Dawn

Leafpaw followed him uneasily to the hollow. She glanced down at Cody, who was still in the makeshift nursery. The kittypet was busy washing Birchkit, ignoring the tiny kit’s mews of complaint. Ferncloud lay sleeping beside them. Feeling relieved that the cat who needed it most was resting, Leafpaw ducked beneath the overhang into the shadowy cavern.

Firestar looked urgently into her eyes. “Leafpaw,” he meowed. “You must tell me if you have had any sign from StarClan.”

“No, nothing,” she answered, surprised by his intensity.

“What about Cinderpelt?”

“She has heard nothing either.” Firestar blinked. “I was hoping they might have spoken to you.”

Leafpaw shifted her paws awkwardly. Though she was pleased her father had such faith in her, she felt uncomfortable that he thought StarClan might share with her rather than the Clan’s medicine cat.

“Why are they so quiet?” Firestar continued angrily, unsheathing his claws against the cold stone floor. “Are they trying to tell us each Clan must look after itself rather than leave the forest together?”

“I felt the same when the Twolegs captured me,” Leafpaw admitted. “StarClan did not visit me once in my dreams while I lay in that stinking cage. I felt as if I was utterly alone. But I wasn’t.” She returned her father’s solemn gaze. “My Clanmates came to rescue me.”

Firestar opened his eyes wide as she went on. “StarClan won’t do anything to keep the Clans together. They don’t have to. Being one of four Clans—not two, not three, but four—lies within our hearts, just like the ability to track prey and hide in the forest shadows. No matter what the other Clans say, they cannot turn away from the divisions, the differences, the rivalries that bind us. The line that separates us from WindClan or RiverClan is also the line that connects us.

StarClan know this, and it is up to us to have faith in that connection.”

Firestar stared at his daughter as though he were seeing her for the first time. “I wish you could have known Spottedleaf,” he murmured. “You remind me of her.”

Touched beyond words, Leafpaw lowered her gaze. She sensed that this was not the time to tell her father that Spottedleaf had spoken to her in dreams several times. It was enough that Firestar thought her a worthy companion of the former ThunderClan medicine cat, who padded tirelessly through the stars, watching over her Clanmates.

She just hoped with all her heart that Spottedleaf, and their other warrior ancestors, would come with them when the Clans finally abandoned the forest.

Chapter 10

Firestar led the patrol upriver, keeping close to the border where tempting prey-scent drifted across the water from RiverClan’s territory. Squirrelpaw padded behind him in step with Brambleclaw, while Ashfur brought up the rear. It was the first time in days that she and Brambleclaw had left the camp together. Firestar had taken the tabby warrior with him to RiverClan and ShadowClan, to plead with them once more to leave the forest. He’d done his best, but Leopardstar and Blackstar both still refused to believe that their future lay with the other Clans, far from their forest home.

Clouds had rolled in overnight, and freezing drizzle hung under the trees, refusing to fall as proper rain but still soaking everything it touched. Squirrelpaw’s fur clung uncomfortably to her body as the dampness soaked into her pelt. The trees shone wetly in the bleak leaf-bare light and dripped water onto the fallen leaves below, turning the loose, crisp piles into slippery clumps.

Suddenly Firestar stopped and lifted his nose to scent the air. Squirrelpaw took a deep breath, hoping to catch the welcome aroma of mouse or thrush or vole. But there was no prey-scent coming from this side of the river, only something that seemed strange and familiar all at the same time.

“I think I recognize that smell,” she whispered to Brambleclaw.

“It smells like a rogue,” Brambleclaw growled.

“Hush!” Firestar commanded. He paused, then dashed forward with his hackles raised. The bushes ahead shivered and a tawny cat burst out. As it streaked away Brambleclaw yowled a battle cry, joining the chase.

“Come on!” he called, but Squirrelpaw was already charging after him.

The tawny cat swerved toward the scent-markers at the RiverClan border. Firestar headed after it without slackening the pace. Squirrelpaw felt a jolt of alarm as she neared the warning scents. The ThunderClan cats were gaining on the rogue as she pelted over the border. The moment Firestar’s paws crossed the line in pursuit, a furious yowl sounded close by, and a dark brown RiverClan warrior leaped from a swath of bracken, snarling viciously.

Firestar turned, skidding on the wet leaves, and stopped barely over the border. Brambleclaw and Ashfur almost crashed into him, but managed to stop in time.

“Hawkfrost!” Brambleclaw gasped.