Dawn

Chapter 25

Leafpaw shook the drizzle from her whiskers and padded after the others up the heather-covered slope. They had trekked all morning, leaving the snow and mountains behind, chased by the rain that rolled down from the mountains after them.

“Have you noticed Tallstar?” Sorreltail whispered, padding beside her.

The WindClan leader was walking beside Onewhisker through the banks of heather. Despite the rain, he no longer leaned against Onewhisker’s flank, but padded confidently, as if he finally believed he was within reach of his Clan’s new home. He pricked his ears as a rabbit darted from a boulder farther ahead. Onewhisker glanced at his leader, and, when Tallstar nodded, he darted after the rabbit. Tornear and Webfoot raced up the slope after him.

“I think the smell of the heather has given WindClan some of their old spirit back,” Leafpaw purred.

All the cats seemed more relaxed than they had been in the mountains, not just WindClan. Blackstar padded next to Firestar. Dustpelt walked alongside Russetfur, the heather brushing his striped flank as he talked comfortably to the ShadowClan deputy.

“I never thought I’d see Dustpelt so comfortable around the other Clans,” Leafpaw commented.

“He’ll soon be back to his old self,” Sorreltail replied matter-of-factly, “once we’re settled in our new home and things are back to normal.”

“There will always be four Clans,” Leafpaw murmured, half to herself. But would there really? Looking around, she realized with a shock that it was impossible to tell from the throng of cats where one Clan ended and another began.

“I’m just glad to be out of the mountains,” Sorreltail mewed.

“Stormfur was brave to stay.”

“He had so little left in the Clans,” Leafpaw murmured.

“Well, I’d rather be here,” Sorreltail decided.

“Even though we don’t know where we’re heading?” Leafpaw asked her, surprised.

“Look at this place!” Sorreltail flicked her tail at the land around them. “No sign of monsters or churned earth. And it’s good to smell prey again.” She swiped her tongue around her lips.

As she spoke Onewhisker came trotting back toward the Clans, a rabbit dangling from his jaws. Leafpaw knew she was right—this place felt safer than anywhere they had been for many days and nights—but with no sign from StarClan, was it really their new home?

“Leafpaw!”

Cinderpelt’s voice shocked her into wakefulness. She blinked open her eyes. It was still dark.

“Is everything okay?” she asked, struggling to her paws and staring around the shadowy copse where the Clans had sheltered for the night. A chilly wind whipped between the trees.

“Firestar wants to set off as early as possible,” Cinderpelt told her.

“Why can’t we stay here?” Leafpaw heard Birchkit’s fretful mew and, as her eyes became accustomed to the predawn light, she saw him staring up at his mother, crouched between the roots of a tree.

“We can’t stop yet.” Brambleclaw’s deep mew rang out before Ferncloud could reply. “StarClan will tell us when we have found our new home.”

“But the sign might come if we wait here,” Dustpelt meowed.

“Wait here?” Mudclaw glared at the ThunderClan cats.

“These trees may feel like home to you, but not to us.”

“The streams here aren’t wide enough for fish,” Leopardstar pointed out.

Squirrelpaw nodded. “We must keep going.”

“Going where, exactly?” Hawkfrost growled.

Squirrelpaw narrowed her eyes. “Do we have to know everything?”

Brambleclaw flicked his tail to silence her, then glanced at Cinderpelt. “Have you had any sign from StarClan?”

Cinderpelt shook her head. “Not me. But Leafpaw had a dream,” she meowed.

Leafpaw’s heart lurched as the eyes of all the Clans turned to her, gleaming in the half-light. “I-I don’t know if it was a sign,” she mewed quickly. “I dreamed I sat before a great stretch of shining water…”

“Shining water?” Leopardstar interrupted. “You mean a river?”

Leafpaw shook her head. “No, not a river. These waters were smooth, not churning. I could see Silverpelt reflected, all the stars shining as clearly as if they were swimming in the sky.”

“Is that all?” Blackstar demanded.

“Spottedleaf was there too, and she told me StarClan would find us,” Leafpaw forced herself to meet the ShadowClan leader’s gaze even though her legs were shaking.

“So we should head for water?” Tallstar mewed hopefully.

Leafpaw’s ears twitched. “I think it was just a dream,” she whispered. “I’ve had no sign from StarClan since.” She looked unhappily at her paws. “I’m beginning to think I just dreamed what I wanted to.”

“Then we have nothing,” Blackstar muttered, turning away.

“Are you sure it was just a dream?” Brambleclaw asked Leafpaw.

She searched her heart for the truth. “I don’t know.”

She had never been wrong about her dreams before, but if the dream had really carried a message from their warrior ancestors, wouldn’t some sign—a falling star, another dream—have told them by now that StarClan was with them in this strange place?

“Well, we’ll just have to keep going.” Brambleclaw padded out from the trees. A grassy bank sloped down in front of him to a narrow valley. Beyond, a ridge rose into the indigo sky, its curving side shadowed by forest.

As the cats began to pad out of the copse, still blinking and stretching, Leafpaw glanced up at the sky. Clouds obscured the stars.

“Don’t worry about the sign.” Her father’s voice surprised her, and she turned to find him standing beside her. “You are still an apprentice medicine cat,” he murmured. “You shouldn’t feel responsible if StarClan wishes to remain silent.”

She gazed gratefully into his emerald eyes as he went on. “I’m proud of you. And Squirrelpaw too—even though Cinderpelt’s prophecy frightened me for a while.”

“Cinderpelt’s prophecy?” Leafpaw echoed.

“StarClan’s sign that fire and tiger would destroy the Clan.”

Leafpaw blinked. Cinderpelt’s ominous warning seemed a lifetime away now.

“Now I think I understand what it meant.” Firestar gazed after Squirrelpaw and Brambleclaw as they led the cats down into the valley. Their fur glowed like the moon and its shadow in the gloom. “The daughter of Firestar and the son of Tigerstar did destroy the Clan,” he meowed. “But not as I feared they would. They led us from our old home, away from danger and into the unknown. Many would have been put off by the difficulties that faced them, but they held on to their faith and brought us all to safety.” He glanced at Tawnypelt and Crowfeather prowling protectively on either side of the Clans. “The cats who first crossed the mountains—whether they are still with us or live among other warriors—will always be honored by every Clan for their courage.”

He flicked his tail, then bounded away to catch up with Sandstorm. Leafpaw felt a surge of pride in her sister, and gratitude to her father for being willing to trust Brambleclaw and Squirrelpaw to lead them to a place of safety.

She weaved her way to Sorreltail’s side as they reached the foot of the slope and began to climb upward again on the other side of the valley.

“I’m hungry,” Sorreltail complained.

“It’s nearly dawn,” Leafpaw answered her. “I’m sure we can hunt then.”

“At least it looks like good hunting territory here,” Sorreltail commented, looking around at the young beech trees that crowded the slope.

Leafpaw recognized her sister’s voice drifting from up ahead. “I can smell prey and leaves and ferns like we had back in the forest!” Squirrelpaw bounded back to them. “I hope we get some sort of sign here.” She peered through the trees to where Brambleclaw’s pelt flitted through the shadows like a fish. “I hope he’s all right. He’s hardly spoken today.”

“He’s just worried,” Leafpaw reassured her.

“What do you think the sign will be?” Sorreltail fretted.

Leafpaw shook her head. “I don’t know,” she admitted.

Beneath the trees, she could hardly see a pawstep in front of her, but she followed the scents of her Clanmates as they climbed steadily upward.

As if every cat were waiting for something, tension rippled through the Clans, stiffening muscles and making pelts bristle. No cat spoke as they reached the top of the ridge. They filed along its treeless crest in a single line, silhouetted against the murky sky. A cool wind breathed over them, and Leafpaw felt it ruffle her fur. She closed her eyes for a moment and sent a desperate prayer to StarClan.

Let Spottedleaf’s words be true. Show me you are waiting for us, she begged.

The breeze grew stronger, tugging at her fur, and far above them the clouds shifted to reveal the moon, shining round and bright onto the cats below.

Leafpaw opened her eyes, and her breath caught in her throat. On the far side of the ridge, the ground sloped steeply away to a vast, smooth expanse of water. All the stars of Silverpelt were reflected in the lake, glittering silver against indigo-black, as if they were swimming in the night sky.

Leafpaw’s heart flooded with joy. She knew with all her heart that they had reached the end of their journey. Her faith had been enough, and their warrior ancestors had been waiting for them all along.

She lifted her gaze. The distant horizon was reddening as dawn began to push away the night, gradually revealing more of the Clans’ new home.

This is the place we were meant to find, and StarClan is here.