"Who are you?" Cinderpaw's eyes grew round as she stared at Graystripe. "He was ThunderClan's deputy before you were born," Firestar told her. "Graystripe?" Cinderpaw guessed, tipping her head to one side. "Graystripe!" Poppypaw echoed excitedly. Cinderpaw ran in an excited circle. "Can I tell Cloudtail? Oh, please?" Without waiting for an answer, she charged toward the warriors' den, calling her mentor's name. Cloudtail appeared at the den entrance, his sleep-ruffled pelt glowing in the moonlight. "What's the matter, Cinderpaw?" he complained. "Graystripe is back!" Brackenfur pushed past Cloudtail and stood outside the den.
"Graystripe?" He stared, blinking, across the clearing, then raced toward his old friend. "Graystripe's back!" Cloudtail yowled. As he bounded over to greet his Clanmate, Stormfur and Whitewing burst from the den, mewing excitedly. "I thought I'd never see you again," Brackenfur murmured, touching muzzles with Graystripe. "Firestar was right!" Stormfur added, pushing past Brackenfur. "He told us you'd find your way back!" Graystripe stared at Stormfur—his son—in astonishment. "Do you live with ThunderClan now?"
"What's all this noise?" Mousefur's grumpy mew sounded as the old she-cat squeezed stiffly out through the tangled entrance of the elders' den. Longtail appeared behind her, his blind eyes staring blankly ahead. He sniffed the air. Even in the moon's dim light, Hollypaw saw the fur prick along his spine. "I smell Graystripe," he meowed. "Graystripe?" Mousefur scoffed. "You're dreaming."
"He's not dreaming," Firestar promised. Graystripe pushed his way out through the knot of warriors in the centre of the clearing. "It really is me," he meowed. "Great StarClan!" Mousefur raced over to Graystripe and ran her tail along his flank. "How in Silverpelt did you find us?" Sandstorm stepped forward. "It's a long story that can wait till morning," she meowed softly. Awww. This welcoming is so adorable! "Graystripe and Millie are exhausted."
"Millie?" Mousefur glanced at the stranger standing beside Graystripe. "Millie helped me make the journey here," Graystripe explained. "She is my mate now." Mousefur narrowed her eyes. Well, ...it was. Warriors were not supposed to find mates outside their Clan, and certainly not kittypet mates. But Mousefur only dipped her head to Millie. "Still breaking the rules, I see, Graystripe," she mewed. Hollypaw flicked the tip of her tail uneasily. The Clan seems ready to accept Millie, but what does StarClan think about it?
I glanced at Firestar. Having a leader with kittypet roots means it's okay. The most important thing was that Millie had proved herself a warrior by helping Graystripe find his way back to the Clan. They had both survived, and that must mean StarClan approved of her. A shadow by the warriors' den caught my eye. Brook had woken up. The mountain cat padded over to Stormfur and murmured in his ear. I sniffed. Millie has an infected wound. Better tell Leafpool. Jaypaw emerged from the apprentices' den, his nose twitching. "What's going on?" I bounded over to him happily. It was good to see Jaypaw again. "Graystripe's back!" Jaypaw turned his sightless gaze toward Graystripe and Millie. "Who's with him?"
"His new mate," Cinderpaw explained. "From the Twolegplace." Jaypaw wrinkled his nose. "Well, tell Leafpool she's got an infected wound. I can smell it from here."
"I know, I just realised."
"Brambleclaw!" Firestar called to his deputy. "Find nests for Graystripe and Millie in the warriors' den." Brambleclaw padded away with a nod. "Graystripe's not as big as I imagined," Cinderpaw whispered. "He looks small next to Brambleclaw."
"He smells of crow food," Jaypaw mewed.
"He must have been eating like a loner for moons," Lionpaw pointed out. "Once he starts eating like a warrior again, he won't seem so small." Whitewing looked uneasily at Squirrelflight. "What will happen now? Who is our deputy?" Squirrelflight's gaze flicked anxiously from Graystripe to the warriors' den entrance, where Brambleclaw had disappeared. I'm confident that Brambleclaw will stay our deputy. Definitely. "I don't know."
Firestar gazed steadily at his Clanmates. "Nothing is going to change right now. We should just be grateful that Graystripe has returned to his Clan." There! I thought so.
"There's no room in the den for two new nests," Brambleclaw informed Firestar, returning. "One, maybe, but that's all."
"It doesn't matter where we sleep, but I want to stay with Millie," Graystripe mewed. "You shall," Firestar promised. "We were going to expand the den anyway."
"We'd rather sleep separately from the others at first," Graystripe told him. "Just till we get used to being around so many cats again."
"There's an alcove behind the warriors' den," Brightheart suggested. "The ground is grassy there, so it's soft."
"And there are plenty of brambles left from when we cleared the entrance to the medicine den," Leafpool put in. "If we arranged them in front, the alcove would be sheltered." Firestar looked at Graystripe. "You'd prefer this?" The grey warrior nodded. Hollypaw jumped to her paws.
"Brackenfur, Cloudtail, and Brambleclaw," Firestar called, "start moving the brambles."
"Yes, Firestar." Brambleclaw hurried away to the browned and brittle brambles pushed into the shadows beside the medicine den. Brackenfur and Cloudtail followed. "Can I help?" Cinderpaw begged. Brackenfur stopped and turned, ready to answer, but Cinderpaw was already hurtling toward him. She careened into him, and fell backward, tumbling tail over whiskers. "Sorry, Brackenfur!" she mewed, scrambling to her feet, her eyes filled with dismay. Brackenfur purred at his daughter. "You're always a tail length ahead of yourself, Cinderpaw," he meowed. "You remind me of my sister when she was an apprentice." "Come on, Cinderpaw!" Cloudtail called. "Help me drag this bramble over to the alcove."
"Sorry," Cinderpaw mewed again and raced over to help her mentor. By the time dawn broke over the camp, spilling pinks and oranges over the cloud-dappled sky, the den was finished. With a sleepy nod of thanks, Graystripe and Millie padded inside. On the other side of the clearing, Sandstorm and Spiderleg were leading Honeypaw and Mousepaw out of the camp on the dawn patrol. Brambleclaw and Cloudtail headed to their den to sleep. Hollypaw stayed with Leafpool outside the makeshift den.
"Should I fetch them some herbs?" I heard Hollypaw's offer. "Seafern and Jaypaw said that Millie's got an infected wound."
"How did they know?" Leafpool looked at her in surprise. Hollypaw shrugged. "They smelled it."
I walked over to Jaypaw and gave him a nudge. "What do you say about sleep?" I mumbled. "Nice. I'm too tired to think. Come on." Jaypaw responded. I followed him into the den and watched him fall into sleep as I lay on my nest, my head on my paws. I didn't feel like sleep. I couldn't sleep. Nothing was bothering me, I just couldn't keep my eyes closed. I sat up, deciding to move to the darker side of the den for the night. I lay down again and sighed. "You good?" Asked a gentle voice in the dark. I pricked up my ears. "What?" I asked. A dark shape in the den around me padded to my side and lay down on a nearby nest. "I asked if you were okay. I heard you sigh."
"You were eavesdropping?"
"No, I just heard you sigh 'cause I was awake and kinda bored. You?"
"Oh, very funny. Yes, I guess I'm bored, and I'm not tired either."
"Hm. Same here. My name is Featherpaw. I don't know who you are cause it's dark"
"I'm Seafern. Originally called Sea."
"Ah, you're Firestar's favourite."
"Am not!"
"To everyone else you are"
"No, you don't get it. He prefers Moonpaw over me, I promise. He's just interested in my past"
"You're past?"
"Please don't talk about it. It's even hard for me to unravel my past."
I saw Featherpaw's sea-blue eyes in the dark. "Oh. I'm sorry. I'm not quite sure who my parents are either. I think I'm a Riverclan cat, but something happened in the past, and they kicked me out or something, and I ended up here. I was only 5 moons then." I gazed sadly at him. "That's so sad..." But he shrugged. "Well, I don't really remember my parents or littermates or If I had any, but I accept Thunderclan as my true home. Riverclan may not conquer me." He smiled kindly and gently at me and flicked his tail at my shoulder.
"Get some sleep. I'll be right here in the morning" Featherpaw said warmly. As I closed my eyes, I felt his warm and sweet breath against my cheek and then drifted to sleep.
