Starlight

Chapter 1

Brambletuft stood at the top of the slope, gazing at the clawpricks of silver fire reflected in the lake below. The Clans had finally found their new home, just as Midnight had promised. StarClan was waiting for them, and they were safe from the Twoleg monsters at last.

Around him warriors from all four Clans murmured to each other, staring uneasily at the dark, unfamiliar space at the foot of the hill.

"It's impossible to tell what's down there in this light." Brightheart, a white-and-ginger ThunderClan warrior, swung around so that her one good eye could take in the whole of the landscape.

Nearby, Cloudpaw twitched his tail. "How bad can it be? Think of what we've come through to get here. We can fight off anything on four legs."

"And what about Twolegs?" demanded Russetfur, the ShadowClan deputy.

"The journey has left us all tired and weak," Blackclaw of RiverClan added. "Foxes and badgers could track us down easily while we're all out in the open like this."

For a moment Brambletuft felt a tremor of fear. Then he braced his shoulders. StarClan would not have brought them here if they did not believe the Clans could survive in their new territories.

"What are we waiting for?" a new voice spoke up. "Are we going to stand here all night?"

Stifling a mrrow of laughter, Brambletuft turned to see his Clanmate Squirrelpaw standing behind him. The dark ginger apprentice was tearing the tough, springy grass with her front paws, her green eyes glowing with anticipation.

"Brambletuft, look!" she purred. "We did it! We found our new home!"

She tucked her hindlegs under her, ready to dash down the hill, but before she could take off, Skystar pushed through the cats and stood in her way.

"Wait." The ThunderClan leader touched her daughter's shoulder affectionately with the tip of her tail. "We'll go together, and keep a sharp lookout for trouble. This may be the place that StarClan wished us to find, but they would not expect us to leave our wits in the forest."

Squirrelpaw dipped her head respectfully and stepped back, but when she shot a sideways glance at Brambletuft, he saw that her eyes still gleamed with excitement. For Squirrelpaw, their journey's end could not possibly be scary.

Skystar padded over to join Blackstar and Leopardstar, the leaders of ShadowClan and RiverClan. "I suggest we send a patrol ahead," she meowed. "Just a couple of cats, to find out what it's like down there."

"Good idea—but we can't just stand here and wait for them to return," Leopardstar objected. "It's much too exposed."

Blackstar grunted in agreement. "If a fox came along now, it could pick off the weaker cats with no trouble at all."

"But we need to rest." Nightcloud of WindClan came up to join the discussion. Her leader, Tallstar, lay on the ground a little way off, with the medicine cat Barkface crouching over him. "Tallstar can't go much farther."

"Then let's send the patrol right away," Skystar suggested, "and the rest of us will follow more slowly until we find somewhere more sheltered. Yes, Nightcloud," she added, as the WindClan warrior opened her mouth to argue, "we're all tired, but we'll sleep more easily if we're not stuck out on the open hillside like this."

Blackstar called Russetfur over to him, while Leopardstar signaled with her tail for her deputy, Mistyfoot.

"I want you to go as far as the lake, then come straight back," Leopardstar ordered. "Find out what you can, but be quick, and stay out of sight."