I gasped as I saw what it was. The pool was the exact same pool that Moon and I saw Spottedleaf. I hurried forward in excitement as Leafpool touched the water and Jaypaw and I leaned down to lick it. As soon as my nose touched the Moonpool, stars filled my vision. It was as though great paws had swept me up into the inky sky and freed me among countless blue-white lights. Far below I could see the starlit slopes of the hollow curving down to the glittering Moonpool. I stared, my breath coming quicker. The hollow was no longer empty but crowded with cats. They lined every ridge, their pelts bathed in moonlight. I stared harder until I could see every pelt and muzzle clearly. The cats were watching Leafpool, crouching at the water's edge. I could see myself too, curled up asleep beside Jaypaw. I'm watching from outside my body.
I jumped when I turned my head and saw Jaypaw there. It wasn't the fact that I managed to share my dream with him, but the fact that he was blinking. "Jaypaw... You can see!" I gasped. Jaypaw scanned the hollow, suddenly aware of the cold stone beneath his paws. "I- I can." He stared up at me and gasped. "You look so much better than I thought you did. You look just like me but softer and fluffier. And I thought your eyes were green!" I laughed and pressed myself to his body, protecting him from the cold wind.
Leafpool stood and began to greet the cats like old friends, padding around the slope and stopping to brush muzzles here and there. I recognized none of them. "Who are they? I have a strong feeling that this is StarClan."
"You're correct," Jaypaw responded. As I watched, a specific white tabby she-cat with spots caught my attention. "Hey! That's Spottedleaf!" I cried. Jaypaw's eyes widened. "How do you know?"
"Oh, I came to this moonpool the first night I met you and you're siblings. Then Moonpaw and I drank from the pool and Spottedleaf came to us and guided us to meet you." I purred. "Huh. I thought you were a rogue and didn't believe in Starclan. -No offence."
"None taken. I didn't quite believe it until I realised Spottedleaf was an ancestor of mine... I think."
Jaypaw pulled back into the shadows, beconing for me to hide too. "Bluestar." Leafpool dipped her head to a she-cat, broad-faced and round-eyed, with long, pale fur. "You are welcome, Leafpool," Bluestar murmured. "We thought you might come." Beside her sat a pale tom whose eyes shone with warmth. "It is good to see you again," he meowed. "You too, Lionheart," Leafpool replied. Bluestar's eyes sparkled. "You come with good news."
"Yes, Graystripe is back," Leafpool purred. Murmurs of joy rippled around the cats. "But there is a problem," Leafpool went on. "Firestar doesn't know who ThunderClan's deputy should be. Graystripe and Brambleclaw were both appointed according to the warrior code." A deep mew echoed from across the hollow. "Both cats have an equal claim." Leafpool jerked her head around. Behind her, a tom with a pelt as dark as the sky flicked his long, thin tail. I tasted the air. He was WindClan. "If Firestar is wise," mewed the tom, "he will choose the warrior who knows the Clan best."
"That will be a hard choice, Tallstar," Bluestar warned the WindClan cat. "One that no leader has ever had to make before." Lionheart flicked his tail. "If only we had known that Graystripe was still alive. We could have let Leafpool know."
"He was in a place too far beyond our seeing," Bluestar reminded him. "And ThunderClan needed a deputy."
"Is that why you sent me the vision of thorn-sharp brambles encircling the camp?" Leafpool asked. "We had to let Firestar know that it was time to appoint one," Bluestar meowed. Lionheart nodded. "When we showed you that vision, Brambleclaw was the best warrior to help Firestar protect the Clan." Leafpool looked up sharply. "Is he still the best?" Bluestar and Lionheart exchanged glances but did not answer. "Do you wish you had not sent the sign?" Leafpool pressed. "Brambleclaw has done well," Bluestar reassured her. "He was the right choice. Firestar would have been foolish to go on without a deputy when no cat knew if Graystripe would return."
