“Of course,” Puddleshine meowed after a moment. “I’m sure all the ShadowClan cats value their friendship with SkyClan.”

“And now, can we please get started?” Jayfeather’s tail-tip twitched irritably. “Are we going to meet with StarClan tonight, or aren’t we?”

At his words, all the medicine cats took their places at the water’s edge and leaned over to touch their noses to the surface of the Moonpool. Alderheart felt the familiar rush of darkness and icy cold, and opened his eyes to find himself sitting in dappled sunlight and shade. The scent of fresh, growing things filled his nose; he could hear birds singing in the branches and, a little way away, the gurgle of a stream.

Rising to his paws, Alderheart looked around him. At first he couldn’t see any cat, and he wondered what StarClan meant to show him in this place. Then he saw fronds waving in a nearby bank of fern, and a gray she-cat stepped into the open. Her eyes were a clear, intense blue, and starshine glimmered in her fur and around her paws.

Alderheart couldn’t remember ever seeing her before, though she looked familiar. As she approached, he dipped his head to her in a gesture of deepest respect.

“Greetings, Alderheart,” the she-cat meowed. “I am Cinderpelt.”

Understanding flooded over Alderheart. She looks so much like Cinderheart. That’s who she reminds me of! He remembered too the story that Leafpool had told him when he was first apprenticed as a medicine cat: how Cinderpelt had died defending her Clan, and how StarClan had sent her spirit back for a while to live another life in Cinderheart’s body. This is a really special cat!

“I was once Firestar’s apprentice,” Cinderpelt went on, “but I was injured on the Thunderpath and could never live the life of a warrior. Instead I became ThunderClan’s medicine cat.” She brushed her tail along Alderheart’s side, purring warmly; Alderheart shivered at the touch.

“I loved Firestar,” Cinderpelt continued; memories swirled in the depths of her blue eyes. “But I chose my duty over the hope that he would love me, and it was the right choice. ThunderClan needs you, Alderheart, just as it needed me. For the future to remain unclouded, medicine cats must choose their duty to their Clan over anything else.”

“I understand,” Alderheart murmured. “But it’s hard.”

“True, but the rewards are great,” Cinderpelt assured him. “And now,” she went on more briskly, “now that the five Clans are finally united once more, there will be new challenges. The sky has cleared at last, but the Clans must come together to make the forest grow.”

Her voice began to fade on the last few words, and the sunlight dazzled Alderheart’s eyes. His last sight was of Cinderpelt’s gentle, approving gaze. Then he woke beside the Moonpool to see his fellow medicine cats stirring from their own visions.