turning to the Clan, she meowed a bit louder. "Me and Tigerpaw want to squish in a hunting session. He is eager to bring prey back to the Clan." Bluefur let out a mrrow  of laughter, and waved her tail for him to follow.

Eagerly, he raced through the brambles towards the rows of stalagmites. He leapt along the path his mentor had shown him when there was an earsplitting crack. His heart stopped. Cautiously, he peered beneath his forepaws. A wide crack, at least a claw-length wide, ran between his paws. The left half of the stalagmite split off, tumbling into the void below. Tigerpaw stumbled, and fell.

His head pounded. He remembered the white ghost. The blue-furred one. The blue-furred one. The words rang in his mind. But no- he would never find the ghost's granddaughter - he would die. But then, Tigerpaw realized he was not falling. He was held up by a black ghost with cobalt blue eyes similar to those of the ginger tabby's.

"Rooktail," the ghost mewed, smiling. "Nice to meet you, Tigerpaw, son of Pineheart."

"I'm not Pinestar's son," Tigerpaw hissed. "He may have been my mother's mate, but no kittypet will ever be my father." He growled at the tom, who hauled him back up onto the stalagmite. 

"You can stand in my ghost, you know," the cat whispered. "It's uncomfortable, but it works. So just follow me. And whatever you do, don't let the feathers take you."

As Tigerpaw stepped into Rooktail's ghost, he understood what Rooktail had meant by feathers. A swarm of tingling, rushing pricks swarmed his body, like when blood rushed back into a numb paw. But he fought it, licking his flank and paws to keep the feathers from reaching. As he and Rooktail jumped as one, he found himself on the bank of the Star Cave. Rooktail smiled as his ghost rose into the sky. "See you in StarClan, Tigerstar," he called down. "Unless... unless I don't," he muttered, clearly to himself. But where else could you go besides StarClan?

Tigerpaw shook off the thought and strode into the Star Cave.