Erin Hunter - Starlight

Leafpaw opened her mouth to tell her the water might give them bellyache, but when she met her friend’s anxious gaze she couldn’t do it. “I’m sure they’ll be fine,” she mewed awkwardly. After all, if the water was tainted there was nothing Mothwing could do about it now. “Best not give them any more of it, though.”

“No, I won’t.” Mothwing’s tail lashed in annoyance. “Now I’ve got to go all the way to the lake! I’ll see you at the next Gathering, Leafpaw.”

“I hope so,” Leafpaw called as her friend bounded down the slope. “Wash your paws!” she added, though she was not sure Mothwing heard her.

She stepped away from the water and rubbed her paws carefully on the grass in case any of the poison had soaked into the ground around the pool. A little way off, far enough that its roots would be safe from the tainted water, she spotted a thick clump of horsetail.

She would be able to pick some for Cinderpelt, and then they could leave. Everything will be fine once we’re in our new territory, she told herself. She glanced after Mothwing, and a tremor of anxiety rippled through her fur.

The RiverClan medicine cat had meant well when she fetched water from the pool for the kits and elders. But what would the tainted water do to the cats who had drunk it?

Brambleclaw slipped through the trees, jaws parted to distinguish ThunderClan scent from among the mingled Clan scents that hovered in the air. It wasn’t easy; they had traveled together for so long that the Clans no longer kept their separate, distinctive scents. Cats were darting everywhere, trying to say good-bye to friends in other Clans. There was so much activity, so much tension crackling between different cats that Brambleclaw could almost imagine he was in the thick of a battle—except in this battle there were no enemies.

Already it was sunhigh, and Firestar was eager to set out for the new territory. He had sent Brambleclaw to make sure no cat was left behind when they set out for their new home.

Brambleclaw spotted Mousefur saying good-bye to Heavystep from RiverClan. The ThunderClan warrior looked thin and tired. Perhaps when they reached their new camp it would be time for her to join the elders.

“Hi, Mousefur,” he meowed. “Firestar would like us all to gather near the stump now.” He carefully avoided giving her a direct order; Mousefur had a short temper, and he didn’t want his tail snapped off.

“Okay, I’m coming.” Mousefur gave Heavystep’s ear a quick lick. “Go safely,” she told him. “I’ll see you at the Gathering.”

“Good-bye, Mousefur.” Heavystep watched her go before nodding to Brambleclaw and slipping into the trees where RiverClan was gathering.

Brambleclaw almost ran into Squirrelflight, who skidded around the trunk of a tree right under his paws.

“Hi, I was looking for you,” she panted. “Come with me.”

She doubled back and led him down into a small hollow where Tawnypelt and Crowfeather were waiting. “We have to say good-bye properly,” she meowed. “This is the end of our journey, now the Clans are separating.”

A thorn of sorrow pierced Brambleclaw’s heart.

Squirrelflight was right. Their quest was at an end. They had faced danger side by side, and somewhere amid the fear, the darkness, and the desperate race to save their Clanmates, they had found true friendship. But their first loyalty had to be to their Clans. It seemed like nine lifetimes ago that they had first left the forest, and sometimes it was even hard to remember how strong their friendship had been on their long journey to sun-drown-place. Brambleclaw looked at Squirrelflight and wondered if she would still trust him with her life.

He padded over to Crowfeather and Tawnypelt and touched noses with them. Gazing into their eyes, he saw memories swimming there like fish.

“We’ll never forget what we did,” Tawnypelt murmured.

“We’ll be stronger all our lives for it.”

All four cats stood in silence until Crowfeather mewed somberly, “We should be six.”

Brambleclaw flinched as he thought of the two cats who would never return to their Clan: Feathertail, who had selflessly given her life, and Stormfur, left behind with the Tribe of Rushing Water.

“We are six,” Squirrelflight mewed softly. “They’ll always be with us as long as we remember them.”

Crowfeather’s gaze was fixed on the far distance. In a voice almost too low to hear, he murmured, “Sometimes remembering is not enough.”

Tawnypelt gave herself a shake. “Well, this won’t catch any prey,” she meowed. “I’d best be off. I’ll see you all at the Gathering.”

She turned and bounded away, the others calling good-byes after her.

Crowfeather dipped his head. “May you travel safely,” he mewed, beginning to back away.

“We’ll be traveling together for a while,” Brambleclaw pointed out. “We have to cross your territory to reach ours.”

“But we must keep with our own Clans now.” Crowfeather turned and disappeared over the top of the hollow.

Brambleclaw stared after him, wishing there were something he could do about Crowfeather’s stubborn belief that he had to do everything alone. His grief for Feathertail seemed to have convinced him that friendship brought nothing but pain.

Squirrelflight brushed his ear with her tail-tip. “Come on.

Firestar will be looking for us.”

On their way back to the clearing they caught up with Mousefur’s apprentice, Spiderpaw, who was saying good-bye to a couple of RiverClan apprentices. Squirrelflight gave him a friendly cuff around the ear and told him to come with them before he got left behind.

When they reached the stump they found the rest of ThunderClan sitting in small groups, waiting to leave.

Dustpelt was trying to check that every cat was there.

“Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight are missing,” he meowed irritably to Firestar as Brambleclaw came within earshot.

“And Spiderpaw—oh, there you are,” he added as he spotted them. “Right, Firestar, that’s every cat.”

“Good,” meowed Firestar.

He leaped onto the tree stump, where Blackstar was already waiting. Leopardstar joined them a moment later, and Onewhisker raced across from WindClan and sat below them, among the roots. There was only room for three cats to stand on the stump—but Brambleclaw noticed Mudclaw give a tiny satisfied nod, as if he was pleased Onewhisker hadn’t been able to stand with the other leaders. A chill ran through his fur. This was not the start WindClan needed for their new life beside the lake.

The rest of the cats stirred restlessly, and one or two stood up and clawed the ground. They were too excited at the prospect of finding their new homes to sit quietly and listen to their leaders.

“The four of us have been discussing possible boundaries,” Blackstar began, “and we need to tell you what we have decided.”

Brambleclaw’s ears pricked. Wasn’t it rather early to settle this? After all, his patrol hadn’t had a chance to explore every pawstep of the new territories. But maybe it was better to prepare the cats for the extent of each territory, to avoid one Clan claiming more than their share.

“Tawnypelt reported a small Thunderpath running alongside the pine woods,” Blackstar went on. “ShadowClan will take that for its boundary with RiverClan. Farther around the lake, the clearing where the stream runs through the middle can be the boundary with ThunderClan.”

“We don’t know how far upstream the clearing goes,” Tawnypelt reminded him from where she sat among her Clanmates. “We’ll need to mark the boundary through the trees as well.”