Moonrise

Chapter 23

"No! Help them!" A wail of sorrow and fear broke from Leafpaw. She opened her eyes with a jump and saw that she was in her nest outside Cinderpelt's den. The morning sunlight was pale and cold. The rumble of monsters from her nightmare had reached the camp in the waking world, too, and their stench hung in the air.

Shuddering, Leafpaw curled deeper into the moss, trying to find comfort in its warmth while the last wisps of her dream hung in her mind like mist. She had been standing near the Thunderpath, watching the Twoleg monsters as they roared through the forest, crushing cats under their huge black paws. Blood had run like a river across the forest floor. Ravenwing had stood beside her, and Leafpaw had turned to her with a desperate plea. "Save them! Please! Why don't you save them?"

Ravenwing's narrowed eyes had rested on Leafpaw's dying friends. "There is nothing more StarClan can do to help," he murmured.

Then he had faded away, and Leafpaw had woken up.

She rose to her paws, staggering, and padded across to Cinderpelt's den. The medicine cat was not there; Leafpaw could see an empty heap of bedding at the back of the cleft and wondered if some emergency had called her away, and whether there was yet another disaster they would have to face. A whimper rose at the back of her throat, and she firmly closed her jaws on it. Whatever fate was coming, even if their warrior ancestors were helpless, she would go on helping her Clan while she had the strength.

A rustle behind her made her turn to see Cinderpelt brushing her way through the fern tunnel. The medicine cat's tail was drooping, though she tried to brighten up when she saw Leafpaw.

"What's happened?" Leafpaw asked, bracing herself.

"I've been to see Speckletail," the medicine cat replied. "Don't look like that; she isn't dead. In fact she's a little better. I'm pretty sure she hasn't got greencough."

"That's good." Leafpaw tried to sound pleased, but she couldn't help adding, "It's hunger, not greencough, that will be our real enemy this leaf-bare."

Cinderpelt nodded. "True. And if more cats disappear, there won't be enough warriors to provide food for the kits and elders, even if they could find prey." She let out a discouraged sigh.

"Shall I try to catch something for Frostfur?" Leafpaw offered. "I could join a hunting patrol, unless you want more herbs."

"No, we're pretty well stocked now. That's a good idea, Leafpaw—though I'm not sure you'll find much out there."

Leafpaw didn't argue. She padded through the ferns into the main clearing, and for a moment she felt as if she had stepped into the camp as it used to be. Sandstorm and Rainwhisker had just appeared at the mouth of the gorse tunnel, both with fresh-kill in their jaws. Spiderpaw and Shrewpaw were lying in a patch of sunlight outside the apprentices' den, while Runningwind and Ferncloud shared tongues at the entrance to the nursery. Skystar and Brackenfur were talking together at the base of the Highrock.

Then Leafpaw realized what she was really seeing. Her mother and Brackenfur both looked worried. The two apprentices lay still, instead of scuffling playfully as they used to. The fresh-kill pile where Sandstorm and Rainwhisker dropped their prey was pitifully small. As Leafpaw padded past the nursery, she watched Runningwind push a mouse toward Ferncloud. The she-cat's appearance horrified Leafpaw; she was little more than a skeleton, every bone visible under her dull fur.

"You must eat," Runningwind meowed. "Larchkit and Birchkit still need you."

The reek of monsters hung over the clearing, and their roar sounded even louder to Leafpaw. Her eyes filled with a vision of them breaking through the wall of thorns that surrounded the camp, the sun glittering on their bright pelts as they crushed the terrified Clan. She blinked, forcing the images away. She could not stop the Twolegs from doing what they wanted, but she could do something small to help her starving Clan.