Tawnypelt turned away to follow the group, her ears flattened slightly. It may have been her idea to go through the mountains, but she was cautious now. Purdy had known something, and Midnight would not let him warn them. Destiny or not a warning was always nice.

Stormfur had caught up to Brambleclaw, the two of them falling into step, Tawnypelt shook her head, it was easy to see how her brother felt about the RiverClan warrior, the way he lit up around him, turning to him for advice and guidance, the way they leaned on each other, oh Tawnypelt could see that coming. She hoped, wherever their father's ghost rotted, that this irked him to no end.

What irked her to no end was that Brambleclaw was entirely oblivious to his growing feelings for Stormfur. She could think something about how her brother had always been a bit oblivious, but the truth was she couldn't fully blame him. She was just as wary about making friends in ShadowClan, and while he'd always been better at that than she had, she couldn't blame him for not wanting to ruin a strong friendship if he was worried his feelings were unreturned. But that he didn't seem to even be aware of them. StarClan grant her the patience for this trip through the mountains.

To her relief though, her shoulder felt fine, asides from a bit of tenderness she could've forgotten that she had a healing rat bite there. She pulled in a deep breath, pulling herself up. They would get through this and get home. To whatever awaited them there.

"I kind of remember these mountains," Feathertail remarked, coming up beside her, "I saw them on the horizon as we came this way the first time."

Tawnypelt grunted and angled an ear to indicate she was listening. Feathertail glanced at her and continued to muse, "They seemed so far away too."

"Well we were going around them." Crowpaw had joined them, his tone comfortable and dare she say, friendly? She gave him a friendly shove and got one back as he continued, "going over them is a good idea, if we can get through them it'll be the faster route too."

And we need to get back.

The words went unsaid but Tawnypelt saw the way his body tensed, eyes narrowing as he looked to the mountains, as though he longed to sprint ahead, as if he got a fast enough start he could leap over them and be home in time for evening patrol. Tawnypelt stroked her tail over his flank, hoping to ease some of his anxiety.

"Brambleclaw!" She called ahead to her brother, who jerked out of his conversation with Stormfur to look around in confusion. She rolled her eyes and watched as Squirrelpaw leaned against him, clearly teasing him. Brambleclaw playfully pushed her into Stormfur as he turned to her.

"What do you- agh!" Stormfur had shoved Squirrelpaw back into him, and this time she'd been determined to take Brambleclaw down with her.

Tawnypelt halted as she reached the three of them, Stormfur laughing softly, almost to himself, as he looked at them, amber eyes fond. Squirrelpaw tumbled off of Brambleclaw, Tawnypelt blinked, when had she gotten quite so big? Not as big as them, not yet, but she was catching up quickly. Not mention, between being the children of Tigerstar or Graystripe, most of them towered over her. And then Crowpaw just ran around on long twig legs so he had some height to him as well.

"I was thinking we should get as far as we can and then rest for the night." She looked ahead, to the looming mountains and then back to her brother, "Purdy was right, the mountains are going to be dangerous.

Crowpaw shuddered slightly, and shook himself, "I'm with Tawnypelt, especially because he was also right that it's getting darker sooner. The last thing we need is to walk off a cliff in the dark."

Stormfur nodded solemnly and Tawnypelt wondered if she was the only one who was remembering Midnight's cryptic words.

"A dying warrior will guide you."

She had told Brambleclaw that none of them would die but Tawnypelt could help feeling dread at such instructions when Midnight had also spoken of the forest being torn apart by twolegs that didn't care about any cats that might get in front of them. She'd heard once that Littlecloud's best friend from kithood had been killed on the Thunderpath, StarClan what was his name? Whitepatch? White something.

And there wasn't a cat in the forest that didn't know Cinderpelt and her injury, and she had been lucky to get away with just that limp. What would they be returning to?

Tawnypelt fluffed her fur out against the cold wind blowing from the mountains, there was no need to scare herself when the mountains would be enough of an ordeal.

Brambleclaw got to his paws, Squirrelpaw grew serious, watching him with wide eyes.

"We'll be alright." He nodded to Tawnypelt, "we'll rest, you're right. We get as far as we can and rest for the night. We should try to leave at first light, make the most of what daylight we'll have."

"It's not leaf-bare yet," Crowpaw pointed out with a flick of his ears, "I'm not saying I don't want to be moving but we don't need to go falling off because we're too exhausted to walk straight either."

Brambleclaw opened his mouth but closed it, Tawnypelt cut in.

"True. A steady pace but we're not working ourselves to exhaustion either. We're no good to the Clans if we return dead on our paws from exhaustion and unable to lead anyone anywhere."

"Then we should get moving again." Squirrelpaw agreed much to Tawnypelt's relief, she really was growing up wasn't she. "When it starts to get dark a few of us can hunt as we keep moving."

Tawnypelt nodded in agreement, "right then." She got to her paws, lightly flicking her tail against Squirrelpaw, "so let's get going." She glanced to the ginger she-cat, "you've gotten nothing else from Leafpaw?"

Squirrelpaw started to respond before her eyes widened and she flattened herself to the ground, staring beyond Tawnypelt. She whirled to see nothing and then looked at Squirrelpaw again.

"Squirrelpaw?" Stormfur asked gently, crouching down to her level, where she'd flattened herself, "what do you see?"

"I can hear cats fighting. Despair, stress, this wasn't supposed to happen, confusion." Squirrelpaw sounded stressed, her eyes darting around as though watching a battle in front of her, "Stop, stop, we want to talk." She swallowed, "they're stopping." She was silent for several heartbeats before her ears flattened and she focused again with a shudder. "They're alright."

"That did not sound anything close to alright." Crowpaw replied, Squirrelpaw glared at him, the two holding each other's gaze before the fight eased out of Squirrelpaw.

"Are you alright?" Crowpaw asked, Brambleclaw and Stormfur jerked in surprise and Squirrelpaw gave him an odd look before she nodded.

"Yeah I've never had a vision that intense, except the night Leafpaw went to the Moonstone for the first time." Squirrelpaw's eyes were wide as she remembered, "the whole cavern lit up as the moon struck it, and you could almost hear our ancestors around us, it was practically blinding, like a star was trapped underground."

They all shared looks, that certainly sounded like a trip to the Moonstone.

"StarClan's whiskers," Brambleclaw whispered softly, "you've never been to the Moonstone."

"I thought you believed me," Squirrelpaw flattened her ears, turning to him with a look of hurt, Tawnypelt rested her tail on Squirrelpaw's shoulders.

"I did! I do! I know you wouldn't lie to me about something like this!" Brambleclaw insisted, amber eyes flashing, Tawnypelt absently took note of that before focusing on her brother's words again, "but it's one thing to believe you can occasionally get feelings from Leafpaw, and another to hear you describe a place you've never been!"

Squirrelpaw let out a rough breath and gently butted her head into his shoulder, "sorry."

Brambleclaw hesitated before giving her a quick lick between the shoulders, "it's alright."

Squirrelpaw shook herself and turned to Tawnypelt, "they were fighting ShadowClan, I could feel the marsh under my paws. They weren't supposed to be fighting, Leafpaw was upset they were fighting-"

"Don't usually bring the medicine cat apprentice to a battle either," Crowpaw observed, Stormfur and Tawnypelt nodded to him in acknowledgement.

"Knowing your father, he was probably trying to help ShadowClan with whatever's going on in the forest." Tawnypelt rolled her eyes, "and Blackstar was too proud to listen."

"I'm surprised he went to Blackstar," Stormfur mused, head tilted absently, "I would've thought he'd go to Tallstar."

Crowpaw's ears flattened, "unless he's not leading WindClan anymore." He shook his head and got to his paws, "that'll be just what we need, Mudstar. Anyone got space in your Clan, I might need a place to go."

"You really think he'd exile you?" Tawnypelt flicker her tail, not the group needed the encouragement to get moving, Crowpaw taking the lead as he marched ahead.

"Honestly yeah. He's never liked me, and I ran off. Though I think my mom would shred his ears if he tried so maybe not." Now his whiskers twitched a little, "but he's not going to be happy to see me."

"We don't know that anything's happened to Tallstar," Stormfur pointed out calmly, "maybe he just thought Blackstar would be willing to listen to him."

Crowpaw snorted at that and privately Tawnypelt agreed. Blackstar was trying to take ShadowClan back to what it was before Tigerstar. Before Brokenstar. And when everyone knew him for having served under both those leaders… he wasn't about to roll over and let Firestar take control.

"And even if it does come to that, you'll be welcome in RiverClan," Feathertail continued. Stormfur gave her an odd look out of the corner of his eye but Crowpaw looked relieved.

"I don't think you could stay in ShadowClan, even if you developed a taste for frog."

Crowpaw's nose wrinkled, Squirrelpaw shoved him.

"We can probably fit you in the ThunderClan apprentice den if it comes to it." Crowpaw looked up to the sky as though asking StarClan to smite him before that happened.

"Everyone's alright though?" Brambleclaw glanced at Squirrelpaw, who nodded. The group shifted into their usual formation, Crowpaw falling back to walk with Feathertail while Brambleclaw and Stormfur took the lead, Squirrelpaw just behind them, with Tawnypelt in the rear.

"From what I could tell! Leafpaw didn't seem worried, just upset that everyone was fighting."

Feathertail flattened her ears and asked a question that Tawnypelt didn't want to answer, "but if they're not willing to work together… how are we going to get them to listen to us?"

Everyone shared glances, worriedly, before Squirrelpaw spoke up. "We'll make them! They can try and punish us, or make us stay, but even if Mudclaw's leader, even if Blackstar's a mousebrain, we'll just get who we can to follow us." Her tail lashed and Crowpaw had to jerk back and step closer to Feathertail to avoid getting smack in the face by all the fluff. "Tawnypelt you said that you thought maybe things would be bad enough that even cats like Mudclaw would listen, right?"

Tawnypelt nodded, her whiskers twitching, "oh you are Firestar and Sandstorm's kit alright."

Squirrelpaw's eyes glowed at that, and she continued, confidently, "we'll just have to convince them. We didn't come this far to give up before we got home did we?"

Stormfur nodded at that, "if nothing else we can try. And if it ends up just being us and anyone who will listen well, so be it. I'm seeing this through. I know I didn't have a vision but I'm in this until the end."

Crowpaw let out a sharp laugh, "I'd like to meet the cat who could convince you or Squirrelpaw to stay out of this."

"And he's right." Tawnypelt agreed firmly. Even if Blackstar wouldn't listen to her she knew there were cats in ShadowClan who would. "If our leaders are too mousebrained to listen well, then we'll just take who we can."

"We'll do it." Brambleclaw lifted his head, confident and proud and certain of his purpose once again, "we came together to find Midnight, and we'll come together and make them listen and we will lead our Clans to their new home."

Tawnypelt yowled her agreement with Crowpaw, making Brambleclaw startle and Feathertail laugh and Tawnypelt could see her companion's spirits lifting even as her own did. Whatever destiny Midnight thought awaited them in the mountains they could get through. They'd do it together.