Chapter 1

A moon had passed since Redkit's birth. She showed great strength when she played with the elder kits. When she wrestled with the elder kits, she could easily match their strength. Pinestar and Snowclaw were proud of how Redkit was fairing in the late New-leaf. The rest of the clan, however, was not fairing so well. Prey was scarce in the late New-leaf. Pinestar was struggling to feed his clan and he worried about it continuing at this rate. There was no doubt that the cats of his clan would start to die out. Everyday his hunting patrols that he sent out would come back with barely enough prey to feed the whole clan. This only brought concern to Pinestar as the days continued to stretch long. Slatestone reported that the prey was so scarce that they had to go to the far edges of the territory just catch more than one. Even the fish were hard to come by these days. Pinestar was now even more concerned than ever. The stress and pressure were so unbearable that he felt like he was going to snap at any moment. That night Pinestar left the camp unannounced to the rest of the clan. He traveled to the cave were there was a pool of water. There was a hole in the roof of the cave where moonlight shone through to give the pool it's glow. This pool of water was known as the moon pool. Only the cats of Moonclan knew where it was hidden and they guarded that secret well. Pinestar approached the edge of the moon pool and touched his nose to the water. He then fell asleep. Then he entered the realm where Starclan cats hunted and flourished forever.

Moonclan was a very special clan. The founders of Moonclan were so inspired by the legendary four clans: Thunderclan, Windclan, Riverclan, and Shadowclan that they made their own clan. They made Starclan their religion, but they made their own traditions so that they would be set apart from the original clans. First of all, they believed in hierarchy. They believed that the firstborn kit of the current leader should succeed the leader when he, or she, dies. Because female cats proved to have great strength, the succession rite wasn't restricted to just the male gender. If the current leader did not have any kits before he, or she, died, then the succession rite would be given to the deputy of Moonclan. The most special thing about this clan was their close relationship with Starclan. The founders believed that all cats of Moonclan should have a close relationship with their warrior ancestors. Each cat could have visions of future, however, not all cats had a lot of clarity in their visions. Medcine cats, medicine cat apprentices, leaders, and warriors destined to be leaders had more clarity in their vision than the rest of the cats. They would teach their kits about the founding of Moonclan and the importance of Starclan when they reached their first moon. Moonclan cats chose to be more peaceful and would not fight unless they truly felt threatened. They tried to talk through problems instead of fighting, but most of the time this method didn't work. Another thing that sets Moonclan apart from other clans is that they have more than one camp. It was located on the other side of the mountain that they lived near. They would only go there if a flash flood was imminent and they needed to wait it out. Moonclan was truly a clan like no other.

Pinestar was walking through a starry field and was hoping that he would be able to meet with a Starclan cat. Sure enough, he saw his late father, Brackenstar, approaching. The tom proudly walked to his son and with a warm and gentle smile, he hugged him. Then the two cats looked at each other and Brakenstar was the first to speak. "Son, it is good to see you." Pinestar replied, "You as well, father." Brackenstar then asked, "What brings up back to the moon pool?" Pinestar explained, "I'm worried for my clan. Prey has become so scarce that we can't catch enough to feed the whole clan. If this keeps up, I will have lost cats before New-leaf finally arrives. Father, please tell me what should I do? I don't what to do to solve this problem." Brackenstar then placed his paw on his son's and he spoke, "Son, the time has come to leave the camp and cross the mountain. This Leaf-Bare has been harsh and the prey population has dwindled. You must leave this camp until the prey population increases. This is what you must do." Pinestar panicked, "But we can't just leave, we have to defend our territory!" Brackenstar then said, "Well then, by tomorrow you'll have an even bigger reason to leave. But, you cannot avoid the fact that the only way to solve your clan's starvation problem is to leave the territory." Pinestar was now even more worried about his father's subtle warning. Then the two cats parted ways as the leader woke up from his dream. He began to think to himself. Was leaving really the only choice they had? He continued to think this over as he made the journey back to the camp. He arrived back and curled up in his nest and fell asleep once more.

The next day, Slatestone lead a patrol out to mark the territory. They had seen an increase of foxes and coyotes, but that wasn't even the biggest problem. When they reached the edges of their territory, they saw a huge group of cats building a camp close to their territory. They quickly marked the border of their territory and quickly headed back to report to Pinestar about the situation before they were spotted. When they got back, they learned that the hunting patrol had come back with no prey this time. Pinestar saw Slatestone and he padded over to him. Pinestar then spoke, "I hope you have better news than the hunting patrol." Slatestone said, "Unfortunately, I don't have any good news to report. There's an increase of foxes and coyotes on our territory. Plus, we saw a large group of cats building a camp close to the border." Pinestar was now shocked. Their territory was now unsafe and there was no way they would survive. Brackenstar was right. It was time to leave. Pinestar then replied, "Then we have only one choice. It's time to leave. I'll call for a clan meeting." Slatestone was shocked, but he respected his leader's decision.

He followed his leader to the highrock and they jumped up to the top. Then Pinestar yowled, "Let all those who can catch their own prey, gather beneath the highrock for a clan meeting!" All of the cats of Moonclan gathered and Pinestar looked at his clanmates with complete sorrow. Pinestar meowed, "My fellow warriors, our clan has reached a time of great crisis. The prey population is down, predators are moving on our territory, and a large group of cats have been spotted building a camp close to our border." Gasps from the shocked cats now filled the camp. Pinestar continued, "I spoke to Starclan last night. I did not believe their advice when it was given, but now I see the truth. Our territory has become too dangerous for us. We are starving and weak. If the large group of cats discover us, we won't be able to fend off the attack. The time has come for us to migrate to our second camp!" Yowls of protests filled the camp as many cats didn't want to leave. They wanted to defend the territory. But then, they all realized that it was too late to defend it. There was no prey and the predators moving in to the territory made it too dangerous to protect. Pinestar explained, "We have no other choice. I do not wish to leave either, but we can't possibly defend our territory without food to strengthen us. I know that this may seem cowardice, but we have to put the health of our clan first." All of the cats nodded in agreement and they were ready to accept the decision. Then Pinestar announced, "Then tomorrow, we will leave at the first light of down. We will travel up the mountain path and journey to our second camp. The clan is now dismissed."

Every cat went to their dens and they began preparing for tomorrow's journey. Mapleeye began getting the traveling herbs ready for the cats. Snowclaw, however, did not agree with this plan and she was going to talk with Pinestar about it. Pinestar knew that was in for in earful from his mate.