by Erin Hunter
“I just wish it weren’t under these circumstances.” Firestar sighed.
Ravenpaw’s eyes darkened. “How will you find a new home?”
“StarClan will tell us,” Squirrelpaw mewed. She glanced at Brambleclaw, but he didn’t look up. “Won’t they?” She looked at Leafpaw, uncertainty pricking at her paws. Leafpaw dipped her head, but said nothing.
When Squirrelpaw woke, cold sunlight streamed into the nest. She flexed her claws, wondering how late it was. She had slept soundly. Looking up, she saw her father standing on a fallen stone that made a natural platform in the center of the broken nest. All around him, cats were drowsily lifting their heads and blinking in the daylight.
“We’ve slept too long,” Firestar mewed. “It’s sunhigh. We must push on to Highstones. Wherever we’re going, we have a long journey ahead of us.”
Mudclaw got to his paws, a stubborn expression on his face. “Why must we leave a place that has such good hunting?”
“My kits have fed well for the first time in moons!” Tallpoppy put in.
“This is a prey-rich place,” Tallstar agreed. The WindClan leader looked tired and drawn despite their long sleep.
“Ravenpaw only invited us to stay the night,” Firestar argued.
“So? What could he do if we decided to stay longer?” Blackstar stared defiantly at Ravenpaw. “My Clan needs food and shelter, and they will take it by force if necessary.”
Brambleclaw stood up. “This is not the place for us,” he meowed. “I don’t know exactly where we’re going, but I know it’s not here.”
Squirrelpaw nodded. “Why would StarClan have made us journey all the way to the sun-drown-place if they only meant for us to make our homes here? We wouldn’t need a sign for that.”
Crowpaw twitched his ears. “We must finish the journey we’ve started,” he growled.
“I agree,” meowed Stormfur from the RiverClan corner.
“Me too.” Tawnypelt stretched, arching her back. “We must carry on.”
“I think they’re right,” Leopardstar meowed unexpectedly. “There are too many Twolegs around here. What if one of their dogs got loose? We’d be trapped in a place like this.”
Blackstar narrowed his eyes. “Very well,” he muttered.
Tallpoppy reluctantly got to her paws, nudging her kits awake. “Come on, my dears,” she whispered. “We’re leaving.”
“But it’s warm here,” mewled one.
“And there’s fresh-kill,” squeaked another.
“We must go anyway,” Tallpoppy told them. Her voice was dull with tiredness, and Squirrelpaw felt a jolt of sympathy for the brave ShadowClan queen. She padded towards the entrance, and her kits followed, their fur sticking up in clumps where they had slept on it.
“I’ll come with you to Highstones,” Ravenpaw offered, brushing his tail against Firestar’s flank.
The cats filed silently away from the shelter, heading for the crags of Highstones that towered in the distance, dark against the clearing sky. Squirrelpaw shivered as the wind ruffled her fur. Sunhigh was already past. If they slowed their pace to match the elders and kits, they would not reach Highstones until the sun had dipped below the horizon.
“So who is ThunderClan’s deputy now?” she heard Ravenpaw ask Firestar.
Squirrelpaw glanced at Brambleclaw, but he kept his eyes fixed straight ahead.
“Greystripe is,” Firestar growled.
Ravenpaw stared at his friend in surprise. “But he’s gone.”
Firestar rounded on him, his eyes glittering with pain. “Isn’t it enough that we’ve had to leave our home? Don’t ask me to give up on my friend as well. I know he would never give up on me.” He started to trudge on again. “ThunderClan has a deputy, and there is no need to choose a new one.”
Highstones was cast in blue-black shade as the sun sank low in the sky. The cats had seemed to take forever struggling up the steep, stony slope on paws already raw from the day’s travelling. Now they lay exhausted outside Mothermouth. Squirrelpaw stared into the great black tunnel that led to the Moonstone. The Clan leaders and their medicine cats had disappeared into it as soon as they had arrived.
“I wish you’d gone with them,” Squirrelpaw muttered to her sister. “You could have told me what StarClan said.”
“Leopardstar said this wasn’t a time for apprentices, and Firestar agreed with her,” Leafpaw mewed.
“Do you think StarClan will tell them anything?”
“Who knows?” murmured Leafpaw.
There was the sound of loose stones crunching beneath paws, and Firestar padded out of the tunnel, followed by Tallstar, Leopardstar, and Blackstar. Their faces gave nothing away as they separated to join their Clans.
“I want to know what happened!” Squirrelpaw fretted.
“They can’t tell us anything about the ceremony,” Leafpaw reminded her.
Squirrelpaw felt a prickle of frustration. It was all right for Leafpaw; she had her own special connection with StarClan. Couldn’t she help out the cats who didn’t?
“Squirrelpaw!’ Brambleclaw called. The tabby warrior was weaving his way towards her. “We’re meeting up there!” he whispered. He nodded to the crest of the ridge. “We have to decide where we’re going next.”
Squirrelpaw put her head on one side. “I thought we were going to the sun-drown-place to find Midnight.”
“This is our last chance to be sure it’s the right thing to do,” Brambleclaw replied. “After this, we’ll be taking our Clanmates into territory where they’ve never been before. Come on.”
Squirrelpaw followed him up the steep slope, away from the rest of the Clans. She could see Stormfur hurrying to the top of the ridge from the RiverClan cats, his grey pelt glowing in the moonlight. Tawnypelt and Crowpaw already sat on top of the jagged spine of rocks, silhouetted against the star-clad indigo sky.
The shadowy world stretched away on the other side of Highstones, a huge black expanse that made Squirrelpaw’s breath catch in her throat. Out there were snowcapped mountains, strange cats, dangerous creatures, and the sun-drown-place, that endless stretch of water where Midnight lived. Squirrelpaw shivered. Oh, StarClan, what are we doing?
“Does everyone agree we should head for the sun-drown-place and find Midnight?” Brambleclaw asked.
Tawnypelt’s eyes were round with worry. “I can’t think of what else we should do, but what if she’s not there any more?”
“It’s a long and dangerous journey,” Stormfur agreed.
“I was so sure we were going to lead them to a safe new home,” Squirrelpaw meowed, remembering her excitement as she carried Midnight’s message back from sun-drown-place. “We were going to save them.”
“And instead we might be leading them into unnecessary danger,” Brambleclaw murmured.
“Why couldn’t StarClan have chosen different cats to carry this message?” Stormfur sighed.
Squirrelpaw’s heart ached for him. He had lost so much. His sister had died on the first journey, and now Twolegs had taken his father. She moved closer to him, pressing her flank against his.
“Do you think our ancestors have abandoned us?” Tawnypelt mewed, voicing the fear that nagged at them all.
“Well, they haven’t sent the sign Midnight promised,” Brambleclaw admitted. “Have any of you seen a dying warrior?”
“Perhaps it was Mudfur?” Stormfur suggested.
“He was a medicine cat,” Squirrelpaw pointed out.
“Would Midnight know the difference?” murmured Tawnypelt.
The cats looked at one another in silence.
“But Mudfur died on RiverClan territory!” A sickening pang of doubt suddenly twisted Squirrelpaw’s belly. “If Mudfur’s death was the sign, then we’ve come the wrong way!”
The five cats stared at one another, their eyes filled with dread as they imagined telling their leaders that they had to take the Clans all the way back into the heart of the forest to face the monsters once more.
Oh, StarClan, have we gotten it all wrong? Squirrelpaw lifted her face to the sky and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, a flash of movement caught her attention. She gasped, and the other cats followed her gaze. Above them, a falling star blazed a silvery trail before disappearing in a flash of light.
“The dying warrior!’ Squirrelpaw breathed. It was the sign they had been waiting for, one of StarClan’s own warriors scorching into nothingness to show them the way to go. Faint as cobweb, the star’s fiery trail hung in the sky, stretching towards the horizon where the jagged peaks of the mountains jutted into the sky.
“Now we know which way to go,” Brambleclaw murmured.
“Over the mountains,” meowed Squirrelpaw.
CHAPTER 20
Leafpaw pushed closer against Cinderpelt as the chill of dawn dragged her awake. The stone beneath her seemed to have soaked all the warmth from her body, and the air was so cold that when she opened her eyes she could see her breath billowing in small clouds. She stood up and stretched. The rocks glittered with frost in the pale dawn light, and a scent drifted up towards her so delicious it made her mouth water. Ravenpaw was padding up the slope with a freshly killed rabbit dangling from his jaws.
The other ThunderClan cats were still sleeping, clustered in a dip in the rock several fox-lengths away from where each of the other Clans had settled for the night. But the scent of the rabbit woke them, and they began to raise their heads as Ravenpaw weaved among them. Firestar was already stretching, Sandstorm at his side, when Ravenpaw dropped the fresh-kill at the ThunderClan leader’s paws.
“A parting gift,” he mewed.
Firestar stared at him. “I wish you’d come with us,” he meowed. “I’ve lost Greystripe; I don’t want to leave another friend behind.”
Ravenpaw shook his head. “My home is here, but I’ll never forget you, I promise. I’ll be waiting for you always.”
Leafpaw wondered with a pang if they would ever come back. She knew they were going to be travelling a long way, but she had no idea how far.
“We have been through so much together,” Firestar murmured, his eyes gleaming as he remembered. “We’ve seen the death of Bluestar, the defeat of Tigerstar . . .” He sighed. “So much has happened, like water flowing past in a river.”
“More water will flow before we join StarClan,” Ravenpaw assured him. “This is not an end. It is a beginning. You will need the courage of a lion to face this journey.”
“It’s hard to find courage when so much is lost.” Firestar’s eyes clouded. “I never thought I’d leave the forest! Even when BloodClan came, I would have died to save my home.”
Ravenpaw drew his tail gently along Firestar’s flank. “If I see Greystripe, I’ll tell him which way you’ve gone,” he promised. He dipped his head formally. “Goodbye, Firestar, and good luck.”
“Goodbye, Ravenpaw.”
As the black loner bounded away down the slope, Leafpaw’s heart ached for her father. He was leaving behind his two oldest and closest friends—without even knowing if one of them was still alive. She watched Sandstorm press her cheek against his as if to remind him he was not alone.
Cinderpelt stretched her forelegs one after the other. “We should check the cats and make sure they are all ready for the journey ahead,” she meowed to Leafpaw.
Leafpaw nodded. She thought back to the night before, when Squirrelpaw had returned with the others from the top of the ridge. Their eyes had been shining.
“We’ve seen the dying warrior!” Brambleclaw’s mew had been breathless with excitement.
“You’ve had the sign?” Firestar leaped to his paws from where he had been dozing beside Sandstorm.
“How can you be sure?” Cinderpelt asked.
“A star blazed through the sky, then vanished,” Squirrelpaw explained. “It fell behind the mountains.”
Blackstar ran over from where ShadowClan huddled on the rock. He looked puzzled. “Is this the sign we waited for at the Great Rock?”
Tawnypelt stared at him as if something had only just dawned on her. “Of course! This must be the great rock Midnight meant! Highstones, not the rock at Fourtrees!”
Stormfur nodded. “She’s never been to the forest. What she saw obviously looked like a great rock, even though to us it meant something completely different.”
Leopardstar shouldered her way to the front. “So what lies behind the mountains?”
“Mountains?” Ferncloud drew Birchkit closer to her.
“Last time we crossed them we found the sun-drown-place,” Brambleclaw explained. “But this time the star seemed to fall further along.”
Hawkfrost narrowed his eyes. “So we’ll have to find a new route?”
“Not exactly,” Brambleclaw told him.
“It’ll be safer if we cross the mountains the same way as we did last time,” Tawnypelt mewed. “Otherwise we risk getting lost—and the snows might come at any time.”
“We can head towards where the star fell once we’re over them,” Squirrelpaw put in.
Leafpaw saw her sister’s whiskers twitch, and Brambleclaw flexed his claws on the rock as if he were bracing himself for the journey. But there was a hunted look in their eyes as well. They were frightened of what lay ahead, because they knew what the journey might hold. With a twinge of alarm, Leafpaw wondered why StarClan had chosen a dying warrior to show them the way. It seemed a dark omen on which to fix the hopes of the Clans.
“Come on, Leafpaw!” Cinderpelt’s voice jolted her back to the frosty morning.
“Cinderpelt,” Leafpaw meowed hesitantly. “Do you think the sign from StarClan means they’re coming with us?”
The grey medicine cat gave her a long, thoughtful look. “I hope so.”
“But you’re not sure?” Leafpaw guessed.
Cinderpelt glanced around. No cat was near. “When we went to the Moonstone yesterday, I could hardly hear StarClan,” she admitted.
“But did they say anything?” Leafpaw asked, alarmed.
Cinderpelt narrowed her eyes. “I know that they spoke to me, but I couldn’t tell what they were saying. It was as if their voices were drowned by the roaring of a great wind.”
“You couldn’t make out anything?”
“Nothing.” Cinderpelt closed her eyes for a moment. “But they were there.”
“They must be suffering as much as we are,” Leafpaw murmured. “It must be terrible to watch the forest being destroyed, and to be powerless to stop it. After all, it was once their home too.”
Cinderpelt nodded. “You’re right. But like us, they will recover, as long as all five Clans remain.”
“But will they find us in our new home?” Leafpaw fretted. “Will they know where to look for us?”
“These are questions we cannot answer.” Cinderpelt straightened up, and her voice became brisk. “Come on. Our Clanmates need us.”
Leafpaw padded to where Ravenpaw had left the rabbit. It lay untouched beside her father. A patrol of warriors had already left to find more.
“May I take this to Ferncloud and Birchkit?” she asked, but Firestar seemed lost in thought.
“Of course,” meowed Sandstorm.
Leafpaw glanced anxiously up at her mother. “Will he be OK?”
Firestar turned to face her. “Of course I will,” he meowed. “Go ahead and take that to Ferncloud.”
Leafpaw picked up the rabbit and hurried to where Ferncloud was curled around Birchkit. The tabby kit was shivering with cold, and Ferncloud was licking him fiercely to warm him up.
“It’s too cold to be sleeping outside!” Ferncloud complained when Leafpaw appeared. “I hardly got a moment’s rest.” She gazed at Birchkit, her eyes glittering with fear, and Leafpaw guessed she had dreaded closing her eyes in case she woke to find the last of her kits dead.
“Here.” She dropped the rabbit on the ground. “This should help.”
Ferncloud’s eyes lit up. Flashing a grateful glance at Leafpaw, she tore off a hind leg and place
d it in front of Birchkit. “Try this,” she urged him. “We used to eat rabbit all the time, but we haven’t tasted it in moons.”
“Make sure you have some too,” Leafpaw advised Ferncloud.
“I will,” Ferncloud promised.
Leafpaw’s belly growled, and she hoped the hunting patrol would return soon. She looked around to see if any of the other cats looked as though they needed help, but most of them were moving about quite cheerfully, shaking the stiffness from their limbs and padding to the rocks to lap water from the tiny hollows. Several cats, Brambleclaw and Squirrelpaw among them, were sitting near the top of the ridge, the grey stone turned rosy by the sunrise.
Leafpaw heard Whitepaw pestering Brambleclaw. “Tell us what it was like. Please!”
Brambleclaw glanced over his shoulder at the far side of the ridge. “You’ll find out for yourself soon enough.”
“But if you told us, we’d be ready for anything!” Spiderpaw pointed out.
“He’s right,” Whitepaw mewed. “You’ve got to prepare us.”
Brambleclaw drew his tail over his paws with a resigned sigh. “Well, there are lots of sheep, which are fluffy white woolly things that look a bit like clouds on legs. They’re harmless, but you’ll need to watch out for dogs when you see them, because the Twolegs use them to control the sheep. And Thunderpaths, of course—they’re mostly small, but there are many to cross. And then there are the mountains . . .”
His voice trailed away, and Leafpaw felt the cold wind pierce her fur. What was it about the mountains that frightened these cats so much? How would they get kits and elders through such a place? Oh, StarClan, where are you? If only she could believe StarClan was travelling with them, perhaps she wouldn’t feel so afraid.
Leafpaw had never guessed such a vast world existed beyond Highstones. Field after field stretched before them, dotted with sheep, looking exactly like clouds, as Brambleclaw had described. Squirrelpaw padded beside her, her breath billowing into the frosty air.
“Do you remember this?” Leafpaw asked.
“A bit,” Squirrelpaw mewed.
“So we’re going the right way?”