Tallpaw suddenly realized that Dawnstripe was staring expectantly at him. He’d been so lost in thought that he’d missed something. “What?”
“The Moonstone,” she meowed, exasperated. “Aren’t you excited?”
Tallpaw pricked his ears. “Are we going?”
“I just told you!” Dawnstripe’s tail twitched. “We’re going tonight. Finish your meal quickly and go to Hawkheart to get traveling herbs.”
Tallpaw nodded, feeling hope spark deep inside him. He was going to see something new after all!
In the medicine den, his belly full, he peered around the scooped-out cave. The screen of gorse on the open side made it very dark, and the jumbled scent of herbs made Tallpaw’s nose wrinkle. How could Barkpaw smell
“They’re beside the grinding stone.”
Hawkheart’s mew made him jump. He hadn’t spotted the medicine cat standing in the shadows. Hawkheart padded across the sandy floor, tipping his nose toward leaves heaped beside a smooth, wide stone at the side of the gorse cave. There were two piles.
“Do I eat them both?” Tallpaw asked.
“You can if you want,” Hawkheart grunted. “But I wouldn’t if I were you. They taste foul and Shrewpaw might be annoyed that you’d eaten his.”
Tallpaw’s heart sank as Shrewpaw slid into the den, his dark brown pelt hardly visible in the gloom. He spotted Tallpaw and rolled his eyes. “Oh no, you’re not coming to the Moonstone, are you?”
Tallpaw stepped closer, fluffing out his fur. “So what if I am?” he growled.
Hawkheart pushed between them. “One day you’re going to need to start behaving like Clanmates,” he snorted.
Tallpaw scowled. It wasn’t his fault that Shrewpaw was so mean.
Hawkheart pawed a pile of herbs toward him, and pushed the other heap under Shrewpaw’s nose. “Eat,” he muttered, and padded from the den.
Shrewpaw screwed up his eyes as he sniffed the leaves. “They smell foul.”
Tallpaw dabbed his tongue into the herbs. The bitter flavor made him wince, but he wasn’t going to let Shrewpaw see him make a fuss. He lapped them up and swallowed them quickly, trying not to let his disgust show. “Easy,” he mewed, and headed out of the den.
Barkpaw met him outside. “Did you swallow them?” His eyes were round.
Tallpaw wrinkled his nose and nodded.
“Once the taste has gone you’ll be thankful for them,” Barkpaw promised. “It’s a long journey and they’ll give you energy.”
Dawnstripe and Hareflight were pacing by the entrance.
“I’d better go,” Tallpaw mewed.
“Try to remember everything,” Barkpaw warned. “It will feel like a dream, but I promise, it’s all real.”
“I’ll try.” Tallpaw bounded over the tussocks and stopped beside Dawnstripe. “How long will it take to travel there?”
Dawnstripe glanced at the sun dipping toward the horizon. “We have to reach Mothermouth by moonhigh.” She glanced toward the medicine den, nodding as she saw Shrewpaw heading out. “Ready?”
Tallpaw nodded. As the bitterness of the herbs faded, he felt excitement spark in his belly. He was leaving Clan territory. He was going to share tongues with StarClan!
Outside the camp, Dawnstripe stopped. “The most dangerous part of the journey will be the Thunderpath,” she warned. “Do as you’re told.” She caught Shrewpaw’s eye as he emerged from the entrance tunnel. “And no bickering. I expect you to behave like warriors tonight.” Without waiting for an answer, she pushed through the heather and led the way upslope.
On the high-moor, a cold wind sliced through Tallpaw’s pelt. He shivered as he watched the sun slide down the sky far enough to touch Highstones, setting their peaks ablaze.
“Come on.” Hareflight pointed with his tail to the moon, already showing in the pale evening sky. With full moon only a few sunrises away, it was almost round and dazzlingly clear. Once the sun had set it would be brilliant in the night-dark sky. “We have to hurry.” The brown warrior charged over the crest of the moor and bounded down the steep slope toward the Thunderpath.
Tallpaw chased after him, his paws skimming the grass. As he broke through the scent line at the bottom of the slope, a thrill surged beneath his pelt. He was outside Clan territory! He scrambled to a halt before he crashed into the others. Dawnstripe had stopped while Hareflight and Shrewpaw padded warily toward the trail of black stone cutting across their path.
A monster hurtled past, then another, both bellowing loud enough to rattle Tallpaw’s ear fur. Two more crossed behind them, traveling the other way. Suddenly the eyes of one lit up, throwing beams along its path.
“They’d be no use at night hunting,” Tallpaw growled as another monster sent yellow rays shooting from its eyes. “Prey would see them coming a whole territory away.” Creeping after Hareflight, he narrowed his eyes against the blinding lights. The acrid scent of the Thunderpath burned his throat and his ears ached from the monsters’ roars.
