Erin Hunter - Dawn

His voice trailed away, and Leafpaw felt the cold wind pierce her fur. What was it about the mountains that frightened these cats so much? How would they get kits and elders through such a place? Oh, StarClan, where are you? If only she could believe StarClan was traveling with them, perhaps she wouldn’t feel so afraid.

Leafpaw had never guessed such a vast world existed beyond Highstones. Field after field stretched before them, dotted with sheep, looking exactly like clouds, as Brambleclaw had described. Squirrelpaw padded beside her, her breath billowing into the frosty air.

“Do you remember this?” Leafpaw asked.

“A bit,” Squirrelpaw mewed.

“So we’re going the right way?”

“Yes.”

Leafpaw wondered why her sister seemed so reluctant to talk. She watched her exchange an anxious glance with Brambleclaw. He had been weaving among the cats all morning, flanking first one side, then the other, as if he was afraid of losing one.

Leafpaw felt the air tremble, and a rumbling in the distance made her pause. It sounded as if a storm was coming, but the clear sky told her there couldn’t be. She lifted her nose and sniffed the air. A Thunderpath.

“It’s a big one,” Squirrelpaw warned.

As they drew nearer, the rumbling grew to a roar, and the stench began to burn Leafpaw’s throat. The cats in front slowed down, jostling together but still keeping closer to their Clanmates than the other cats. Squirrelpaw pushed forward, and Leafpaw followed until they reached a ditch with steeply sloping sides. Beyond it lay the Thunderpath.

“We should get the kits across first.” Firestar led the way into the narrow gully. Leafpaw jumped down beside Sorreltail, her paws slipping on the greasy grass. Monsters roared past in both directions, and she flinched as the earth shook beneath her paws.

“Each Clan should take its own chances,” Mudclaw insisted.

“RiverClan will cross first,” Hawkfrost declared.

“Not all the warriors are as strong as RiverClan’s,” Leopardstar pointed out. “Firestar is right; we should help the weaker Clans.”

“My Clan doesn’t need your help!” hissed Mudclaw.

“Besides, it would be chaos! No cat would know whose orders to follow!”

“Then why don’t you command us all?” Firestar spat.

“No cat commands ShadowClan warriors except me!”

Blackstar growled.

Brambleclaw pushed through the crowd to stand beside Firestar. Leafpaw was close enough to scent the fear in him.

“Cats will get killed while you’re all bickering! Surely it doesn’t matter who is in charge until every cat is safely on the other side?”

Blackstar flattened his ears and Hawkfrost lashed his tail.

“Let him continue,” Firestar warned.

“I’ll lead ThunderClan,” Brambleclaw meowed. “Crowpaw can lead WindClan. Tawnypelt can take ShadowClan, and Stormfur, you guide RiverClan.”

“Crowpaw can’t lead WindClan,” Mudclaw argued. “He’s only an apprentice.”

“Have you crossed this path before?” Brambleclaw demanded.

“No,” Mudclaw spat. “But I have commanded my Clan before!”

“Crowpaw will lead!” Brambleclaw hissed.

Ignoring them both, Stormfur flicked his tail and led his Clanmates to the edge of the Thunderpath, where he crouched, waiting to give the signal. A monster roared past, its pelt glinting in the sunlight. As soon as it had gone, Stormfur yowled and the RiverClan cats surged up and over the Thunderpath. Leafpaw searched for Dawnflower, quickly spotting her pale gray coat and feeling a rush of relief when she saw that two RiverClan warriors were helping to carry her kits.

As the cats bundled onto the verge on the other side, Leafpaw heard the menacing rumble of another monster.

Thanking StarClan that RiverClan had all made it safely, she looked up to see how far away it was. Her heart flipped over.

Mudclaw had told his Clan to start crossing without waiting for Crowpaw to give the command!

Crowpaw stared panic-stricken as the monster screamed toward them. “Hurry!” He bolted forward, scooped up a kit, and raced for the other side. Hurling the kit onto the verge, he raced back to grab another. “Carry the kits!” he ordered.

Scrabbling to get a grip on the slippery surface, he grasped another kit by its scruff and raced for the far side once more.

The warriors and apprentices seized the last of the kits and raced after him, with the queens at their heels. But Morningflower, a WindClan elder, fell behind.

“Run!” Leafpaw yowled.

Above her, Firestar crouched at the edge of the Thunderpath.

His gaze flicked at the oncoming monster, judging whether he could reach Morningflower in time.

“Stay where you are!” Brambleclaw screeched at him.

Firestar crouched lower and flattened his ears. “Keep going!

You’ll make it!” he called to the WindClan she-cat. The monster bore down like a whirlwind and suddenly veered across the Thunderpath, straight toward Firestar. Leafpaw felt a wave of terror and shut her eyes, waiting for the sickening crunch of fur and bone.

It never came. She opened her eyes a tiny slit to see the monster sweep past Firestar so close that the wind tugged his fur. It roared away without slowing down. Leafpaw opened her eyes fully. Morningflower was limping determinedly across the Thunderpath, watched by her Clanmates from the other side. Firestar backed away from the edge, his flanks heaving.

“It’s okay, he’s safe.” Sorreltail touched her nose to Leafpaw’s shoulder.

“I thought he was going to be killed,” she whispered.

“Your father’s brave,” Sorreltail murmured, “but he’s no fool.”

Leafpaw turned back to watch ShadowClan waiting to cross. She hoped that Blackstar had learned caution from Mudclaw’s recklessness. The ShadowClan leader was watching Tawnypelt.

An apprentice darted forward.

“Get back!” Tawnypelt hissed. Her tone stopped the apprentice in his tracks, and he darted back to join the other cats.

“We go together!” she insisted, glancing at Blackstar. He nodded.

There were no monsters in sight. Cautiously Blackstar padded forward, lifting his nose to scent the air. “Now!” he called, and the ShadowClan cats leaped up the side of the ditch and spilled onto the Thunderpath. Tallpoppy’s kits were carried safely by warriors, and Tallpoppy herself was swept along by her Clan like a fish swimming downstream.

Leafpaw sighed with relief as all the cats reached the other side just before a monster set the earth trembling once more.

“We’ll go after this one,” Brambleclaw called.

Suddenly a tiny cry came from the far side. Leafpaw stiffened.

One of Tallpoppy’s kits had wandered back onto the Thunderpath! Dazed, it wandered in a circle on the hard path, mewling for its mother.

Dustpelt and Mousefur flattened their bellies to the ground, ready to make a dash for the kit.

“Wait!” Brambleclaw ordered. “It’s too dangerous.”

The Clan held its position.

Tallpoppy began to struggle through the mass of ShadowClan cats to reach her kit, but one of the RiverClan queens was closer. Dawnflower leaped onto the Thunderpath and scooped the kit out of the way of the monster. She carried it back to the verge, dropped it on the grass, and began licking it roughly.

Suddenly she stopped and swiped her tongue around her lips in confusion as she realized the kit was not her own. She glanced self-consciously at her Clanmates as Tallpoppy bounded over and snatched up her kit. Leafpaw tensed, hoping Tallpoppy wasn’t offended by the RiverClan queen’s intervention. But her eyes were brimming with gratitude, and she dipped her head to Dawnflower before carrying her kit away.

“That’s where Feathertail rescued me from the fence stuff.” Squirrelpaw pointed with her nose to the shiny prickly thread that hung between the wooden posts. The Thunderpath was behind them now, and Leafpaw’s paws had finally stopped shaking. She was grateful to her sister for distracting her with stories of her first journey here. “While the others were busy arguing about what to do,” Squirrelpaw went on, “Feathertail rubbed my fur with some chewed-up dock leaves and I slipped out like a fish.”