Graystripe struggles desperately to get free, lashing out with his hind paws to claw tufts of fur from his enemy's belly. The ShadowClan leader barely moves. The reek of his scent is in Graystripe's mouth and nostrils, and his amber eyes glare into his own.
"Greet StarClan for me," Tigerstar snarls.
"Only after you!" Graystripe gasps. To his astonishment, Tigerstar releases him. Lurching to his paws, he sees the ShadowClan leader double back and spring up the nearest tree. Before he has time to wonder what is going on, he hears a deafening howl and feels the ground shake under his paws.
He spins around to see the pack leader looming over him, its dripping jaws wide. There is no time to run. Graystripe shuts his eyes and prepares to meet StarClan. Pain stabs him as sharp teeth meet in his scruff. His limbs flail helplessly as the dog lifts him from the ground and shakes him from side to side. He twists in the air, struggling to claw eyes, jowls, tongue, but his thrashing paws meet nothing.
The forest spins about him. He is aware of more barking, and the stink of dog is everywhere.
"StarClan, help me!" Graystreipe lets out a yowl of terror and despair. This is not just his death, but the end of his whole Clan. His plan has failed. "StarClan, where are you?" Suddenly a yowl sounds close by. Graystripe is flung to the ground, the breath driven out of his body. The grip on his neck loosens and is gone. Dazed, he looks up to see a blue-gray shape ramming into the side of the lead dog.
"Bluestar!" he yowls.
The force of his leader's impact has sent the dog staggering to the very edge of the gorge. Its barking changes to a high-pitched howl of terror as its huge paws scrambled for a grip on the turf. The loose soil crumbles away under its weight and it falls, but as it disappears over the edge its snapping jaws close in on Bluestar's leg, and wrenches her over as well.
Two of the other dogs, hard behind their leader, can not pull up in time. Blindly they charge over the edge of the gorge and vanish, howling, while the remaining dogs skid to a halt, their fierce barks fading to piteous whimpers.
Before Graystripe can force himself to his paws, they have backed away from the edge and flee into the forest. He staggers to the edge of the gorge and looks over. Water foams white beneath him. For a heartbeat he glimpses the gaping muzzle of the pack leader struggling among the waves, before it vanishes again.
"Bluestar!" Graystripe screams. What had his leader been doing over here? He had sent her with the rest of the Clan to Sunningrocks. Too stunned to move, he gazes down into the river. Suddenly he sees a small gray head bob to the surface, paws thrashing wildly. Bluestar is still alive! But the torrent is sweeping her downstream, and Graystripe knows, despite her being better, that she is too frail to swim for long.
There is only one thing to do.
Yowling, "Bluestar, hold on! I'm coming!" He launches himself down the steep side of the gorge and into the river. Water clutches Graystripe like a huge paw and buffets him from side to side. The icy cold of the torrent takes his breath away. His paws work furiously as he tries to swim, but the force of the current rolls him under. He had lost sight of Bluestar before he even entered the water; he can see nothing but the foam that bubbles all around him.
As his head breaks the surface he gasps for air, managing to stay afloat as the racing torrent sweeps him downstream. Then he spots Bluestar again, a few fox-lengths ahead of him, her fur plastered to her head and her jaws gaping. Kicking out strongly, Graystripe closes the gap between them, and as Bluestar begins to sink again he fastens his teeth in her scruff. The extra weight drags him down.
All his instincts scream at him to let Bluestar go and save his own life. But he makes himself hold on, while he forces his limbs to go on working and bring his drowning leader back to the surface. He almost loses his grip on her as something slammed into them, and he catches a glimpse of a dog rolling over in the current, its eyes glazed with terror as it flounders helplessly and vanishes again.
A sudden shadow falls across them and is gone as the current carries them under the twoleg bridge and away from the looming cliffs.
Graystripe can see the river bank now and he strikes out toward it, but his limbs are aching with weariness. Bluestar is a deadweight, unable to help herself. He knows that he can not let go of her to gulp in more air, and his senses begin to spin away into darkness as his head goes under again.
Barely conscious, he makes one more massive effort, thrusting at the water with his paws. But when he resurfaces he can not see the bank, and he has lost all sense of direction. His limbs stiffen with panic as he knows he is going to drown. Suddenly Bluestar's weight grows less.
Blinking water out of his eyes, Graystripe sees another head bobbing in the water beside him, teeth firmly gripping Bluestar's fur. He recognizes the blue-gray pelt and almost forgot to swim in his shock. It was Mistyfoot! At the same moment he hears Stonefur's voice from his other side. "Let go. We've got her now."
Graystripe does as he is old and lets Stonefur take his place. The two RiverClan cats propell Bluestar through the water toward the bank. Without the need to support the heavy she-cat, he manages to flounder after them until he feels the river bottom beneath his paws. On flatter ground now, carried by the river out of the steep-sided gorge, he is able to splash his way to the safety of the bank on the RiverClan side.
Coughing as he gasps air into his straining lungs, Graystripe shakes water from his fur and looks around to see what has become of Bluestar. Mistyfoot and Stonefur have laid the Clan leader down on her side on the pebbles. Water trickles from her parted jaws, and she does not move.
"Bluestar!" Mistyfoot exclaims.
"Is she dead?" Graystripe asks hoarsely, staggering up to them.
"I think she—" Stonefur is interrupted by a loud yowling.
"Graystripe! Graystripe! Watch out!"
It's Cloudtail's voice. Graystripe turns to see Tigerstar racing across the twoleg bridge with the white warrior hard behind him. As the ShadowClan leader swerves along the bank towards Graystripe and the others, Cloudtail darts in front of the massive tabby and whirls around to face him.
"Keep back!" he snarls. "Don't touch them."
Rage lends strength to Graystripe. His leader lay on the riverbank, a life of hers ebbing away; whatever she had said or done, she was still his leader, and he had never intended her to die for the sake of the Clan. And all this was because of Tigerstar! He bounds upstream to stand beside Cloudtail, and the ShadowClan leader halts a couple of fox-lengths away.
Clearly, he is thinking twice about taking both of them on at the same time.
From behind him Graystripe hears Mistyfoot gasp. "Graystripe! She's alive!"
He bares his teeth at Tigerstar. "Come one step closer, and I'll throw you in the river with the dogs," he growls.
"Cloudtail, make him stay back." The white warrior nods, unsheathing his claws, happy to have a chance to swipe Tigerstar across his muzzle if he gets too close, and the Shadowclan leader lets out a long hiss of fury and frustration.
Graystripe races back to Bluestar and crouches down beside her. She still lies on the pebbles, though now he can see her chest rising and falling with each jagged breath.
"Bluestar?" he whispers. "Bluestar, it's Graystripe. You're all right now. You're safe."
Her eyes blink open and she focuses on the two RiverClan warriors. For a heartbeat, she does not seem to recognize them, and then her eyes stretch wide, softening with pride.
"You saved me," she murmurs.
"Shhh. Don't try to talk," Mistyfoot urges her.
Bluestar seems not to hear. "I want to tell you something, my precious kits…. I want to ask you to forgive me for sending you away. Your father, Oakheart promised me Graypool would be a good mother to you."
Stonefur and Mistyfoot share a glance of surprise and shock. Graystripe is also in shock and he finally understands what she did that is so similar to him. She had a Riverclan mate like he did, except instead of fighting to keep her kits, she gave them away to their father's clan.
"I owe Graypool so much," Bluestar goes on. Her voice is faint and uneven.
"Oakheart too, for mentoring you so well. I watched you as you grew up, and I saw how much you had to give to the Clan who adopted you."
A shudder passes through her body, and she stops speaking for a moment.
"If I had made a different choice, you would have given all your strength to ThunderClan. Forgive me," she rasps.
Mistyfoot and Stonefur exchange an uncertain glance.
"She suffered a lot of pain for her choice," Graystripe can't help putting in, knowing she must have been in great pain after giving up her kits. He knows he would be if he had to give up Featherpaw and Stormpaw. "Please forgive her."
For a heartbeat, the two warriors still hesitate. Then Mistyfoot bends her head to lick her mother's fur, and he feels his legs shake with relief.
"We forgive you, Bluestar," she murmurs.
"We forgive you," Stonefur echoes.
Weak as she is, Bluestar begins to purr with delight. Graystripe's throat feels tight as he watches the two RiverClan cats crouch over his leader—their mother—sharing tongues with her for the first time.
A furious hiss from Cloudtail makes him turn his head to see that Tigerstar has taken a step forward. The massive tabby's eyes are wide with astonishment.
"Don't come any nearer, Tigerstar," he hisses.
"This has nothing to do with you."
Turning back to Bluestar, he sees that her eyes are closing and her breath is becoming fast and shallow.
"What can we do?" he asks Mistyfoot anxiously. "She's losing a life and it's too far to fetch Cinderpelt. Will one of you go and fetch your medicine cat?"
"It's too late for that, Graystripe."
It is Stonefur who replies, his voice low and gentle.
"She is on her way to StarClan."
"No!" he protests.
He crouches beside Bluestar and presses his muzzle against hers.
"Bluestar —Bluestar, wake up! We'll get help for you—hold on just a bit longer."
Bluestar's eyes flicker open again, looking not at Graystripe, but at something just past his shoulder. Her gaze is clear and filled with peace.
"Oakheart," she murmurs. "Have you come for me? I'm ready."
"No!" Graystripe protests again.
All his recent difficulties with Bluestar fade away. He remembers only the noble leader she has been before and after her mental spiral, wise and inspiring. And in the end, StarClan has been kind to her. She has come out of the shadows to die as nobly as she has lived, saving her Clan by sacrificing herself.
"Bluestar, don't leave us," he begs.
"I must," his leader whispers. "I have fought my last battle."
She is panting in her efforts to speak.
"When I saw the Clan at Sunningrocks, the strong helped the weak… Fireheart whispered to me, saying your life was in danger. I had to save you Graystripe…For you are the future of this clan…" Her voice fails and she struggles to continue. "
I knew that I could not leave you to face the danger alone, especially when Fireheart warned me."
"Bluestar…" Graystripe's voice shakes with the pain of parting.
Bluestar fixes her blue gaze on him. He thinks he can already see the shimmer of StarClan in her eyes.
"Fire will save the Clan," she murmurs;
"Even though you aren't the Fire that was supposed to save Thunderclan…" Bluestar goes on.
"You have saved this Clan many times over. Fought for it and protected it. You really did rise from the ashes that the fire left behind."
Graystripe can do nothing but stare at his beloved leader. He feels as if his whole body has turned to stone. Above his head, the wind tears the clouds into shreds, letting a ray of sunshine strike down and touch his pelt to glow like ash.
"You will be a great leader." Bluestar's voice is the merest whisper. "One of the greatest the forest has ever known. You are kind, caring, brave, and willing to defend what you believe in. You will be Graystar, the light of ThunderClan."
"No," Graystripe protests. "I can't. Not without you, Bluestar."
But it's too late. Bluestar sighs softly, and the light dies from her eyes. Mistyfoot lets out a low wailing sound and presses her nose to her mother's fur. Stonefur crouches close to her, his head bowed.
"Bluestar!" He meows desperately, but there is no response. The leader of ThunderClan has given up her last life, and gone to hunt with StarClan forever as life doesn't flow back into her like it did back on his apprentice journey to the Moonstone with his friends, Ravenpaw and Fireheart. Graystripe rises stiffly to his paws. He has to dig his claws into the earth as his head spins, and for a moment he fears that he might fall into the sky. His fur prickles, and he feels as if his thudding heart would burst through his chest.
"Graystripe," Cloudtail murmurs. "Oh, Graystripe."
The white warrior has left Tigerstar and walked silently over to watch his leader die. Now he sees that his friend's blue gaze is fixed on him with something like awe, and as their eyes meet, Cloudtail dips his head in deepest respect.
Graystripe stiffens in horror, longing to protest; he wants the comfort of their friendship, not this formal acknowledgment from a warrior to his clan leader. Beyond Cloudtail, he sees Tigerstar staring at the cats huddled on the shore, amazement and fury in his eyes.
Before any cat can say anything, the ShadowClan leader spins around and races across the twoleg bridge, back toward his own territory. He lets him go. He has to deal with his own terrified, hunted Clan before he tries to settle old scores.
But what Tigerstar has done that day would never be forgotten, not by any cat in ThunderClan.
"We'll need to fetch some of the others," he mews hoarsely to Cloudtail. "We must get Bluestar's body back to camp."
Cloudtail dips his head again. "Yes, Graystripe."
"We'll help," Stonefur offers, standing up and facing the ThunderClan cats. "
We would be honored," adds Mistyfoot, her eyes clouded with sorrow.
"I would like to see our mother laid to rest in her Clan. Even if we didn't know her for long. But she seemed genuine in her conviction so it must be true that we are her kits."
"Yes, it was a shock," Stonefur mews, "But she was a great leader, well deserving of the position. She will be honored forever."
"Thank you, both of you," meows Graystripe. He takes a deep breath, draws himself up, and shakes his drying fur. He feels as if the weight of the whole Clan has descended on his shoulders, and yet, in a heartbeat, it begins to seem possible that he could bear it. He is the leader of ThunderClan now. With the death of the lead dog, the threat of the pack has gone from the forest, and his Clan is waiting for him, safe, at Sunningrocks. Sandstorm will be waiting for him too.
"Come on," he meows to Cloudtail. "Let's go home."