Silentstar was sitting right where she had left her when Snowfall padded back inside the RiverClan leaders den, although Ripplepelt was pacing anxiously, her tail lashing.

"How much should we tell her?" she meowed in a quiet, hurried voice as Snowfall sat down in her place beside the entrance. Turning, she spotted Snowfall and blinked, then hurried back to her spot beside Silentstar.

Snowfall looked up at them, and meowed, "Well? What about Wavestar? He was leader when I was a kit."

"He was killed in a battle with ThunderClan," Silentstar meowed, "He was struck down by the deputy, Firestorm."

Snowfall nodded, and then looked up at Ripplepelt. "What's going on here?" she asked bluntly, "What's happened since I've left? How's WindClan?"

Silentstar bowed his head. "Hawktalon has died, to be replaced by Bluewing."

Snowfall stared. "Do you mean Bluepaw?" she asked, amazed.

Silentstar narrowed her eyes slightly, looking at Snowfall curiously. "Have you seen any WindClan cat since you got lost as a kit?" she asked.

"No," Snowfall replied simply, "I've only been here, in RiverClan, in the last ten moons or so. This is the first Clan I've seen since Stragger and I came back."

Silentstar nodded slowly, her eyes never leaving Snowfall's face. "I understand. Very well, you can stay the night and then go to WindClan in the morning."

Snowfall had to use a considerable amount of self-control to keep from bouncing up and down in excitement, happiness coursing through her. "Thank you!" she meowed ecstatically, and bounded out of the den to find Stragger.

She heard Ripplepelt meow as she left, "She sure seemed happy. I just hope she doesn't say anything about our secrets to WindClan."

Snowfall was too happy to care much about the deputy's words, however. She looked around the clearing for Stragger, but couldn't see him. She padded slowly over to the fresh-kill pile, looking around. She was very hungry, so she forced herself to take a fish. Turning, she ran headfirst into a lot of black fur.

"S-sorry!" she gasped, bouncing back onto her hindquarters and dropping the fish on the ground. It was Stragger, standing before her with a grim expression on. "What's up?" she asked, the excitement draining out of her, to be replaced by worry.

Stragger didn't say anything, but led her over to a deserted corner. Snowfall abandoned the fish and followed him.

"We need to go now." Stragger faced her with a determined gaze. "If you want to stay the night, fine, but we need to go. I don't belong here."

Snowfall gaped at him. "Stragger..." No words would come to her lips. After a while, she managed to meow, "Please come with me to WindClan. At least we can see my old Clanmates, and then we can go. Is that all right?"

Stragger looked at the wet, muddy ground. He seemed to be thinking the matter over thoroughly. "Look, I'd do anything for you, so I'll come to the border, and wait just outside it, and you come find me after you're done. We'll stay the night at the cave, then move on to another territory."

Snowfall looked up at Stragger. She was so close to her Clan now, it was like physical pain, an ache in her ribs. She realized now that she belonged there, but what could she do about Stragger? She was hoping he would join WindClan, but this seemed unlikely. If he wanted to move with her, it looked like she would have to leave her Clan again. But how could she?

Snowfall lowered her head. "Very well, can we go tonight and I can stay with them through the day?"

Stragger nodded, and Snowfall relaxed slightly. She didn't have to decide until later. There was enough time to ponder it tonight and tomorrow.

They padded back into the main part of camp, lying down on a patch of slightly soggy grass under a reed overhang. Snowfall groomed Stragger's fur until it shone in the setting sun, just like it had when they were still at the clearing beside the river.

As the moon rose and the stars began appearing, the RiverClan cats began to disappear into their dens. Ripplepelt padded across the clearing to the warriors den, followed by the other warriors who had been talking with Silentstar earlier. The small group of apprentices gradually drifted across the clearing to their own den, their chores with the elders obviously finished. The kits were herded into the nursery by their tired-looking mothers. Soon, the entire clearing was completely deserted.

Stragger stood up and nosed Snowfall. "Come on," he whispered, "Time to go." He led the way to the entrance, slipping out through the reeds. Snowfall followed, and she was glad to see that the nighttime guard was nowhere in sight.

Stragger padded along to the border, where Snowfall shook the last of the clinging mud off of her paws with a feeling of relief. Stragger turned to her, his yellow eyes gleaming in the light of the moon and stars.

"I'll meet you at the cave at dusk, all right?" Snowfall nodded, saddened by the thought of leaving WindClan, probably for good. Stragger dipped his head and padded off, his black fur disappearing into the shadows. Snowfall stood there, staring after him, until she realized she was wasting time she could be spending with her family.

Turning, she set off across the border and into her Clan's territory. What struck her first was how different WindClan's scent markers smelled. She was so used to Stragger's scent and the forest clearing, she had forgotten her own Clan's scent.

She crouched, sniffing a scent marker, and suddenly froze. She was sure she had smelled the scent of her mother, Nightwhisper! There was another scent she didn't know on top of it, but she was sure it was Nightwhisper's scent underneath it!

Excitement flooded her mind, and energy surged through her body. It was as if being here, in WindClan, had returned her abilities to run. She felt she could race onward forever, just like she had when she was a kit. She was home!

Racing up the slope, she reached the top of the hill, barely out of breath. From the crest of the hill, she could see a large expanse of hills, rising and falling in a wave-like pattern. Leaf-fall, having only just begun to spread through the world, hadn't grasped the moor yet, and the grass looked as green as ever.

Snowfall sighed in happiness. She finally knew where home was. It was this, the grassy, windy hills of WindClan. As the moon touched the horizon, she padded up a hill in the middle of WindClan territory, and got her paw stuck in a patch of mud.

She growled in exasperation, tugging it free. She circled around the hill, her paw picking up bits of grass and dirt as she went. Hissing slightly in exasperation, Snowfall scented the air.

Stragger had taught her the smells of water, whether it smelled slimy, stinky, muddy, tangy, or clear. Always, water smelled wet. It was almost like the way fog clings to a cat's nose or the heavy feeling of a dark raincloud.

She smelled a clear water source curving around the base of the hill she stood on, most likely a small stream. It smelled too small to be a river, even a clear one like she had learned to swim in. Padding down the hill, she spotted it, the clear, small stream winding through the grasses.

She raced awkwardly toward it, hampered by her muddy paw, now covered by grass as well as mud. As she splashed into the stream, the water stripping the mud off of her paw, the first rays of sunlight cut through the air, illuminating the water.

For a moment, Snowfall saw the stream again, as if she were a kit. She saw the water sparkle and splash around her legs, and suddenly was looking at the valley in front of camp through a kit's eyes - her eyes, the way she had seen the stream. She had seen this stream before, had gone looking for it ten moons ago. This was the reason she had gotten lost, and yet she was strangely happy to see it.

Slowly, she lowered her head and drank from the stream. It tasted like she had thought, cool, clear, and as sweet as water could taste. Snowfall closed her eyes, triumph surging through her at her find. She had finally found the stream!

Opening her eyes again, she tried to remember what direction the stream had flowed to when it had left the side of the camp. She remembered it flowing off around a large, grassy hill dotted with grass. Staring up at the hill she had descended to get to the stream.

A sudden thought occurred to her, and she froze. What if that was the hill in front of camp? Snowfall climbed out of the stream and padded up the hill.

The sun was halfway over the horizon by that time, meaning that the dawn patrol had most likely left. Snowfall wondered why she hadn't seen it, concluding that they must have gone in a different direction.

A slight wind ruffled Snowfall's fur as she reached the top of the hill. A beautiful valley spread beneath her, reaching up to the top of the highest hill there, exactly across the valley from where she stood. It was almost as if she was a kit again, seeing her territory for the first time. It was the most welcoming sight she had ever seen. It was the valley in front of the camp!

Something on the top of the hill caught her eye, and she looked up at it, hardly daring to breathe. On the hill stood the place she had wanted to reach the most, where she needed to go. The WindClan camp was settled on the hilltop, illuminated in the rising sun. She was home, at last.

Snowfall wasn't sure when she started moving, or what made her do it, but suddenly she found herself racing down the hill. Grass brushed her underside as the ground became nothing but a greenish blur, patches of heather smeared into pink blurs, merging with the green. She began the climb up to the camp, a fierce joy surging through her. She was back!

As she neared the entrance, she slowed down, panting slightly. She recognized the two cats on guard, happiness filling her as she spoke their names

"Gorsewater! Rainstripe! Remember me?" The two cats stared at her in utter amazement and undisguised suspicion.

"Who are you?" Rainstripe asked her, "Do I know you?"

"Yes, although you only saw me as a kit. My name is Snowfall. You knew me as Snowkit."

Gorsewater gaped at her. "Snowkit? Now you're Snowfall? But how did you survive? We thought you had died!"

Snowfall purred in amusement. "Well, I would have died had I not met Stragger. Can I see Diamondstar?"

The warriors looked even more confused, but Rainstripe led her into the camp. It was exactly as she remembered it, although it now showed slight changes.

As leaf-fall changed the territories, the leaves on the bushes had begun to fall slowly. During the time when the cats were exposed to the fierce winds, they took shelter in some abandoned tunnels under the camp. No cat liked this arrangement, although it was better than having chilly winds cutting through your fur all night. Even WindClan cats could have enough wind at times.

Even so, the camp was hardly changed. The warrior and apprentice dens were empty and cold-looking, but the nursery was just how she remembered it. It was a large, earthy den with a woven grass top. The dirt protected from the wind, while the grass provided shelter from the rain, but could be widened to expose the stars. At the moment, it was wide open, the mewls of kittens drifting across the camp. The Tallboulder stood, worn and slightly intimidating, in a corner of camp. Right beside it, a smaller, flattish rock leaned against it, creating the leaders den.

The cats were stirring, roused by the rising sun. As Diamondstar padded out of the den, he looked around the camp, spotted Snowfall, and a look of curiosity spread slowly over his face, to be replaced suddenly by astonishment. He bounded over, staring into her face, and Snowfall looked into her father's eyes for the first time in moons.

"I'm sorry, but you strongly remind me of my kit, who died many moons ago. We fear a fox ate her, for we never found a body."

Snowfall grinned, looking straight into Diamondstar's amber eyes. "Was she Snowkit? I used to be called Snowkit, but then my name changed to Snowfall. Hello, father."

Diamondstar stared, openmouthed, at her, and then moved forward, sniffing her. "You smell the same. You are Snowkit, but grown up! Nightwhisper!" he yowled across the camp, "Come see! Snowkit's back!"

Nightwhisper, who had been emerging from a tunnel beside the fresh-kill pile, stopped dead, frozen in shock. She raced over as fast as her long legs could carry her, gazing into Snowfall's eyes. Her green eyes held the same sparkle as they had before she had left.

"Snowkit?" she whispered, looking straight ahead into Snowfall's eyes.

"I'm called Snowfall now," Snowfall replied, "I had a rogue do the ceremony. He took care of me and saved my life. We're going to go at dusk, but I came here to see you all."

Nightwhisper's eyes filled with sudden tears. "No. I cannot bear to be parted from you again, now that I know you're alive." Snowfall pressed her muzzle against Nightwhisper's. Nightwhisper blinked away the tears hurriedly and looked at Snowfall again.

"Well then, we'll make the most of the time we have together now." Snowfall nodded, and followed Nightwhisper as she led the way to the hole again. "Rainpaw! Flamepaw! Come out here! There's someone I want you to meet!" she called into the opening.

Snowfall watched, fascinated, as a head poked out of the entrance, followed quickly by a second. Nightwhisper purred at them, and then turned to Snowfall. I only had she-kits, for some reason. They all have blue eyes, and none take after me or Diamondstar's fur color."

Snowfall understood what her mother meant. She hadn't taken after either of her parents, but looked exactly like Nightwhisper's sister, Icepool. Rainpaw and Flamepaw were Nightwhisper's second litter of kits. Flamepaw took after Diamondstar, but Rainpaw was more like Nightwhisper, like Snowfall. Rainpaw was light gray, while Flamepaw was bright orange. As Nightwhisper had said, they both had blue eyes, exactly like Snowfall's.

"Who are you?" Rainpaw asked, her head tilted slightly to one side.

"I am Snowfall, your supposedly dead older sister," Snowfall meowed.

"Wow! Are you-" Flamepaw's excited squeak was interrupted as the dawn patrol, three warriors and an apprentice, rushed in.

Snowfall received a shock when she saw a dark brown pelt, and realized that Windkit, now a warrior, was in the patrol!

Airpelt stepped forward, his flanks heaving as he fought for breath. Diamondstar was there in an instant, in control of the situation.

"What is it?" he asked Airpelt, who was trying to speak.

"The f... fox... foxes!" he gasped, "They're here!"