Dawn

Each cat had brought their leader and medicine cat. But Squirrelpaw felt a jolt of surprise when she saw that two other cats had joined them: Mudfur, the elderly RiverClan medicine cat, had brought his apprentice, Mothwing, and Mothwing’s brother, Hawkfrost, had come too. Squirrelpaw recognized them from Leafpaw’s descriptions. The dark brown tom wasn’t looking at the Great Rock but was watching the other cats, his ice-blue eyes expressionless in the moonlight.

“It cannot be true!” Mudfur hissed, staring at the Great Rock. Every hair on his pelt stood on end, and his tail quivered like a near-dead mouse. Mothwing tried to calm him with rapid licks on his shoulder, but he did not stop shaking.

Cinderpelt picked her way awkwardly across the logs, her injured leg barely touching the ground, and pressed her body against his.

Squirrelpaw followed her father as he joined the other cats at the bottom of the Great Rock. She glanced at Crowpaw, Stormfur, and Tawnypelt, desperate to know how their Clans had received them, but they stood silently beside their leaders.

“How will we climb it now?” Tallstar asked, his voice trembling as he stared up the sheer rock face towering above them. Even half-hidden in shadow, the black-and-white WindClan leader looked so frail that Squirrelpaw was surprised he had managed the journey here at all.

“These marks will give us a grip,” Leopardstar said, stretching her forepaws up the smooth rock to where the monsters’ talons had scraped long wounds into the hard stone.

She pushed her hind paws into the mud and scrabbled upward. Blackstar clawed his way after her to the top of the rock. He looked strong and determined, but his dull black pelt hung from his bony frame as he climbed. Tallstar watched them, his thin frame seeming smaller than ever.

“I’ll follow you,” Firestar offered.

Tallstar nodded and scrambled up toward the lowest gouge mark, clinging to the slippery rock with his claws. Firestar sprang after him, propping the WindClan leader with his shoulder to stop him sliding back down again.

“Shouldn’t we climb the Great Rock too, to see Midnight’s dying warrior?” Squirrelpaw whispered as the leaders disappeared over the top and the medicine cats went around to the other side.

“I don’t think it matters who sees it,” Brambleclaw answered, but his eyes were clouded with worry.

“She didn’t say it had to be us,” Stormfur chipped in. “She just said ‘stand on the Great Rock.’”

“At least we have a chance to talk now,” Tawnypelt murmured. “Blackstar says he is ready to leave the forest.”

Squirrelpaw blinked. “Really? That’s great!” She wished her own homecoming had been so straightforward. “Firestar hasn’t decided yet.”

Tawnypelt flicked her ears. “To be honest, I think Blackstar had already decided to go, even before I came back with Midnight’s warning.”

“But what did he say when you told him? Did he believe you?” Squirrelpaw demanded.

The tortoiseshell warrior didn’t reply.

Brambleclaw pressed closer to his sister. “Did they give you a hard time?”

Tawnypelt shook her head. “They acted like I was a stranger.” Sadness glimmered in her eyes. “Tallpoppy’s kits were frightened of me.”

“It wasn’t easy for us either,” Squirrelpaw mewed. “It’s as if we’re not part of the Clan any more.”

“Of course we’re part of the Clan,” Brambleclaw reassured her. “It’ll just take a while for things to get back to normal.”

Stormfur snorted. “Nothing’s ever going to get back to normal!” he spat. “I’ve seen what the Twolegs have done to WindClan and ThunderClan territory, and I can imagine it’s the same in ShadowClan.” He glanced at Tawnypelt, and she nodded grimly. “Even though they haven’t reached RiverClan territory yet, everything’s changed,” Stormfur went on, lashing his tail. “Mistyfoot’s gone missing, and Hawkfrost is deputy now.”

“Mistyfoot’s missing?” Squirrelpaw gasped.

“Was she taken by Twolegs?” asked Brambleclaw.

Stormfur looked puzzled. “Why would Twolegs take her?”

“They took Leafpaw!” Squirrelpaw told him. “We know what happened because Sorreltail was there, although she got away.”

“Gorsetail’s missing too,” Crowpaw mewed, his gaze flicking from one cat to another.

“No ShadowClan cats have been taken, but I’d guess it’s only a matter of time,” Tawnypelt mewed. “And meanwhile the Twolegs have invaded so much of our territory that we’re starving. There’s hardly any prey left, and leaf-bare’s only just begun.”

Brambleclaw sat down carefully on the muddy ground.

“Whether it’s Midnight’s message or starvation that drives the Clans out, I don’t see any way we can stay in the forest.”

“But the Twolegs haven’t touched RiverClan territory,” Stormfur reminded him. “And Hawkfrost thinks they never will. He pretty much called me a traitor for being concerned about the other Clans, and he said I should never have gone on the journey.” His amber eyes glistened with sadness. “He said Feathertail would still be alive if I hadn’t let her get caught up in other Clans’ problems.”