MINNOWTAIL—dark gray she-cat
APPRENTICE, MOSSYPAW (brown-and-white she-cat)
PEBBLEFOOT—mottled gray tom
APPRENTICE, RUSHPAW (light brown tabby tom)
MALLOWNOSE—light brown tabby tom
ROBINWING—tortoiseshell-and-white tom
BEETLEWHISKER—brown-and-white tabby tom
PETALFUR—gray-and-white she-cat
GRASSPELT—light brown tom
DUSKFUR—brown tabby she-cat
MOSSPELT—tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes
DAPPLENOSE—mottled gray she-cat
POUNCETAIL—ginger-and-white tom
CATS OUTSIDE THE CLANS
SMOKY—muscular gray-and-white tom who lives in a barn at the horseplace
FLOSS—small gray-and-white she-cat who lives at the horseplace
OTHER ANIMALS
MIDNIGHT—a star-gazing badger who lives by the sea
Maps
Prologue
Brambles rustled at the edge of a wood as a cat emerged into the open. Watchful eyes flicked to each side; then the cat strode out across a wide stretch of meadow grass, heading toward another belt of trees in the distance. Bright newleaf sun shone down on a landscape patched with fields and hedges. Twoleg dens clustered together beside a Thunderpath.
Even so early in the season, the sun was hot, and the cat’s ears flicked in irritation as flies buzzed around them. It will be cooler under the trees, the traveler thought, pausing for a moment to flex tired paws. And there’s not much farther to go. Just beyond that range of hills…
But before the cat reached the inviting shade of the wood, a loud hiss sounded and a second cat leaped out from under a nearby hedge: a tough, lean tom with a gray pelt and one bitten ear.
“What are you doing here?” the tom demanded. “If you’re looking for somewhere to rest, keep looking. This is my place. And the prey around here is mine.”
The traveling cat halted and looked the tom up and down with narrowed eyes. “Your place? You mean, you live in this hedge?”
“No, I’m from the farm over there.” The tom waved his tail in the direction of a large Twoleg den just visible above the thorns. “And I don’t like strangers. Keep going, or I’ll make you.” He bared his teeth and slid out his claws, his mangy cloud-colored fur fluffing up in anger.
The traveler rocked back on its haunches. It’s been a while since I used my fighting skills… but I’m not going to let this mange-pelt scare me. “I’m just passing through. I’m no threat to your precious prey.”
The farm cat let out a disbelieving snort and tilted his head to one side. “Are you one of those cats from the lake?”
The journeying cat’s tone was wary. “Why do you ask?”
“Because I’ve seen them coming this way before,” the gray tom replied. “Oh, they haven’t seen me, I’ve made sure of that. But I’ve heard them talking about the mountains.” He rolled his eyes. “Who’d want to go all that way? Can’t they find enough food where they live?”
“Maybe they’re not looking for food.” The first cat’s voice was tinged with scorn. “There are other things in life, you know.”
The farm cat sat down and scratched his ear with one hindpaw. “Like what?” he mewed contemptuously. “Gazing at the stars and imagining your ancestors are looking back at you?” At the traveler’s start of surprise, he added, “I’ve listened to plenty of tales about what happens on the other side of those hills. As long as they don’t trouble me, I don’t care what those cats get up to. They can—”
“Right,” the traveler interrupted, pushing past the farm cat and padding on. “As long as they don’t steal your prey.”
The gray tom sprang to his paws and followed. “You’re one of them, aren’t you?” he asked as he caught up. “I think I’ve seen you before.”
“Maybe.” The journeying cat’s whiskers twitched. “A long time ago.”
“Where have you been?” The farm cat’s voice was curious. “Did you get lost?”
“Oh, no.” The stranger sounded faintly amused. “I always knew where I was.”
The farm cat fell back, watching the stranger pad toward the trees. Then he shook his head and bounded back to the farm, vanishing under the hedge with a whisk of his tail.
The traveler reached the wood and looked around for a place to make a temporary nest, but each paw prickled with restlessness, and none of the hollows or the spaces under the tree-roots seemed quite suitable. A mouse crept out from under a bush, nibbling at fallen grass seeds. Remembering long-forgotten lessons, the traveler dropped into the hunter’s crouch and sprang, killing the mouse with a single swift blow. But the limp body looked unappetizing with the life chased out of it; the cat scraped a few pawfuls of earth over it and left it.
Dusk was falling as the traveler continued, heading up the hill more swiftly through the spindly trees.
It’s been a long time. Will the cats that I remember best still be there?
As the day began to fade, the cat left the trees behind and reached the crest of a hill covered in tough moorland grass. Below, a scarlet sunset was reflected in the lake, transforming the water to the color of blood. Above the stranger’s head, the first warriors of StarClan were glimmering in the sky.
The traveling cat took a deep breath. I have returned. Let vengeance begin.
Chapter 1
Jayfeather’s dream dissolved into darkness as he woke and stretched his jaws in a massive yawn. His whole body seemed heavy, and when he sat up in his nest he felt as though ivy tendrils were wrapped around him, dragging him back to the ground. The air was hotter than usual for late newleaf, filled with the scents of prey and lush green growth. Noise filtered through the brambles that screened the medicine cat’s den from the rest of the stone hollow: pawsteps and the excited murmuring of many cats as they gathered for the first patrols of the day.
But Jayfeather couldn’t share his Clanmates’ excitement. Although a moon had passed since he and his companions had returned from their visit to the Tribe, he felt cold and bleak inside. His head was full of images of mountains, endless snow-covered peaks stretching into the distance, outlined crisply against an ice-blue sky. His belly cramped with pain as he recalled one particular image: a white cat with green eyes who gave him a long, sorrowful look before she turned away and padded along a cliff top above a thundering waterfall.
Jayfeather shook his head. What’s the matter with me? That was all a long, long time ago. My life has always been here with the Clans. So why do I feel as if something has been lost?
“Hi, Jayfeather.” Briarlight’s voice had a muffled, echoing sound, and Jayfeather realized she must have her head inside the cleft where he stored his herbs. “You’re awake at last.”
Jayfeather replied with a grunt. Briarlight was another of his problems. He couldn’t forget what Lionblaze had told him when he returned to the mountains: how Briarlight was so frustrated by being confined to the hollow, trapped by her damaged hindlegs, that she’d persuaded her brother Bumblestripe to carry her into the forest to look for herbs.