Crookedstar’s Promise

“I died in the storm that gave birth to you,” Duskwater mewed. “With this life I give you a mother’s love.” She stretched up to rest her nose on his head. Shock pierced Crookedjaw as love, fierce as tigers, dazzled through him, hardening his heart until he knew no fear. Was a mother’s love for her kits really this ferocious?

Duskwater stepped away and Crookedjaw found himself blinking into the eyes of a long-haired tabby. “Troutclaw!” Crookedjaw greeted him with delight.

Troutclaw’s pelt rippled like moonlit water. “With this life I give you justice.” His mew had lost its rasping croak; he sounded young and confident. As he leaned close, Crookedjaw felt certainty flow over his heart like water over stone. He would always know what was right, though seasons changed and moons passed. Time may smooth the stone, but time will never wear it away.

Troutclaw moved aside and another took his place.

“I’m Mossleaf.” The ancient RiverClan cat had the bright eyes of a young warrior. “With this life, I give you trust.” He touched his muzzle to Crookedjaw’s head and Crookedjaw felt the peace of a wide blue sky move through him.

He heard another name. Lilyflower. He nodded his thanks as the RiverClan queen padded forward. Her blue eyes sparkled with starlight. “With this life I give you compassion.” Warmth swept him as her muzzle touched his head; love for his Clanmates, for cats who were injured or frightened or displaced, flooded him until he felt his heart would burst.

She turned away and a young tom appeared in front of Crookedjaw. “I’m Lightningpaw.” He nodded to Crookedjaw. “With this life I give you humility.” As the RiverClan apprentice touched Crookedjaw with his muzzle, the world shifted around him, widening till he could only see RiverClan’s territory at the edge of his vision, a tiny speck in a spreading ocean of meadows, rivers, and forest. The world is so big! What we do matters to us, but there is always something more happening in a different place.

As Lightningpaw pulled away, Crookedjaw stared excitedly at the cat who replaced him. Brightsky! He recognized her pelt with a surge of joy. Peeking behind her he saw three tiny kits, their eyes round and shining. Brightsky gazed at him with happiness glowing in her eyes. “With this life I give you hope,” she whispered. “Never be afraid of the future, for it brings wonderful things.” As she touched his head Crookedjaw felt himself skimming over meadows, running like the wind, hardly touching the ground, the horizon ahead of him lit by a rosy dawn.

Brightsky’s kits trotted around her, ducking under her soft belly, as she took her place among the rest of StarClan.

“With this life I give you patience.” Crookedjaw blinked as a tom touched his head. Sparrowfeather. The name flashed in Crookedjaw’s mind as though he’d spoken it all his life. Peace seeped into his pelt, slowing his heart until the present existed only as a single beat.

As Sparrowfeather ducked away, the moment of perfect stillness passed and the future and the past crowded into Crookedjaw’s thoughts once more. Rainflower? He scanned the crowd for his mother. Did she have a life to give him?

“Crookedjaw.”

He looked up as he heard Shellheart’s mew. Bittersweet joy touched his heart. “She is here,” Shellheart murmured as if Crookedjaw had spoken out loud. “But your last life is mine to give.” His eyes burned into Crookedjaw’s. “Long ago, you lapped water at a poisoned spring. I’m sorry I didn’t know until too late. I would have guided you better.”

Crookedjaw shook his head. “You couldn’t have guided me any better.”

Shellheart silenced him with a look. “With this life I give you loyalty, to your Clan and to the cats who love you. Promise you’ll use it wisely.”

Crookedjaw shuffled his paws. He’s warning me to turn my back on Mapleshade. “I walk alone now,” he vowed.

“No, not alone.” Shellheart gazed down at him. “Your ancestors walk alongside you, always. Travel well, Crookedstar. You will make a great leader.”

Crookedstar closed his eyes as the cats of StarClan lifted their heads to the sky and called his new name. He would

be a great leader. He could feel the certainty of it tingling in his paws. He couldn’t wait to get back to his Clan. As StarClan spun away, Crookedstar blinked open his eyes. Where’s the Moonstone?

“We did it!” A familiar hiss sounded in his ear.

Mapleshade!

She stood beside him, her eyes glowing. “You kept your promise and I kept mine! You’ve proved that nothing is more important than leading your Clan. Are you going to thank me for the sacrifices I made for you?”