Dawn

Chapter 3

Squirrelpaw raced ahead of the others toward the ravine where the ThunderClan camp lay. Tawnypelt had parted ways with them at the Fourtrees border to return to her own home, but Feathertail and Stormfur came with them to see Graystripe. The stench of Twoleg monsters hung in the air, and her heart grew as heavy as a stone when she heard a rumbling roar up ahead.

"They're here already!" she whispered. There was an unfamiliar slash of brightness where a gap had appeared in the trees that bordered the ravine. Before, the forest had crowded right up to the edge of the steep slope that led down into the camp.

Squirrelpaw felt Feathertail's pelt brush hers as she crept alongside and peered out from the trees. "Were we too late?" she murmured without looking at her.

A broad trail had been gouged through the forest. The ground, once hidden by ferns and smoothed by many moons' pawsteps, was lumpy and muddy, churned up like the moorland. Their way to the ravine was blocked by monsters, roaring and growling as they chewed through more trees. Squirrelpaw shrank back under the bracken, flattening her ears.

"Midnight warned us it would be bad," Brambletuft reminded them. His voice was oddly calm, and Squirrelpaw twined her tail with his while she pressed against Feathertail, seeking comfort from the two cats. "We can't cross here," he went on. "It's too dangerous. We'll have to go around and approach the camp from the other side."

"You lead the way," Stormfur suggested. "You know the forest here better than I do." He glanced at Squirrelpaw. "Are you okay?"

Squirrelpaw glanced at him, then lifted her chin higher. "I'm okay. I just want to get back to my Clan."

"Come on then," mewed Brambletuft, and he set off at a fast trot, away from the Twoleg devastation.

They turned away from the monsters and sped through the trees. As she raced toward the sandy clearing where she had trained with the other apprentices, Squirrelpaw wondered grimly how the Clan could have survived with the Twolegs and monsters so close. The sun was high in the sky, and the training hollow was crisscrossed with shafts of cold sunlight. She dug her paws into the soft ground and pushed on ahead of the others, her chest tightening with fear as she tore along the trail that led to the gorse tunnel. Without hesitating, she ducked her head and raced into the thorns.

"Skystar!" she yowled as she exploded into the clearing. "Longtail? Cloudpaw, Leafpaw?"

It was completely empty. The whole camp was silent. No cat stirred, and the scent of the Clan was stale.

On trembling legs, Squirrelpaw padded to her mother's den underneath the tall gray rock where she normally stood to address the Clan. For one wild moment, she thought Skystar might still be there in spite of the danger that roared at the brink of the ravine. But her mossy bedding was damp and musty, unused for several days. Squirrelpaw slipped out of the cleft in the rock and found her way into the nursery. Kits and elders were always the last to leave the camp, and there was nowhere safer than in the heart of the bramble thicket that had protected many generations of ThunderClan cats.

There was nothing inside except the stench of a fox, almost hiding the faint scent of helpless kits and their mothers. Blind panic rose in her chest. There was a rustle of branches, and Brambletuft appeared at her side.

"F-fox!" she stammered.

"It's okay," Brambletuft reassured her. "The scent is stale. The fox must have been trying his luck, hoping the Clan had left unguarded kits behind. There's no sign of bl—of a fight," he amended hastily.

"But where has the Clan gone?" Squirrelpaw wailed. She knew Brambletuft had been about to say blood. It seemed impossible that the whole Clan could have vanished without some blood being spilled. Oh, StarClan, what happened here?