Chapter 8

Wildpaw gazed at the two golden cats. The tom was glaring at her, suspicion tingeing the glare. And the she-cat had a look of confusion on her face. Wildpaw wondered why, momentarily forgetting about the she-cat. Had she grown wings somehow? That would be a good thing; she could fly up into the sky, away from this two scary cat—
"Well? Who are you?" growled the tom, Goldenheart.
"I-I'm..." Wildpaw faltered. Her mouth and throat felt dry. Very dry. She swallowed, and tried again. "I'm Wildpaw," she croaked out.The anger faded away from the golden tom’s amber eyes, though suspicion still lingered. Lightedpath sat down and licked a paw. She drew the paw over one ear, all the while staring at Wildpaw. Wildpaw shifted uncomfortably under the she-cat’s gaze, wondering what was going to happen next.
Finally, Goldenheart spoke up: "I know you. You're Wildkit, daughter of Stargaze and Fireblaze am I correct?" She turned to Goldenheart and was about to say something but the golden tabby tom silenced her with a glare. Wildpaw missed all this, though; anger flared in her the moment Goldenheart meowed Wildkit. How could this tom still think she was a kit? Wildpaw opened her mouth to correct the golden tabby tom haughtily, but the golden tabby she-cat beat her.
"I think you mean Wildpaw, Goldenheart," the tabby meowed, her voice calm. "Wildpaw had just had her apprentice ceremony this sunhigh."
"Wildkit, Wildpaw, I don't care, Lightedpath," Goldenheart mewed, obviously trying to muffle his excitement. But Wildpaw missed this too; she was happy that at least one of these cats knew she was an apprentice, not a kit. And then she realized another thing: Goldenheart was either a warrior or a medicine cat, and Lightedpath looked like a leader even though there was no ‘star’ at the end of her name. So the two cats must be from another Clan.How did I get onto another Clan's territory? Wildpaw asked herself silently. Did I sleepwalk all the way here? And why haven't they attacked me yet for trespassing?The questions buzzed around her head so much she didn't hear Goldenheart asking how she came here. The golden tom’s voice sounded distant, like a ThunderClan cat near the edge of the lake shore yowling to the cats in the ThunderClan camp.
"Hey!" Goldenheart meowed loudly. His excitement had vanished and she was now irritated at this silly little she-cat who refused to listen to her. "How did you—"
"Which Clan do you come from and where am I?" asked Wildpaw suddenly, interrupting Goldenheart, who started in surprise, his jaws gaping. Wildpaw noticed this and felt embarrassment prick every hair of her pelt.
"I'm sorry," she apologized. "Were you about to say something to me?"
"Yes, I was," snapped the bossy tom. "But did you just ask which Clan do we come from and where are you now?" Goldenheart looked disbelieving. Lightedpath looked astonished as well.Wildpaw wondered why the tom had that expression on his face as she nodded.
Goldenheart shook his head, all the while muttering, "How ignorant. How very, very ignorant." he looked up at Wildpaw, and shook his head some more. Wildpaw twitched her tail impatiently; annoyed at Goldenheart for not answering her questions straight away and saying she was ignorant.
"Well? Are you going to tell me?" she demanded the golden tom, who she hoped would answer her. It was Lightedpath who answered.
"Wildpaw, we are StarClan cats and"—the golden tabby indicated the territory with her tail—"this is StarClan's hunting grounds."Shock coursed through Wildpaw, and her green eyes widened. She now noticed that the two cats looked a bit translucent and they had stars glimmering at their paws. She looked around and saw that the trees and bushes were lush, and there were prey everywhere, so different from ThunderClan's territory. Wildpaw remembered that leaf-fall would strike ThunderClan in half a moon's time, and already there were less prey on the fresh-kill pile. A memory of Hazelstar saying it was going to be a bad leaf-bare flashed through her mind, and she shivered. She wished it wouldn't be that bad, though she had never experience leaf-bare.
"Hey!" Somebody jolted her out of her thoughts.
"Huh?" Wildpaw looked around wildly, and spotted Goldenheart glaring at her. "What?" she asked the stupid tom.
"I said how did you get here?" Goldenheart replied, annoyed. The golden tabby she-cat watched silently, laying her tail on the tom’s shoulder. Wildpaw wondered if they were mates or kin.
"What do you mean?" Wildpaw's brows scrunched together in confusion. What is this tom blabbering on about?Goldenheart sighed irritably.
"How did you get here in StarClan?" He meowed the words slowly, as if Wildpaw was a dumb cat.Wildpaw stifled the urge to stick her tongue out at the tom, but kept her mouth shut instead."Well?"
"Umm..." Wildpaw thought back to when she had entered camp as the sun was setting down, feeling defeated because she hadn't been able to master the battle move Hazelstar taught her. She remembered bringing her mouse over to Creampaw [Ahh…Creampaw!] and Fawnpaw, and Cherrypaw telling her she had prepared a nest for Wildpaw in the apprentices' den. Then Wildpaw had padded to her nest and fell asleep in it, and woke up...here. In StarClan….
"I fell asleep and just...woke up here," she meowed to the tom-cat.
"Just like that?" Goldenheart looked shock again. "How strange..."
"An unusually strong connection with StarClan," murmured Lightedpath. "I've never seen this, not since Jayfeather. But he had power..." Her voice was so quiet Wildpaw didn't catch the last sentence.
"What?" Wildpaw's ears pricked with interest when she heard the name Jayfeather. Jayfeather, who saved the five Clans from the Dark Forest with Dovewing and Lionblaze. "Jayfeather? Is he here right now? Can I see him?" she asked eagerly, wanting to meet one of the Three.But the two cats weren't listening to her. They were lost in their thoughts. Wildpaw lashed her tail. I was talking here! she thought angrily.Suddenly, she felt something jab her side. She yelped and pushed her muzzle into the fur of her flank, but she couldn't find any bruises.
"Wildpaw! Wildpaw!"Wildpaw looked around wildly for the source of the voice, and noticed Goldenheart and Lightedpath were much fading. Fading fast. Panic rose up in her throat. What was happening?
"WILDPAW!"Wildpaw's eyes snapped open. She was in the apprentices' den. She blinked her eyes rapidly; sunlight was filtering through the red and gold leaves of the bush, a sign of leaf-fall. Then a shadow loomed over her, and Creampaw's sweet scent filled her nostrils.Wildpaw felt another jab in her side.
"Ow! That hurt!" she complained, and got to her paws. She began grooming herself, all the while glaring at Creampaw. She softened her gaze as she saw his warm amber eyes. She stiffled a sigh. Creampaw rolled his eyes.
"I had to, because the leader was asking for you. You're on the dawn patrol."
"WHAT?" Wildpaw shot, alarmingly fast, out of her nest, pausing at the entrance of the den to yowl thank you at Creampaw. She stopped, dashed back to him and asked him if he wanted to come. His eyes lit up with something more than happiness it seemed and he dashed after her. She sped to the center of the stone hollow, where Hazelstar, Icestorm, and Fawnpaw were waiting. As they pounded out of the camp, all Wildpaw could think about was Lightedpath and Goldenheart.