A powerful yowl broke the lazy afternoon heat.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey meet before me for a meeting!"
"How original," muttered Hollyleaf, climbing to her paws where she had been previously sharing tongues with Saffron. He inclined his head to her. "Doesn't Lionblaze understand that these cats need to rest?"
His mate shrugged her shoulders, and he followed her as they padded over to the tom.
His golden tabby pelt shining in the bright sunlight, Lionblaze looked just like a smaller version of his namesake, complete with a slight ruff of fur around his neck. He was an imposing figure in most occasions, but next to the exhausted and wounded Clan cats, he looked magnificent. As though a cat from the old stories had stepped down onto the mortal lands, Saffron had told Hollyleaf when they'd finally caught up to him.
She said that he wasn't far wrong.

It hadn't been exactly difficult to find Lionblaze, but the tom had shown more common sense than they'd credited him with earlier. He had taken his devastated cats to perhaps the safest place in the area. It was a grassy hill, quite high up, but with a gentle enough slope that even a three-legged cat could climb-which, as it happened, was necessary. Thick shrubs provided protection from the sometimes-chilly wind that nipped at their fur, but didn't obscure a clear view from the horizon. There wasn't any water on top of the hill, but at the base there was a clean pond, and Lionblaze had spent his time between dashing up and down the hill with soaked moss and prey. At that time, watching with Hollyleaf and Willowshine, Saffron found himself almost liking the tom. Then, when they had decided to reveal their presence, the ThunderClan warrior had promptly returned to his old self.

It was the other cats that Saffron was most worried about. Their chances of survival had been boosted considerably with Willowshine's arrival, but every single one of them was injured, and badly. The worst of all was Reedwhisker, the only surviving deputy. He'd had the misfortune to face Mantine, and the enemy leader had literally torn him to pieces. Both his ears had been ripped in half. A third of his face had been scooped out by a cruel paw, and the end part of his tail had been bitten off.
But the worst of his injuries was his hind leg, which was no more than a ghastly stump that steadily oozed blood despite Willowshine's best efforts. How he had survived, nobody would ever know.
Reedwhisker would never be a warrior again, not with injuries on his scale. All the Clan cats (excluding Lionblaze) had serious injuries but they were likely to recover fully with rest, food and treatment.

Lionblaze was speaking.
"Cats of the Clans," –he glanced at Hollyleaf and Saffron-"and others, I've been thinking, and I've made a decision."
He looked around for a few moments as though expecting the other cats to challenge him. Nobody did, not even Reedwhisker, though Saffron wasn't sure if he even knew who was talking. Hollyleaf only twitched her tail slightly.
Lionblaze cleared his throat and seemed relieved. "I've decided on two things. Firstly, we were sent out on a task-to find the wolf, escort it to the Clans, and sacrifice it. So far, we have yet to succeed." He paused, just for a second, and his amber eyes scanned the ranks of injured warriors.
"But misfortune is not an excuse! StarClan entrusted us with a sacred task. They have asked for loyalty and courage in its truest forms, and I believe every cat here has those qualities. We knew it wasn't going to be easy, but we accepted, and we owe it to the warrior code to bring the wolf back. The Clans will starve to death without us."

One of the warriors who was not as badly hurt as the others, Thornclaw, raised his golden-brown head. "You want us to track the wolf down." It was a statement, not a question.
Lionblaze nodded. "I do. I think…this is our destiny." His paws stirred on the grass as though he were running.
"And the other thing?" asked Willowshine, her head tipped in curiosity. "You said two decisions."
The mighty tabby dipped his head to the medicine cat apprentice. "That's right. Well, if we agree to hunt the wolf, then we will need to be loyal. Not just to our Clans-but to each other. We can't have any boundaries between us.
"And so, I propose that today a new Clan be formed. A Clan made only of the bravest and truest cats. We will guard these lands while StarClan sleeps-during the day, when Silverpelt is hidden to our eyes. All Clans will look up to us, for we will be the keepers of the peace and the watchers of the stars!" His last words soared into a yowl.

Stunned silence echoed across the hill as most cats froze in shock. Hollyleaf's mouth was open. Willowshine's head was still tilted. Even Reedwhisker had stopped cleaning himself mid-lick. Only Saffron, unable to really understand the weight of Lionblaze's words, continued to move, checking each face with more than a little amusement.
"A new Clan?" Tawnypelt sounded bewildered. "Can you do that? Without StarClan's approval?"
Lionblaze shook his head. "We are for StarClan. Don't you think that if they didn't want us to do this they would send us a sign?"
Saffron shrugged his shoulders. "A group of cats working together for one goal. Sounds like a Clan to me."
"You're a loner." Saffron didn't know the name of the cat who spoke out. "You don't really get it."
Hollyleaf bristled, and in the haughty voice of Leaf she pronounced, "We understand well enough to know that a Clan is a group of cats who follow the warrior code and the words of your ancestors."
A murmur broke among the Clan cats, and a broad-shouldered tabby tom stepped upwards, dragging a wounded leg. "Let's have a vote," he mewed. "All in favour of the new Clan, go to the left. All against, go right."

For a while nobody moved. Then, like a small stream, one cat stepped left. The stream became a torrent as cats bowed their heads to the majority and followed each other like sheep. When the movement settled, only two cats remained; Reedwhisker, sitting in the middle, attempting to groomhis blood-stained fur, and Thornclaw, standing to the right, looking up with defiant eyes. "I'm loyal to ThunderClan," he said by way of explanation, "not you, Lionblaze."
For a brief moment Lionblaze appeared angry, but Willowshine stepped forwards. "That's okay," she mewed. "We need someone to escort Reedwhisker back."
The anger faded from Lionblaze's eyes and he nodded. "And to tell the Clan what's happened. Well, goodbye, Thornclaw."
Thornclaw looked puzzled. "You want me to leave now? Is Reedwhisker strong enough?"
Willowshine sighed. "No, not really. But he won't get any stronger here, not without proper herbs and cobwebs to stop the bleeding. I've had to make do with leaves and moss. You'll just have to be careful."
Thornclaw considered this briefly, then nodded reluctantly and nudged Reedwhisker. The black tom stared at him blankly.
"Come on, Reedwhisker," he mewed kindly. "It's time to go."

After an age, the RiverClan deputy climbed to his three good paws, his weight tipping from shoulder to hip in a sad attempt to balance himself. His amber eyes were empty of emotion, and Saffron shuddered. He'd seen this in cats before-cats who seemed to have their spirits torn like their flesh; cats who simply lost interest in living. He hoped for Reedwhisker's sake that he found something worth surviving for, otherwise the tom's remaining days could be counted on a paw.
The new Clan watched as Thornclaw padded behind Reedwhisker, consistently nosing him to keep him moving forwards. They watched and waited for the two toms to become small specks on the world spread beneath them, before turning back to Lionblaze.
He coughed and twitched his tail. "Well, now, we need to decide who is going to become leader of this new Clan."

"I should have thought that was obvious," said a pretty tabby she-cat with smoky blue eyes. Lionblaze avoided looking at her and glanced around at the gathered warriors, and, when there were a few heads nodded in agreement, he seemed to swell up in size. "Thank you. I swear by StarClan that I will do my best to capture the beast and complete our task."
"Who is going to be deputy?" asked a RiverClan warrior, his thoughts clearly clouded by memory.
Lionblaze lifted his head upwards and thought.
"I say these words before StarClan," he mewed tentatively, and suddenly Saffron felt a rush of helpless pity. Even though Lionblaze had obviously planned this, the tabby had bitten off more than he could chew, and Saffron felt sorry for him.

"May they hear and approve my choice," said Lionblaze softly. His gaze raked the Clan cats.
"Tigerheart will be the new deputy of…of this Clan."
"Tigerheart! Tigerheart!" mewed the gathered cats enthusiastically, and Saffron noted that the new deputy was the dark tabby who had suggested a vote. He felt a little better at this. At least Lionblaze would have an intelligent right paw.
Tawnypelt flicked her ears. "What is this new Clan called, anyway?" she asked. Her green eyes were flickering with both light and shadow, and Saffron remembered that the dead ginger tom, Rowanclaw, had been her mate. Tigerheart also happened to be her son.
Lionblaze thought for a moment, and shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted.
Hollyleaf stepped forwards. "If you like," she mewed easily, "I'd say that this Clan should be called SunClan. After all, you said it yourself-you watch the Clans while the stars sleep."
"Yes! SunClan! SunClan!" The warriors took up the cry.
"Then SunClan we are," purred Lionblaze. "Tonight, we rest-tomorrow, we march!"