Эрин Хантер: Hawkwing’s Journey

SKYCLAN

LEADER

LEAFSTAR—brown-and-cream tabby she-cat with amber eyes

DEP UTY

SHARPCLAW—dark ginger tom

MEDICINE

ECHOSONG —silver tabby she-cat with green eyes

CATS

FRECKLEWISH—mottled light brown tabby she-cat with spotted legs

WARRIORS

(toms and she-cats without kits)

SPARROWPELT—dark brown tabby tom

CHERRYTAIL—tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat

WASPWHISKER—gray-and-white tom

APPRENTICE, DUSKPAW(ginger tabby tom)

EBONYCLAW—striking black she-cat (daylight warrior)

APPRENTICE, HAWKPAW(dark gray tom)

BILLYSTORM—ginger-and-white tom (former daylight warrior)

APPRENTICE, PEBBLEPAW(brown-speckled white she-cat)

HARVEYMOON—white tom (daylight warrior)

MACG YVER—black-and-white tom (daylight warrior)

BOUNCEFIRE—ginger tom

APPRENTICE, BLOSSOMPAW(ginger-and-white she-cat)

TINYCLOUD—small white she-cat

APPRENTICE, BELLAPAW(pale orange she-cat with green eyes)

SAG ENOSE—pale gray tom

NETTLESPLASH—pale brown tom

APPRENTICE, RILEYPAW(pale gray tabby tom with dark gray strips and blue eyes)

RABBITLEAP—brown tom

APPRENTICE, PARSLEYPAW(dark brown tabby tom)

PLUMWILLOW—dark gray she-cat

APPRENTICE, CLOUDPAW(white she-cat)

SANDYNOSE—stocky light brown tom with ginger legs

FIREFERN—ginger she-cat

HARRYBROOK—gray tom

STORMHEART—ginger-and-gray she-cat

MISTFEATHER—gray tom with amber eyes

QUEENS

(she-cats expecting or nursing kits)

BIRDWING —black she-cat (mother to Curlykit, a long-haired gray she-kit; Fidgetkit, a black-and-white tom-kit; and Snipkit, a black she-kit with white patch on her chest)

MINTFUR—gray tabby she-cat

HONEYTAIL—pale ginger she-cat with long fur

ELDERS

(former warriors and queens, now retired)

PATCHFOOT—black-and-white tom

CLOVERTAIL—light brown she-cat with white belly and legs

FALLOWFERN—pale brown she-cat who has lost her hearing

Sunlight poured into the gorge, bathing the sand-colored rocks in a warm glow. On either side the walls plunged down sharply until they reached a narrow valley at their foot. In the depths, water cascaded from a black hole beneath a pile of boulders, and became a stream that wound its way through the gorge until it was lost to sight among bushes and trees. A gentle breeze carried the enticing scents of prey.

A powerful tom, his pale gray fur patched with white, sat on top of the pile of boulders, gazing downstream. A frosty glimmer of starlight clung to his pelt, and stars shone in his blue eyes.

After a while, the stillness of the gorge was broken as a brown tabby emerged from a den near the foot of the cliff and padded purposefully over to the rocks, scrambling up until he could stand beside the gray-and-white tom.

“Brackenheart,” the gray-and-white tom meowed. “Have you thought any more about this vision?”

“I have, Cloudstar,” Brackenheart replied, dipping his head.

“And I have no idea—”

He broke off as a third cat appeared at the top of the gorge and came bounding down the trail to join the other two on top of the boulders. Stars flowed like water through his gray pelt and gave an icy glitter to his claws.

Cloudstar rose to his paws; he and Brackenheart bowed their heads in profound respect. “Greetings, Skystar,” Cloudstar mewed.

Skystar returned the greeting with a brisk nod. “Well?” he asked. “Have you come to a decision?”

Brackenheart shook his head, while Cloudstar looked troubled, replying, “No. What we have seen is too terrible. There are no easy answers.”

“But an answer must be found.” Skystar stood up straighter and gave an impatient lash of his tail. “All three of us have seen the scourge that looms over SkyClan, a danger more dreadful than the heaviest, darkest storm cloud. It could black out the sky and put an end to the Clan I founded forever. I could not bear that.”

“SkyClan will never end!” Cloudstar’s blue eyes glittered fiercely. “We have suffered great losses before, only to rise and thrive again. When we were driven out of the forest, so many seasons ago, we persevered. We found a home in the gorge, and even when the rats destroyed and scattered most of the Clan, a few cats kept the memory alive until Firestar came to restore what had been lost.”

“But Firestar is dead,” Brackenheart mewed somberly. “And his StarClan is far from here. He can do nothing for SkyClan now.”

Skystar looked thoughtful. “Then we must speak to SkyClan directly,” he insisted. “They must be warned.”

“True, Skystar,” Brackenheart responded. “But what kind of warning shall we give? What can we tell them to do ?”

“We must tell them to fight,” Cloudstar mewed decisively.

“They are strong, brave cats, deeply committed to one another as a

Clan. They will win if they believe they can.”

Brackenheart let out a sigh. “But not even Firestar himself could fight this scourge. This battle is unwinnable!”

“Precisely. The time has come for SkyClan to leave their comfortable territory,” Skystar declared.

“What?” Cloudstar’s eyes stretched wide in outrage. “After so many cats struggled to keep it? After so many cats died for it? You want them to just leave—without putting up a fight?”

“Everything comes to an end, sooner or later. SkyClan has been its own island for too long.” Skystar leaned forward, his brilliant blue eyes fixed intently on the other cats. “When I founded SkyClan, it was one of the five petals of the Blazing Star, and all of the Clans thrived because they worked together. SkyClan must take a lesson from its history.”

Cloudstar gave the ancient leader a puzzled look. “Then you’re saying that SkyClan is meant to leave the gorge?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Leaving the gorge will only be the first paw step on a much longer journey.”

“No!” Cloudstar’s neck fur began to bristle. “M y Clan and I had to struggle to make our home here among the rocks. Firestar risked his life to reunite us after we were driven out the first time.

And now you suggest throwing all that away? Have you got bees in your brain? They must fight .”

Brackenheart nodded in vigorous agreement. “I was SkyClan’s last medicine cat before rats drove us out of the gorge. After all we went through, how can you expect me to stand by and watch as my Clan is driven out a second time?”