Sunrise

“The scent’s stale,” Brambleclaw warned, “but not that old. Sol certainly passed this place not many sunrises ago.”

Ashfoot took a pace back, toward her own territory. “Good-bye, then, and good luck.”

“Thanks, Ashfoot,” Brambleclaw responded. “You’ve helped us a lot—what made you do it?”

Ashfoot twitched her ears. “I want my own Clan to be safe. Sol must be dealt with before he causes more trouble.” Without waiting for a reply, she padded back up the bank and disappeared over the shoulder of the hill.

“Or else she wants us to stop blaming WindClan,” Birchfall muttered as soon as she was out of earshot.

“That may be,” Brambleclaw mewed. “But we don’t need to bother about that now. All of you, get a good sniff of this fur, and fix the scent in your minds. Then we can be on our way.”

Sliding under the Twoleg fence, he led the way across the field. The ground was hard as stone, and the grass crunched underneath their paws. Their route led them close to the wooden horse nests. Hollyleaf felt her neck fur begin to bristle as she caught the scents of Twoleg and dog, but nothing moved and there was no sound.

She expected Brambleclaw to pass by quickly, but instead he halted at the entrance to the horse nest. “Why are we stopping?” she asked.

“We won’t stay long,” Brambleclaw replied, “but there are some cats here I want Hazeltail to meet. Hello!” he called softly through the opening.

Hazeltail looked up, puzzled, but before she could speak, two cats appeared from the shadows. In the lead was a muscular gray-and-white tom, with a smaller, paler she-cat just behind him.

“Brambleclaw!” The tom sounded surprised but welcoming. “What are you doing here—and all these others? I hope there’s no trouble in your Clan.”

“Nothing that need worry you,” Brambleclaw replied.

“Who are they?” Hollyleaf whispered in Lionblaze’s ear.

Lionblaze shrugged. “No idea.”

“Smoky, Floss,” Brambleclaw went on, “this is Hazeltail, Daisy’s daughter.” He twitched his ears to draw Hazeltail to his side, in front of the stable cats. “Hazeltail, this is Smoky…your father.”

Hazeltail’s eyes widened in astonishment. “Daisy brought us here when we were kits. Father!”

She rushed forward and rubbed her muzzle against Smoky’s chin. Purring loudly, Smoky bent his head and gave her a lick around the ears. “I’ve missed you all,” he murmured.

With the touch of his tail on her shoulder, he urged the small she-cat forward. “Do you remember Floss?” he prompted Hazeltail. “She helped Daisy look after you, when you were first born.”

Hazeltail looked uncertain. “I don’t remember that,” she mewed, dipping her head to Floss. “But I do remember seeing you here when Daisy brought us back.”

“How is Daisy?” Smoky asked Brambleclaw. “And the other kits…Berry and Mouse?”

“They’re all fine,” Hazeltail assured him, her eyes sparkling. “They’re Berrynose and Mousewhisker now. We’re all warriors of ThunderClan. Berrynose lost half his tail in a fox trap—”

Floss interrupted with a gasp. “Was he badly hurt?”

“Not too badly,” Hazeltail replied. “Leafpool—she’s our medicine cat—looked after him. He’s a strong warrior now, and so is Mousewhisker.”

“And Daisy?” There was a shadow of sadness in Smoky’s eyes as he looked to Brambleclaw for an answer. “Is she happy in the Clan? She was so scared, that time she brought our kits back here after the badger attack.”

Brambleclaw nodded. “She has found her place. She will never be a warrior, but she is a true cat of ThunderClan.”

“She has two more kits!” Hazeltail broke in. “Rosekit and Toadkit. They’re so cute!”

“I can see she has moved on,” Smoky murmured. Then he gave his pelt a shake, as if dismissing memories. “So you’re a warrior now,” he meowed to his daughter. “Show me what you’ve learned.”

“Okay.” Hazeltail dropped into the hunter’s crouch and began to glide forward. “Now I’m stalking a mouse,” she explained. “You have to set your paws down light as clouds, because the mouse will feel the vibrations through the earth. Then when you’re ready—” She paused, waggling her rump. “You pounce!”

She leaped into the air and landed with her front paws gripping the tip of Birchfall’s tail.

Birchfall jumped a tail-length off the ground. “Hey! That hurt!”

Hazeltail’s eyes gleamed. “Attack me, then!”

Hollyleaf watched as Birchfall sprang for Hazeltail; she dodged to one side and fetched him a blow across the shoulder with her claws sheathed. Birchfall whipped around and leaped on top of her with a screech; the two young cats wrestled together on the ground.

We were like that once, Hollyleaf thought. Not a care in the world. Seeing the pride in Smoky’s eyes, she felt a wave of jealousy sweep over her. Would my father be proud of me? she wondered. Does he even know I exist?

“I’m impressed,” Smoky meowed, as Hazeltail and Birchfall broke apart and sat up, shaking scraps of earth and debris out of their fur. “ThunderClan certainly teaches cats to look after themselves.”