Dawn

Chapter 25

Squirrelpaw shook the drizzle from her whiskers and padded after the others up the heather- covered slope. They had been on the move all morning, since being chased from the mountains. After Stormfur and Small Brook followed to say good-bye, Stone Tooth and Jagged Rock soon appeared as well. They called for Squirrelpaw to stop and, after doing so, Jagged Rock placed a huge dark brown feather at her paws. He told her it was from the tail of an eagle and was his kits' most prized possession, but they begged him to give it to her so she would remember them. Now, the feather was tucked into her scruff, shifting ever so often from the breeze.

"Have you noticed Tallstar?" Cloudpaw whispered, padding beside her.

The WindClan leader was walking beside Onewhisker through the banks of heather. Despite the rain, he no longer leaned against Onewhisker's flank, but padded confidently, as if he finally believed he was within reach of his Clan's new home. He pricked his ears as a rabbit darted from a boulder farther ahead. Onewhisker glanced at his leader, and, when Tallstar nodded, he darted after the rabbit. Tornear and Webfoot raced up the slope after him.

"I think the smell of the heather has given WindClan some of their old spirit back," Squirrelpaw purred.

All the cats seemed more relaxed then they had been even in the mountains, not just WindClan. Blackstar padded next to Skystar. Dustpelt walked alongside Russetfur, the heather brushing his striped flank as he talked comfortably to the ShadowClan deputy.

"I never thought I'd see Dustpelt of all cats act so comfortable around the other Clans," Squirrelpaw commented.

"He'll soon be back to his old self," Cloudpaw replied matter-of-factly, "once we're settled in our new home and things are back to normal."

Squirrelpaw didn't reply. A part of her didn't want anything to go back to normal, not when she had so many friends outside of ThunderClan. . . not when she couldn't be with Crowfeather.

"I'm just glad to be out of the mountains," Cloudpaw meowed all of a sudden. "I don't know how you did it. Those Tribe cats spoke so weirdly and their apprentices were annoying. Always acting like they were better than us."

Anger flashed through Squirrelpaw. "Those "weird speaking cats" are my friends, Cloudpaw. Just because you haven't spent nearly enough time with them doesn't mean you can make fun of them," she snapped.

They walked in silence for a few moments, Cloudpaw looking hurt that she had dared to snap at him. For once, Squirrelpaw didn't care. It hurt that her brother was talking about her friends like they were under him. Rising Sun and Tumbling Breeze had only been trying to show the apprentices how to properly hunt, but the Clan cats refused to accept the help. Even the warriors; they never listened.

Cloudpaw glanced at her, his tail gently flicking against her flank. "Stormfur was brave to stay," he murmured.

"There was nothing left for him in the Clans," Squirrelpaw replied.

"But what about Feathertail? And Graystripe could still be alive."

"Tell me this Cloudpaw," Squirrelpaw meowed, stopping to face her brother. "If we were raised in, say, ShadowClan, and Skystar and Longtail stayed in ThunderClan, but we were outcast by our Clanmates and treated the same way Tigerstar treated Stormfur and Feathertail, would you still want to stay in ShadowClan? Stormfur told me he doesn't feel connected to RiverClan, but he also knew he would never be happy in ThunderClan, so where else was he supposed to go? He was so much happier in the mountains than I ever saw him with the Clans."

"I never thought about that," Cloudpaw admitted.

As he spoke, Onewhisker came trotting back toward the Clans, a rabbit dangling from his jaws. Squirrelpaw took a moment to look at their surroundings. There were no monsters, no churned earth, and there is rich prey-scent here, but no sign of StarClan. Could this really be their home when there's no connection to their ancestors?