"What?" Emberpaw scurried over. "I had that same dream! I'm sure!"

Leafflight turned to look at Emberpaw. "Why didn't you tell us about it?"

"Because...because I knew you wouldn't believe me. I'm just a normal apprentice," he replied.

Leafflight sighed. "But do you know what it means?"

"She explained it to me."

"Who?"

"Fawnseeker."

"The previous leader?" When Emberpaw nodded, Leafflight continued. "Tell us."

"She told me ThunderClan and RiverClan were coming, but not that black one. And she said they were going to rescue us." Emberpaw licked his chest self-conciously.

"So you were expecting us!" Sorreltail cried. "But are you in danger or anything?" For the first time, she noticed the FireClan cats were unnaturally thin, and their pelts were ungroomed. A she-cat drowsily licked her kits. "What happened?"

"Looks like you cats are starving," Stormfur remarked.

"We are," Redstar spoke up sadly. He leaned close and told them," I lost a life from a Twoleg monster."

"Twolegs!" Pantherclaw cried. "Yes, that happened to us, too. We had to move."

Anger flared in Leafflight's eyes. "We will not move! This is where we have always lived, and this is where we will always live," she bristled with fury. "We will not be driven out by those mouse-brained Twolegs!"

Redstar placed his tail tip gently on her shoulder. "Leafflight," he said. The medicine cat quieted down. "We might have to," he told her. Leafflight made no response.

"We're going to help you, then," Sorreltail told them. "But I didn't notice any monsters when we were coming," she added.

"They're that way," Redstar pointed his muzzle to the other side. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Stormfur mewed. They ran off, in search of prey.

Sunrise by sunrise, FireClan grew stronger as the three newcomers trained the apprentices and pushed them to the limits. Stormfur was to mentor Emberpaw, Sorreltail to Mistypaw, and Pantherclaw to Frostpaw. Pearlclaw trained with them, so all the apprentices were being trained. The apprentices the newcomers had mentored, well, their mentors practiced fighting each other. By the end of three sunrises, the three were exhausted.

Twolegs stepped out of the monster. They meowed amongst each other, then took out a Twoleg thing. They hit it gently, and a loud sound came out of it. It started to shake. The Twolegs pressed it to the ground. Mud and dirt flew everywhere. Stormfur let out a growl of disgust and lashed his tail.

Sorreltail sighed. "Oh, for StarClan's sake!"

"Why'd we even come here?" Pantherclaw said, exasperated.

"You mean why did you even come here," Stormfur corrected her impatiently. "We were forced to come here."

Pantherclaw ignored his rudeness. She thought for a moment. "I think I'll join this Clan. I'm Clanless, anyway."

"Why?" Sorreltail asked.

"None of the other Clans back in the forest respect me," she answered. "And they would really need my help."

Sorreltail and Stormfur thought this over for a moment. "That's a great idea," Sorreltail mewed at last. Stormfur said nothing.

Pantherclaw rushed away. "I'll be back," she told them.

The Twolegs finished doing their Twoleg work. They went back onto the monster and got out some kind of string-like thing. Stormfur closed his eyes. This was torture. "Mouse-brained Twolegs," he muttered. "What are they trying to do? What did we ever do to them?"

Pantherclaw rushed back. "They accepted," she told them. "I'll be one of their warriors. But.." she added uncertainly. "Something bad has happened at camp." When both Stormfur and Sorreltail looked at her with interest, she continued. "Moonflower has died." She paused for a moment. "Barknose, her mate, was shocked. He's petrified. I think he's going to die. He won't move, just sleep." Her heart was beating rapidly now. "Because she was run over by a monster. Leafflight's tending to her mate now. She says he'll be okay, he just needs some poppy seeds. Whatever those are for."

"For relief," Sorreltail told her. "This is bad news. How could they! Those mouse-brained Twolegs!" She sat down, and remembered how nice Moonflower had been through her stay. Flashbacks started.

"Here, I'll get some fresh-kill for you, Sorreltail. We can share together."

"This is how you hunt fast things," Sorreltail remembered her friendly smile. No wonder Barknose had fallen for her.

"Look out! Monster coming!"

Emberpaw looked down at the limp body, smelling of lavender and rosemary. But even that couldn't mask the smell of death. This was the medicine cat's mother. Moonflower was so nice, so helpful, but StarClan just let her die, just like that. She died, she died. The words echoed in her mind.

"I know. She was popular, in all Clans."

Emberpaw looked sideways. It was Mistypaw! "I know," he said wistfully. "All the good cats die."

Mistypaw took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm sorry, Emberpaw. I guess I didn't want you to get a... close friend yet." She paused. "I was jealous," she mewed, barely audible.

"It's alright," Emberpaw replied. They both sat in silence, staring down at the dead she-cat. She died, she died. She's dead.

"Emberpaw, StarClan is the best place a cat can be. Don't be sad."

Emberpaw looked up. It was the elder, Goldenstorm. "I know," he replied. "I know." She's dead, but in StarClan...StarClan...StarClan...And StarClan is the best place for a cat to be...

The moon rose high into the sky, and the two siblings went to their dens and fell asleep. And Emberpaw had a dream.