CHAPTER TWENTY
BRAND NEW HOPE

It was early morning when ShadowClan got a fresh start on finding a new base. It had been three days since Ferretclaw's death, but the heaviness that had settled over Redpaw's Clan like a dark cloud hadn't lifted. Redpaw plodded on near the front of the group, swishing her tail to keep it off of the snow and wishing that there was some noise other than the breathing and the footsteps of the other cats.

Redpaw stifled a sigh of defeat. The Clan often traveled in silence, and it gave her plenty of time to think. Too much time to think. She had enjoyed the peace and silence when she was out running every day, but that was when she had been carefree, and her only troubles were the cramps her legs got each night after she had finished. That was before RiverClan had made its move.

A hot flare of anger pulsed below her skin, twisting her mouth into a scowl. If only they could only go back to the lake for just a little while and show those RiverClan cats… But what good what it do? She shot a glance over her shoulder. What remained of the Clan was barely large enough to pass as an ambush patrol.

After her anger subsided, then came the sadness. ShadowClan – the most mysterious, most powerful Clan at the lake, reduced to nothing more than an ambush patrol. What was stopping them from giving up? What was stopping her from giving up? She didn't know. It would be easier. It would be so much easier… but still, something stubborn from beneath her skin drove her on, prodding, pushing at her to pick up each paw and set it down, to draw in another breath and let it out, to keep moving, no matter how much was driving her back.

Just as she was pondering this, she heard a twig snap loudly. Many of her Clanmates' heads popped up as they craned their necks to scan the treeline. The trees stood out like stark black shadows, contrasting wildly against the ivory snow. Then, out of nowhere, there was a snarl.

"Fox!" Scorchfur yowled, and the reddish-brown creature came hurtling out of the snow-lined trees.

Redpaw charged toward the creature along with half the Clan. A pang went through her – they must seem pretty pitiful if a fox would attack a group of cats this size – normally foxes only attacked two or three at the most. She didn't pause to dwell on it, but she thought, Ouch as she approached the attacker.

It was a vixen, scrawny from leaf-bare. She was hungry and scared, and wiry muscles rippled along her shoulders. It wouldn't be an easy fight.

Owlclaw lashed out at the fox's muzzle first, jerking her head to the side. Redpaw and Tawnypelt lunged for it from both sides. Redpaw hooked her claws into the vixen's flank. The fox whipped her head around and snapped at Tawnypelt, catching her in the shoulder. Tawnypelt yelped as the creature tossed her away, into the snow.

"Tawnypelt!" Rowanstar yowled.

Redpaw let her gaze slide over to the fallen she-cat for a split second before fangs snapped inches away from her face. She raked her claws over the vixen's eyes as Scorchfur bit down hard on the fox's paw. It let out a howl of pain and lurched backwards, but Tigerheart was behind her. He slashed at her hind legs, driving her forwards back into Owlclaw, Redpaw, and Scorchfur. Ivytail pounced at that moment, and the fox whimpered, afraid, and took off in the opposite direction.

For a few moments, the warriors paused to catch their breath.

"After it! I smell kits on it!" Ivytail cried.

Redpaw shook her head, scattering drops of blood that were running into her eyes. Her face stung from where she had been grazed by the fox's fangs, but other than that, she remained fresh and uninjured. She raced after her fellow warriors, chasing the vixen's scent. Now that Ivytail had pointed it out, Redpaw, too, could smell a faint milk scent clinging to the fox's fur.

We've invaded her home, she thought as she sprinted after, the familiar burn racing into her legs. Although this was a matter of survival and not greed, she couldn't help comparing the situation to RiverClan's intrusion on ShadowClan's home, and how they had been flushed out by the more dominant Clan. Now the leftover warriors of ShadowClan were doing the same thing that had been done to them by RiverClan.

Stop it, Redpaw told herself. We are nothing like those cowards. She stopped, panting, behind Scorchfur, who had skidded to a stop, sending up a spray of snow in front of him. He turned around, his eyes wide with the adrenaline rush the fight and the sprint had given him. "The fox's den is close. I can smell it. Fan out, but don't do anything stupid."

Redpaw parted her jaws to drink in the air. She tasted the clear coldness of leaf-bare, the faint scent of squirrel somewhere, and fox everywhere. It was a thick, musky scent and she barely stifled the cough that burned in her throat. She shut her jaws before the overpowering scent knocked her off her feet and took a long inhalation through her nose. The scent got stronger near a hole in the snow, and that's when she knew she had found the den.

"Scorchfur!" she called. "I found something."

The other warriors jogged over to her, and where she had found the hole in the snow. "Good find, Redpaw," Owlclaw said, but Redpaw didn't allow herself any pride at the finding of the den.

"I smell pups," Tigerheart growled. "We need to report this to Rowanstar and get out of here as quickly as we can. The last thing we need to deal with right now is foxes."

The warriors headed back to where the rest of the Clan was gathered, huddled around Tawnypelt, who was sitting up by this point, her fur dark with blood and water from snowmelt. Mudfoot had been at work while Redpaw and the others were tracking the fox.

"Rowanstar," Tigerheart mewed, when the self-appointed patrol reached the rest of the Clan, "we tracked the fox to a den with pups."

Rowanstar looked at him sharply, and Redpaw realized how old he looked. There were gray hairs on his muzzle and the look in his eyes made him look a thousand moons old. "We can't continue on our journey yet," he told them. "Tawnypelt has been injured severely."

Switching her gaze to Rowanstar's tortoiseshell mate, Redpaw cringed when she saw the dark bloody streaks on Tawnypelt's fur. She was crouched in the snow, her eyes downcast. "I would be able to travel on it," she rasped, "if I wasn't carrying these kits."

The gathered cats stumbled in shock. Even Rowanstar looked surprise. "Wh-What?"

"I found out yesterday," Tawnypelt meowed, looking up at her mate. "I was going to wait until we found our camp to tell you." She cast her eyes down, and her voice got bitter. "I shouldn't have attacked that fox."

"No, you shouldn't have," Rowanstar agreed. He looked up, his eyes scanning the throng of cats. "Shrewfoot, would you keep an eye on her for a while?"

The gray-footed she-cat stepped forward, her belly swollen with kits as well. She looked ready to burst any day. She pressed her side against Tawnypelt's uninjured one as she approached her side.

Rowanstar swept the crowd of cats around him. "I have an idea," he meowed. "I think we should send out patrols of scouts to look for places worthy of camping. I'm keeping some cats here to guard the queens. Tigerheart, Ivytail, and Oakpaw will stay with Shrewfoot and Tawnypelt. The rest of you, split into groups."

Redpaw found Pricklepaw's gaze and headed toward him. He pressed against her and she felt him shivering slightly from the cold. They watched the warriors form groups of two or three; Rowanstar and Ratscar, Olivenose, Owlclaw, and Scorchfur. It was uneven, and apprentices couldn't lead patrols.

Before anyone could say anything about it, Mudfoot padded over to Pricklepaw and Redpaw. "It won't hurt me to explore a bit," he meowed. "Besides, I'm not needed here at the moment."

"But what if that fox comes back and you get hurt?" Ratscar meowed gruffly.

"Or Shrewfoot kits while you're out?" Olivenose added.

"We'll have to trust StarClan that these two apprentices' battle skills are sharp enough," Mudfoot meowed, with a slight purr in his voice. "And if something does happen, Shrewfoot, I won't be far away."

The three patrols broke away from the queens and their patrol; Redpaw didn't like that subtracting three patrols from the Clan only left behind three fit warriors to guard two queens. It only added to the desperation of their situation; if any more cats died, they'd be stuck.

She gave herself a mental kick. Here she was, calculating if her Clanmates would die. Was this what she was really reduced to? She pushed the dark thoughts away and focused on the clearing around her.

The snow was capped with a thin layer of ice, which their paws broke as they went along. The trees were heavy with snow, and sometimes limbs went plummeting toward the ground under the sheer weight of it. They were right in the middle of a forest, which was deciduous; no trees still had needles the way pine trees did in leaf-bare. Redpaw felt a pang as she realized how much she missed home.

They traveled for a while in silence, Mudfoot leading and the two apprentices flanking him. There was no sound except their paws crunching on the top layer of the snow, breaking the pristine sheen for the first time since it had fallen. Redpaw was glad of this for two reasons: it meant no one had been here, no dog, no fox, no badger, no cat, at least since the snow fell however many weeks ago. And second, she loved the feeling of being the first to break the snow in.

Mudfoot halted as they came to a drop-off about three tail-lengths high, leading down to a river. It was completely frozen over, but Redpaw could spot fish frozen inside the water. "Look! If we camp around here, we could fish in that."

"Ice fish, maybe," Pricklepaw added, nudging her, and Redpaw laughed – really laughed, for the first time in a long time. She couldn't remember the last time she actually laughed, but it felt good.

Mudfoot allowed them a moment of amusement before gesturing with his head toward the way we came. "Come on, you kits," he purred. "Let's report this."

They padded after him as he headed back toward the rest of their cats. The shadows were beginning to streak across the snow as the sun set. They arrived at the camping place of their cats and found that Olivenose, Owlclaw, and Scorchfur had already returned, their eyes shining. When Rowanstar and Ratscar returned, Owlclaw sprang to his paws excitedly.

"We found something, Rowanstar!" he meowed. "It's perfect for a camp. It's a ravine in the center of the woods."

Olivenose nudged Redpaw with her shoulder. "And Mudfoot's patrol must have found something exciting, because we could hear them from the camp."

"We found a river," Mudfoot said slowly, and he looked up. "Rowanstar, that means there's water next to the camp! And where there's water, there's herbs in greenleaf!"

"We found a system of rabbit dens," Rowanstar meowed. "Abandoned for now, but if they come back in greenleaf… we're going to be eating well."

There was a pause, a moment of silence, as everyone realized what this meant. Finally, a piece of good news for ShadowClan.

"Alright, before everyone gets too excited," Rowanstar meowed quickly. "Tigerheart, Mudfoot, you and I will check out this ravine. Olivenose will lead us there. Meanwhile, Ratscar and Pricklepaw will guard the queens here. The rest of you, split up into patrols and hunt whatever you can find. Be back at dusk, or close to it. If my patrol deems this ravine safe, we'll relocate there at dawn."

There was a hum of excitement over the Clan as they moved to different groups. Redpaw ended up in a patrol with Scorchfur and Ivytail. They headed away in the direction of a large outcropping of rocks and split up to hunt alone for prey. Redpaw managed to catch two tiny field mice by dusk, which is when they returned to the makeshift camp.

Redpaw set her mice down in the circle. A crow and another mouse were added to it as the patrols returned. Finally, Olivenose returned with their leader, medicine cat and deputy, and all eyes turned from the prey to their leader.

Rowanstar padded into the circle. "I think this ravine is going to serve as a good camp for ShadowClan. We've already found places for dens, and there's plenty of space for a fresh-kill pile."

"So does that mean we're going to move there soon?" Shrewfoot wondered.

"Tomorrow at dawn," Rowanstar said.

A wave of relief washed over the cats, and Rowanstar glanced down at the measly pile of prey at his feet. "Don't be discouraged for what little prey we have now," he meowed, "Good things are happening, and soon, we'll be eating right again. Newleaf is on its way, and with it comes the hope of newness. And this is what this is, is it not? This is our Clan's chance at a fresh start…"

The cats dug into the fresh-kill, passing it around to each other after taking a bite, before turning in to dig holes in the snow, preserving body heat. As Redpaw nestled in next to Oakpaw and Pricklepaw for the night, she knew that tomorrow couldn't come fast enough.

Redpaw rose with the sun, and found that many more cats were already standing, milling around, ready to get going on their journey to their new home. Rowanstar assigned Owlclaw and Scorchfur at the front of the patrol, as they knew the way best, and sent cats to help the queens: Redpaw was one of them, to take place on the sides of the patrol and make sure Shrewfoot and Tawnypelt were keeping up.

It didn't take very long for them to get to the new camp: it wasn't even sunhigh by the time they laid eyes upon their new home. Redpaw broke away from the rest of the group and loped toward the drop-off: the slope down into the ravine was rocky, and the rocks were lined with frost, glinting in the morning sun.

The rest of Redpaw's day was spent being issued orders, clearing out rocks and snow, untangling dead ivy from entrances to dens. She worked a lot with the other apprentices, shouldering rocks out of the way to carve a den for the apprentices. It was nowhere near big enough to house any more than three comfortably, but it took them the entire day.

At the same time, the warriors split off into groups; some worked on the warriors' den, which was more than twice as large as the apprentices' den. When Redpaw and the others were done with the apprentices' den, they aided the queens on the nursery. Ivytail and Ratscar assisted Mudfoot on the medicine den, and Rowanstar made his den in the rocks where a river may have carved out the walls.

They even made an elders' den, although it sat vacant at the moment. But Ratscar insisted on it, "Might as well dig it young rather than when our bones are old and tired and we have to rely on young cats to do it," was his reasoning.

By sunset, they had transformed the ravine into something that somewhat resembled a home.

Redpaw sat down as Tigerheart and Olivenose returned with fresh-kill, letting her Clanmates go first although her stumble growled loudly. Taking a camp outside of ShadowClan territory was the final step in letting their old life go. But it was also a chance at new life, life where they could thrive and the Clan could swell.

For ShadowClan, it seemed like the dawning of a new era.