Erin Hunter - Dawn

Ravenpaw stepped out from his hiding place like a shadow coming to life, and stared at the Clans in surprise. A second cat slipped out of the hedge behind him. Squirrelpaw recognized the black-and-white pelt of Barley, the cat who had allowed Ravenpaw to share his home in a Twoleg barn for many moons.

“Firestar! Is that you?” Ravenpaw’s ears twitched as he called out for his old friend. The Clan cats halted and stared at him. Every cat knew about the black-pelted ThunderClan apprentice who had been driven out by his mentor, Tigerstar.

Even if they hadn’t known him during his short time in the forest, many had met him on the journey to Highstones.

“Hello, Ravenpaw.” Tallstar dipped his head in greeting.

“Ravenpaw!” Firestar pushed through the other cats to greet his old friend.

“Firestar!” Ravenpaw touched noses with the ThunderClan leader. He looked around. “Where’s Graystripe?”

Firestar blinked. “Graystripe’s not with us.”

“Is he dead?” Ravenpaw’s pelt bristled in shock.

Firestar shook his head. “Twolegs captured him.”

“Twolegs?” Ravenpaw echoed. “Why?”

“They started trapping us.” Firestar’s mew was raw with grief. “We’ve been forced to leave the forest.”

“ What ?” Ravenpaw lifted his nose to scent the air. “Is that WindClan and RiverClan with you? And ShadowClan?”

“The Twolegs are destroying all our homes,” Firestar explained. “We would have been crushed by their monsters if we’d stayed, if we didn’t starve first.”

“You look half-starved already,” Barley remarked, coming forward.

“Hello, Barley,” Firestar greeted him. “How’s the hunting?”

“Better for me than for you, by the looks of it,” came the blunt reply.

“Where are you heading?” Ravenpaw asked.

“Highstones first, and then…” Firestar turned to look questioningly at Brambleclaw, but Brambleclaw just gazed back in silence.

“You’ll stay with us tonight, won’t you?” Ravenpaw asked.

“The hunting is good this moon. The barn is full of rats sheltering from the cold.”

“Wait, Ravenpaw,” warned Barley. “This many cats will never fit into the barn. The Twolegs would have a fit when they came to get straw for the cows.”

“That’s true,” Ravenpaw said. “But there must be a way to help.”

“I suppose they could stay at the broken nest,” Barley suggested.

“Of course!” Ravenpaw turned to Firestar. “You know the place—where you sheltered with Bluestar after the rat attack?”

Firestar glanced up at the reddening clouds. “I was hoping we’d make it to Highstones by tonight.”

“We can’t turn down the offer of food,” Blackstar argued.

Firestar dipped his head. “You’re right.” He turned back to Ravenpaw. “Thank you.”

“Let’s get you settled; then we can show the warriors the best places to hunt,” Ravenpaw mewed. “There’ll be plenty for every cat.”

Squirrelpaw heard murmurs of excitement ripple through the Clans, and the kits began to mewl their hunger out loud now that it seemed there was a chance they would be fed.

“We need a rest and a meal more than you can imagine,” Firestar meowed.

Ravenpaw gazed at his friend’s mud-stained pelt. “Oh, Firestar,” he murmured, “I think I can imagine.”

The broken Twoleg place had no roof, but now the rain had stopped, its stone walls were enough to shelter the cats from the wind.

“I recognize this,” whispered Ashfoot, a WindClan queen.

“We slept here when Firestar led us back home, after Brokenstar drove us out.”

“I didn’t think we’d ever see this place again,” Webfoot growled.

The kits and elders streamed gratefully into the nest, glad of the chance to lie down. Ravenpaw and Barley led the warriors away to hunt, while the apprentices, Squirrelpaw and Crowpaw among them, stayed to guard the others. Cinderpelt and Leafpaw padded among the cats to check that none had been hurt in the desperate scramble across the moor.

“Squirrelpaw?” Leafpaw called. “Can you fetch some of that rain-soaked moss from outside? Some of the queens and elders are too tired to walk that far.”

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.