Starlight, p.1
Starlight, page 1
T H E N E W P R O P H E C Y
STARLIGHT
ST
Contents
Allegiances vii
Maps xii
Prologue
Moonlight washed over the hillside, casting heavy shadows around a…
1
Chapter 1
Brambleclaw stood at the top of the slope, gazing at…
7
Chapter 2
Leafpaw stopped halfway up the slope and turned
to
watch…
34
Chapter 3
Mistyfoot led the patrol across the marshy shore at a…
48
Chapter 4
Clouds covered the sun the next morning as the patrol…
74
Chapter 5
When Brambleclaw had finished speaking and leaped down from the…
104
Chapter 6
Brambleclaw shifted uneasily among the dead leaves.
A branch was…
114
Chapter 7
Firestar looked calmly down at the WindClan warrior.
“Tallstar
died…
125
Chapter 8
Leafpaw crouched not far from Tallstar’s body, watching the cats…
137
Chapter 9
Brambleclaw slipped through the trees, jaws parted to distinguish ThunderClan…
146
Chapter 10
Leafpaw and Cinderpelt had found a rocky overhang
at
the…
168
Chapter 11
“Are you stuck?” Thornclaw asked, nearly bumping into Leafpaw as…
179
Chapter 12
Fox! 187
Chapter 13
“I said, what are you doing here?”
195
Chapter 14
Cool grass swept against Brambleclaw’s pelt as he prowled through…
207
Chapter 15
The sun had gone down but the horizon still blazed…
223
Chapter 16
Leafpaw stood at the edge of the clearing and watched…
237
Chapter 17
In the days following the Gathering, Leafpaw searched desperately for…
253
Chapter 18
Brambleclaw kept his ears pricked for the sound of prey… 268
Chapter 19
Leafpaw leaped across the stream by the
stepping stones and…
277
Chapter 20
Brambleclaw halted at the edge of the lake and gazed…
289
Chapter 21
Night was falling as the ThunderClan cats crossed
the
stream…
300
Chapter 22
When the rain started, Leafpool crept into a
sheltered
spot…
308
Chapter 23
Brambleclaw hurled himself down the hill in pursuit of Mudclaw…
313
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Other Books by Erin Hunter
Credits
Cover
Copyright
About the Publisher
A L L E G I A N C E S
t h u n d e r c l a n
L E A D E R
firestar—ginger tom with a flame-
colored pelt
D E P U T Y
graystripe—long-haired gray tom
M E D I C I N E C AT cinderpelt—dark gray she-cat apprentice, leafpaw
W A R R I O R S
(toms, and she-cats without kits)
dustpelt—dark brown tabby tom
apprentice, squirrelpaw
sandstorm—pale ginger she-cat
cloudtail—long-haired white tom
apprentice, spiderpaw
brackenfur—golden brown tabby tom
apprentice, whitepaw
thornclaw—golden brown tabby tom
brightheart—white she-cat with ginger
patches
brambleclaw—dark brown tabby tom
with amber eyes
ashfur—pale gray (with darker flecks)
tom, dark blue eyes
rainwhisker—dark gray tom with blue eyes sootfur—lighter gray tom with amber eyes sorreltail—tortoiseshell and white she-cat with amber eyes
A P P R E N T I C E S (more than six moons old, in training to become warriors)
squirrelpaw—dark ginger she-cat with
green eyes
leafpaw—light brown tabby she-cat with
amber eyes
whitepaw—white she-cat with green eyes
spiderpaw—long-limbed black tom with
brown underbelly and amber eyes
Q U E E N S
(she-cats expecting or nursing kits)
ferncloud—pale gray (with darker
flecks) she-cat with green eyes
E L D E R S
(former warriors and queens, now retired) goldenflower—pale ginger coat
longtail—pale tabby tom with dark black
stripes, retired early due to failing sight mousefur—small dusky brown she-cat
s h a d o w c l a n
L E A D E R
blackstar—large white tom with huge
jet black paws
D E P U T Y
russetfur—dark ginger she-cat
M E D I C I N E C AT littlecloud—very small tabby tom
W A R R I O R S
(toms, and she-cats without kits)
oakfur—small brown tom
apprentice, smokepaw
cedarheart—dark gray tom
rowanclaw—ginger tom
apprentice, talonpaw
tawnypelt—tortoiseshell she-cat with
green eyes
Q U E E N S
(she-cats expecting or nursing kits)
tallpoppy—long-legged light brown
tabby she-cat
E L D E R S
(former warriors and queens, now retired) runningnose—small gray and white tom,
formerly the medicine cat
boulder—skinny gray tom
w i n d c l a n
L E A D E R
tallstar—elderly black and white tom
with a very long tail
D E P U T Y
mudclaw—mottled dark brown tom
M E D I C I N E C AT barkface—short-tailed brown tom
W A R R I O R S
(toms, and she-cats without kits)
tornear—tabby tom
apprentice, owlpaw
webfoot—dark gray tabby tom
apprentice, weaselpaw
onewhisker—brown tabby tom
crowfeather—dark gray, almost black
tom with blue eyes
ashfoot—gray she-cat
Q U E E N S
(she-cats expecting or nursing kits)
whitetail—small white she-cat
E L D E R S
(former warriors and queens, now retired) morningflower—tortoiseshell she-cat
rushtail—light brown tom
r i v e r c l a n
L E A D E R
leopardstar—unusually spotted golden
tabby she-cat
D E P U T Y
mistyfoot—gray she-cat with blue eyes
M E D I C I N E C AT mothwing—dappled golden she-cat
W A R R I O R S
(toms, and she-cats without kits)
blackclaw—smoky black tom
apprentice, volepaw
heavystep—thickset tabby tom
apprentice, stonepaw
hawkfrost—dark brown tom with a
white underbelly and ice-blue eyes.
swallowtail—dark tabby she-cat
Q U E E N S
(she-cats expecting or nursing kits)
mosspelt—tortoiseshell she-cat
dawnflower—pale gray she-cat
c a t s o u t s i d e c l a n s
smoky—muscular gray and white tom who
lives in a barn near the horseplace
daisy—she-cat with long creamy brown
fur who lives with Smoky
floss—small gray and white she-cat who
lives with Smoky and Daisy
Maps
P R O L O G U E
;
Moonlight washed over the hillside, casting heavy shadows around a thick wall of thornbushes. The bushes surrounded a hollow with rocky sides that sloped down steeply to a pool in the shape of a full moon. Halfway up the side of the hollow, a trickle of water bubbled up between two moss-covered stones, glimmering like liquid starshine as it fell into the pool below.
The branches rustled and parted as cats emerged at the top of the hollow and began to pick their way down to the water’s edge. Their pelts shone with a soft, pale light, and their pawsteps left a frosty glitter on the moss behind them.
A tortoiseshell she-cat was the first to reach the pool. She looked around with glowing eyes. “Yes,” she purred. “This is the place.”
“You’re right, Spottedleaf. When we chose the four cats to lead the Clans out of the forest, we chose well.” The reply came from a blue-gray warrior who was approaching from the other side of the hollow. She leaped down from a jutting rock to face the tortoiseshell across the moonlit water. “But the Clans still have a hard task ahead of them.”
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Spottedleaf dipped her head in agreement. “Yes, Bluestar.
Their courage and faith will be tried to their limits. But they have come this far—they will not give up.”
More starry warriors joined them, clustering around the water until the hollow was lined with their sleek, shining shapes.
“Our journey was hard, too,” one cat meowed.
“We felt the pain of leaving the paths we had walked for so long,” added another.
“Now we must learn to walk in new skies.” Spottedleaf ’s voice was full of confidence. She sat on a rock near the tumbling stream and wrapped her tail around her paws. “We must guide our Clans to this new meeting place, where we can speak to the leaders and medicine cats. Then this will truly be home for all five Clans.”
A murmur of agreement rose, and a gleam of hope shone in the eyes of the cats around her.
“They will catch fish from the lake,” one cat meowed.
“And prey is running in the hills and beside the water,”
another put in. “All the Clans will find food, even in leaf-bare.”
The blue-gray warrior still seemed uneasy. “There’s more to life than fresh-kill,” she mewed.
A bracken-colored tom thrust his way to the front of the crowd. “They’re not kits,” he pointed out impatiently. “They know how to avoid Twolegs and their dogs. Foxes and badgers, too.”
“Not all trouble comes from Twolegs,” Bluestar snapped.
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She swiveled her head to glare into the tom’s eyes. “And not from foxes or badgers either, Oakheart. You know that as well as I do. The Clans bring trouble within themselves.”
The warriors glanced uneasily at one another, but Oakheart dipped his head. “Of course. And they always will.
That is part of what it means to be a warrior.”
“Trouble from within greatest danger brings.” A new voice spoke, deep and gravelly.
Bluestar whipped around, her neck fur rising, and stared at the newcomer standing at the top of the hollow. It was too big and solid to be a cat. Instead, it seemed as if a clot of darkness had entered the circle of thornbushes, in which the watching cats could just make out broad, muscular limbs and the gleam of small, bright eyes.
After a few heartbeats Bluestar relaxed. “Welcome, friend,” she meowed. “StarClan owes you thanks. You have done well.”
“By me is little done,” the newcomer replied. “These cats their destiny have faced with courage.”
“The Clans have traveled far and suffered a great deal of sadness that we were powerless to ease,” Spottedleaf agreed.
“They kept going even when we lost sight and hearing of them among the mountains, when they walked the paths of a different Tribe. Now they must learn to be four Clans again.”
She looked solemn. “There will be much pain, especially for those who traveled together to the sun-drown-water. They won’t find it easy to forget their friendship.”
“They must mark out their new territories as soon as they W A R R I O R S : T H E N E W P R O P H E C Y : S T A R L I G H T
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can.” Oakheart’s voice rumbled in his throat. “There’ll be trouble there.”
“Every loyal warrior will want the best for their Clan,”
meowed Bluestar.
“So long as it is their Clan that they fight for,” returned Oakheart, “and not themselves.”
“That’s where the danger lies,” murmured an anxious voice. A tomcat with a glossy black coat was gazing down into the silvery water as if he could see danger rising to the surface like a giant fish. “I see one cat, hungry for power that is not deserved. . . .”
“Not deserved?” A lean tom with a crooked jaw sprang to his paws on the other side of the pool, the fur on his shoulders bristling in fury. “Nightstar, how dare you say ‘not deserved’?”
The black tom’s pelt rippled in the moonlight as he looked up. “Very well, Crookedstar, not deserved yet,” he meowed.
“This cat needs to learn the virtue of patience. Power is not a piece of prey to be grabbed before it escapes.”
The cat with the crooked jaw sat down again, though the anger stayed in his eyes. “Would you have all our warriors as timid as mice?” he muttered.
Nightstar’s eyes narrowed and his tail-tip twitched, but before he could spit out a reply another cat padded forward: a thick-furred gray she-cat with a broad face and a fierce gleam in her eyes. She stood beside Spottedleaf at the mossy edge of the pool and gazed down into the water. After a few moments, ripples began to spread in circles from the middle W A R R I O R S : T H E N E W P R O P H E C Y : S T A R L I G H T
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of the pool and wash against the bank.
The gray she-cat lifted her head. “I have seen what will come,” she growled. “There are dark times ahead.”
A stir of anxiety passed through the cats like wind rippling through reeds, but no cat dared to question her out loud.
“Well?” Bluestar demanded when the silence had stretched out for several heartbeats. “Tell us what you mean, Yellowfang.”
The gray she-cat hesitated. “I am not certain what I have seen,” she rasped at last. “And you won’t like what I have to tell you.” She closed her eyes, and when she spoke her voice was deeper and quieter than before, so that every cat had to strain to listen: “ ‘Before there is peace, blood will spill blood, and the lake will run red.’ ”
Bluestar stiffened, and she bent her head to look into the water. A red stain was spreading across the surface, rippling outward until the water flamed scarlet. It seemed to reflect the fire of sunset, yet above the hollow the moon still floated in thin drifts of cloud.
A gasp of horror rose from the cats. Spottedleaf padded forward, trembling, and stared desperately into the water as if she were searching for something that would challenge Yellowfang’s ominous words.
“Are you trying to find out what will happen to Firestar?”
Bluestar asked her gently. “Don’t search too hard, Spottedleaf. You of all cats should know that sometimes there is nothing we can do.”
Spottedleaf raised her head, and there was a fiercely W A R R I O R S : T H E N E W P R O P H E C Y : S T A R L I G H T
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determined light in her eyes. “I would do anything to help Firestar,” she hissed. “I will protect him with all the power of StarClan.”
“But even that may not be enough,” Bluestar warned her.
Around them, the warriors of StarClan began to pad away from the pool, climbing the slope and slipping back through the thornbushes until the shimmer of their pelts vanished and the only light in the hollow came from the reflection of the moon in the water.
The creature in the shadows remained a moment longer, watching in silence until the last cat had gone. Then she stirred, and a shaft of moonlight struck her powerful shoulders.
“Midnight, this not your place,” she growled to herself. “Is no more to do.” She paused and added, “Once more, maybe, with Clans I will meet. Clouded is time to come.”
As she turned to push her way back through the thorns, the moonlight caught the broad white stripe down the badger’s head; then Midnight was gone, and the hollow was left empty.
C H A P T E R 1
;
Brambleclaw 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 ginger-and-white ThunderClan warrior, swung around so that her one good eye could take in the whole of the landscape.
Her mate, Cloudtail, twitched his tail. “How bad can it be?
