Cloudstar watched as his home faded away, glancing over his shoulder repeatedly. His small group of cats that he had brought with him were slowing now, tired. His heart hurt when he thought of Birdflight, who had been his mate up until last week. She had stayed with ThunderClan, and he had gone off into the unknown.

A light brown tawny warrior, Leafpelt, padded up to him. "Cloudstar, can you come here? Blazeclaw is slowing, and I'm not sure what's wrong."

Cloudstar thought for a moment. "Well, I'd need Honeyleaf. Go see if you can find her."

Leafpelt nodded and walked off.

Cloudstar continued to walk in the coolness, leading his half-Clan forward. They were all slowing down now. Cloudstar, who had a life of tireless energy bestowed upon him, was getting slightly impatient at their lagging, but tried to hide it, for he knew a good leader shouldn't snap at their cats. It's not their fault that they have to leave their home, he reminded himself.

ThunderClan had allowed Birdflight and her kits- his kits, Cloudstar corrected himself mentally -to stay in ThunderClan, but nobody else. Cloudstar was leading his small Clan to a new home- one StarClan had told him about. If only they reached it, there would be sunshine, warmth, freedom, and prey.

Cloudstar sighed. If only the Twolegs hadn't come. Then they'd still be in their former home, happy, and he'd be with his family.

'No,' he told himself, 'you have to forget about that. Only think about the future.'

So he set forward with a new determination,

***

A screech awakened Cloudstar. He was shook out of his dreamless, restless sleep, and leapt to his feet, frantically looking around. His semi-Clan was sleeping outside, quite a change from dens. Two apprentices, Mintpaw and Petalpaw, were standing stock still, the only thing moving was their chests as they heaved with breaths.

Buzzardtail, the deputy, woke up too and stood next to Cloudstar. The gray and white tom was beginning to think that the two apprentices had just had a nightmare, or something, but then Petalpaw shrieked again, loud enough to wake the dead. The remaining cats who had been sleeping leapt up and looked around in confusion. "What? Where are they? Who's attacking! Lemme at 'em!" Berryflower, a young warrior, snarled, still half asleep.

"Enemies! Enemies coming on the high winds! Approaching ever closer!" Mintpaw and Petalpaw announced suddenly. Cloudstar stepped forward cautiously until he was mext to them. They didn't see, to notice him there. "Enemies! Enemies!"

He bent down and looked at their faces. They looked terrified- a level of fear that only true terror could induce.

Suddenly, Mintpaw seemed to notice him. "Cloudstar! Enemies coming! We must run!" He turned and stared at the cats. "Come! Come! Ruuuuuuuun!"

He and Petalpaw set out at a sprint that Cloudstar would have a hard time keeping up with. He sent a look at Honeyheart and Buzzardtail. Then Berryflower raised her nose, speaking into the silence. "I smell monsters."

As one, everyone turned, and scanned the landscape where she had pointed. Cloudstar felt a pang of loneliness when he saw that even if he strained his eyes, he could no longer see even the faintest trace of the forest. The thought made him feel farther away from Birdflight than ever.

Then he saw the lights of their eyes. Monsters were indeed approaching. "Come on," he ordered in a hoarse whisper. The monsters were approaching fast.

Cloudstar turned, the rest of his Clan with him. "Run!"

***

A moon later, Cloudstar surveyed his Clan. They were standing over a sandy, rocky hollow against the base of a mountain, with caves leading into the mountain. Cloudstar was proud of them- they had come a long way since that hectic night with the monsters. They had never found Petalpaw and Mintpaw, and two warriors named Acornfall and Streamheart had been killed from pure weakness, but they had survived for the most part.

Cloudstar turned and faced his cats. He was so proud of them for joining him. He still missed his mate and kits, but knew that these cats were mow his family.

"We've found our new home," he meowed. "Leap on down and explore! Don't go too deep into the caves, though."

His Clan let out a cheer and disappeared into the hollow.

***

**three moons later**

"Attack! Rats attacking!" Leopardpaw screeched, pounding into the camp. Rats streamed around her, biting her, tearing at her. There were so many- too many, and Cloudstar hurled himself fearlessly into the mass.

After fighting for so long, the crowd was thinning. One cat's body lay on the ground, and countless others were wounded. Suddenly Cloudstar felt a bite on his neck, and a rat brought him crashing to the ground. The blood pooled out of the wound as his world went black. The last thing he remembered was that he had just lost his final life. He was with StarClan now.