The night sky had not yet given way to light when the entrance to the nursery shifted and quiet footsteps padded inside. Dawnkit's ears pricked, but she kept her eyes shut and pretended to be asleep like the rest of her siblings as her father's scent drifted over her. Her mother had scolded her just the previous morning for being awake too early and waking the rest of the nursery up by wriggling impatiently around, and she didn't want to disappoint her parents by doing it again.

Her father moved quietly towards them, and Dawnkit heard him sit on the ground beside her and her littermates. She felt a slight breeze, then the gentle touch of his tail on her flank, soft and loving. She leaned instinctively towards his touch and had to stop herself from purring as he bent over her, giving her fur a couple of soothing licks. He soon moved away, but not too far — he was doing the same for her littermates, too. Dawnkit felt so warm she nearly exploded. As leader, Firestar was busy most of the day, but moments like this always reminded her that he loved them just as much as the Clan.

Firestar's presence shifted, and Dawnkit realized he'd made his way around to their mother. She let her eyes open into tiny slits, and managed to make out the shape of Firestar crouching over Sandstorm, stroking his tail lightly along her pelt.

"Sandstorm?" Firestar mewed quietly.

"I'm awake, Firestar," Sandstorm, Dawnkit's mother, said. Her voice was soft, and her pale green eyes glimmered with warmth as she looked up at her mate.

"Will you come with me?" Firestar asked. There was something strange about his voice — it was thick with something Dawnkit hadn't heard before, some sort of distress. Instantly, the warm, buzzing feeling in her chest was replaced by icy worry. Something was wrong.

Sandstorm knew it too, because her voice was a little sharp when she spoke again. "Of course," she mewed briskly, and Dawnkit could tell that she was a Clan cat responding to her leader right then, not a queen sharing tongues with her mate.

Dawnkit held her breath as she heard Firestar and Sandstorm carefully get up and walk quietly out of the nursery. Somewhere in the pile of kittens, Twigkit made a faint noise of protest as Sandstorm's warmth left him, but he burrowed closer to Ravenkit and didn't wake up.

Carefully, Dawnkit wiggled out from between Sunkit and Blazekit and slipped out of the nursery, following her parents' scents out of camp through the gorse tunnel. A prickle of excitement ran through her, despite her worry. She was only four moons old, and had never been out of camp before! Just wait til Blazekit hears about this, she thought to herself. Her brother would be so envious when she told him. She wanted so badly to explore, but she couldn't forget the sorrow she'd heard in Firestar's voice, or the concern in Sandstorm's.

She skidded to a stop as she heard Firestar's voice coming from a small clearing up ahead. Slowly, she stalked forward and slipped under a small bush, just barely able to make out the two shadowy shapes of her parents.

"—I'm just not sure what to do."

"What do you mean?" Sandstorm's voice rang out sharply. "Of course you are. You're Clan leader, and your kits aren't even old enough to be apprenticed yet. You can't just leave the forest on a quest!"

Dawnkit gasped and took a step back, pelt bristling with shock. She wanted to wail in dismay. Firestar was leaving? Had he visited the nursery to say goodbye?

"You think I want to leave the Clan? Our kits?" Firestar's voice raised, but he didn't seem angry with Sandstorm. "But it's the warrior ancestors asking me. How can I refuse?" He asked miserably.

"And what do you think of all this?" Sandstorm demanded roughly, rounding on a third cat Dawnkit hadn't noticed at first. It was Graystripe, ThunderClan's deputy and her parents' best friend. Dawnkit hadn't scented him properly — but then again, she'd been so focused on following Firestar and Sandstorm that she hadn't thought too hard about what other scents she could find.

Graystripe shifted from one paw to the other and hesitated. Finally, he said, "Firestar can't exactly ignore a message from StarClan, can he?"

"You would take his side," Sandstorm said wearily. "How do you even know these cats are a part of StarClan?"

Dawnkit gasped again. Dead warriors who weren't a part of StarClan? She trembled at the thought. How could Sandstorm say such a thing?

"Who else would they be?" Asked Graystripe in astonishment, echoing Dawnkit's thoughts.

But Firestar didn't seem to find Sandstorm's question all that strange. Instead, he murmured, "I think that these cats have been ripped away from StarClan. Bringing this Clan back might heal that old rift and bring SkyClan's ancestors back to StarClan."

This seemed to shock both Sandstorm and Graystripe. Dawnkit's ears flattened in horror. She wanted to run up to her mother and press against her warm fur for comfort, but she felt frozen, rooted to her spot under the bush she was hiding in.

At last, Graystripe spoke again, his voice grave. "Have you talked to Cinderpelt about any of this? What does she think?"

That's right, thought Dawnkit desperately, if any cat knows what to do, surely our medicine cat does.

"She thinks that it's my decision, one way or another," Firestar meowed. "She would have come out with us tonight, if she wasn't caring for Longtail." He hesitated for a moment. "I wouldn't even consider it if I didn't have full confidence that you could lead ThunderClan in my absence, Graystripe. And I'm not leaving forever — just long enough to set things right and make sure the spirits of these ancient warriors are put to rest."

No! Dawnkit almost wailed. Please, please don't leave, Firestar!

"And what about me?" Asked Sandstorm bitterly. "What about our kits?"

In the pale moonlight, Dawnkit saw Firestar's eyes glowing sorrowfully at his mate. "Hopefully I'll return in time to see them apprenticed. I don't want to take more than two moons on this journey, but I can't be certain of how long it'll take. As for you, Sandstorm, I — I would never ask you to leave our kits and come with me. I wish I could ask that, but that's not fair to you or to them. Our kits need you."

"Our kits need you, too," Sandstorm pointed out tartly, "and so does our Clan." Her voice softened, despite her hard words. "Do you really wish I could come?"

"More than anything," said Firestar earnestly, his voice raspy.

"Then I'm coming," Sandstorm said quietly. At Firestar's sharp intake of breath, she flicked her tail over his mouth. "Shut up and listen for a minute. You might be the Clan savior, or something, but you can't do this alone. And even if you could do it alone, it would take much, much longer. Who knows what might happen while you're gone? You have to come back as soon as possible, and that means you have to take one of us with you. Graystripe can't go with you, because then there's nobody to lead the Clan. And we don't have a second medicine cat, so Cinderpelt has to stay, too. The quickest option is for me to come with you." Her voice lowered, and Dawnkit had to strain to hear. "And I can't let you go alone."

No! Dawnkit wanted to shout. Her entire world felt like it was crumbling around her. What would she do without Firestar or Sandstorm?

"Sandstorm's right," said Graystripe gravely.

"But—but the kits—" stammered Firestar.

"The kits will be okay," Sandstorm said. "They'll be scared at first, but they'll understand. And they have Graystripe and the entire Clan looking out for them." Her voice grew choked and sorrowful. "I'm doing this for them, too. The sooner you come back, the safer ThunderClan will be for them to grow up in."

Dawnkit couldn't bear it anymore. "No! You can't go!" She wriggled out of the bush she was hiding beneath and pelted towards the cats in the clearing, wailing loudly. All three of them turned towards her in shock as she crashed straight into Sandstorm's flank, nearly bowling her mother over.

"Dawnkit!" Gasped Sandstorm, stumbling back even as she instinctively put a paw out to steady her kit. "What in StarClan's name are you doing here?" Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Did you follow us out of camp? Dawnkit, you know the nursery rules well enough to know you aren't supposed to do that." She scolded her, even as she gave her a few rough licks to smooth her fur.

"I heard you leave the nursery!" Dawnkit wailed, rubbing her face against her mother's flank. "And you sounded worried and Firestar sounded sad and I wanted to know what was wrong and I followed you out of camp and I hid under that bush and I heard everything and I don't want either of you to leave!"

She didn't miss the look Firestar and Sandstorm exchanged over her head. Her pelt prickled with misery and anger as she realized their minds were made. What about us? she wanted to yowl. She couldn't believe that leaving them was the best choice.

"Dawnkit," said Firestar gently, padding over to her, "you shouldn't leave camp in the middle of the night. It's dangerous, especially for kits."

"Dappletail says you and Graystripe used to do it all the time." Dawnkit said defiantly, furious at Firestar for pretending to care.

Graystripe let out a mrrow of laughter. "She's got you there," he chuckled. "And you have to admit, it was pretty impressive for a kit to track you all the way here without you noticing." Under different circumstances, Dawnkit might have preened at his praise. Instead, she ignored his words and glared at her parents. Firestar shot his friend an annoyed glance, then turned back to his daughter.

"Nevermind what the elders say," Firestar meowed. He stroked his tail soothingly down Dawnkit's spine. "You and your brothers and sister are the most important things in my life," he said. "I have to know that you'll be safe."

"Why do you care?" Spat Dawnkit, pulling away from her father. "You're leaving us!"

"Dawnkit," said Sandstorm warningly. "Don't speak to your leader that way."

Firestar drew his tail back, and Dawnkit felt a wave of guilt as she realized she'd hurt his feelings. "Dawnkit," he said quietly, "I wish I didn't have to go on this journey."

"Then don't!" she pleaded, trotting up to him and pressing against his shoulder desperately.

"It's not that simple," Firestar sighed. He sat down and motioned with his tail for Dawnkit to do the same. "As a leader, my first duty is to the Clans."

"And ThunderClan needs you!" Dawnkit cried.

But Firestar was shaking his head. "I don't just mean ThunderClan, though of course our Clan will always be my priority. But we cannot survive without the others, too, or without our warrior ancestors. When a sign comes from a cat long gone from the forest, we must listen." He flicked her ear gently with the tip of his tail. "One day, you might find yourself sharing dreams with StarClan, too."

The thought was so spectacular and terrifying all at once that for a moment, Dawnkit didn't know what to say.

Sandstorm huffed with laughter. "I think this is the first time Dawnkit's ever been speechless!" She padded around to join Firestar, her eyes glimmering gently at her daughter. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way," she mewed sympathetically, before fixing her with a narrow gaze, "though you shouldn't have been following us out of camp to begin with. But Firestar is right," she sighed, and Dawnkit could tell that Sandstorm wished he wasn't. "He must go on this quest, and I must join him."

"You promise you aren't leaving forever?" Dawnkit asked in a small voice.

"We promise," Firestar said, giving the top of her head a comforting lick, and finally, Dawnkit believed him.

"And we can't come, too?" Dawnkit knew what the answer would be, but she asked anyway. She didn't want her mother and father to leave on a long journey, even if they were guided by fallen warriors.

"You're too little," said Sandstorm gently. "But we will be back as soon as we can make it."

"Before we're apprentices?" Dawnkit asked hopefully.

"I hope so," Firestar said softly, "but StarClan have their own plans." He looked up at Graystripe, who had been sitting silently as the two journeying cats comforted their kit. "If I am not back before your apprenticeship starts, I have every faith in Graystripe to select the right mentors for all of you."

Disappointment rippled through Dawnkit, though she tried hard not to show it. She wanted her parents to see her become an apprentice! She wanted her father to decide who would be her mentor.

Graystripe must have read her mood, because he meowed comfortingly in her ear, "I'll talk to him before he goes about who should be your mentors."

She blinked gratefully up at him, then turned back to Firestar and Sandstorm. "You're not leaving right now, are you?"

"Of course not!" Said Sandstorm sharply, getting to her feet. "Firestar still has to talk to the Clan, and I would never leave without telling your brothers and sister."

"It'll be a few days, at least," Firestar said, shaking out his pelt. "But Dawnkit, you must not tell anyone what you overheard tonight — no, not even Ravenkit or Twigkit." His forest green eyes peered seriously down at her. "This is an important task I'm giving you, and it'll help me and your mother complete our quest without worrying so much. Please keep your brothers and sister out of mischief, at least until we return."

Dawnkit straightened up importantly. Her father and Clan leader was giving her, Dawnkit, a special mission! He was trusting her to look out for her littermates!

"Which means no sneaking out of camp," Sandstorm said sternly. "And when you become an apprentice, you must listen to your mentor all the time."

"Yes," agreed Firestar, his eyes narrowing. "And that reminds me — since you wanted to have apprentice privileges tonight and saw fit to leave camp, you can share in their chores tomorrow. I want you to help Bramblepaw change the elders' bedding and search them for ticks after he and I come back from our hunting patrol. And you are not to join him in gathering moss outside of camp," he said warningly when Dawnkit opened her mouth. She closed it again with a huff, and Firestar's whiskers twitched with amusement.

"Come along," he meowed, nudging Dawnkit forward with his paws. "I want you to go back to the nursery and get right to sleep. You're going to need it for your chores in the morning."