Watery shafts of light slice through the bare trees as Graystripe carries his leader to her final resting place. With his teeth clenched firmly in her scruff, he retraces the route the dog pack had taken as the brave warriors of ThunderClan lured them to the gorge and their destruction.

His whole body feels numb, and his head spins with the terrible realization that Bluestar is dead. Without his leader, the forest itself seems different. Nothing is real; he feels as if the trees and rocks can dissolve like mist within a moment. A vast, unnatural silence covers everything. With the rational part of his mind Graystripe realizes that all the prey has been scared away by the rampaging dog pack, but in the grip of his grief it seems that even the forest is stunned into mourning for Bluestar.

The scene at the gorge replays over and over in his head. He sees again the slavering jaws of the dog who led the pack, and felt its sharp teeth meet in his scruff. He remembers how Bluestar had appeared out of nowhere, flinging herself at the dog, driving it—and herself—over the edge of the gorge and into the river. He flinches again at the icy shock of the water as he leaps in to rescue his drowning leader, and their hopeless struggles until two RiverClan warriors, Mistyfoot and Stonefur, come to help them. Most of all, Graystripe recalls his dismay and disbelief as he crouched beside his leader on the riverbank, and realized that she had sacrificed her last life to save him and all of ThunderClan from the dog pack.

As he brings Bluestar's body home, with the help of Mistyfoot and Stonefur, he keeps pausing to scent the air for fresh traces of dog, and he has already sent his former apprentice, Cloudtail, to scout the territory on either side of their trail, searching for signs that the dogs have caught any of the ThunderClan cats in their desperate race for the gorge. So far, to Graystripe's relief, they have found nothing.

Now, skirting a bramble thicket, Graystripe sets down his lifeless leader once more and raises his head to drink in the air, thankful to taste only the clean scents of the forest. A moment later, Cloudtail appears around a clump of dead bracken.

"Everything's fine, Graystripe," he reports. "Plenty of broken undergrowth, but that's all."

"Good," Graystripe meows. His hope rises that the dogs that had escaped the fall into the gorge have fled in terror, and the forest once again belongs to the four clans of wild cats. His clan has lived through three terrible moons, when they have become prey in their own territory, but they have survived.

"Let's keep going. I want to check that the camp is safe before the clan comes back."

He and the RiverClan warriors take up Bluestar's body again and carry it through the trees. At the top of the ravine that leads down to the camp entrance, Graystripe pauses. He briefly remembers the early morning, when he and his warriors had followed the trail of dead rabbits that Tigerstar had laid to lure the dog pack to the ThunderClan camp. At the end of the trail they had found the body of the gentle queen Brindleface, slaughtered to give the savage dogs a taste for cat blood. But now everything seems peaceful, and when Graystripe tastes the air again he can detect only cat scent coming from the camp.

"Wait here," he meows. "I'm going to take a look."

"I'll come with you," Cloudtail offers instantly.

"No." It's Stonefur who speaks, flicking out his tail to bar the white warrior's way. "I think Graystripe needs to do this alone."

Flashing a grateful look at the RiverClan deputy, Graystripe begins picking his way down the ravine, his ears pricked for any sound of trouble ahead. But the strange silence still reigns over the forest.

As he emerges from the gorse tunnel into the clearing,he pauses to glance warily around. It is possible that one or more of the dogs have never made it to the gorge, or that Tigerstar has sent ShadowClan warriors to take over the camp. But all is quiet.

Graystripe's fur prickled with the strangeness of seeing the camp deserted like this, yet there is no sign of danger, and still no scent of dogs or ShadowClan. To be sure the camp is safe, he rapidly checks the dens and the nursery. Memories come unbidden: the bewilderment of the Clan as he told them about the dog pack, the heart-pounding terror of the chase through the forest with the breath of the pack leader hot on his fur.

At the foot of the Highrock, listening to the wind whispering through the trees, Graystripe thinks back to the time Tigerstar had stood here, boldly facing his clan as they discovered the true depth of his treachery. He had sworn undying vengeance as he was sent into exile, and he is sure that his blood thirsty attempt to set the dog pack on the cats of ThunderClan would not be his last attempt to fulfill his oath.

Last of all Graystripe prowls cautiously through the fern tunnel to Cinderpelt's den. Glancing through the entrance, he sees the medicine cat's healing herbs neatly ranged beside one wall. The strongest memory yet floods over him, of Spottedleaf and Yellowfang, who had been ThunderClan medicine cats before Cinderpelt.

Graystripe had loved them both, mostly Yellowfang though, and grief for them sweeps over him again to mingle with his grief for his leader. Bluestar is dead, he tells them silently. Is she with you now, in StarClan?

Retracing his steps along the fern tunnel, he returns to the top of the ravine. Cloudtail is standing on watch while Mistyfoot and Stonefur gently groom the dead leader's body.

"Everything's fine," Graystripe announces. "Cloudtail, I want you to go to Sunningrocks now. Tell the clan that Bluestar is dead, but nothing more. I'll explain everything when I see them. Just let them know that it's safe to come home."

Cloudtail's blue eyes brighten. "On my way, Graystripe."

He spins around and tears off through the forest, heading for Sunningrocks, where the clan has gone to hide while the dogs were following Tigerstar's trail of rabbit blood to their camp.

With a nod of acknowledgment to the RiverClan warriors, Graystripe takes up Bluestar again, and the three cats maneuvered her body down the ravine and into the camp. At last they can lay her down in her den beneath the Highrock, where she will remain until her clan has said farewell to her and buried her with all the honor that such a wise and noble leader deserved.

"Thank you for your help," Graystripe meows to the RiverClan warriors. Hesitating for a moment, knowing only too well the significance of his invitation, he adds, "Would you like to stay for Bluestar's burial ceremony?"

"That is a generous offer," Stonefur replies, showing only a flicker of surprise that Graystripe will admit members of a rival clan to something so private.

"But we have duties in our own Clan. We must be getting back."

"Thank you, Graystripe," meows Mistyfoot. "That means a lot to us. But your clan will think it's strange if we stay. They don't know, do they, that Bluestar was our mother?"

"No," Graystripe tells her. "Only Cloudtail. She did hint she had the same type of relationship as me before, with Cloudtail around, but I didn't connect the dots until today. Tigerstar did overhear what you and Bluestar said, though, to each other on…on the riverbank. You must be prepared in case he chooses to reveal it at the next Gathering without Thunderclan or Riverclan's consent."

Stonefur and Mistyfoot exchange a glance. Then Stonefur draws himself up, his blue eyes gleaming defiantly.

"Let Tigerstar say what he likes," he meows. "I'll tell RiverClan myself today. We're not ashamed of our mother. She was a noble leader—and our father was a great deputy."

"Yes," Mistyfoot agrees. "No cat can argue with that, even if they did come from different clans."

Their courage and determination reminds Graystripe of their mother, Bluestar. She had given them up to their father, Oakheart, the RiverClan deputy, and the two cats had grown up believing that they had been born in RiverClan. At first they were in shock, hearing the truth before she died and had found it in their hearts to forgive her despite her keeping it a secret for all this time. In the midst of his pain, Graystripe is relieved beyond words that his leader has been reconciled with her kits before she went to StarClan.

. "I wish we'd known her better," Stonefur meows sadly, as if he could read Graystripe's thoughts. "You're lucky to have grown up in her clan and been her deputy."

"I know." He looks down sorrowfully at the blue-gray she-cat lying so still on the sandy floor of the clearing. Bluestar looks small and helpless now that her noble spirit has left her body and gone to hunt with StarClan.

"May we say good-bye to her alone?" Mistyfoot asks tentatively. "Just for a few moments?"

"Of course," Graystripe replies. He pads out of the den, leaving Stonefur and Mistyfoot to crouch down beside Bluestar's body and share tongues with their mother for the first and last time.

As he skirts the Highrock he hears the sound of cats approaching through the gorse tunnel. Hurrying forward, he sees Frostfur and Speckletail creep timidly into the clearing, hesitating in the shelter of the tunnel before they dare venture back into the camp. With the same wariness, Brackenfur and Goldenflower follow.

Pain stabs Graystripe's heart to see his cats so wary of their own home, and his eyes sought out one warrior in particular—Sandstorm, the pale ginger she-cat he loves. He needs to know that she is unhurt after the crucial part she had played in luring the dog pack away from the camp.

He spots his former apprentice, Cloudtail; the white warrior along with Owlpaw is carefully escorting Brightspirit, a young cat who has suffered terrible injuries from the dog pack before they attacked the camp.

Next Cinderpelt comes limping through the entrance with a bundle of herbs in her mouth; and pushing eagerly behind her are Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw, the two newest apprentices, who are also Tigerstar and Goldenflower's kits. His kits, Stormpaw and Featherpaw also push eagerly into the camp behind the two apprentices.

At last Graystripe sees Sandstorm padding along beside Willowpelt, while Willowpelt's three kits bounce around them, happily unaware of the crisis their Clan has endured. A purr swells in his throat as he runs toward Sandstorm and presses his muzzle into her flank.

The pale orange warrior covers his ears with licks, and when he looks up at her he sees a warm glow in her green eyes.

"I was so worried for you, Graystripe," she murmurs. "I couldn't believe the size of those dogs! I've never been so scared in my life."

"Nor have I," Graystripe confesses. "All the time I was waiting, I kept thinking they might have caught you."

"Caught me?" Sandstorm pushes away from him; the end of her tail is twitching, and for a heartbeat he thinks he has offended her, until he sees the sparkle in her eyes.

"I was running for you and the clan, Graystripe. It felt as if I had the speed of StarClan!"

She paces into the center of the clearing and looks around, her expression clouding.

"Where is Bluestar? Cloudtail told us she was dead."

"Yes," He replies. "I tried to save her, but the struggle in the river was too much for her. She's in her den." He hesitates before adding, "Mistyfoot and Stonefur are with her."

Sandstorm turns to him, her green eyes looking at him confused.

"There are Riverclan cats in our camp? Why?"

"They helped me pull Bluestar out of the river," Graystripe explains.

"And…and she's their mother."

Sandstorm freezes and her eyes grow huge.

"Bluestar? But how…"

Graystripe interrupts her by pressing his muzzle against hers.

"I'll tell you all about it later," he promises. "Right now I have to make sure the Clan is okay."

While they are speaking, the rest of the clan has appeared through the gorse tunnel along with a few Riverclan cats, including the Riverclan leader and begins to gather in a ragged circle around Graystripe and Sandstorm. He spots Fernpaw and Ashpaw, the two apprentices who had begun the race to lure the dogs away from the camp.

"Well done, both of you," he meows.

The young cats let out a purr.

"We hid in the hazel thicket where you told us, and jumped out as soon as we saw the dogs," mews Ashpaw.

"Yes, we knew we had to keep them away from the camp," Fernpaw puts in.

"You were very brave," Graystripe praises them. Once again he remembers the limp body of Brindleface, the apprentices' mother, murdered by Tigerstar.

"I'm proud of you—and your mother would be proud, too." Ashpaw shrinks, suddenly looking like a fragile kit.

"I was terrified," he admits. "If we'd known what the dogs were like, I don't think we'd have dared to do it."

"We were all terrified," Dustpelt meows as he comes up and gives Fernpaw a gentle lick.

"I've never run so fast in my life. You two did brilliantly." Though he praises his own apprentice equally, the warmth in Dustpelt's gaze is all for Fernpaw. Graystripe manages to hide his amusement. The brown tabby warrior's affection for her is no secret.

Leopardstar comes up to them, "Yes. All your warriors did well. We saw them hanging in the trees near Sunningrocks. When my warriors had reported it to me I was surprised. Where is Bluestar?"

"She died. Stonefur and Mistyfoot helped me out of the river, but Bluestar had taken in too much water."

Leopardstar looks at Bluestar's den, sadness in her gaze. "She was a great leader. She will be missed. Though what happened that could have caused such a thing?"

Quickly as he could he told her that they finally figured out what the beast was. A pack of dogs that were no ordinary dogs. That they were the ones to kill Swiftpaw and injure Brightspirit. How Longtail found Tigerstar's scent at Snakerocks a few times, and yesterday finally saw him give a rabbit to the pack. How this morning they found a trail of dead rabbits all with Tigerstar's scent on them, and at the end of the trail Brindleface. Their plan in getting rid of the dogs, and how Tigerstar stalled him long enough for the pack leader to catch him in his jaws. How Bluestar saved him and plunged along with the pack leader into the gorge's river, how he tried to save her and how Mistyfoot and Stonefur helped.

The Riverclan leader snarls, "How dare that fox-heart! It's a good thing I didn't join his new clan he is proposing."

"New clan?"

"Yes. He wants to join all four clans together into one clan called Tigerclan. I told him it was silly, as there were always four clan's in the forest for countless generations to the point that most of our ancestors' stories are myths and legends in our lore. To where we aren't sure if they are the exact precise things that happened in our history. Besides I doubt he wants to co-lead with any of us considering his hunger for power."

"I agree. And even if we did join together, we all have different things, different ideas and ideologies. Windclan is the closest to our ancestors because of their barren hunting grounds and are more intune to their wishes then the other clans. Thunderclan has a more helping others approach….."

"And we Riverclan cats are well-fed and like the river. We also love to collect shiny objects or seashells." Leopardstar purrs amused.

"Yeah. It wouldn't do us any good. And we've lived separated for so long, it would be hard to forgo borders so easily anyway."

"You have a point there, Graystripe. And it's in the Warrior Code."

"Anyways, is any of my clan seriously hurt?"

Leopardstar shakes her head, "No. Mudfur and Cinderpelt checked them and they had nothing serious. Probably a torn claw or two, or a sprained paw, but other than that your clanmates are doing fine, if a bit shocked and worn out."

He breathes a sigh of relief. "Thanks."

"I only wish we could have done more. But given the situation and how fast you had to react, I understand. So I suppose I should start calling you Graystar now?"

"I haven't received my nine lives yet from Starclan."

"Still, you are the leader now. It is a big responsibility but, despite our history, I believe you are up to the task."

He dips his head, "Thanks Leopardstar."

Suddenly a loud yowl rings through the clearing. Turning around he notices Mistyfoot and Stonefur have come out of Bluestar's den and Speckletail asks, "What were you doing in there with our leader?"