Bramblestar’s Storm

RIVERCLAN LEADER MISTYSTAR—gray she-cat with blue eyes DEPUTY REEDWHISKER—black tom   APPRENTICE, LIZARDPAW (light brown tom) MEDICINE CATS MOTHWING—dappled golden she-cat   WILLOWSHINE—gray tabby she-cat WARRIORS MINTFUR—light gray tabby tom   MINNOWTAIL—dark gray she-cat   MALLOWNOSE—light brown tabby tom   APPRENTICE, HAVENPAW (black-and-white she-cat)   GRASSPELT—light brown tom   DUSKFUR—brown tabby she-cat   MOSSPELT—tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes   APPRENTICE, PERCHPAW (gray-and-white she-cat)   SHIMMERPELT—silver she-cat   LAKEHEART—gray tabby she-cat   HERONWING—dark gray-and-black tom QUEENS ICEWING—white she-cat with blue eyes   PETALFUR—gray-and-white she-cat ELDERS POUNCEFOOT—ginger-and-white tom   PEBBLEFOOT—mottled gray tom   RUSHTAIL—light brown tabby tom

CATS OUTSIDE CLANS   SMOKY—muscular gray-and-white tom who lives in a barn at the horseplace   CORIANDER—tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat who lives with smoky

Maps

Prologue

Firestar brushed through the long grass beneath the trees and drank in the warm scents of prey. Sunlight sliced between the branches, casting dapples onto his flame-colored pelt. For a moment he paused, unsure which of the tantalizing aromas he should follow. Then he picked out the scent of a squirrel; it had swarmed up the trunk of a nearby oak tree and was hiding somewhere in the branches above his head.

It’s been a while since I tested my tree-climbing skills, he thought, remembering how he had taught his Clanmates to hunt aboveground. Lionblaze really hated it at first. With a purr of amusement Firestar recalled the golden-furred warrior standing at the foot of a tree, reluctant to set paw on the trunk. Unlike Cinderheart, who seemed ready to sleep in a bird’s nest once she learned how to climb.

Firestar sprang up the tree, digging his claws into the rough bark, and spotted the squirrel on one of the outer branches. He leaped toward it, reveling in the strength in his haunches, pleased that he still kept his sense of balance. The squirrel fled, jumping from branch to branch, higher and higher. As Firestar crouched, ready to follow, he heard a voice calling him from below.

“Firestar! Firestar!”

He halted; the leaves around him rustled as the squirrel vanished into the dense foliage. Firestar allowed himself a single hiss of regret, then turned and scrambled down the trunk to the ground.

Bluestar, the former ThunderClan leader, was waiting for him at the foot of the tree. Her blue-gray fur shimmered in the sunlight. “Sorry to disturb you, Firestar,” she meowed. Her eyes glinted. “I see you haven’t lost any of your hunting skill. You looked pretty comfortable up there… but I’m happy to leave the tree hunting to others. Walk with me,” she added, nodding deeper into the forest.

Firestar padded by her side, enjoying the sun’s warmth soaking into his pelt. StarClan has everything to make a cat content, he thought. But I still miss my old home and my Clanmates. Sometimes it seems like I left them when they needed me most.

“ThunderClan has had a difficult time, hasn’t it?” Bluestar commented, as if she had picked up Firestar’s regrets. “Wounded cats had scarcely healed after the Great Battle when the greencough came.”

Firestar hesitated before replying, swallowing the wail of grief that rose in his chest. We were already weakened by the battle; we didn’t stand a chance of fighting the greencough.

He took a breath and let it out in a long sigh. “There has been so much loss, so much pain. But the sickness has gone, thanks to Leafpool and Jayfeather.” He forced a note of optimism into his voice. “Brightheart and Cloudtail’s kits have become apprentices. And Bramblestar is a fair and confident leader. ThunderClan will survive.”

“Of course.” Bluestar nodded. “Bramblestar had a good mentor. Do you walk in his dreams?”

“I don’t need to,” Firestar responded. “I trust him.” He felt a familiar stab of anger in his belly. “I shouldn’t have had to leave my Clan,” he hissed. “I could have gone on serving them for many more seasons.”

“Could you have saved them from the greencough? Healed their injuries more quickly?” Bluestar rested her tail on his shoulder. “You gave ThunderClan nine good lives. They could not ask for any more.”