Nightfall came and Squirreltail was still snoring softly. The two medicine cats had worked nonstop trying to get her ankle straight again, and fortunately their hard work had paid off. Her ankle was perched up on the side of her nest, wrapped with bindweed to keep the rush straight. Redfur laid in behind her only whisker-lengths away. They were siblings, but there was no way you could tell. The only resemblance was their attitude and fur color. They barely talked and certainly didn't show affection toward one another. Personally, Whitetooth and I had always been close. There was a sharp pang in my heart. Squeezing my eyes shut, I took a deep breath and pushed my brave brother to the back of my mind. Silently, I prayed to him. May StarClan light your path... 

I flicked my tail as we curled up and ate the little prey we could catch. The amount of prey that was being killed by the infected was painful to the group; we were nothing more than a bag of bones. Even the mouse I was finishing wasn't enough to satisfy my empty stomach. 

"Do you think we'll survive this?" Mudpaw whispered, shuffling his paws. I gazed up from the remainders of my kill. I hesitated, startled by the random question. "I can't promise anything, but we're Clan cats. We've always been strong." I replied, keeping my eyes down. I had to because no one else would answer.

Mudpaw looked up but didn't say anything more, glancing at the others. Lilypatch ducked her head down and hissed in my ear, "We're running low on prey. We have to leave soon." I gave her a look and nodded.

Suddenly the newcomer stretched and casually mumbled, "I've heard about a herd coming this way. Flesh-eater herd. A huge one," She laid down, eyes half closed and drool dripping from her jaws. Baffled, I growled, "What? Who would you have talked to that would know such a thing?" I narrowed my eyes at the she-cat and then took a step toward her. Her eyes went round and she sat up, realizing what she had said.

"I don't know when, but I know there are flesh-eaters coming. Flesh-eaters of all sorts." Eclipse murmured, shrinking away. I shoved my muzzle into her face.

"And why didn't you tell us sooner?" I snapped, baring my teeth. "We could have been on our way by now, and Squirreltail might not have injured herself!" 

Redfur sat up in his nest, grooming his thick pelt. In between licks, he reassured me in a low voice, "Calm down. We still have time." I kept my gaze locked with Eclipses' yellow eyes. "How do you know this?" I asked, looking the she-cat up and then down.

"Some other kittypets around Twolegplace. It was just after it happened that they mentioned a prophecy." She murmured as her eyes darted from Redfur and then to me. The medicine cat was watching her, too. "We have to leave now. This place is dead anyway," I growled and Lilypatch nodded.

However, Redfur and Poppyheart disagreed. "Squirreltail is in no shape to travel anywhere." Poppyheart argued. "Wake her up. Get Lighteningice, Heatherleg and the four kits up. We have to move before it's too late." I insisted, ignoring their argument. My tail was whipping sharply from side to side.

I watched Poppyheart sigh and pad away toward the queens and their kits. Redfur gently awoke Squirreltail and Heatherleg while I just stood back and waited. The three kits squealed and stirred, angry to be woken up.

"Which way are the flesh-eaters coming?" I turned my sharp gaze to Eclipse, my voice demanding. "Wh-what?" She mumbled, blinking up at me with confusion clouding her yellow eyes. Rolling my eyes, I repeated through clenched teeth, "Which way are the herd of flesh-eaters coming?" 

Eclipse gave me a confused look, like she had no sweet clue what I was trying to ask. "Which way? Herd?" She echoed and then as she stood up, her eyes went round. "Oh! They were said to come west. Up hill of the gorge. They could come from anywhere though..." Eclipse mewed, giving her chest fur a few embarrassed licks. She then fluffed out her fur and watched Lilypatch and I exchange worried glances.

Before I could ask Lilypatch where she thought we should go, Eclipse added, "There is a huge, bright star in the sky at night. One that twinkles the brightest. It's called The North Star. My kittypet friends said humans would follow it at night when they were lost. We can follow that. North is our best answer!" I exchanged a glance with Lilypatch and she shrugged. "I mean, it won't take us west, so..."

By then, all the cats in the group were awake, eyes drooping and murmurs in confusion rippled quietly among the makeshift camp. I dipped my head to them and announced what the problem was. "We need to leave the territories. They are no longer our home since the outbreak took over. We will be traveling north; a herd of all sorts of flesh-eaters are said to come here and I don't want to take any chances. Prey is being eaten by the flesh-eaters and we are starving. Our best chance is to travel as far away as possible, maybe to even find others."

Squirreltail narrowed her eyes, her tail tip flicking while Mudpaw looked around anxiously. "What if we just end up being eaten?" Lighteningice gasped. I looked to Lilypatch. "We won't. We're strong and brave." She insisted.

No one said anything for several heartbeats, the only sound was the light whistle of the wind as it blew by my ears. I have to say something... "So is it settled? Say 'I' if you agree on going." I announced and almost everyone called out "I!". Lighteningice looked regretful, but mumbled her answer nonetheless. The only one who didn't agree was Heatherleg.

"I don't want to risk Sunkit's well-being, Cloudjaw. She's already seen so much... As well as Lighteningice's kits and Ebonykit, too," Heatherleg sighed doubtfully. Lighteningice gave her a sympathetic look. "Besides, how do we know Eclipse is even telling the truth? What if this is a made up story? What if we're walking into a trap? We haven't eaten enough to win any battle against anything!" Lilypatch looked over at me and I let her take over.

"Cloudjaw and I have to trust Eclipse. We're running low on choices, and this is one of those times we just have to say yes. This could be a chance to find more cats to group with." Lilypatch soothed. Heatherleg shook her head and sighed again, avoiding eye contact. "What if this time it isn't the right choice?" She argued quietly.

In the corner of my eye, I noticed Lilypatch gulped. What do I say to that? She doesn't seem to have an answer either... I looked past the light brown she-cat and looked out toward the biggest, brightest star in the dark blue sky. "Heatherleg," I began, keeping my eyes locked on the star. "Stay here if you wish. You'll die a worse death than what your paranoia suggests about us. We need to leave as soon as possible." I looked over to Heatherleg again. She was hesitating.

"Eclipse." I turned to her and her body tensed up. "Now is your chance to tell us the truth, is this a lie or a trap?" I flicked my tail. Mudpaw and Squirreltail - who were on either sides of her - stared at the blue-gray she-cat.

Eclipse shook her head lightly. "It isn't, I swear! I'd show you to the cats who told me about it, but they... would only eat you..." She closed her eyes for a moment. I blinked and dipped my head. "Then it's settled. Lets get moving." I ordered.

One by one the group hopped off the edge of the roof, everyones' heads up to keep a sharp eye on the North Star. I waited for everyone to get down before I jumped down; Squirreltail was being assisted by Redfur and Poppyheart, Mudpaw had Ebonykit, Lighteningice had Stormkit, Redfur had Sootkit, and Heatherleg had Sunkit.

The group didn't wait while Heatherleg hesitated up above. Her eyes were clouded and her tail was trembling. "Come on, Heatherleg. Don't die this way. Even if this is a trap and even if we do die, it's better to know that we tried to keep the Clans alive then just sitting back and waiting for death to creep up on us," I mewed. Giving her a sympathetic gaze, I waited patiently for her to respond.

"You're right," She mewed, "Lets go."

I dipped my head. Thank StarClan... If I had to wait there any longer, I was going to freak out! I rushed off the roof and waited for Heatherleg to come by my side. We both bolted to the fence and jumped over, dashing to join the group. Heatherleg stayed at the rear with Mudpaw, Sunkit dangling from her jaws.

Padding quickly, I came to join Eclipse and Lilypatch at the front. I dipped my head to them and then breathed to myself, "Alright, North Star, show us the way!"

*****

The gorge is south, up hill is west, down hill is east, and the way they will be going is north. They are standing with their face away from the gorge, so it is said to be west from where they are standing.

Update (September 5th, 2017): Still editing this book as well as BloodClan Hunger Games. If you read past the edits, you might be confused because originally Ebonykit was killed along with Otterkit and Birdfeather.