Dawn

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.

Firestar took a step backward over the border. But he continued to stare at Hawkfrost, his eyes stretched wide as though he were staring into the face of a StarClan warrior. Squirrelpaw was surprised that Hawkfrost’s ambush had shocked her father so much. It was hardly strange to encounter a warrior patrolling this close to the border, when every cat in RiverClan knew how close their neighbors were to starvation.

“What are you doing on RiverClan territory?” Hawkfrost demanded.

Firestar did not answer at first. Then he seemed to recover himself, letting his fur lie flat and relaxing his shoulders. “I was chasing that rogue out of ThunderClan territory,” he replied. He glanced at the tawny she-cat who had halted behind Hawkfrost. “Why challenge me when you have allowed a rogue to cross your borders?”

Hawkfrost exchanged a long look with the rogue before he answered. “My mother will always be welcome in RiverClan,” he meowed.

Sasha! Suddenly Squirrelpaw recognized the rogue she had helped escape from the Twoleg nest. She felt the mild triumph of curiosity satisfied. It was common knowledge that Hawkfrost and his sister, Mothwing, had been left in RiverClan by their rogue mother, though she hadn’t stayed in the forest long enough to be known by other Clans.

But Firestar seemed to have more unanswered questions, because he stood rigid, staring at mother and son with his ears pricked.

With a small dip of her head, Sasha meowed a greeting.

“I have heard much about you, Firestar,” she murmured. “It is… interesting to meet you at last.” Her voice was icy and dignified, and Squirrelpaw felt self-consciously young and awkward by comparison.

“So you are Sasha?” Firestar meowed softly, his eyes glittering.

“You look as if you expected something else,” Sasha suggested.

Firestar’s gaze swept along her well-groomed pelt. “You don’t look like a rogue.”

“And you don’t look like a kittypet,” Sasha countered.

Squirrelpaw winced, but her father showed no anger. Instead he met Sasha’s proud gaze evenly.

“I have often wondered why a rogue would choose to leave her kits with a Clan.”

“Why would a Clan make a kittypet their leader?” Sasha responded. She did not wait for an answer. “Not all cats are true to their birthright, Firestar. Some choose their own path.”

Firestar narrowed his eyes. “Are you such a cat?”

“Maybe,” Sasha meowed. “Maybe not. But I hope my kits are.” She glanced at Hawkfrost, and Squirrelpaw saw a flash of pride in her eyes.

“Will you stay with RiverClan awhile?” Hawkfrost invited her. “We have plenty of prey.” He cast a mocking glance at Firestar, but Firestar didn’t react. He simply watched, his eyes still narrowed in thought as Sasha gave her answer.

“I won’t stay long,” she told him. “But I would like to see Mothwing before I leave.”

Hawkfrost curled his lip at Firestar. “I shall send a patrol as soon as I get back to the camp to make sure you have not been stealing RiverClan prey,” he warned.

“We have no need to steal,” Firestar retorted. He looked at his patrol. “Come on.”

Though the air still crackled with tension, Squirrelpaw knew that the danger had passed. Hawkfrost and Firestar turned from each other and padded away from the border.

She prepared to follow her father, but before they had reached the safety of the trees, Firestar halted and called out to Sasha.

His voice was strangely calm.

“Tigerstar was their father, wasn’t he?”

Sasha didn’t seem surprised by the question. She nodded.

“Yes, he was.”

The ground lurched beneath Squirrelpaw. No wonder Firestar had looked so surprised when Hawkfrost had leaped out in front of him. He must have thought it was Tigerstar himself, granted a tenth life. He’d seen Hawkfrost before at moonlit gatherings, and at the disastrous meeting at Fourtrees the other night, but perhaps this was the first time they had come face-to-face in daylight.

Then she heard a gasp beside her and saw Brambleclaw standing with his eyes wide. “But Tigerstar was my father too!” he croaked. “Does this mean I have kin in two other Clans?”

Hawkfrost flicked his gaze to his half kin. “I’m surprised you hadn’t guessed,” he meowed. Squirrelpaw looked from one cat to the other, finally noticing the similarities in their tabby pelts and powerful shoulders.

“I thought Tawnypelt and I were the only ones…”

Brambleclaw murmured.

“At least you had a chance to know our father.” Hawkfrost twitched his tail. “I envy you that.”

“I learned more from Firestar than I ever did from Tigerstar,” Brambleclaw retorted.

“But still, Tigerstar knew you. He never even set eyes on me.”

Squirrelpaw felt a twinge of sympathy for him, knowing how much she cherished her relationship with her own father, but she pushed it away. There was something about the RiverClan warrior that she didn’t trust.

Hawkfrost’s gaze hardened. “Get away from this border,” he warned, kneading the ground with his long, hooked claws—claws like those of the black-and-gold tigers that elders described in their stories; claws that had given his father his warrior name. “I will defend my Clan against any cat if I have to.”

He turned and led his mother down to the river, and together they waded through the water and disappeared into the bushes on the other side. Squirrelpaw watched them go in silence, knowing he meant his threat.