Warriors: Dawn of the Clans #1: The Sun Trail (3 page)

Fluttering Bird nodded enthusiastically. “Me too!” she squeaked.

Quiet Rain followed them, and drew both kits closer to her with a sweep of her tail. “Certainly not!” she meowed. “You two are staying right here.”

“You could come with us,” Jagged Peak suggested.

His mother shook her head. “This is my home,” she said. “We’ve survived before. When the warm season returns, we’ll have enough to eat.”

Gray Wing dipped his head in agreement.
How can they forget what Quiet Rain told me when I was a kit? This place was promised to us by a cat who led us here from a faraway lake. How can we think of leaving?

Shaded Moss’s powerful voice rose up again over the clamor. “No cat needs to decide yet,” he announced. “Give some thought to what you want to do. The half-moon is just past; I will leave at the next full-moon along with any—”

He broke off, his gaze fixed on the far end of the cave. Turning his head, Gray Wing saw the hunting party making their way inside. Their pelts were clotted with snow and their heads drooped.

Not one was carrying prey.

“We’re sorry,” Shattered Ice called out. “The snow is heavier than ever, and there wasn’t a single—”

“We’re leaving!” some cat yowled from the crowd around Shaded Moss.

The hunting party stood still for a moment, glancing at one another in confusion and dismay. Then they pelted down the length of the cavern to listen as their Tribemates explained what Stoneteller had told them, and what Shaded Moss intended to do.

Turtle Tail made her way to where Gray Wing was sitting and plopped down beside him, beginning to clean the melting snow from her pelt. “Isn’t this great?” she asked between licks. “A warm place, where there’s plenty of prey, just waiting for us? Are you going, Gray Wing?”

“I am,” Clear Sky responded, before Gray Wing could answer. “And so is Bright Stream.” The young she-cat gave him an uncertain look, but Clear Sky didn’t notice. “It’ll be a hard journey, but I think it’ll be worth it.”

“It’ll be
wonderful
!” Turtle Tail blinked happily. “Come on, Gray Wing! How about it?”

Gray Wing couldn’t give her the answer she wanted. As he looked around the cave at the cats he had known all his life, he couldn’t imagine abandoning them for a place that might only exist in Stoneteller’s dreams.

Growling in his belly woke Gray
Wing. The pangs of hunger had seemed even sharper since Stoneteller’s announcement a few sunrises ago. And the cavern hadn’t stopped buzzing with discussions about whether it was a good idea to leave, and what the new place might be like.

Still curled up in his sleeping hollow, Gray Wing could hear excited chatter from cats nearby.

“What do you think we’ll get to hunt?” Gray Wing recognized Dappled Pelt’s voice. “Maybe different kinds of birds—or those . . . squirrels that the elders put in their stories.”

“We’ll have to be careful.” That was Cloud Spots, sounding thoughtful as usual. “If we eat too much we’ll get too fat to hunt, and then where will we be?”

Gray Wing heard a snort of laughter from Snow Hare. “That’s a problem I’d
like
to have!”

He lifted his head to see the three cats sitting close together, along with Tall Shadow, who extended her black-furred limbs gracefully as she rose to her paws. “I wonder what new hunting techniques we’ll need to learn. It’s bound to be different in the new place.”

“Well, you’ve always been good at creeping around,” Snow Hare mewed teasingly. “You’ll be able to sneak up on your prey while it’s asleep.”

Tall Shadow gave her chest fur a complacent lick. “I just might do that.”

Scrambling out of the sleeping hollow, Gray Wing shook scraps of moss and feather from his pelt and arched his back in a good long stretch. He decided to go and hunt.
There’s no point in wondering about prey somewhere else when we need to eat now.

Sunlight came slanting into the cave, turning the screen of water into a dazzling sparkle. As Gray Wing emerged from the path behind the fall, he saw that the sky was clear blue. Gray Wing’s pads tingled at the beauty of the peaks outlined against it. He took great gulps of the cold, crisp air, relishing the way it felt like water against his fur.

How could I leave all this
?

Continuing along the snow-packed ledge, hardened by the paw steps of many cats, Gray Wing heard voices coming from somewhere above.

“Bright Stream, you
have
to come with me.”

Looking up, he spotted Clear Sky and Bright Stream at the top of the cliff where the water poured over the lip of the rocks.

“It’ll be great,” Clear Sky went on, “exploring new places together.”

Bright Stream turned her head away. “I don’t know. . . . This is my home, and we’ve survived so far.”

“Don’t you want more than just surviving?” Clear Sky asked, curling his tail persuasively around Bright Stream’s shoulders. “I want to go, but it wouldn’t be the same without you.”

Bright Stream’s eyes shone, but she shook her head. “I’ve still got a few days to decide,” she mewed.

Leaving Clear Sky gazing after her, she bounded lightly down the rocks. Despite himself, Gray Wing’s heart quickened as he saw her approaching.
She’s lovely . . . but she’ll be Clear Sky’s mate one day. He’s a lucky tom, that’s for sure
.

“Can I hunt with you?” Bright Stream asked as she leaped off the last rock to stand at Gray Wing’s side. “Just don’t be like Clear Sky and pester me about leaving the mountains with Shaded Moss!”

“I won’t,” Gray Wing promised. “I haven’t made up my own mind yet.”

“For once I wish you poor hunting!” Clear Sky called down from the top of the rocks. “Then you’ll realize that we have to leave.”

Gray Wing gave him a good-humored wave of his tail, and headed for the ridge. Bright Stream scrambled after him. As they drew closer to the summit, icy wind blasted their fur and scoured the snow from the rocks, leaving them bare and gray. Dark, yellowish clouds massed on the horizon, promising more snow to come.

With his back to the gale, Gray Wing gazed around and spotted three more cats farther down the valley—tiny black shapes, too far away for him to distinguish who they were, pursuing a hawk that flew low over the slopes and gradually drew out of sight.

Bright Stream’s voice broke the vast silence of the mountains. “Gray Wing—what do you think about Stoneteller’s dream?”

Gray Wing hesitated before replying. “I don’t know,” he confessed at last. “Can Stoneteller
really
have discovered a new place for us to live, without knowing exactly where it is? Why haven’t any other cats had the same dream?”

“Maybe it’s something only Stoneteller can do,” Bright Stream suggested. She paused, blinking thoughtfully; Gray Wing could see anxiety in her beautiful green eyes. “I love living in the mountains,” she went on. “In spite of the cold and hunger. I always imagined I’d raise my kits here . . . but then, I always imagined their father would be Clear Sky.”

As she finished speaking she turned her head away, giving her shoulder a couple of embarrassed licks. Gray Wing was surprised that she had confessed so much to him; she was always perfectly confident and self-contained. He felt a stab of envy that she had the courage to put aside her own hopes and dreams to travel into the unknown with Clear Sky—and that her bond with his brother was so strong.

Before he could decide what to say, Bright Stream gave her pelt a shake. “You should probably forget I said all that!” she meowed. “And don’t you dare tell Clear Sky! I don’t want him to think I’ve made a decision yet.”

“I won’t say a word,” Gray Wing promised.

I’m being torn in two
, he thought.
Clear Sky and I have always done everything together. Now I have to choose between going with him or staying here with the rest of my kin, in this place I’ve always called home.

A flicker of movement distracted him from his problems.
Snow hare!
Spinning around, he raced across the slope after his prey. Its thick white pelt hid it against the snow, but it stood out clearly when scampering over the rocks of the windblown ridge.

Bright Stream joined the chase, but Gray Wing outpaced her, relishing the feeling of the wind in his whiskers as he sped over the rocks.

With a final mighty leap he flung himself onto his prey; the hare’s squeal of panic was cut off as Gray Wing’s jaws met in its throat.

“Great catch!” Bright Stream panted. “You’re so fast!”

“It’s not bad,” Gray Wing mewed, prodding his prey with one paw. For once there seemed to be some flesh on its bones. “We can eat and still take some back to the cave.”

He and Bright Stream settled down side by side to enjoy the catch. As they feasted, he took in the magnificent peaks and valleys that stretched in front of them.

“You’re going to stay, aren’t you?” Bright Stream asked, fixing him with her clear green gaze.

Gray Wing took a deep breath. “Yes, I am.”

When they had eaten their fill, the two cats picked up the remains of the hare and headed back toward the cave. Triumph flooded through Gray Wing at the thought of feeding his Tribemates.

When the waterfall came in sight, he spotted a group of cats toiling up the slope toward them. Shaded Moss was in the lead, with Clear Sky padding along at his shoulder. Tall Shadow, Dappled Pelt, and Rainswept Flower followed close behind. Turtle Tail brought up the rear.

“Hi,” Clear Sky meowed as the group came up. “Hey, you caught a hare!”

Gray Wing gave a nod of satisfaction. “Yes, we’re just taking it back.”

“We’re climbing up to the ridge,” Clear Sky explained, sweeping his tail around to include his companions. “We want to look for the best way to get out of the mountains toward the sunrise.”

“Aren’t you joining us?” Turtle Tail asked, bounding up to Gray Wing’s side.

Gray Wing hesitated. He was sure now about his decision to stay, but he didn’t want to share it with the other cats just yet. “We’re tired from hunting,” he replied. “Maybe later.”

Entering the cave, Gray Wing could feel how restless his Tribemates were. Some were gathered in little groups around the edges of the cavern, talking together in hushed voices. Others paced to and fro as if they were too anxious to settle. There was no sign of Stoneteller.

“Do you think they’re really going to leave?” Stone Song muttered as he and his mate Hollow Tree padded past.

“I guess so,” Hollow Tree responded. “Are they flea-brained? They have no idea what’s out there, or whether the place they’re looking for even exists.”

Gray Wing knew that they spoke for many of the Tribe. He wished that Stoneteller had never had her vision, or that she had never spoken of it.
Doesn’t she know how it’s tearing the Tribe apart?

“But
why
can’t I go?” Jagged Peak was heading for the cave entrance, only to be intercepted by Quiet Rain.

“For the last time,” his mother meowed, her tail-tip twitching impatiently, “you are too little to be out of the cave.”

“It’s not fair!” Jagged Peak’s shoulder fur bristled as he glared at his mother.

“Come on, Jagged Peak.” Snow Hare padded up, dipping her head to Quiet Rain as she approached. “I’ll show you a new game. Let’s see if you can catch this stone.” She swiped her paw and sent a flat pebble skimming across the floor of the cave.

Jagged Peak pelted after it with an excited squeal.

“Thanks, Stone Hare,” Quiet Rain murmured. “I can’t let him go out while there’s deep snow on the ground.”

“You’re welcome,” the elder responded.

Gray Wing carried the remains of the hare over to his mother and dropped it at her paws. “Here, do you want some?” he asked.

Quiet Rain purred her gratitude. “That’s a fine catch,” she told him. “I’ll take some of it to Fluttering Bird.” Her voice quivered as she added, “She couldn’t get out of the nest this morning. But she’ll be much better after she’s had something to eat.”

Gray Wing followed his mother as she carried the hare across the cave to the sleeping hollow where Fluttering Bird was curled up.

“Are you going with Shaded Moss?” Quiet Rain asked him as she set the prey down at the edge of the hollow. “I know Clear Sky will go. . . .” She was clearly trying to speak lightly, but her words ended with a sorrowful sigh.

“I’m staying,” Gray Wing told her, touching her ear with his nose. “This is my home. I want to catch enough prey so that the rest of us can survive. Many moons ago, our ancestors left the lake and came
here
. I can’t believe that was for no reason.”

Quiet Rain rested her muzzle on the top of his head. “I’m so proud of you,” she murmured. For a few heartbeats Gray Wing felt the same sense of comfort and security as when he was a small kit, suckling at his mother’s belly.

Stooping over the sleeping hollow, Quiet Rain licked Fluttering Bird’s shoulder. “Wake up, little one,” she mewed. “I’ve got some food for you.”

A sharp pang of anxiety stabbed through Gray Wing as he looked at Fluttering Bird; she hardly seemed to be breathing.

“Fluttering Bird!” Quiet Rain prodded her with one forepaw, but the kit still didn’t wake. “Gray Wing, fetch Stoneteller,” his mother said, panic in her voice.

Gray Wing sped off across the cave and plunged down the tunnel that led into the Cavern of the Pointed Stones. He had only been there once before, and he slowed as he reached the entrance, overcome by awe in spite of his urgency.

Creeping into the cave, he saw narrow beams of sunlight slanting through the hole in the roof, lighting the columns of stone that stretched upward for many tail-lengths. Pools on the ground reflected the sunlight, and the huge hollow space was filled with the sound of steadily dripping water.

At first Gray Wing couldn’t see Stoneteller. Then he spotted her sitting in the shadows, her tail wrapped around her paws and her eyes closed.

Is she asleep?
he wondered as he approached.

But as he drew closer, Stoneteller opened her eyes. “Gray Wing—is something wrong?” she mewed.

“It’s Fluttering Bird,” Gray Wing explained, his heart beating fast. “She won’t wake up.”

At once Stoneteller rose to her paws. Turning to a crack in the rock, she took out a few shriveled leaves. Gray Wing caught a glimpse of her pitifully small store, and knew there would be no more healing herbs until the snow melted and warmer weather brought new growth.

He followed Stoneteller to where Fluttering Bird lay. Quiet Rain stood beside her, flexing her claws impatiently. Looking into her eyes, Gray Wing saw how desperate she was, already sick with grief for her daughter.

Stoneteller bent over the tiny kit and rested one paw on her chest to feel her breathing and her heartbeat. Chewing up one of the leaves, Stoneteller pried open the kit’s jaws and pushed the pulp onto her tongue. “Come along, little one,” she murmured. “Swallow this. It will make you feel better.”

But Fluttering Bird stayed still. She didn’t even open her eyes.

Looking up at Quiet Rain, Stoneteller whispered, “She is far, far away from us. The hunger inside her is too great. You must prepare yourself, Quiet Rain.”

Gray Wing’s mother crouched down, her claws scraping on the stone floor of the cave. “This is my fault,” she mewed. “I should have given her all my food. What was I thinking, having kits in the cold season?”

His heart swelling with grief, Gray Wing padded over to Quiet Rain and pressed himself close to her. “It isn’t your fault,” he mewed.