Chapter One
"What is it? What's happening?"
"What's wrong with the moon?"
"What have we done wrong? Why is StarClan punishing us?"
Terrified yowls filled the camp. Hollypaw jolted out of sleep and sat up in her nest. She had gone straight to bed after her evening meal, because she had been hunting all day and Brackenfur had worn her out. Something was going on, and she was missing out!
Hollypaw scrambled out of her nest and left the apprentice den. As she hurried into the clearing in the middle of the hollow, she noted that all the other nests were empty. Then Hollyleaf gasped.
She had eyes for only one thing as she reached the clearing: the moon. It had been a half moon earlier when she went to sleep – she remembered because her brother, Jaypaw, had gone to the medicine cat meeting with his mentor, Leafpool. But it wasn't a half moon anymore. It was tilted on a strange angle, like a three-quarter moon, and it was huge. It was as if the StarClan warriors up in the sky had pushed the moon closer to Earth.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!"
Firestar's cry finally tore Hollypaw's eyes away from the moon. She sat down next to Jaypaw where the rest of the Clan was gathered beneath the Highledge. It wasn't really necessary for Firestar to call them together – no cats were in the dens and it seemed that every cat had witnessed exactly what happened except for Hollypaw. She clenched her teeth in frustration.
"Cats of ThunderClan," Firestar began. "We do not know what has happened to the moon tonight."
"Was it a sign from StarClan?" Thornclaw interrupted.
Firestar ignored him. "But regardless of this, ThunderClan shall remain strong."
His words didn't have the impact he had intended. The Clan exchanged worried murmurs and nervous glances.
"Life shall continue as usual – apprentices will train with their mentors, warriors will hunt and patrol the borders. The sign – if it is a sign – does not affect ThunderClan alone. We share the moon with the other Clans. We shall discuss it at the next Gathering."
"Firestar," Leafpool spoke up. "I had a dream tonight at the Moonpool. I think it may have to do with whatever hit the moon."
So something hit the moon! Hollyleaf realized. What could it have been, to push such a huge object so far?
"What did you dream, Leafpool?" Firestar asked.
The medicine cat swallowed. "I dreamed that trouble is coming to the Clans. Serious trouble. I received a prophecy – After lunar catastrophe, StarClan will fall, and the Clans will be no more."
Hollypaw felt Jaypaw stiffen beside her. The fur on the back of her neck was standing on end, and she could hear cries of dismay coming from her Clanmates. Her own mother – Squirrelflight – pushed her muzzle into Brambleclaw's fur. Ferncloud drew Foxkit and Icekit close to her. Then the Clan all began talking at once. Firestar finally had to let out another yowl to get them to quiet down.
"Thank you for letting us know," he meowed. "ThunderClan will prepare themselves for what is coming."
"But how can we?" Dustpelt called. "This prophecy sounds like it's going to be the end of the world."
"The end of life as they knew it…" Jaypaw murmured.
"What?" Hollypaw asked, perplexed.
"That's what Bluestar – the leader of ThunderClan before Firestar – said in my dream tonight," he explained. "She was talking to another cat… Spottedleaf, I think. There's some big disaster coming, and it must be connected to the moon."
Before Hollypaw could reply to this shocking news, Cloudtail came bursting into the camp. Mousepaw and Spiderleg were following him; Hollypaw guessed that they'd been on patrol together.
"Firestar! Firestar!" Cloudtail yowled. "There's a ShadowClan patrol on our territory!"
More meows of shock came from the assembled Clan.
"Nothing to worry about," Firestar assured them. "Cloudtail, take a few other warriors and go drive them off."
"No need, Firestar," came a mew from the thorn tunnel. Tawnypelt, Brambleclaw's sister, stood at the entrance to the camp. Cowering behind her were another ShadowClan warrior and an apprentice.
"Why are you on our territory?" Dustpelt demanded, unsheathing his claws. Firestar silenced him with a glance.
"Let Tawnypelt explain," Firestar meowed calmly.
"Thank you, Firestar," Tawnypelt mewed, dipping her head. "I wouldn't come to you for help except in cases of direst need – and this would be dire need. Just after the moon was hit, Blackstar started coughing. He's been coughing ever since, and now Littlecloud says he's running a fever."
"Isn't Littlecloud helping him?" Leafpool interjected.
"He's doing his best, but we don't have any of the feverfew that will save him." Tawnypelt sounded desperate. "We were hoping that if you had some, you might share it with us."
Ashfur stood up. "Why should we help them? It might be a trap!"
Tawnypelt glared at him. "I swear to StarClan, I'm not lying to you. My leader is dying, and we need your help."
"I think we should go."
Hollypaw looked at her brother in surprise. What made him so certain?
"We have more than enough feverfew," Leafpool meowed, nodding in agreement. "We wouldn't ignore a Clan in need."
Firestar looked thoughtful. "All right, Leafpool, you can go. You're right – if we have the herbs to help him, there's no reason we should let Blackstar suffer. Besides, it's nearly Greenleaf, and we will have plenty of herbs soon."
"But what if we need those herbs in Leafbare, and we don't have them because we gave them away moons before?" Mousefur challenged.
"It won't be an issue," Firestar meowed firmly. "Leafpool, I think it's best if you leave quickly."
"Can I come, too?" Jaypaw asked his mentor. Leafpool looked up at Firestar for approval. When their leader nodded, Leafpool bounded over to Tawnypelt.
"Fetch the feverfew," Leafpool told her apprentice.
Jaypaw padded quickly over to the medicine den. Hollypaw followed him.
"You will be careful, right?" she asked him. "What if it's a trap?
"It's not a trap," Jaypaw replied with the same certainty as before. He pawed through the herbs, finding the ones he needed as easily as if he could see them.
"How can you know?" Hollypaw meowed.
"I just do." Jaypaw's mew was firm as he swept out of the den, leaving Hollypaw alone with a pile of dried herbs and her thoughts.
Why did her brother act like he knew everything? Did all medicine cats know secrets that other cats didn't? Or was there something special about Jayfeather?
And what, in the name of StarClan, had happened to the moon?
Jaypaw followed Leafpool and the ShadowClan cats out of the camp, the bundle of feverfew clutched tightly in his jaws. Tawnypelt set a brisk pace, and Jaypaw was struggling to keep up.
He curled his lip as they crossed the ShadowClan border; the stench of their border markings filled his nose and blocked out all of the other scents. Near the camp, though, Jaypaw smelled fresh ShadowClan scent. It was filled with fear.
Tawnypelt finally slowed her pace as they reached the camp entrance. It seemed strangely quiet to Jaypaw; wouldn't there be more noise if this was a camp housing many cats? The silence seemed to frighten Tawnypelt, and she burst into the camp. Shouldn't some cat be guarding the entrance? Jaypaw wondered as he followed her in.
Jaypaw could smell a large group of cats gathered together near the center of the camp. A single, eerie wail split the silence.
"We're too late," Leafpool whispered.
Suddenly, Jaypaw knew what lay in the midst of the ShadowClan cats.
Tawnypelt dropped to the ground and lay, grieving, like her Clanmates. The apprentice and warrior from her patrol followed suit.
Jaypaw heard his mentor speaking with Littlecloud, the ShadowClan medicine cat.
"How did this happen?" she whispered. "I thought he had three lives left."
"I don't know." Littlecloud's mew was choked with grief. "It came on so suddenly, and then he was just so weak…" He trailed off into silence.
Jaypaw couldn't bear the cloud of grief surrounding the camp anymore. He left the grieving Clan for the forest. Suddenly, the darkness lifted, and he found himself looking at Yellowfang. The old, gray she-cat looked grim.
"After lunar catastrophe, StarClan will fall -" she began.
"I know," Jaypaw interrupted her. "Leafpool told us."
Yellowfang ignored him. "StarClan will fall, and the time for the Three will be upon us. Jaypaw, it is up to you and your siblings to help the Clans – all six Clans - through this terrible time."
