Dawn

Firestar’s ears twitched with alarm. “Why not?”

  “Mudfur is dying. We can’t leave him alone.”

  Frostfur stepped forward. “We’ll stay with him.”

  “We can look after him until StarClan is ready to take him,” Speckletail agreed.

  Stormfur looked them in surprise. “But he is not one of your Clan.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Frostfur told him. “We are staying behind anyway. We might as well do what we can for Mudfur.”

  “The RiverClan camp is a lot more sheltered than this place,” Leafpaw mewed. “You will be safe from Twolegs if you keep within the reeds.”

  “That’s true,” meowed Firestar. “We’ll bring Frostfur and Speckletail to the RiverClan camp, and if Leopardstar agrees, we’ll leave them with Mudfur while RiverClan joins us on our journey.”

  “What’s happening?” Blackstar had approached the group.

  “Mudfur is dying,” Firestar explained. “We must go to the RiverClan camp before we travel to WindClan’s territory.”

  Blackstar curled his lip. “We’ll go ahead and wait for you at the edge of the forest.”

  A croaking voice sounded behind him, and Leafpaw recognised Runningnose’s grey pelt. “I would like to say goodbye to Mudfur,” mewed the elderly cat. “I’ve known him since I was an apprentice.”

  Blackstar looked at the old tom, and for the first time Leafpaw saw respect in his eyes. “Of course, Runningnose,” he meowed. “You go with ThunderClan. We’ll see you again at the edge of the forest.”

  Firestar scanned the rock. “Has everyone had travelling herbs?”

  “Yes,” Cinderpelt replied. “In fact, there are some left. ShadowClan may as well have them. It’s not worth carrying them with us.” Her casual tone gave nothing away.

  Leafpaw glanced at Littlecloud, whose tail twitched with excitement. “May we use them, Blackstar?” pleaded the young medicine cat.

  “No point letting them go to waste,” Blackstar growled, and Littlecloud began handing out the bundles at once. The ShadowClan leader looked at Longtail, narrowing his eyes. Leafpaw braced herself, expecting him to say that they couldn’t take a blind cat on such a long and dangerous journey.

  But Blackstar only meowed, “The blind warrior can travel with us while you go to RiverClan. There’s no point taking him across the river and back again. I have warriors who can lead him through the forest.”

  Firestar blinked gratefully at the ShadowClan leader. “Thank you.” He touched Longtail with the tip of his tail. “Is that all right with you?”

  Longtail nodded, and followed Blackstar down the slope to the waiting ShadowClan cats.

  “Is every cat ready?” Firestar called to his own Clan.

  Mews of assent sounded from across the rock, and the cats fell in behind Firestar as he led them down to the shore. The river was hardly more than a trickle, in spite of the ceaseless rain.

  “Cinderpelt, Leafpaw, come with me,” Firestar ordered, halting beside the river. Runningnose, Frostfur, and Speckletail were already clambering after Stormfur, over the stepping-stones. “The rest of the Clan should wait here until we return.” He nodded at Brambleclaw, putting him in charge, and followed the elders across the river.

  The reeds around the RiverClan camp were brown and brittle, their roots exposed. Leafpaw followed her father into the clearing and flinched as several cats spun round to look at the visitors with hostile surprise.

  Leopardstar stood in the entrance to the medicine cats’ den, her eyes blazing. “What are you doing here? Didn’t Stormfur give you my message?”

  “I did,” Stormfur meowed, hurrying to the center of the clearing. “But Firestar has come to suggest something.”

  “Frostfur and Speckletail are staying behind,” Firestar explained. “They have offered to care for Mudfur.”

  Leopardstar dipped her head. “That’s kind of them,” she meowed. “But it won’t be necessary. Mudfur is nearly with StarClan.”

  Leafpaw jumped out of the way as Runningnose wheezed in shock and staggered towards the medicine clearing. Cinderpelt followed, and Leafpaw padded quickly after them, glancing at the RiverClan leader as she went past. But Leopardstar let them go without a word.

  Mothwing looked up as they entered the clearing. Her eyes were clouded with grief. “There’s nothing more any cat can do,” she told Cinderpelt. “He’s not in pain. I’ve made sure of that.”

  Mudfur lay in the middle of the clearing. Rain dripped through the branches on to his matted flank, but he made no attempt to move into a more sheltered spot. Shadepelt, an elderly RiverClan she-cat, sat beside Mothwing, sadly watching the dying cat.

  Runningnose padded forwards and touched his nose to Mudfur’s shoulder. “Go swiftly to StarClan, my friend. We will look after your Clanmates.”

  Cinderpelt leaned down and rested her muzzle on Mudfur’s pelt. As Leafpaw crouched to bury her nose in his fur, her throat filled with the unmistakeable scent of death. Forcing herself not to draw away, she closed her eyes. At least you can be sure StarClan is waiting for you, she thought.

  With a shuddering gasp, Mudfur drew his last desperate breath; his flank heaved once, then fell still forever as his spirit joined his warrior ancestors.

  “He is with StarClan now,” Mothwing murmured.

  Leafpaw blinked sadly at the unmoving heap of fur. This was one cat who would never see their new home, wherever it lay. How many more cats would not make it to the end of their journey?

  CHAPTER 17

  “How will I manage without him?” gasped Mothwing, her eyes huge and scared.

  “You’ll be fine,” Cinderpelt assured her. “And there will be time to grieve, but not now.”

  Mothwing looked at her for a moment, then nodded and left the medicine clearing to tell her Clan that Mudfur was dead. Leafpaw waited until the RiverClan cats began to pad through the tunnel to pay their final respects, then hurried out into the main clearing.

  Mothwing was sitting in the rain with her head bowed, water streaming from her whiskers. “I can’t believe he’s gone,” she mewed.

  “He hasn’t gone far,” Leafpaw comforted her. “He’s with StarClan.”

  “I hope so,” Mothwing murmured.

  Leopardstar emerged from the medicine clearing and padded over to Firestar. “Shadepelt and Loudbelly will remain here with your elders,” she meowed. “They are too old to travel and wish to sit in vigil for Mudfur.”

  Firestar nodded. “We will wait until RiverClan is ready to travel,” he murmured.

  Hawkfrost and Stormfur padded towards Leafpaw and Mothwing. For once, Hawkfrost’s gaze was gentle as he rested his muzzle against his sister’s cheek.

  “I never thought we’d be leaving anyone behind.” Stormfur sighed.

  “Neither did I,” Leafpaw agreed, gazing at Frostfur and Speckletail. The image of Greystripe staring out from the monster’s belly flashed through her mind.

  Leopardstar padded to the centre of the clearing and looked around. “Is everyone ready?”

  “We haven’t hunted today,” a RiverClan queen protested, wrapping her tail protectively around her kit.

  “We can hunt on the way,” Leopardstar told her.

  The moment had arrived. Silently, the cats began to head for the camp entrance. Frostfur and Speckletail sat in the clearing watching their Clanmates leave.

  “Goodbye, Frostfur,” Leafpaw whispered. “Goodbye, Speckletail. Good hunting.”

  “Good hunting,” Frostfur replied.

  Leafpaw looked up at the grey sky crisscrossed by leaf-bare branches. The rain spattered on her face, and she blinked away the drops that clung to her eyelashes. It was as if StarClan wept to see their Clans leave the forest. Bleakly, Leafpaw wondered if their ancestors would travel with them, or whether this was a final farewell.

  “Come on.” Firestar’s voice sounded softly in her ear. “The Clan will be waiting for us.”

  The trek through the forest was hard going, the rain making the leaves sl
ippery underpaw. The RiverClan cats stayed together, keeping up with ThunderClan but travelling separately. Sorreltail fell into step beside Leafpaw and nudged her up each time she stumbled. As they neared the edge of the forest, where there was a narrow strip of RiverClan territory before the moorland began, Leafpaw scented ShadowClan cats. She lifted her head and saw them huddled under the trees, wet and shivering.

  “We thought you’d never get here,” Blackstar complained, shaking the water from his coat.

  The ShadowClan cats paced impatiently around him. They were not comfortable under the trees that had once belonged to ThunderClan; even Tawnypelt looked eager to leave. But Leafpaw longed to linger here, suddenly unable to bear the thought of saying goodbye to the forest for the last time.

  Firestar gazed at his Clan. “We must say goodbye to all we have known,” he meowed.

  Leafpaw felt Sorreltail’s pelt pressing against hers, and she noticed Squirrelpaw draw closer to Brambleclaw.

  “I want to go home!” one of Tallpoppy’s kits mewled up at her mother with her eyes stretched wide.

  “We are going home,” Tallpoppy promised, her ears twitching. “Our new home.”

  As she spoke, a tawny-coloured cat emerged from the trees a little way off. Even though the rain masked her scent, Leafpaw recognised the stranger at once. It was Sasha.

  Mothwing recognised her too, because she bounded over and rolled on her belly like a kit. Hawkfrost padded after his sister more slowly, the tip of his tail flicking from side to side. The RiverClan cats watched them go with patient acceptance, but Leafpaw saw bewilderment in the eyes of the ThunderClan cats who did not know who Sasha was, and open hostility from the ShadowClan cats.

  “What’s she doing here?” Squirrelpaw whispered.

  “Perhaps she knows we’re leaving,” Leafpaw guessed.

  “But why did she come?”

  Sasha finished greeting her kits and padded towards the watching cats. Ashfur hissed threateningly, but Firestar silenced him with a look.

  “I didn’t think we’d see you again,” Leopardstar meowed, dipping her head to Sasha.

  “Nor I you,” Sasha admitted. “I have come to ask Hawkfrost and Mothwing to leave RiverClan and come with me. I’ve seen what the Twolegs are doing to your homes. It is no longer safe for them to stay with you.”

  Mothwing looked down at her paws and Leafpaw’s heart skipped a beat. Could she really be thinking about leaving? She brushed past Sasha and faced the RiverClan medicine cat. “I know things have been tough lately, but you wouldn’t really go, would you?”

  Mothwing blinked. “I-I don’t know . . .”

  “Your Clan needs you,” Leafpaw protested. She rounded on Hawkfrost. “You wouldn’t abandon your Clanmates, would you?”

  “The decision is theirs.” Firestar’s voice rose above the sound of the falling rain. “But I agree they should remain with their Clan.”

  Sasha narrowed her eyes. “You want them to stay?” Suddenly the wind dropped, and every cat seemed to hold their breath as she went on, “In spite of the fact that Tigerstar was their father?”

  Leafpaw scanned the shocked faces of the RiverClan cats. They obviously didn’t know that Tigerstar was Hawkfrost and Mothwing’s father, even though his kits had been raised in their Clan.

  There was a long pause while Firestar held Sasha’s gaze. “I want them to stay because Tigerstar was their father,” he meowed. Brambleclaw sank his claws into the mud, and Squirrelpaw’s eyes stretched even wider. “Tigerstar was a great warrior, and these cats have proved they have inherited his courage,” Firestar went on. “Their Clan needs them now more than ever.” He turned his gaze on Brambleclaw and Tawnypelt. “Tigerstar’s children have earned their place in their Clans many times over.”

  There were no secrets now. Every cat knew that Tigerstar lived on in four cats, and that three Clans nurtured part of his legacy. Mothwing lifted her gaze, searching the faces of her Clanmates. Hawkfrost raised his chin as if he didn’t care what they thought.

  Leopardstar nodded. “Firestar is right. RiverClan needs all our warriors, and we certainly need our medicine cat.”

  “But they’re Tigerstar’s kits!” Dawnflower’s hiss startled Leafpaw. The RiverClan queen was staring at Leopardstar as if she’d just invited a fox to join them.

  Squirrelpaw’s eyes blazed. “So what? That doesn’t mean they can’t be loyal!”

  “Hawkfrost is one of our best warriors,” Stormfur added. He looked around at his Clanmates. “Have any of you ever doubted his loyalty?”

  “Never,” Mistyfoot murmured.

  Leopardstar looked at Hawkfrost and Mothwing. “Will you stay?”

  “Of course,” Hawkfrost answered at once. “I would never desert my Clan.” He was staring at his Clanmates, his eyes glittering defiantly.

  Leafpaw felt her tail quiver. Was it ambition or loyalty that fueled his decision? She glanced at Brambleclaw. How could two warriors with the same father be so different?

  Mothwing glanced at her mother, her ears twitching. “I have to stay with my Clan too,” she mewed. “I’m their medicine cat now. They need me.”

  Sasha nodded. “Very well.” She swept her gaze over them. “Firestar is right,” she murmured. “I see your father in both of you.”

  Leafpaw heard a low growl come from Dawnflower.

  Sasha turned to the RiverClan queen. “Tigerstar never knew about these kits, but he would have been proud of them.” She glanced around the RiverClan cats. “You’re lucky to have them.”

  She padded back to Hawkfrost and Mothwing, brushing her pelt against theirs. “I wish you well on your journey,” she meowed. Then she turned and padded into the forest. The ferns quivered where she had disappeared, and the Clan cats stared after her in silence.

  CHAPTER 18

  “Look!” Rainwhisker yowled, making the cats jump. At the top of the rise that marked the beginning of WindClan territory, silhouetted against the grey sky, stood WindClan. They lined the crest of the hill like stones, waiting.

  “Let’s go,” Blackstar ordered.

  He plunged out of the shelter of the trees and hurried up the muddy slope, followed by his Clanmates. Squirrelpaw stared sadly at the forest, sinking her claws into the familiar rain-softened earth. All the RiverClan and ThunderClan cats lingered at the edge of the trees, as though leaving was harder than they had ever imagined.

  “This is no longer our home,” Firestar reminded them gently. “Home is waiting for us at the end of our journey.” He began to pad away, lowering his head against the driving rain.

  Squirrelpaw joined the other cats as they poured slowly out of the forest after him. Beside her, Brackenfur arched his back against the bracken fronds, brushing his scent on their dripping tips one last time.

  “We thought you’d changed your mind,” Mudclaw growled as the three Clans neared the top of the slope.

  “Mudfur was dying,” Leopardstar explained. “We waited until he had gone to join StarClan.”

  Tallstar sat shivering beside his warriors. His ribs stuck out like gnarled twigs. As the Clans reached the top of the rise, he stood up, wincing at the stiffness in his limbs. “I’m sorry to hear about Mudfur,” he meowed.

  “At least he died beneath Silverpelt, which is more than we will,” muttered Blackstar.

  His words sent a shiver of unease down Squirrelpaw’s spine. “We saw Silverpelt at the sun-drown-place,” she objected. “StarClan will be waiting for us when we arrive.”

  Mudclaw’s tail twitched. “You saw stars, but were they our warrior ancestors or someone else’s?”

  Squirrelpaw blinked, thinking of the Tribe of Endless Hunting who watched over the mountains. What if Mudclaw was right, and they were leaving StarClan behind as well as their homes?

  Blackstar clawed the muddy ground. “Are we going or not?”

  “We’re ready,” Tallstar replied.

  The moorland that stretched ahead of them was unrecognisable, all the grass swept away to reveal b
are, rutted earth.

  Leopardstar stared across the broken ground. “Are there many monsters?”

  “Too many,” Tallstar growled.

  As the cats scrambled over the first stretch of exposed ground, Squirrelpaw soon began to struggle. The mud sucked at her paws, and her legs felt stone-heavy with exhaustion.

  Brambleclaw clawed his way back to join her. “Come on; you can make it.”

  “It’s OK,” she snapped. “I can manage.”

  He blinked. “I know you can,” he meowed, and Squirrelpaw wished she hadn’t been so harsh.

  Dustpelt was behind them, carrying Birchkit in his jaws. Cloudtail struggled to his side. His pelt was streaked with mud, only his back kept white by the relentless rain. “I’ll take the kit,” he offered. He took Birchkit from Dustpelt’s jaws, trying not to let the swaying bundle drag in the mud. Dustpelt nodded his thanks and plunged down a muddy ridge to help Ferncloud, who was fighting to stay on her paws.

  Crowpaw was carrying a kit too. He looked on the verge of collapse, but his paws kept moving, his eyes fixed on the ground in front of him.

  Squirrelpaw heard the rumble of Twoleg monsters ahead, and their stench reached her even through the rain. She lifted her face, raindrops stinging her eyes, and saw Twolegs cluttering the horizon. “How will we get past?” she gasped.

  “Can we go round?” Firestar yowled to Mudclaw.

  “They’re everywhere on the moor,” Onewhisker called back. “This is the quietest place to cross, I promise.”

  A monster with huge round paws and gleaming teeth roared across the landscape, while another churned up earth in its wake. Just beyond them, a small rocky outcrop rose from the mud.

  “If we can make it that far, we’ll be safe for a while,” Mudclaw advised. “The Twoleg monsters can’t climb those.”

  But they can crush them if they want, Squirrelpaw thought, remembering the Great Rock.

  “You’re right; it could be our only chance. Let’s wait for these two monsters to pass and make a run for it.” Firestar glanced at the other leaders who each nodded their approval.

  Squirrelpaw pressed her belly deeper into the mud, feeling the cold earth seep through her fur and drench her skin. Cinderpelt crouched beside Tallstar, pushing a pawful of herbs towards him. The last of the travelling herbs, to give him strength, Squirrelpaw guessed.