RAVENPAW'S ATTACK
Many moons had passed since the Clans left
Ravenpaw carried a mouse in his jaws
The black tom's fur was tinged silver with age
A yowl pierced the air
Ravenpaw's gray muzzle opened to get Barley
A gray blur pierced the blue sky
Claw dug into his black shoulders
He tried to open his mouth
A ginger blur attacked his side
Then a blue-gray blur came
He saw blood on the ground
His blood
Ravenpaw wailed
These cats were killing him
Claws dug into his side and went to his tail
Blood poured
Then a white blur came
CLOUDSTAR'S ARRIVAL
The gray-and-white tom felt a tear fall
He knew they had arrived
A deep gorge
A river
Trees all around
Cloudstar knew this was the place
Buzzardtail comforted Fernpelt
Tansypaw would never see her new home
Mintpaw and Snailpaw huddled together
Fawnstep checked for any injuries or cuts
Weaselwhisker grieved; Quailheart had been attacked
Cloudstar looked at his weak Clanmates
This will work
Birdflight, Spottedkit, Gorsekit, I love you
This is SkyClan's new home
DAWNSTAR'S REGRET
Images of the fleeing SkyClan filled her mind
Greencough continued to wrack her body
Snaketail was beginning to worry
None of Molepelt's herbs worked
Dawnstar knew her death was imminent
She knew that Snaketail would be good for ShadowClan
She regretted not letting SkyClan stay
Why did she let them leave?
There should be five Clans in the forest
Why didn't she have kits?
There was no time
Why won't the herbs work?
Why?
Dawnstar looked at Snaketail
Snaketail would be a great Snakestar
She closed her green eyes
And waited to not go to StarClan
But they accepted her after what she did
The light came closer
I am sorry Cloudstar
REDTAIL'S CONFUSION
Blood dripped from a wound on the tom's side
His bushy, red tail dragged on the ground
They had lost
RiverClan now owned sunningrocks
Tigerclaw approached
What was that in his eyes?
Excitement?
Ambition?
Redtail was confused
Why is Tigerclaw doing this?
The tabby unsheathed his claws
Redtail backed up
What was happening?
He raised his paw
And brought it down
Claws dug into Redtail's shoulder
Then he felt a pressure on his neck
And then, SNAP
White light filled the tom's vision
BRIGHT STREAM'S FALL
(Sequel to QM #2: Bright Stream's Eagle)
Air rushed all around her
The ground was approaching fast
She tried to flip onto her back
Thump
She was on the ground
Luckily, on the ground
She sniffed her body
Nothing seemed wrong
She felt a movement in her belly
The kits were okay
The brown speck flew farther off into the sky
She turned her head and looked back where she had come
The waterfall was too small to distinguish
Bright Stream looked at what was ahead of her
A forest to the right
Red walls to the left
Mountains behind her
A strange black strip in front of her
Another movement in her belly
Bright Stream picked the dark forest and padded into the tree-tunnel
TALLTAIL'S WORRY
She coughed
Talltail was worried
He knew his leader's life was ending
The nervousness was driving him insane
Heatherstar struggled to talk
Barkface leaned to her mouth
He told the deputy what she had said
'Lead my Clan well, Tallstar'
The light left Heatherstar's purple-blue eyes
Talltail's nervousness continued to wrack his body
Talltail pressed his muzzle into her shoulder
Why does greencough have to take lives?
Why did Heatherstar have to die?
Why did she abandon him?
Talltail knew one thing
He would be strong
All the Clans would know his name
He would be the best leader WindClan had ever seen
He would be Tallstar