The soft murmur of the sea's wake woke Frostfeather close to dawn. The brilliant shimmer of the aquamarine still emanated over its inhabitants, no weaker with the sign of the sun on the horizon. It doused the cats in a blue-green sheen.

As Frostfeather started to shake the numbness of sleep from her senses, she noticed Elkleap as he sat like a stone near the cavern entrance. His shoulders rippled as he lifted his muzzle to sniff the breeze over the roll of the ocean.

Quietly, she got to her paws and tiptoed across the stone to his side. He looked over at her as she sat, his gaze intense and serious.

"Good morning," he purred as his tail swept around to gently touch Frostfeather's leg. Outside, the beach hummed with life as tiny creatures swarmed across the sand.

She felt content to sit in silence as she marveled at the vast biology of their new home. A thick shelled turtle, similar to the turtles of the forest but at least three times as big, tumbled from the waves and started to pull itself atop the sand.

A bird, with feathers as vibrant as the sunset and as green as the freshest leaves, landed briefly before it extended its wings and flew back up towards the top of the cliff. Scents unlike Frostfeather had ever smelled filled the air around them.

"Something happened last nite," Elkleap stated. Frostfeather glanced towards him, her ears twitched in curiosity.

"What happened?" she asked quietly. Behind them, she could hear the sound of cats as they stirred and awoke.

"StarClan visited me," he explained, "and names me new leader of IceClan!"

She could see the excitement shine in the depths of his eyes, his muscles taught with renewed strength. Relief flooded over her, that their ancestors have shared with them after so long.

"Elkstar.." Frostfeather mumbled. His new name felt weird on her tongue, but it was so welcome as if that's what it had always been.

"Elkstar?" Brokensong echoed as she approached the pair from her side of the cave. "Is what you say true? You are leader of IceClan?"

Elkleap's whiskers quivered with amusement as he replied, "do you think I would lie about such a thing?"

Brokensong bowed her head. "I suppose not," she responded lightly. Her eyes were wide as she looked at the tom, full of delight and wonder.

"Everyone, come here!" she called out to their companions. In the depths of the space, the others slowly slunk towards the entrance where they sat.

Elkstar's tail curled to wrap around his paws as he dipped his head to his group. "We are truly blessed by the will of StarClan on this day," he began, "last night they walked in my dreams, and gave me the nine lives of a leader."

The Clan cat's tails raised in happiness but the Dockside cats seemed confused. "So you're leader now? Just like that?" Lily questioned as she stepped closer to sniff Elkstar's pelt.

"Typically, our new leader visits the Fire Stone to commune with StarClan. There, they receive their nine lives and new name as leader," he explained, "I think that means that this cave, is our new Fire Stone."

Brokensong's attention snapped to the back of the cave, where the massive aquamarine stone loomed like a blueish shadow behind them. "I should have known this was the place," Brokensong quietly scolded herself.

A purr rose in Elkstar's throat. "That means all we need is a camp," he added.

"We need to get up to the top of the precipice," Falcon offered, "there seems to be plenty of vegetation up there."

"Maybe if we keep walking around the outside, we will find a place to climb up," Pineheart guessed.

Elkstar nodded as he turned to look back out onto the sandy beach. The early morning light had strengthened. It bathed the island in its intense heat.

"We will need to hurry," Elkstar meowed, "I don't think we will find any prey down here."

Everyone murmured their agreement and after several moments, they set off back onto the shore. Drizzle seemed to be a tad better, her eyes shined as she plodded along in front of Blue, who kept a stern eye on her progress.

Pineheart had been mostly silent but now he walked along at Frostfeather's shoulder with a smirk on his face. "Aren't you happy that Elkstar is leader?" he asked, "it feels nice to know that the Clan is almost back to normal."

"Almost," Frostfeather agreed. All they needed was a safe spot to camp, with fresh water. But certainly, if StarClan sent them here, there had to be somewhere to establish a new camp.

Elkleap kept the group close to the cliff face, the sun angled towards them as it coated the rock in its vibrant rays. The screech of a bird erupted in the trees above them, which made a few cats glance towards the clifftop with hungry expressions.

Steady progress eventually brought them to a massive valley, with crumble down rocks that made it easy to hop up. Elkleap instructed Pineheart to climb first, so that he could pull Drizzle up onto the safety of the gentle slope.

Once her paws were firmly planted, Brokensong and Blue jumped up next. After them; Stone, Falcon, Lily, Sootsplash, Lionpaw, and Frostfeather took their turns to leap up the tumbled stones. Elkstar watched in the rear, intent to find any danger before it approached the distracted cats. But no danger came.

Elkstar bounded up the small rock pile with little effort. He took the lead again as he started to lead his group towards the tree line. Soft grass already graced their paw pads, the beach receded into the distance as they trudged up the small hill.

Tropical trees waved in the breeze before them, the canopy as high as even the tallest trees in their old forest home. Here, the guttural growls and high pitched shrieks of the native animals was strongest. It assaulted Frostfeather's ears, louder than anything she could imagine.

The group huddled closer as they embarked further into the unknown jungle. The foliage grew incredibly thick after only a short time, which made it hard to travel at a steady pace.

"I never imagined we'd end up in a place like this," Sootsplash marveled from behind Frostfearher. She looked back at the tom and noticed he gazed at his surroundings with barely concealed amazement.

"Woah!" Lionpaw gasped abruptly as she slapped her paw down onto the thick grass in front of her. She bent down; and when she straightened, a tiny fury creature hung from her jaws.

"Do you think it's safe to eat?" Pineheart asked as the patrol grew close to admire Lionpaw's lucky catch. The creature looked strange; sort of like a mouse and a vole had crossed.

"I would assume so," Elkleap stated as he lowered his head to sniff the prey.

"You can share it with Drizzle, if you're hungry," the leader offered as he turned to look at the young silver she-cat.

Drizzle's mouth watered as the prey scent washed over her. Lionpaw must have noticed her expression, for she shook her head. "No, Drizzle can have it," she insisted.

Elkstar nodded and picked up the freshkill. He set it carefully at Drizzle's paws, while the injured she-cat eagerly bent over to take her first bite.

Everyone waited for her to finish before they set off again. Pineheart, Falcon, and Elkstar kept their eyes fixed on the landscape around them, their muscles tense as they kept watch for predators. Still, no trouble arose.

Drizzle licked her jaws, her mouth still bloody from her prey. "Thank you, Lionpaw," she burped as she brushed her muzzle against Lionpaw's cheek.

The tawny apprentice purred in response as she nuzzled Drizzle's shoulder in turn. With no time to waste, Elkstar continued to lead the patrol further into the noisy jungle.

Above them, a furry creature cackled as it swung from the vines between the trees. Elkstar stared after it as it faded into the distance.

Further and further they journeyed, until they eventually neared a thick wall of shrubs. They were laden with a foreign scent, sharp and tangy like the smell of freshly plucked herbs. Brokensong drew close to sniff at the leaves.

"I wish I knew what plants were useful," she complained, her irritation was apparent.

"I'm sure StarClan will guide you in what herbs to use," Blue chimed in as his tail waived in the air behind him. A few fox lengths away, Elkstar had found a gap between the thickly woven branches.

"Everyone, I found something!" he shouted as he stuck his head through the hole. The cats ran towards him, their ears pricked as they wondered what their leader had found.

After a moment, Elkleap lowered himself and slid underneath the bush. Pineheart approached first, and immediately crouched down and crept through. After a short time, everyone had crawled through the opening.

On the other side, a wide clearing opened up at their paws. Off to the right, more bushes lined the edge; large enough to make many, spacious dens. To the left, a gigantic tree sprouted and stretched into the sky, taller than most of the other trees that had grown around them. At its base, shadows covered the entrance to a cave.

Directly adjacent to the tree, a spring trickled from a crack in a large boulder. The spring rand for a few rabbit hops towards the center of the clearing, which ended in a small, rounded pool of water.

Everyone was silent as they surveyed their surroundings. But then, Elkstar finally spoke, "this is it... we are finally home!"