Dawn

Squirrelpaw nodded and hurried away to pull pawfuls of sodden moss from the ancient stones that formed the walls of the shelter.

The cats took it from her eagerly, lapping at the water that they squeezed out with their forepaws. When the last WindClan elder had drunk her fill, Squirrelpaw decided she could settle down and rest her aching paws. As she made herself comfortable in a corner, the warriors returned, carrying fresh-kill. Warm, delicious scents filled the shelter, and Squirrelpaw felt a quiver of joy as Brambleclaw dropped a plump rat in front of her.

“Do you want to share?” she offered.

“No,” Brambleclaw mewed. “It’s all yours.”

Squirrelpaw’s belly ached by the time she had finished because she was unused to such a huge meal, but this sort of discomfort was far less frightening than hunger, and for the first time since returning to the forest, she felt warm and well fed.

“This is a good place to rest,” Tallpoppy purred. “I don’t think my kits could take another night in the open. They nearly froze in last night’s rain.”

“They’ll be warm enough tonight,” Ferncloud agreed.

It was dark when Brambleclaw returned. He settled down beside Squirrelpaw with a piece of fresh-kill as big as the one he’d given her.

Firestar was lying next to Sandstorm, their tails, pale ginger and dark red, curled together. “Will you rest with us tonight?” he mewed to Ravenpaw, who was watching the cats eat from the entrance to the nest.

“Yes, I’d like that.” He padded over to the corner where ThunderClan had gathered. ShadowClan huddled opposite, while RiverClan and WindClan settled in separate corners.

“I never thought I’d sleep among the Clan again,” Ravenpaw murmured.

“I just wish it weren’t under these circumstances.” Firestar sighed.

Ravenpaw’s eyes darkened. “How will you find a new home?”

“StarClan will tell us,” Squirrelpaw mewed. She glanced at Brambleclaw, but he didn’t look up. “Won’t they?” She looked at Leafpaw, uncertainty pricking at her paws. Leafpaw dipped her head, but said nothing.

When Squirrelpaw woke, cold sunlight streamed into the nest. She flexed her claws, wondering how late it was. She had slept soundly. Looking up, she saw her father standing on a fallen stone that made a natural platform in the center of the broken nest. All around him, cats were drowsily lifting their heads and blinking in the daylight.

“We’ve slept too long,” Firestar mewed. “It’s sunhigh. We must push on to Highstones. Wherever we’re going, we have a long journey ahead of us.”

Mudclaw got to his paws, a stubborn expression on his face.

“Why must we leave a place that has such good hunting?”

“My kits have fed well for the first time in moons!” Tallpoppy put in.

“This is a prey-rich place,” Tallstar agreed. The WindClan leader looked tired and drawn despite their long sleep.

“Ravenpaw only invited us to stay the night,” Firestar argued.

“So? What could he do if we decided to stay longer?”

Blackstar stared defiantly at Ravenpaw. “My Clan needs food and shelter, and they will take it by force if necessary.”

Brambleclaw stood up. “This is not the place for us,” he meowed. “I don’t know exactly where we’re going, but I know it’s not here.”

Squirrelpaw nodded. “Why would StarClan have made us journey all the way to the sun-drown-place if they only meant for us to make our homes here? We wouldn’t need a sign for that.”

Crowpaw twitched his ears. “We must finish the journey we’ve started,” he growled.

“I agree,” meowed Stormfur from the RiverClan corner.

“Me too.” Tawnypelt stretched, arching her back. “We must carry on.”

“I think they’re right,” Leopardstar meowed unexpectedly.

“There are too many Twolegs around here. What if one of their dogs got loose? We’d be trapped in a place like this.”

Blackstar narrowed his eyes. “Very well,” he muttered.

Tallpoppy reluctantly got to her paws, nudging her kits awake. “Come on, my dears,” she whispered. “We’re leaving.”

“But it’s warm here,” mewled one.

“And there’s fresh-kill,” squeaked another.

“We must go anyway,” Tallpoppy told them. Her voice was dull with tiredness, and Squirrelpaw felt a jolt of sympathy for the brave ShadowClan queen. She padded toward the entrance, and her kits followed, their fur sticking up in clumps where they had slept on it.

“I’ll come with you to Highstones,” Ravenpaw offered, brushing his tail against Firestar’s flank.

The cats filed silently away from the shelter, heading for the crags of Highstones that towered in the distance, dark against the clearing sky. Squirrelpaw shivered as the wind ruffled her fur. Sunhigh was already past. If they slowed their pace to match the elders and kits, they would not reach Highstones until the sun had dipped below the horizon.

“So who is ThunderClan’s deputy now?” she heard Ravenpaw ask Firestar.

Squirrelpaw glanced at Brambleclaw, but he kept his eyes fixed straight ahead.

“Graystripe is,” Firestar growled.

Ravenpaw stared at his friend in surprise. “But he’s gone.”

Firestar rounded on him, his eyes glittering with pain.