𝐿𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃 𝐼𝙽 𝒯𝙷𝙴 𝒮𝙷𝙰𝙳𝙾𝚆𝚂 ─── 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯 4.

𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄

Flowerdawn pricked her ears at the sound of a happy cry. "Cloudwish's kits are coming!" It was Mintbreeze, Cloudwish's older sister. Flowerdawn turned in the direction and saw that Aspenleaf, the Clan's medicine cat, was rushing to the nursery with a bundle of herbs in his jaws. Flowerdawn's heart raced, both with happiness and with fear. When a queen delivered kits, it could always take the turn for the worst. But Flowerdawn hoped desperately that Cloudwish and her kits would be fine. New kits in the Clan were really a blessing.

The thought made Flowerdawn's heart sink, when really it should be lifting. She was the leader of this Clan-but was it a Clan at all?-and everyday, she hoped that one of her old Clanmates would come back. The cats in the group were the FrostClan cats who had been driven away from their Clan when they first began to move to a new territory. It had nearly been two seasons and no one had come. Had they died, or were they just unsure of where their Clanmates had gone?

Flowerdawn waited by the nursery for some kind of sign that all had gone well. She heard the painful groans of Cloudwish and the stern orders from Aspenleaf. Then she heard the cries and mewling of kits. The sound quieted down and turned into sweet, soft murmurs. Flowerdawn looked inside and saw three kits wriggling around in the curve of Cloudwish's belly. Aspenleaf and Cloudwish both helped to warm the kits.

Flowerdawn came into the den. Cloudwish looked up while Aspenleaf continued his work. "You came just in time," she told Flowerdawn, her voice soft with not only affection for her kits, but with tiredness after kitting. The white queen gestured to her kits. "Aren't they beautiful?"

The tiny bundles of wet fur mewled loudly, disturbed by the sudden light and noise, and scrabbled at the ground and at each other in search of their mother's belly. Cloudwish let out a small mrrow of amusement and guided her kits to let them start suckling. "You must be proud," Flowerdawn murmured.

Cloudwish nodded. "I am."

"Cloudwish!" Nectarstripe, Cloudwish's mate, came into the den to see how his mate was doing. He stopped, obviously breathless, when he saw the kits. "Great StarClan, they're perfect," he whispered as he gave his mate a loving nuzzle. He gave each of his kits a small nuzzle, too. "Welcome to the Clan." He looked up at Cloudwish. "What will you name them?"

"I was going to let you do the honors," Cloudwish responded. "But I think Doekit is a beautiful name." She brushed the flank of the white she-kit with brown stripes gently.

Nectarstripe nodded approvingly, his eyes glittering with love. "And Hawkkit for this one?" he suggested, gesturing to the brown tom-kit. "I can tell he will be a strong warrior one day."

Cloudwish nodded. "It's a bold name."

"And then . . . Featherkit," Nectarstripe murmured, looking at the light gray she-kit. "Her fur reminds me of the softest feathers."

"They're beautiful names," Flowerdawn told them.

Cloudwish and Nectarstripe looked at her gratefully.

"You two take all the time you need," Flowerdawn continued. "I need to check on the other warriors." She dipped her head and whisked out of the den. She headed for the warrior's den where the warriors were reinforcing the warrior's den. The damp air and dark clouds above told Flowerdawn that a storm was coming. A big one. So she told the warriors to reinforce the dens before the storm came. The apprentices were working on their den across the clearing. "How is it going?" she asked them.

"Oh, Flowerdawn! Can you help? Jaggedfrost, Mintbreeze, and Viperfang went to work on the elder's den," Ivorystream told her, brushing some stalks of bracken and other things used to weave the den toward Flowerdawn.

"Sure." Flowerdawn began to work on the den, weaving the stalks carefully around the other already woven ones. "Did you hear about Cloudwish's kits just now?"

"Oh, yes!" Mintbreeze exclaimed beside her. "I'm so happy for them. New kits in the Clan are really a blessing."

"Yes, they are. I hope our other Clanmates are experiencing the same thing," Flowerdawn murmured. "I hope at least someone we know is still alive."

"I bet they all are," Ivorystream mewed. "They got safely away from MoonClan, right? They must be thriving! I hope we get to see them again."

"You never saw them," Onyxfrost reminded her as he dropped back onto all fours to gather some more stalks. "You weren't even born when they left us!"

"They didn't leave us," Flowerdawn reminded him. "We got driven away."

"Yeah, I agree with Onyxfrost; they didn't even bother to look for us!" Mintbreeze exclaimed.

"They couldn't. They-we-were on the run. MoonClan could have found them any moment," Applesong chimed in from beside Onyxfrost.

"They probably did," Ivorystream muttered worriedly. "We haven't seen a trace of them here at all."

"Oh, stop being so negative!" Flowerdawn told her daughter, flicking her tail at her teasingly. "I'll bet they just left."

"It's not like them to just give up," Onyxfrost muttered.

"Maybe it isn't," Flowerdawn mumbled. Her world began to spin. Were her Clanmates okay? Did they need help? Was MoonClan still trying to wipe them out? "I have to go." Before anyone could object, Flowerdawn hurried to her den in a hollow oak tree. She sat down and closed her eyes, trying to steady herself.

Then total darkness closed in around her. She heard nothing. When she opened her eyes, she was in a field. A huge, lush green field opened up in front of her, and a single snowflake floated in front of her. She followed it into the field and let it guide her into unknown territory.

The snowflake led her to a stony clearing. A waterfall thundered ahead. What is this place? Flowerdawn looked around for the snowflake, but found it nowhere. She ventured farther into the clearing. Cats began to become visible in the clearing, going on with their day and waking past Flowerdawn as if they couldn't see her. Perhaps they couldn't.

But Flowerdawn couldn't help but wonder if she knew these cats. As one walked by, a black-and-white tom, she realized how much he looked like her deceased mate, Featherspring. Then Flowerdawn remembered Featherspring had a brother. What was his name? She struggled to remember. Badger something. Badgerpaw? No, it was Badgertooth! Flowerdawn narrowed her eyes at the black-and-white tom. Badgertooth was one of the cats in her Clan that had left her and her other Clanmates behind. Was this her Clan? She looked around at the other cats.

Is that . . . Is that Lynxstar? she wondered when she saw a long-haired white she-cat by the pool under the waterfall. She was with a gray-and-white tom, talking quietly to him.

And is that Owlheart? Great StarClan, there's Rosefeather! Are they all here? No . . . I don't see Softcloud anywhere. Or Leafpaw. Or Tawnyflight. What happened to them? Why am I seeing this?

Flowerdawn thought hard to think of why she would be seeing this. She closed her eyes and tried to think. Were her Clanmates coming to find their missing Clanmates? Flowerdawn desperately hoped so.

When Flowerdawn opened her eyes, she was back in her den. I have to tell the others! she thought as she scrambled out of her nest to make an announcement.