The crisp morning air of the mountains caused Birdpaw's lungs to ache as the sun woke her up. She blinked a few times, letting the warmth of her mother surround her. After spending most of the day trekking through the mountains, trying to climb to the bottom, Birdpaw welcomed a good night's rest. The stress of finding her Clanmates and making sure that they were safe had left her feeling numb with exhaustion. Finding her mother again had only reassured her that everything would be okay, in the end.Darkflower had been there for her when she needed her, the most. Birdpaw couldn't imagine what life would be like, without the tiny family she had. Though, she knew she was a little older and wiser since the Clan started their journey through the mountains, she was still young. There was still a lot that she had to learn. Birchpelt had proven that when they started her training, again.In between moving with the rest of the Clan, and the group of cats that traveled with them, Birchpelt had
Petalstar's tail lashed as she stood on the Highledge, eyes sweeping across the rocky hollow of ThunderClan camp. She'd stood at the top of this rock for many moons, addressing the Clan and giving countless ceremonies. After watching ThunderClan grow and prosper for seasons, she knew that the peace wouldn't last long. As much as it pained her to admit it, she had been worried about the prophecy that had been given to her upon Roseclaw's kitting.She was given a dream that could not be ignored. One that she had confided with in Dusknose. The medicine cat was hardly surprised with her revelation when she shared it with him. Instead, he'd explained to her that this was a sign from StarClan."Four must become Five," she whispered to herself, closing her eyes as she tried understanding what that meant.At first, she thought it meant finding the Clan that Flamestrike had mentioned. SkyClan. She didn't want to believe that another Clan existed far away from the others. That the Clans had bee
The air was crisp with frost as Smokepaw wove her way through the sparse undergrowth. With the moon hanging low beyond the trees, it provided the only source of light for her. Not that she didn't mind the lack of light. She used her sensitive whiskers and careful pawsteps to help guide her through the forest and the marsh. ShadowClan was known for patrolling and hunting at night, and she was determined to prove that she too could do just that.Briarheart was just a few pawsteps ahead of her, glancing over her shoulder constantly to make sure Smokepaw was keeping up. With such an important night ahead, Smokepaw planned on making sure that she proved her own mentor wrong. Russetstar had already claimed that she was ready to become a warrior, and this assessment would only add to his encouragement."Now, since this is your first assessment of the night, I want to make sure that you're ready for it," Briarheart meowed once they reached the training area. The marsh was only a few fox-lengt
Furzewhisker let out a heavy sigh as she nosed through the sparse collection of herbs she had stored away for leafbare. It was a meager ration compared to what she normally had at this time. Because the Clan was still sorting themselves out, she hadn't had the time nor the energy to gather enough herbs during leaf-fall to prepare herself for leafbare.Icestar had made living in WindClan intolerable.His command was that she-cats needed to begin throwing their weight around by providing for the Clan and having more kits. The problem was, she-cats were far and few in WindClan. Whitebirch had finally moved to the nursery after complaining about constant stomach aches. It wasn't until feeling around that Furzewhisker reached the conclusion she was pregnant, and, at the worst possible time.When Antpaw and Olivepaw had finally earned their warrior names, Olivepaw had immediately moved to the nursery as Olivebranch. Furzewhisker was furious with this recent change of events, because she was
Darkness surrounded RiverClan clamp like a thick cover of leaves. It was impossible to make anything out in the shadows. The only sound that could be heard was the rustling of reeds every now and then.Scarletfur blinked a few times as she tried imagining what this meant. The possibilities were endless. For so many nights now, her dreams had been haunted with similar visions of the darkness that seemed to surround all of the Clans. She never realized up until than how deadly this darkness was. It seemed to swallow everything up in its path, devastating the Clans. A shiver of unease swept through her at the thought.If such a thing happened, there was no telling what would happen to the Clans. She knew that it was unlikely they would survive. Even if they did, there would be moons of turmoil that followed in the wake of said devastation.She remembered what Blizzardwind used to tell her when she had dreams like those."Don't think of them as a nightmare," the medicine cat would tell he
"I don't like this idea anymore than you do, but we have to go through the forest to reach the lake.""What if we get lost going through the forest? It could take days for us to find our way through, and if we're lucky, find the lake.""Even if we did manage to find our way through, there's no telling what we'll find on the way through."Birdpaw winced as she heard the bickering between the ThunderClan cats and the RiverClan cats. Spruceleaf tried voicing her opinion every now and then, but she was lost among the toms who thought they knew best. What annoyed Birdpaw the most was that they were wasting time arguing. They'd tried reaching an agreement the other day, but once they reached the forest, that all changed. Birdpaw could tell from the way his whiskers twitched that Acorntail was unhappy with the idea of traveling through the forest. Only Flamestrike and the other ThunderClan warriors seemed more at ease."This is completely harebrained," Spruceleaf muttered under her breath. S
He could see the conflict rising between SkyClan cats before it even happened. Watching the apprentices stir up trouble was one thing, but to see the SkyClan leader act that way left Flamestrike reeling with confusion.That's not how a Clan leader is supposed to act, he told himself. Then again, what did he know about leading an entire Clan? He could only imagine the stress Emberstar was going through at the moment. Between losing so many Clanmates to the journey, it was impossible to tell whether this had taken a toll on him.Flamestrike let out a heavy sigh as he wondered how he would handle the situation. He would have reminded the Clan that they needed to work together. He would have told them that they were stronger than this, and that they had survived worse outcomes.Something told him the SkyClan leader wouldn't thank him for interfering. Judging from how tense Emberstar's shoulders were as he confronted the apprentices, it would only make things worse. Flamestrike didn't want
Smokefrost watched as the snow fell silently on the already frost-stricken forest. Her tail wrapped neatly around her paws while she waited for the rest of the hunting patrol to catch up. After spending nearly half the day looking for prey, she was ready to head back to camp. Her pile of prey had been buried at the base of a birch tree, and she stood not far from where that prey was buried. The others split off into different areas to try expanding their hunting territory. In an effort to find more prey for the ever-growing Clan, Smokefrost knew that they had a better chance in splitting up.She almost purred as she recalled how her warrior ceremony came to be.Many cats had argued that Russetstar was too quick to trust her. Others such as Briarheart and Snowstorm jumped to her defense, reminding them that Smokefrost had earned her place in ShadowClan. She was pleased to see how many cats trusted her. Moons ago, she knew that they wouldn't have done so. Snowstorm was one of the few fr
They were still at odds over how to handle that particular situation. He knew something needed to be done to preserve SkyClan. They deserved that much after everything they had been through. He saw a light flicker across Birdflight's eyes, signaling that she had been thinking the same thing. Since she was directly involved with the prophecy, her concern made sense.I'm supposed to be Thunder, which means that I have to worry about my Clan as well, he reminded himself. He wouldn't let that stop him from worrying about the other Clans though, especially with cats like Icestar and Russetstar in charge. There was so much they had to learn about their past lives. Between that and everything else, he didn't know what was more overwhelming."We still haven't figured out who Shadow's descendant is," Spruceleaf meowed. Flamestrike agreed with her fullheartedly. There was so little communication with ShadowClan these days. He suspected Russetstar's alliance with Icestar had something to do with
Unease rippled through the Clan when the Gathering ended. For the first time since this venture started, Flamestrike suddenly felt overwhelmed with a sense of foreboding.He knew going into this that the other Clans would refuse to accept SkyClan as a fifth Clan. Life around the lake was already difficult enough without another Clan adding to the challenges. With leafbare in full swing none of the Clans would accept the fact that they had even more competition. Now ThunderClan was left to pick up the pieces and decide what to do with the newcomers.They couldn't stay on the farm forever. Too many cats would drawl unwanted attention from curious Twolegs or dogs. Flamestrike was well aware of the fact that the farm was abandoned, but that didn't mean it wasn't too close to Twolegplace. He couldn't shake off the feeling that SkyClan was in danger regardless of where they stayed.Will they ever felt welcome anywhere? he wondered.Guilt stabbed him in the chest at the thought. He had his o
Birdpaw ducked her head in embarrassment. She wasn't sure how that worked. Spruceleaf mentioned that her own scent would have washed away by the time they met. Her uncle and his mate didn't smell anything like a Clan cat; they spent too much time rolling around in the hay for her to recognize WindClan's scent. She simply recognized it from somewhere, though she couldn't explain how."To be fair I was at the Gathering the other night," she tried defending herself.They would have also picked up WindClan's scent if that's the case, a voice argued with. You will have to come up with a better excuse if you want them to believe you.Thankfully they didn't dwell on the topic. Birdpaw glanced over her shoulder nervously when she picked up their scent again in the wind. She remembered what Spruceleaf said about how hostile WindClan had been lately, especially to those outside the Clans. While SkyClan was technically still a Clan, that didn't mean the other Clans believed them.Her tail lashed
Birdpaw watched the scene with growing unease as cats began arguing amongst themselves. She was horrified when one cat suggested slitting Emberstar's throat. She knew other cats would object with the idea of letting SkyClan stay at the lake. What she hadn't anticipated was the protests that would follow. Or the fact that several others didn't believe Emberstar's story.What's going to happen if they reject us? she wondered.Flamestrike stood close beside her, tail wrapping around her almost protectively. Birdpaw glanced at him warily, suddenly aware of how much danger she and her Clanmates were in. The only consolation they had was the fact that the Gathering was a peaceful setting. If the Clans started fighting, StarClan would surely disapprove."This Gathering is over!" Russetstar declared before Emberstar could continue defending himself.The rest of the Clans looked more than happy with that decision.Her heart sank at the thought of what would happen if the other Clans rejected t
Smokefrost watched through narrowed eyes as the WindClan cats picked up the remaining prey from the fresh-kill pile. The other ShadowClan warriors gathered around the clearing were equally uneasy allowing enemy warriors in their camp. What made it worse was the fact that they were allowing these cats to take fresh-kill needed for the rest of the Clan.Russetstar claimed it was necessary for the alliance he formed with Icestar. Though Smokefrost suspected this was Icestar's doing. Unease crawled through her at the thought of letting them get away with such atrocities.With leafbare now in full-swing, the last thing the Clan could afford was losing fresh-kill. Another blanket of snow covered the forest, making hunting more difficult than it already was. Most of the prey was hiding in their burrows or nests, and Smokefrost couldn't blame them for wanting to avoid the cold."I still don't get why this is necessary," Talonclaw muttered under his breath. "I understand the alliance between W
The sounds of waves lapping against the shore were oddly soothing as Reedriver trotted along the bank. Above him lay a blanket of stars and a clawmark of a moon. In spite of the faint light the moon provided, it was clearly cold. A shiver swept through him as the chills of leafbare became prominent.He knew it was inevitable. The first snow had already fallen just a couple of days ago since he returned. Since that fateful day he tried putting the past behind him. Cats questioned where he went and why he was gone for so long. Minnowstar herself had been furious that he disappeared when the Clan needed him the most.He couldn't explain to them what happened even if he wanted to. He knew they wouldn't understand what he and the others had been through during their journey. It all sounded fishbrained in the first place. He had a hard enough time believing himself; he doubted his Clanmates would believe him even if he told him that this journey was a waste of his time.Time I could have sp
"I'm beginning to think that Icestar wants the Clan to suffer through the rest of leafbare," Furzewhisker growled through clenched teeth.She carefully nudged a pile of dried leaves into the corner of her den, hoping that the supply would last her throughout the rest of leafbare. She knew it wasn't much. Borage was good for the queens who were heavily pregnant. With Leafshine getting closer and closer to kitting, she realized that the tortoiseshell queen would need the herbs sooner rather than later. And with so many other queens expecting, she was running low on the herb."I don't get why he's making it a rule for every she-cat in the Clan to be pregnant," Redstripe complained while watching her sort through the pile of leaves.The medicine cat glanced at the dark ginger elder. Redstripe had been suffering with whitecough over the last couple of days. The moment she found out he had whitecough was when she confined him to her den until he recovered. With leafbare in full swing, catmi
Ravenflight looked at the fresh cobwebs covering Smokefrost's face with a wrinkled nose. The medicine cat had been treating her injuries since she returned to camp that evening with Russetstar. No one had questioned where the injuries came from. No one seemed to care one way or another what happened to her. Not that she didn't mind. Smokefrost had learned over time that she wasn't worth looking after once the situation wasn't life-threatening."I still don't get how you were able to scratch your face the way you did running through a thorn bush," Ravenflight scoffed after applying a fresh poultice of herbs on her wounds. She was careful to avoid her eyes. Smokefrost had been afraid that her eye would be permanently scarred, but she was relieved when she managed to open it one morning. She had been able to see through both eyes, improving her hunting skills once more. "It seems as if this is happening more than it should be."Though there wasn't an accusation in her tone, Smokefrost co
For the first time since they started the journey to find SkyClan, relief swept through Flamestrike. It had been nearly two moons since they started their journey, and he realized with a start how happy he was to be back. The familiar scent of the forest wafted around him, and the moment they were back on ThunderClan territory was when it felt as if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He picked up familiar scents here and there after tasting the air, including those of his mother and his siblings.His thoughts churned with anxiety as he wondered how the Clan had been since they left.When Spruceleaf had explained how Icestar had risen to power and was determined to spread that power across the lake, it sent a ripple of alarm through him. He knew that the Clans had always been balanced in some way or form. Sure, there were times when battle-hungry cats would get out of line. But they were usually taken care of before they could reach the point Icestar had.Maybe that's why w