Dawn

Chapter 23

Crowpaw padded into the cave, blinking at the gloom. The roar of the waterfall made the air tremble, and the light filtering through the sheet of tumbling water quivered on the rocky walls. A stream sparkled like frost as it trickled down the mossy rocks and ran into a pool in the cave floor.

Crowpaw nodded in greeting to the Tribe cats as he looked around for Squirrelpaw. He spotted the dark ginger she-cat sitting near the center of the group, looking around the cave in a mixture of happiness and grief.

Leafpaw padded over to join them. "They don't seem frightened of us."

Squirrelpaw blinked. "Why should they be? We hardly look threatening, as thin as we are. And besides, there are no other cats around here. Now that Sharptooth is dead, the only enemies the Tribe knows are eagles."

"I'd forgotten about Sharptooth," Leafpaw mewed. "All this would have been so much worse if he were still prowling the mountains."

"Yes," Squirrelpaw agreed, her gaze softening. "When Swiftpaw died, he did more than save the Tribe. He helped to protect us, too."

"It's good that none of you have to see that beast," Crowpaw growled. "He caused nothing but pain and chaos."

As his eyes adjusted to the dark cave, Crowpaw was able to pick out more and more shapes, some lithe and sleek, others well muscled and broad-shouldered. Yet they were all much larger than the Clan cats, towering over even the massive cats like Brambletuft and Blackstar.

The kits playing outside the entrance to one of the tunnels stopped and gazed at the Clan cats as they filed into the cave, their eyes wide and curious. Almost as soon as he saw them, two kits in particular began running over, their pelts bristling in excitement.

"Squirrelpaw! Squirrelpaw!" Shining Snow yowled, bounding up on unstable legs with his sister, Wild Snow, right behind. "You're back!"

At the sound of the high-pitched voice, Squirrelpaw leaped to her paws and raced to meet the kits halfway, in full view of every cat watching. As soon as they were within reach, Squirrelpaw reared back on her hind legs and, as if they understood, Shining Snow and Wild Snow leaped into her outstretched paws. Squirrelpaw fell back with the excited kits wriggling on top of her, shouting over each other in their attempt to bombard the apprentice with questions.

"Shining Snow! Wild Snow! That is no way to treat our friend," Jagged Rock chided, stepping up to pull his son off Squirrelpaw. "I apologize, Squirrelpaw. Ever since Stoneteller told us that friends would return, they've been telling every cat it was you."

"Well, at least they were right," Squirrelpaw meowed.

"Are you staying this time?" Wild Snow asked loudly. Squirrelpaw lowered her ears and cast a guilty glance at Crowpaw. This would not be their home.

Before Squirrelpaw could answer the loud question, Skystar padded over to her daughter. "Who are these little ones?" she asked.

"These two are Shining Snow and Wild Snow," Squirrelpaw explained. "Jagged Rock, this is my mother, Skystar."

Jagged Rock looked Skystar over, then dipped his head respectfully. "The Tribe of Rushing Water welcomes you, Skystar. Your daughter has helped the Tribe more than we can ever repay, even if she did cause a few problems for me."

"Oh, please, your kits were bound to love me," Squirrelpaw meowed jokingly. "I'm irresistible."

"If by irresistible, you mean a pain in the tail," Jagged Rock grumbled.

"What did Squirrelpaw do?" Skystar asked, missing the joke.

"When she and her companions arrived in our territory, we had assumed that Stormfur was the cat destined to save us all from Sharptooth," Jagged Rock began. "Unfortunately, this little to-be didn't take too kindly to him being taken to the Cave of Pointed Stones and fought the hardest to reach him. She gave me this scratch during her attempt."