Dawn

Chapter 2

Crowpaw swallowed loudly, padding further up the rise to look down on the burrows. Only a few cats rested outside in the bare land; there was a terrible excuse of a fresh-kill pile between a couple burrows, and there was no bedding anywhere to be found, like none of them cared enough to look for any.

Slowly, Crowpaw padded down the slope, carefully picking his way down as if he was in unknown territory. One of the cats, another apprentice, looked up at him and raced into one of the burrows, his ginger tail the last thing Crowpaw saw before a flood of cats came from the burrows, standing in a defensive line facing him. Crowpaw remembered once that he was a part of that line, beside Mudclaw, but now he was being treated like an intruder. His eyes raked the line, searching for a specific cat, and he found her, standing with bristling, dull fur between Onewhisker and Whitetail.

"Ashfoot?" he meowed hopefully, expecting his mother to bound forward and greet him.

Instead, her blue eyes were narrowed and her claws slowly extended. Crowpaw's heart sank; how did she not recognize her own son? Or did she know who he was but didn't care because he abandoned her.

Finally, a tall black-and-white shape appeared from the middle tunnel, stumbling slightly as he tried to reach the line.

"Webfoot," Tallstar rasped. "What is this?"

"We found Crowpaw and five other cats in our territory," Webfoot growled. "All of them were well-fed and spoke like they were Clanmates when the others were from different Clans."

Murmurs broke out from the line, the cats casting Crowpaw suspicion glances.

Tallstar raised his tail for silence, meeting Crowpaw's gaze with his own. "Well?" he prompted. "What's your excuse for abandoning your Clan to starve while you gorge yourself on prey?"

Crowpaw raised his chin defiantly, his tail twitching behind him angrily at the accusation. "I was on a mission from StarClan," he meowed. "Me and three other cats from each Clan were told to leave and find a new home for the Clans."

"And did you find it?" A black she-cat called out.

"We believe so," Crowpaw replied. "We rushed back as quickly as we could but. . . problems stopped us from traveling as quickly as we had liked."

"What kind of problems?" she persisted.

Crowpaw didn't reply at first; it wasn't his place to tell his Clan what had happened to Squirrelpaw's brother. "Dangerous problems. We watched many cats die in order for us to return home. We also lost someone."

Tallstar's eyes had turned to the ground as he listened. He seemed to be thinking deeply about something.

"Tallstar," Mudclaw growled. "We should chase this traitor from our territory. He doesn't belong here. He's a dishonor to WindClan."

For the first time since he returned, Ashfoot's narrowed gaze shifted away from him. "How dare you," she hissed. "Crowpaw is nothing but loyal to this Clan. You heard him, he was on a mission from StarClan; not even you would disobey them."

A tail brushed Crowpaw's shoulder and he turned to see Eagleheart, the only surviving kit of his mother's first litter, standing beside him. "We all thought Crowpaw had run away or been killed." Eagleheart's voice carried across the barren land. "He's returned by the will of StarClan, by their own decision, no less. This is not dishonor; Crowpaw has become our savior."

"Mudclaw," Tallstar rasped, turning to his deputy once Eagleheart had finished. "Learn to hold your tongue. I alone will deal with Crowpaw, no one else."

"I'm his mentor!" Mudclaw exclaimed.

"And I'm his leader." Tallstar's voice was exasperated, almost like he didn't like talking to Mudclaw. "I will deal with him, and if I hear you tried to do anything to him, you will no longer be my deputy."