Warriors: The New Prophecy #3: Dawn (Warriors: The New Prophecy, Book 3), page 18
“It must be difficult for her, being among ThunderClan again,” Leafpaw ventured. “She probably feels she has to prove her loyalty to ShadowClan more than ever.”
“Leafpaw’s right,” Squirrelpaw meowed. “Don’t take it personally, Brambleclaw. It wasn’t long ago that you were telling me that your first loyalty is to ThunderClan, not your kin. Allow Tawnypelt to have the same feelings for ShadowClan.”
“I suppose so,” Brambleclaw agreed grudgingly. “I just wanted to hunt with my sister again.” Leafpaw heard the sadness in his voice and thought how hard it must be having a littermate in another Clan. She glanced at Squirrelpaw, grateful that she and her sister shared the same home wherever it was.
“Leafpaw!” Cinderpelt was calling from the den. “Come and help me!”
Leafpaw bounded up the slope.
“Will you take these herbs to the queen and the elders?”
“What about Birchkit?”
“Just give him half a dose.”
Leafpaw glanced warily at Blackstar. “Are we sharing with ShadowClan?”
“We’ll have some left over,” Cinderpelt mewed, her eyes glittering. “I’ll offer them to Littlecloud and tell him we have no need for them. Blackstar can take them or leave them as he wants.”
Leafpaw admired her mentor’s kindheartedness as well as her craftiness; this was an offer Blackstar could accept without losing face. She picked up a bundle of herbs and carried it to Ferncloud. The she-cat accepted the bitter herbs gratefully, though Birchkit was not so thankful.
“It tastes like crow-food!” he complained.
“You’ve never eaten crow-food,” Ferncloud pointed out. “Now just swallow it.”
Leafpaw purred with amusement and carried her bundle to where Frostfur, Longtail, and Speckletail lay, sheltered by the overhang.
As she put the herbs down, Frostfur shook her head. “Don’t waste those on us,” she murmured. “We’re not going with the Clan.”
Leafpaw blinked. “Not going! Why?”
Firestar trotted over. “What’s the matter?”
“Frostfur says they aren’t coming with us!”
“We’re too old to make such a journey,” Speckletail rasped. “We’d only hold you back.”
Longtail flicked his tail. “And what use would I be? I can’t even see where I’m putting my paws!”
“The Clan would help you,” Firestar assured him gently. He looked up at the elderly she-cats. “Just as they would help all of you.”
“We know they would,” Frostfur mewed. “But Speckletail and I are too old for so much change. We’d rather die here beneath Silverpelt, knowing StarClan waits for us.”
Leafpaw flinched. Surely StarClan would go wherever they did?
Firestar nodded gravely. “I cannot force you to come with us, Frostfur,” he murmured. “I know your paws are weary, Speckletail’s too, and you already hear StarClan whispering to you. But Longtail, I won’t leave you behind.” When the tabby warrior opened his mouth to argue, Firestar went on, “Yesterday you heard the WindClan cats coming before any other cat. You may have lost your eyes, but your ears and your sense of smell are as good as any warrior’s. Please come with us.”
Longtail closed his sightless eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath. Then he opened them again, and turned his face toward Firestar as if he were looking straight at him. “Thank you,” he meowed. “I will come.”
Stormfur bounded up the rocks. “Firestar! There is a problem. RiverClan cannot leave today.”
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 recognized Runningnose’s gray pelt. “I would like to say good-bye 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 traveling 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 around 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 toward 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 onto 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 forward 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 toward 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 Graystripe staring out from the monster’s belly flashed through her mind.
Leopardstar padded to the center 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.
“Good-bye, Frostfur,” Leafpaw whispered. “Good-bye, Speckletail. Good hunting.”
“Good hunting,” Frostfur replied.
Leafpaw looked up at the gray 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 slippery underpaw. The RiverClan cats stayed together, keeping up with ThunderClan but traveling 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 good-bye to the forest for the last time.
Firestar gazed at his Clan. “We must say good-bye 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-colored cat emerged from the trees a little way off. Even though the rain masked her scent, Leafpaw recognized the stranger at once. It was Sasha.
Mothwing recognized 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 toward 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 gray 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.
“Leafpaw’s right,” Squirrelpaw meowed. “Don’t take it personally, Brambleclaw. It wasn’t long ago that you were telling me that your first loyalty is to ThunderClan, not your kin. Allow Tawnypelt to have the same feelings for ShadowClan.”
“I suppose so,” Brambleclaw agreed grudgingly. “I just wanted to hunt with my sister again.” Leafpaw heard the sadness in his voice and thought how hard it must be having a littermate in another Clan. She glanced at Squirrelpaw, grateful that she and her sister shared the same home wherever it was.
“Leafpaw!” Cinderpelt was calling from the den. “Come and help me!”
Leafpaw bounded up the slope.
“Will you take these herbs to the queen and the elders?”
“What about Birchkit?”
“Just give him half a dose.”
Leafpaw glanced warily at Blackstar. “Are we sharing with ShadowClan?”
“We’ll have some left over,” Cinderpelt mewed, her eyes glittering. “I’ll offer them to Littlecloud and tell him we have no need for them. Blackstar can take them or leave them as he wants.”
Leafpaw admired her mentor’s kindheartedness as well as her craftiness; this was an offer Blackstar could accept without losing face. She picked up a bundle of herbs and carried it to Ferncloud. The she-cat accepted the bitter herbs gratefully, though Birchkit was not so thankful.
“It tastes like crow-food!” he complained.
“You’ve never eaten crow-food,” Ferncloud pointed out. “Now just swallow it.”
Leafpaw purred with amusement and carried her bundle to where Frostfur, Longtail, and Speckletail lay, sheltered by the overhang.
As she put the herbs down, Frostfur shook her head. “Don’t waste those on us,” she murmured. “We’re not going with the Clan.”
Leafpaw blinked. “Not going! Why?”
Firestar trotted over. “What’s the matter?”
“Frostfur says they aren’t coming with us!”
“We’re too old to make such a journey,” Speckletail rasped. “We’d only hold you back.”
Longtail flicked his tail. “And what use would I be? I can’t even see where I’m putting my paws!”
“The Clan would help you,” Firestar assured him gently. He looked up at the elderly she-cats. “Just as they would help all of you.”
“We know they would,” Frostfur mewed. “But Speckletail and I are too old for so much change. We’d rather die here beneath Silverpelt, knowing StarClan waits for us.”
Leafpaw flinched. Surely StarClan would go wherever they did?
Firestar nodded gravely. “I cannot force you to come with us, Frostfur,” he murmured. “I know your paws are weary, Speckletail’s too, and you already hear StarClan whispering to you. But Longtail, I won’t leave you behind.” When the tabby warrior opened his mouth to argue, Firestar went on, “Yesterday you heard the WindClan cats coming before any other cat. You may have lost your eyes, but your ears and your sense of smell are as good as any warrior’s. Please come with us.”
Longtail closed his sightless eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath. Then he opened them again, and turned his face toward Firestar as if he were looking straight at him. “Thank you,” he meowed. “I will come.”
Stormfur bounded up the rocks. “Firestar! There is a problem. RiverClan cannot leave today.”
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 recognized Runningnose’s gray pelt. “I would like to say good-bye 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 traveling 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 around 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 toward 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 onto 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 forward 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 toward 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 Graystripe staring out from the monster’s belly flashed through her mind.
Leopardstar padded to the center 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.
“Good-bye, Frostfur,” Leafpaw whispered. “Good-bye, Speckletail. Good hunting.”
“Good hunting,” Frostfur replied.
Leafpaw looked up at the gray 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 slippery underpaw. The RiverClan cats stayed together, keeping up with ThunderClan but traveling 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 good-bye to the forest for the last time.
Firestar gazed at his Clan. “We must say good-bye 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-colored cat emerged from the trees a little way off. Even though the rain masked her scent, Leafpaw recognized the stranger at once. It was Sasha.
Mothwing recognized 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 toward 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 gray 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.
