Driven from their forest by disaster, FogClan takes shelter in an abandoned barn as leafbare closes in. What should be a temporary refuge quickly becomes a test of loyalty, as Clan cats and barn-born are forced beneath one failing roof, divided by scent lines, suspicion, and a fragile truce that no one truly trusts.
For Larkpaw, the season brings more than cold and hunger. As she trains beneath Granitestar's rigid rule, she begins to see how unforgiving the warrior code can be-and how easily it fractures when survival is at stake. The lines between right and wrong blur, especially as her bond with Rowen, a barn-born cat shaped by loss, deepens into something dangerous and unspoken.
Leafbare demands sacrifice, obedience, and silence. But as grief settles into the barn and the cost of survival becomes clear, Larkpaw is left questioning what it truly means to belong.
When newleaf finally comes... will the code still hold-or will everything FogClan has taught her vanish with the thaw?