Dawn

Chapter 9

A mournful yowl echoed around the rocky cleft, jolting Leafpaw awake. For a moment she thought she was back in the cage, and that her terrifying escape had been nothing but a dream.

Then she smelled the scent of the forest and the river on the icy breeze, and remembered she was at Sunningrocks, in the new ThunderClan camp. She blinked open her eyes and looked over the edge of the hollow, her breath billowing like smoke in the freezing air.

“What is it?” Cody whispered. The kittypet had slept beside her in the apprentices’ gully last night. Leafpaw felt her soft fur bristling against her flank.

“It sounded like Ferncloud,” she mewed. “But I can only see Dustpelt from here.”

The striped warrior stood on the frost-covered slope, silhouetted by the early morning light. A kit dangled limply from his jaws.

As Dustpelt carried the kit away, Ferncloud cried out again from the hollow that formed the camp’s makeshift nursery.

Leafpaw scrambled out, struggling to get a grip on the icy stone, and raced to Ferncloud’s side. “What’s happened?”

“Hollykit is dead!” Ferncloud whispered. “Dustpelt’s gone to bury her.” She tucked her remaining kit close to her belly.

“I woke and she was cold. So cold!” Her voice cracked with grief. “I licked her and licked her but she would not wake up.”

Leafpaw felt sorrow grip her heart. What kind of medicine cat was she if she hadn’t even noticed Hollykit was so close to death?

“Oh, Ferncloud,” she breathed. “I’m so sorry.”

One by one, the Clan gathered above the nursery in grim silence. Cody stood among them, her eyes round with sympathy. To Leafpaw’s relief, her Clanmates took no notice of the kittypet. They shared a common enemy now—the Twolegs who were trapping cats and tearing up the forest.

Cinderpelt scrambled down into the hollow. “Fetch some poppy seeds,” she ordered. “Ferncloud must not waste what little energy she has left on grieving.”

Leafpaw hurried to the crack in the rock where Cinderpelt stored her tiny heap of remedies and reached in to pull out a leaf-wrapped hoard of poppy seeds. She wished with all her heart they were still in the ravine, where the medicine cats had kept their den in the rock well stocked. Looking at the shriveled leaf beneath her paw, she guessed there were only two or three doses of poppy seeds left, and there was no hope of finding more with leaf-bare nearly upon them.

Firestar’s call startled her. “Leafpaw!” She turned to see her father bounding up the slope with Brambleclaw and Mousefur.

“How is Ferncloud?” he asked.

“Cinderpelt told me to get some poppy seeds to calm her,” Leafpaw told him.

“I didn’t think it would get this bad so soon!” Firestar growled. “Oh, StarClan! What can I do to help these cats?”

He raised his eyes to Silverpelt, fading quickly in the dawn light.

“Last night was so cold,” Mousefur remarked. “The poor little mite didn’t have enough flesh on her bones to make it through.”

“Birchkit survived,” Leafpaw reminded them. “We must do everything we can to make sure Ferncloud can feed him properly.”

“But the nights are only going to get colder, and once the snow comes…” Firestar trailed off and stared into the treetops beyond Sunningrocks.

Brambleclaw glanced uneasily at Leafpaw. “If we are to leave the forest we should go soon,” he meowed. “Before snowfall makes the mountains too difficult to cross.”

Leafpaw narrowed her eyes. She had been torn by doubts since her sister had told her about Midnight’s warning. She could tell that many of her Clanmates couldn’t believe that StarClan really intended them to go, but she trusted that her sister and Brambleclaw had a role to play in their Clan’s destiny. She did not want to leave her forest home, and she feared the Clan were not strong enough for such a journey, but how could she ignore the will of StarClan?

“You already know how I feel. We cannot go without the other Clans,” Firestar pointed out. Leafpaw silently agreed with him. However much hardship one Clan was in, they had to remain together for StarClan’s sake.

“I must take these to Ferncloud,” she murmured, picking up the bundle of seeds.

As she reached the crevice, Sorreltail was padding away, her eyes dull with sorrow. She didn’t even look up as she went past. Leafpaw noticed that she trod carefully on the freezing stone as if it hurt her paws. She scrambled into the hollow and dropped the poppy seeds at Cinderpelt’s paws. Ferncloud was lying with her eyes wide, staring at nothing. Birchkit was huddled beside her, too shocked and hungry to mew. To Leafpaw’s surprise, Cody was there too.

“Thank you,” Cinderpelt whispered, taking the leaf bundle and carefully unwrapping it with her teeth.

“Shouldn’t you be outside?” Leafpaw gently prompted Cody.

“I thought I might be able to help,” came the reply. “I lost a litter once.”

“A whole litter? That’s so sad!”

“They didn’t die,” Cody explained quickly. “My housefolk sent them away to new homes. But I felt the loss as badly.”

“And these are the Twolegs you want to go back to?”

Leafpaw mewed in disbelief. “How could you possibly forgive them?”

“It is normal for kittypets not to raise their kits. We don’t expect anything else.” Cody blinked. “My housefolk are gentle and kind. They chose good homes for each kit. They wouldn’t have known that I miss them.”

Cinderpelt silenced them with a warning stare. Ferncloud had grown fretful again, writhing on the cold stone and letting out tiny moaning sounds. “Hollykit is with StarClan now,” Cinderpelt whispered to her. “She will never know cold or hunger again.”

“I tried my best,” Ferncloud wailed. “Why couldn’t I have died instead of her?”

Firestar’s deep mew sounded from the rim of the hollow.

“Because then there would be no cat left to look after Birchkit.

You must have courage, Ferncloud.”

Leafpaw looked up. Cody flattened her ears. She had not met the ThunderClan leader yet.

“Ferncloud, I’m so sorry about Hollykit,” Firestar went on.

“We will make sure Birchkit survives.”

Ferncloud stared up at him. “Birchkit must survive,” she hissed.

Cinderpelt placed a poppy seed on the ground beside her.

“Here,” she mewed. “Eat this; it will help soothe your pain.”

Ferncloud looked uncertainly at the seed.

Cody stretched forward and sniffed the black speck. “Eat it,” she advised, pushing it nearer to Ferncloud with her paw.

“You need to save all your strength for the kit you have left.”

Firestar watched her curiously. “Sandstorm told me Leafpaw had brought a kittypet back with her. Is that you?”

“Yes. I’m Cody. Come, Ferncloud, eat the poppy seed.”

“You can see that the Clan cannot offer you much as a place of safety,” Firestar apologized. “But it’s even more dangerous for you to travel alone. When I have a free warrior, you’ll be escorted home. Until then, you can stay with us.”

“Thank you,” Cody murmured.

Firestar’s gazed flicked back to Ferncloud. “Will she be all right?”

“She just needs rest,” Cinderpelt told him.

“And Birchkit?”

“He always was the strongest of the three.” Cinderpelt bent down to lick the small scrap of fur that had begun to knead his mother’s belly in search of milk.

“Do your best.” Firestar turned and padded away.

Cody’s shoulders drooped. “It’s hard to believe your father was ever a kittypet,” she muttered to Leafpaw.

“I never really think about it,” she admitted. “It’s not as if I knew him back then. I was born after he became leader.”

She looked at Cody. “Will you be all right, staying here?”

“Of course.” Cody sounded surprised that Leafpaw should have any doubts. Sweeping her tail gently along Leafpaw’s flank, she turned and crouched down beside Ferncloud. “You two go,” she meowed to Leafpaw and Cinderpelt. “You have many cats to look after. There is little I can do for the rest of the Clan, but at least I can take care of Ferncloud.”

Cinderpelt looked uncertainly at the kittypet, but Cody reassured her. “I’ll make sure she eats the seed,” she promised. “And while she sleeps I can look after Birchkit. He’ll be missing his sister.”

“Very well,” Cinderpelt agreed. “But call me if Ferncloud becomes more distressed.”

Cody nodded, and Leafpaw followed Cinderpelt out of the den, glancing back just once to blink appreciatively at her friend.

The Clan was huddled in small groups on the exposed flank of the rock, their faces grave. Leafpaw suddenly longed to run through the woods on her own. The Clan she had returned to seemed filled with more suffering than she could ease, and she wanted to be away from it, if only for a short while.

She padded down the slope toward the trees. Pushing through the undergrowth she inhaled the earthy odors of the forest, drinking them in gratefully. She detected the familiar smells of Squirrelpaw and Brambleclaw, and when she put her head to one side to listen she heard their voices mewing urgently up ahead. Weaving through the bracken, she found them in a small clearing near the RiverClan border.

“I told Firestar we’d have to leave soon,” Brambleclaw was meowing. “We shouldn’t try to cross the mountains after the snow comes, and we’ll never make it to newleaf if we stay here.”

“But how do we know we should go through the mountains?” Squirrelpaw argued. “The sign never appeared when we were at the Great Rock. A warrior was meant to show us the way, but no warrior came!”

“With no sign, how do we know we’re meant to go at all?”

Brambleclaw muttered. “Perhaps Midnight was wrong.”

“How could she be wrong?” Squirrelpaw mewed. “StarClan sent us to her!”

Leafpaw froze, her tail quivering. She closed her eyes, wishing for some sign that StarClan was listening, and then opened them again impatiently. Why was she being so feeble?

If StarClan had a sign they would send it. Until then, they would have to figure this out by themselves.

“Squirrelpaw?” she called. “Brambleclaw, it’s me.” She pushed through the bracken to join her Clanmates. The pair sprang away from each other and faced her warily.

Brambleclaw shifted his paws. “Did you hear what we were talking about?”

“Yes.”

“What do you think?” He stared at her. “Could Midnight have been wrong?”

Part of Leafpaw wanted Midnight to be wrong. She wanted to stay in the forest where she had been born. This was StarClan’s home, too. But why else would they have ordered Brambleclaw and the others to make such a dangerous journey? They would not have risked the cats’ lives for nothing.

“Is it StarClan you doubt or yourselves?” she murmured.

Brambleclaw wearily shook his head. “The journey was difficult enough. We didn’t think things would be even harder once we returned. We were so sure StarClan would show us the way, but they haven’t, and we can’t afford to wait. Taking the Clan away from their home is such a big responsibility…”

“And we don’t know when we should leave or where we should go,” Squirrelpaw put in.

“In the end, it has to be Firestar’s decision,” Leafpaw reminded them. “You can only tell him what you have seen and heard.”

Brambleclaw nodded.

“How did you get to be so wise?” Squirrelpaw asked her sister fondly.

“How did you become so brave and noble?” Leafpaw teased, flicking Squirrelpaw’s flank with her tail. She felt a surge of happiness at being with her sister again. Then she remembered Ferncloud and Graystripe, and her heart sank.

“If Firestar does decide to leave,” she breathed, “what about Graystripe?”

Squirrelpaw looked sad. “Graystripe will find us, wherever we are.”

“I hope so,” Leafpaw mewed. “But until he does, who’ll be deputy?”

“Graystripe is still our deputy,” Brambleclaw meowed.

“But he’s not here, and the Clan needs strong leadership more now than ever,” Leafpaw argued.

“Firestar can’t appoint a new deputy as long as he believes Graystripe is still alive,” Brambleclaw insisted.

Leafpaw shook her head. She couldn’t agree with him, but she admired his loyalty.

“Let’s not argue about it,” Squirrelpaw pleaded. “There’s already too much to worry about.” She glanced at Leafpaw.

“There’s something I wish I’d asked Graystripe to explain before we lost him.”

Leafpaw tipped her head on one side. “What?”

“It just seemed strange at the time, and Firestar silenced him before he could explain…”

Brambleclaw pricked his ears as she went on.

“When we first returned, Graystripe welcomed us by saying, ‘Fire and tiger have returned.’” Squirrelpaw blinked. “It just seemed like an odd thing to say.”

Leafpaw looked at her paws, unsure what to say. Should she tell Squirrelpaw and Brambleclaw about Cinderpelt’s ominous warning? Or would they be better off without that hanging over their heads? After all, they had enough to worry about already.

“You know something, don’t you?” Squirrelpaw prompted.

Leafpaw shuffled her paws, feeling a flash of frustration that she could never hide anything from her sister. “Cinderpelt had a message from StarClan.”

Brambleclaw leaned forward. “I thought StarClan had been silent?”

“It was just before you left,” Leafpaw explained. “StarClan warned her that fire and tiger would destroy the Clan.”

“Fire and tiger?” Squirrelpaw echoed. “What’s that got to do with us?”

Leafpaw twitched an ear. “You are Fire star’s kit.” She turned to Brambleclaw. “And you are Tiger star’s.”

Squirrelpaw’s eyes widened. “So we’re fire and tiger?”

Leafpaw nodded.

“But how could anyone believe we would destroy the Clan?”

Squirrelpaw protested. “We’ve risked our lives to help save them!”

“I know.” Leafpaw dipped her head. “And no cat really thinks you would—in fact, only Firestar, Cinderpelt, Graystripe, and I even know about it…” She was desperate to reassure her sister. “We believe you would never do anything to harm us.”

Leafpaw realized that Brambleclaw had said nothing. But he was staring at her, his eyes dark with worry, and she felt a flash of inexplicable fear. “Brambleclaw?”

“Are you sure we wouldn’t destroy the Clan?” he growled.

“W-what do you mean?”

“Of course we wouldn’t!” Squirrelpaw rounded on Brambleclaw in anger and confusion.

“Not on purpose,” Brambleclaw meowed. “But it’s us, isn’t it—fire and tiger—who want to lead the Clan away from its home and on a long, dangerous journey when we don’t even know where we’re meant to be going?”

A cold shiver rippled down Leafpaw’s spine. Cinderpelt’s prophecy suddenly seemed more frightening than it ever had before. If the Clan left the forest, following Squirrelpaw and Brambleclaw, what terrible fate awaited them?

When the three cats returned to Sunningrocks, the leaf-bare sun was already low in the sky. Each cat carried a piece of fresh-kill: Leafpaw had caught a mouse; Brambleclaw held a starling in his jaws; while Squirrelpaw carried a plump thrush.

Leafpaw longed to go to sleep and forget Brambleclaw’s worrying warning. But she was a medicine cat, and she could not rest until she knew the Clan was all right. As she followed her sister up the slope, she wondered if Cody had managed to persuade Ferncloud to eat the poppy seed.

Brackenfur met them. “The fresh-kill pile is over there.”

He gestured with his tail to a meager heap farther up the rock. Ashfur sat guard beside it, scanning the sky for birds of prey. The days were gone when the fresh-kill pile lay at the edge of the camp, well stocked and unguarded.

As Leafpaw dropped her offering onto the pile she was shocked by how small it was. There would not be enough for a whole piece of prey each. Tonight she would go without, she decided. She felt too tired to eat anyway.

She padded toward Cinderpelt and Mousefur, who were lying underneath a shallow overhang. The medicine cat looked exhausted, as much in need of her healing herbs as any of her Clanmates.

“How’s Ferncloud?” Leafpaw asked.

Cinderpelt looked up. “She’s resting now. Cody’s taking good care of her.”

“Not bad for a kittypet, that one,” Mousefur added with a twitch of her tail. “She looked so nervous when she arrived I didn’t think she’d settle in. But it looks like she’ll be okay here—for a while, anyway.”

Leafpaw blinked gratefully at the dusky brown cat, then turned to Cinderpelt again. There was something she had to ask, even though she dreaded hearing the answer. “Will Ferncloud lose her other kit?”

“Birchkit is strong enough for now,” Cinderpelt reassured her. “And with only one mouth to feed, Ferncloud should be able to give him more milk.”

“He won’t last the winter if we stay here, though,” Mousefur commented. Her eyes betrayed alarm as she saw Dustpelt padding toward her. “I hope he didn’t hear that,” she whispered. “He’s mourned enough today.”

“I did hear, Mousefur,” Dustpelt meowed wearily. “And I agree. We must leave the forest.”

Leafpaw stared at him in shock. Hollykit’s death seemed to have crushed the last morsel of strength in him.

Duspelt raised his voice so that his deep meow rang around the rock. All the other cats stared at him in astonishment.

“We must leave the forest as soon as we can!” he insisted, his eyes blazing. He swung his head around to look at Brambleclaw. “Your message from StarClan is the only sign of hope we’ve had,” he meowed.

Mousefur stood up. “Before we can leave, we’ll need a new deputy.”

As she spoke, Firestar appeared from the edge of the forest, carrying a scrawny blackbird. He had clearly heard her words. His eyes glittered as he dropped the blackbird onto the fresh-kill pile and strode up the slope. “ThunderClan has a deputy. When Graystripe returns, he won’t find another cat in his place.” He turned to face Dustpelt. “I’m glad you agree we must leave,” he meowed. “But we cannot leave yet, not without the other Clans.”

“I have only one kit left,” Dustpelt meowed. “He will die if we stay. We will probably all die.”

“Then we must try harder to persuade the other Clans to leave,” Firestar growled.

“The other Clans can come when they are ready,” Dustpelt retorted. “We are ready now.”

Firestar returned the warrior’s gaze. “We cannot leave yet,” he repeated.

“Ferncloud still needs to rest,” Cinderpelt put in quietly.

Firestar acknowledged her support with a brief nod.

Brambleclaw faced Dustpelt. “I know you are mourning two kits,” he mewed. “And that you fear for the other. But Firestar is right. StarClan would not want us to leave without the other Clans.” He turned to the other cats. “StarClan chose a cat from each Clan to carry Midnight’s message back. We had to work together to survive, without ever thinking of the differences between our Clans. StarClan wanted us to share the journey, to learn how to help one another. They must want us to travel together now.”

Firestar padded across the rock to stand beside the young warrior. “We need to send out more hunting patrols,” he meowed. “We are under no threat from the other Clans now.

RiverClan have more food than we do. They have no need to attack.” He stared around at the gaunt, hungry cats. “We can devote all our patrols to hunting from now on. We will find enough food in the forest until it is time to leave. Yes, Dustpelt, we will leave. I will visit RiverClan and ShadowClan and try to persuade them once more.”

Relief washed over Leafpaw as the cats began to nod their acceptance. Then her heart lurched again as Mousefur stepped forward.

“But what about Graystripe?” When Firestar flinched, she went on: “Whether he’s coming back or not, we need to find another deputy for as long as he’s not here, someone to carry out his duties.”

“Yes,” Dustpelt agreed. “You haven’t named anyone yet.”

He glanced at Brambleclaw. “You should choose someone young. Some cat StarClan clearly approves of.”

Leafpaw looked around. Ashfur, Whitepaw, Frostfur, and Cloudtail were staring at Brambleclaw. Even Thornclaw seemed to be watching the young cat, as though he might be the one to fill Graystripe’s pawprints. Only Mousefur and Rainwhisker were looking elsewhere.

“Brackenfur has enough experience,” Mousefur suggested.

“He is young and strong and has earned his warrior name many times over.”

Rainwhisker nodded. “Brackenfur would be a good deputy.”

“Why are you talking like this? Graystripe is not dead!”

Firestar spat. “He is still our deputy.” The bristling fur along his spine warned the other cats not to argue. He shook himself and blinked, calming down. “But you are right. Someone must carry out Graystripe’s duties. So until he returns, the senior warriors shall share them.” He glanced at Brackenfur.

“You shall organize the new hunting patrols. Sandstorm can organize work within the camp. Brambleclaw, you can help me try to convince ShadowClan and RiverClan that we must leave the forest together.” He stalked toward the overhang, and as he passed Leafpaw he called to her, “I want to speak to you,” he meowed. “Alone.”

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.