Dawn

Chapter 15

Crowpaw paced beside his mother anxiously as they waited on Sunningrocks for the rest of the cats to join them. For a moment, fear had begun to over take him, and Crowpaw nearly fell over onto his side. But he narrowed his eyes and started pacing even faster, ignoring the other cats who ran about around him.

Ferncloud's kits mewled loudly as they huddled under their mother. Cinderpelt was hurrying from one cat to another, nearly helpless with so few supplies, and the other cats from the patrols looked no better. Their pelts were stained with blood and dust, and their paws were pricked with bark and splinters.

Ashfoot's voice murmured behind him. "She'll be okay."

"How do you know?" Crowpaw growled. "I should've stayed back with her."

"She wouldn't have wanted you to."

Crowpaw shook his head. "I'm going back. Not only is Squirrelpaw still out there, but so is Tallstar. We never should have run off without him when he's so weak."

Crowpaw began padding away, preparing his body for another exhausting run. "Wait," Ashfoot called behind him. He turned to see his mother padding up to join him. "You're not going back there alone."

Crowpaw nodded gratefully. What he was especially worried about was, despite how brave and selfless she was, Squirrelpaw had seemed fully ready to sacrifice herself earlier and he had foolishly left her alone. Ashfoot called back to let someone know what they were doing, and the two cats bounded away toward the carnage. The entire way back, Crowpaw prayed they wouldn't find Squirrelpaw's body and that she'd be fine and safe from the Twolegs and their monsters.

"Crowpaw, what will you do if we can't find Squirrelpaw?" Ashfoot asked as they ran.

Crowpaw glanced at his mother, seeing the concern in her eyes. "I don't know," he admitted. "I don't think I'd ever be able to move on."

Ashfoot didn't reply.

They followed the same path Skystar had led them down the first time, watching their path to make sure they didn't hurt themselves or that the Twolegs hadn't decided to cross the Thunderpath and begin destroying the rest of ThunderClan's territory. He could hear the roar of the monsters in the distance, but they didn't sound close to the Thunderpath so they must still be at ShadowClan's camp.

Crowpaw hit a slippery patch on the ground and his paw fell out from under him, sending him skidding across the ground. Ashfoot slammed her paws down to stop and whirled around, rushing back to Crowpaw's side. She sniffed him over, making sure he had no serious injuries, before pushing her shoulder against his and nudging him upward. Crowpaw shakily got to his paws, shaking his pelt free of leaves and dust.

"Are you okay?" Ashfoot asked.

"I hit the ground pretty hard," Crowpaw replied, licking gently at his shoulder. "I don't think I'll be able to run as fast now. You can go on ahead so I don't slow you down."

Ashfoot sniffed. "Nonsense. What kind of warrior would I be if I left my own son behind?"

Carefully, Crowpaw put his paw down on the ground, and a shooting pain ran up his leg. Hissing, he lifted his paw so he was hopping on three legs. Ashfoot padded behind him, watching him closely so he didn't slip or hurt his leg any more.

Eventually, they could see the Thunderpath in the distance and they could hear murmured voices underneath the roar of the monsters. Crowpaw picked up his pace, having seen the familiar dark ginger pelt under the moonlight, and tried to reach the group as soon as possible. To his surprise, RiverClan was still there, and Feathertail and Stormfur were crowded around Squirrelpaw as if standing guard.