"We have to rest, Maple. I know she's gone, but I'm still here." Redpoppy's gentle mew sounded so far away. "I'll never leave you."

Mapledawn just stared at the spot where her sister's body had laid through the night until the Clan buried her. Maybe this is still a dream. Maybe in a few moments I'll wake up in my nest.

"Wrencatcher has been sent out of camp," her mother mewed. "Yellowstar isn't letting him out of her sight. We have the den to ourselves. Just you, me, and Thrushflight. Just like when you were a kit."

Mapledawn responded with a slow, mechanical nod, and followed her parents into the warrior den. Bloomspirit should be here. Claws wrapped around her chest when she realized her sister never even got to sleep in the warrior's den. BlackClan, she thought icily. They did this.

And they will pay, whispered a voice from the shadows. And you will make them pay.

Just shut up. Mapledawn let her mother groom her fur. For StarClan's sake, just shut up.

She hadn't expected to sleep. If she dreamt, she didn't remember more than snippets: flashes of fur, unfamiliar eyes. When she woke, it was evening, but Mapledawn couldn't tell whether it was the evening of the same day they'd buried Bloomspirit. The blue-gray light spilling across the clearing looked wrong, the shadows oddly slanted, the scents all wrong.

She limped out of the den. Her belly felt hollow, like she hadn't eaten in days, and her tongue was as dry as sand.

"Mapledawn-of-Redpoppy." Yellowstar was standing alone in the clearing. "Wrencatcher is sleeping with Frecklefang in the medicine den. She's not out of danger, but Cloudstep is hopeful."

Mapledawn struggled to comprehend her leader's words. Who? Was she supposed to care? Slowly, the memory of Wrencatcher's outburst came back to her. She nodded curtly.

"Rabbitleap and Birchnose have both retired to the elder's den. I didn't wake you for the ceremony. You needed the rest."

"Right."

"Mapledawn, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't protect your sister."

Mapledawn blinked in surprise. "That's not your fault," she said. "It's BlackClan's."

"I'm glad you see it that way." The Clan leader dipped her head in a gesture of respect. "We fight for the right reasons," she mewed, "and yet…"

Mapledawn struggled to think through the fog of grief clouding her mind. "Yet you fear this war won't end," she finished.

"Precisely. Scratchface is still leading, though he makes cats call him Scratchstar. I refuse to use that name until our ancestors give him nine lives. I don't believe they will. I don't think he deserves it. But that makes him all the more determined to prove his worth by hurting our Clan."

"Weaselclaw must take her place back." Mapledawn flicked her tail. "Or she must give up leadership."

Yellowstar blinked in surprise. "She has given up leadership."

"No. Somehow, she still believes she's leader. When leaders step down, StarClan takes back their lives. It happened with Pinestar and Rowanstar."

"Who?"

"Pinestar. He-" Mapledawn tilted her head, confused. Who? Who was Pinestar? I must have heard the name from an elder. She glanced at her paws. Or it's another buried memory. "An ancient leader of FireClan. Webclaw mentioned him."

"Oh." They lapsed into silence for a while. Mapledawn's stomach growled. Yellowstar glanced at her in dismay. "You haven't eaten since yesterday, have you?" The Clan leader shook her head. "I'd forgotten. So much has happened… Come, hunt with me. It'll take your mind off Bloomspirit."

Mapledawn would much rather curl back up in her den, but she couldn't very well tell her leader no. She followed Yellowstar out of the ravine. Jaggedclaw, on watch, gave them a brief nod. His tail, Mapledawn noticed, was sticky with herb poultice.

Thunder forest was bathed in a soft crimson glow as Mapledawn and Yellowstar padded silently through the trees. Mapledawn moved by instinct, thinking of nothing but the grass in front of her and the prey-scents bathing her tongue. Yellowstar flushed out a young rabbit, only just venturing out for its evening foraging, straight into Mapledawn's waiting paws.

"This will do." Yellowstar nodded to the rabbit. "Eat with me. The Clan has been fed. This is just for us."

"Thank you, StarClan, for this prey," Mapledawn murmured. The words felt wrong in her throat, but the rabbit flesh was sweet and rich.

"I don't know what to do about Wrencatcher," Yellowstar confessed as they ate by the light of the setting sun. "Paletuft thinks I should exile him outright. He attacked a Clanmate."

"He blames me. Because he asked for my help in battle, but I protected Cloudstep instead."

"That was your duty!"

"He doesn't know that. I should feel angry at him. I should hate him, but I don't feel anything. I only feel-"

"Grief. Of course you do." Yellowstar sighed heavily. "Grief for your sister, but maybe grief for Wrencatcher, too. I saw how close the two of you became."

"It's okay." It wasn't-nothing would ever be okay again. "It's done."

"I know what it's like." Yellowstar looked away, her amber gaze wistful. "Fallensnow wasn't always with Downtail. I'll always love Paletuft like she was my own kit, and I'll always love Fallensnow even though she chose someone else over me." She gave Mapledawn a sideways look. "They say it gets easy, and it does. But it never, ever goes away."

"You and… Fallensnow." Mapledawn blinked slowly. "Wrencatcher said there were rumors about you and Paletuft."

Yellowstar snorted. "Because cats couldn't believe I'd love a cat with a mate. Paletuft and I have always been close, but I see her as a daughter, not a mate." She swiped rabbit blood from her jaws and carried the skin, soft and clean of flesh, in her jaws. "Come back to camp. Spend time with Redpoppy." The Clan leader rested her tail on Yellowstar's shoulder. "Let her fuss over you, Mapledawn. I think she needs that right now."

I guess. A twinge of guilt pricked her paws. She'd hardly considered her mother's pain, she was so wrapped up in her own.

"Maple." Her mother's eyes were wide with worry when Mapledawn returned to camp. "Where have you been? You should be resting."

"I needed to stretch my legs. I'm sorry I worried you." Mapledawn touched noses with her mother.

"Thrushflight and I need to talk to you." The brown tom padded up quietly. "We… were waiting until Bloomspirit came back to share this." Her mew shook. "But I suppose it's time."

"What's wrong?" They looked so serious. What else could go wrong?

The two cats shared a glance. "I'm expecting," said Redpoppy softly. "Just a moon to go."

"Mother, that's-" Mapledawn shook her pelt. What unfortunate timing. But something like joy cut through her grief. "That's wonderful." She purred, and Thrushflight did, too, sounding relieved. She glanced at her mother's flanks. She hadn't noticed because of her thick fur, but her belly was swollen.

"We were afraid you'd think we were trying to replace your sister."

"Nonsense." Mapledawn licked her mother's cheek gently. "You couldn't have known BlackClan could take her from us."

"Now will you see Cloudstep?" murmured Thrushflight. "You need to start thinking about slowing down. Maybe it's time to move into the nursery."

Redpoppy dipped her head. "But not tonight." The moon was out in full force now. Paletuft and Jaggedclaw snored softly in the warrior's den. "Not tonight."