Sunrise, p.1
Sunrise, page 1
CONTENTS
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Allegiances
Maps
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Excerpt from Warriors: Omen of the Stars #1: The Fourth Apprentice
Back Ads
About the Author
Books by Erin Hunter
Credits
Copyright
About the Publisher
DEDICATION
To Lynn and Steve Wiman, with heartfelt thanks
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Special thanks to Cherith Baldry
ALLEGIANCES
THUNDERCLAN
LEADER FIRESTAR—ginger tom with a flame-colored pelt
DEPUTY BRAMBLECLAW—dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes
MEDICINE CAT LEAFPOOL—light brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes
APPRENTICE, JAYFEATHER (gray tabby tom)
WARRIORS (toms and she-cats without kits)
SQUIRRELFLIGHT—dark ginger she-cat with green eyes
APPRENTICE, FOXPAW
DUSTPELT—dark brown tabby tom
SANDSTORM—pale ginger she-cat with green eyes
CLOUDTAIL—long-haired white tom with blue eyes
BRACKENFUR—golden brown tabby tom
SORRELTAIL—tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with amber eyes
THORNCLAW—golden brown tabby tom
BRIGHTHEART—white she-cat with ginger patches
SPIDERLEG—long-limbed black tom with brown underbelly and amber eyes
WHITEWING—white she-cat with green eyes
APPRENTICE, ICEPAW
BIRCHFALL—light brown tabby tom
GRAYSTRIPE—long-haired gray tom
BERRYNOSE—cream-colored tom
HAZELTAIL—small gray-and-white she-cat
MOUSEWHISKER—gray-and-white tom
CINDERHEART—gray tabby she-cat
HONEYFERN—light brown tabby she-cat
POPPYFROST—tortoiseshell she-cat
LIONBLAZE—golden tabby tom with amber eyes
HOLLYLEAF—black she-cat with green eyes
APPRENTICES (more than six moons old, in training to become warriors)
FOXPAW—reddish tabby tom
ICEPAW—white she-cat
QUEENS (she-cats expecting or nursing kits)
FERNCLOUD—pale gray (with darker flecks) she-cat with green eyes
DAISY—cream long-furred cat from the horseplace, mother of Spiderleg’s kits: Rosekit (dark cream she-cat) and Toadkit (black-and-white tom)
MILLIE—striped gray tabby she-cat, former kittypet, mother of Graystripe’s kits: Briarkit (dark brown she-cat), Bumblekit (very pale gray tom with black stripes), and Blossomkit (tortoiseshell she-cat with petal-shaped white patches)
ELDERS (former warriors and queens, now retired)
LONGTAIL—pale tabby tom with dark black stripes, retired early due to failing sight
MOUSEFUR—small dusky brown she-cat
SHADOWCLAN
LEADER BLACKSTAR—large white tom with huge jet-black paws
DEPUTY RUSSETFUR—dark ginger she-cat
MEDICINE CAT LITTLECLOUD—very small tabby tom
APPRENTICE, FLAMEPAW (ginger tom)
WARRIORS OAKFUR—small brown tom
APPRENTICE, TIGERPAW (dark brown tabby tom)
ROWANCLAW—ginger tom
SMOKEFOOT—black tom
APPRENTICE, OWLPAW (light brown tabby tom)
IVYTAIL—black, white, and tortoiseshell she-cat
APPRENTICE, DAWNPAW (cream-furred she-cat)
TOADFOOT—dark brown tom
CROWFROST—black-and-white tom
APPRENTICE, OLIVEPAW (tortoiseshell she-cat)
KINKFUR—tabby she-cat, with long fur that sticks out at all angles
RATSCAR—brown tom with long scar across his back
APPRENTICE, SHREWPAW (gray she-cat with black feet)
SNAKETAIL—dark brown tom with tabby-striped tail
APPRENTICE, SCORCHPAW (dark gray tom)
WHITEWATER—white she-cat with long fur, blind in one eye
APPRENTICE, REDPAW (mottled brown and ginger tom)
TAWNYPELT—tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes
QUEENS SNOWBIRD—pure-white she-cat
ELDERS CEDARHEART—dark gray tom
TALLPOPPY—long-legged light brown tabby she-cat
WINDCLAN
LEADER ONESTAR—brown tabby tom
DEPUTY ASHFOOT—gray she-cat
MEDICINE CAT BARKFACE—short-tailed brown tom
APPRENTICE, KESTRELPAW (mottled gray tom)
WARRIORS TORNEAR—tabby tom
CROWFEATHER—dark gray tom
OWLWHISKER—light brown tabby tom
WHITETAIL—small white she-cat
NIGHTCLOUD—black she-cat
GORSETAIL—very pale gray-and-white cat with blue eyes
WEASELFUR—ginger tom with white paws
HARESPRING—brown-and-white tom
LEAFTAIL—dark tabby tom with amber eyes
APPRENTICE, THISTLEPAW (long-haired white tom)
DEWSPOTS—spotted gray tabby she-cat
APPRENTICE, SEDGEPAW (light brown tabby she-cat)
WILLOWCLAW—gray she-cat
APPRENTICE, SWALLOWPAW (dark gray she-cat)
ANTPELT—brown tom with one black ear
EMBERFOOT—gray tom with two dark paws
APPRENTICE, SUNPAW (tortoiseshell she-cat with large white mark on her forehead)
HEATHERTAIL—light brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes
BREEZEPELT—black tom with amber eyes
ELDERS MORNINGFLOWER—very old tortoiseshell queen
WEBFOOT—dark gray tabby tom
RIVERCLAN
LEADER LEOPARDSTAR—unusually spotted golden tabby she-cat
DEPUTY MISTYFOOT—gray she-cat with blue eyes
MEDICINE CAT MOTHWING—dappled golden she-cat
APPRENTICE, WILLOWSHINE (gray tabby she-cat)
WARRIORS BLACKCLAW—smoky black tom
VOLETOOTH—small brown tabby tom
APPRENTICE, MINNOWPAW (dark gray she-cat)
REEDWHISKER—black tom
MOSSPELT—tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes
APPRENTICE, PEBBLEPAW (mottled gray tom)
BEECHFUR—light brown tom
RIPPLETAIL—dark gray tabby tom
APPRENTICE, MALLOWPAW (light brown tabby tom)
GRAYMIST—pale gray tabby
DAWNFLOWER—pale gray she-cat
DAPPLENOSE—mottled gray she-cat
POUNCETAIL—ginger-and-white tom
MINTFUR—light gray tabby tom
APPRENTICE, NETTLEPAW (dark brown tabby tom)
OTTERHEART—dark brown she-cat
APPRENTICE, SNEEZEPAW (gray-and-white tom)
PINEFUR—very short-haired tabby she-cat
APPRENTICE, ROBINPAW (tortoiseshell-and-white tom)
RAINSTORM—mottled gray-blue tom
DUSKFUR—brown tabby she-cat
APPRENTICE, COPPERPAW (dark ginger she-cat)
QUEENS ICEWING—white cat with blue eyes, mother of Beetlekit, Pricklekit, Petalkit, and Grasskit
ELDERS SWALLOWTAIL—dark tabby she-cat
STONESTREAM—gray tom
CATS OUTSIDE CLANS
SOL—white-and-brown tabby long-haired tom with pale yellow eyes
SMOKY—muscular gray-and-white tom who lives in a barn at the horseplace
FLOSS—small gray-and-white she-cat who lives at the horseplace
PURDY—elderly, plump tabby loner with a gray muzzle
JINGO—dark brown tabby she-cat
HUSSAR—broad-shouldered gray tom
SPECKLE—flecked brown she-cat, nursing four kits
FRITZ—black-and-white tom with a torn ear
POD—scrawny brown tom with a gray muzzle
JET—long-haired black tom
MERRY—ginger-and-white she-cat
CHIRP—pale gray tabby tom
OTHER ANIMALS
MIDNIGHT—a star-gazing badger who lives by the sea
MAPS
PROLOGUE
Moonlight washed over the stone hollow, bright as day, but beneath the bushes and at the edges under the cliffs, dark shadows seemed to uncoil like claws. Leafpool crouched over Ashfur’s limp body. The pale light turned his gray fur to silver as she groomed it for his burial. Beside her, Jayfeather helped, smoothing Ashfur’s tail and fluffing it up as it dried.
Leafpool raised her head to gaze up at the icy glitter cast by her warrior ancestors. “May StarClan light your path, Ashfur.” She let her voice fall softly into the cold air as she repeated the words used by medicine cats for more seasons than any cat could count, whenever a Clanmate died. “May you find good hunting, swift running, and shelter when you sleep.
The words that should have comforted her, promising a long and happy life for the fallen warrior, instead hurt her, sharper than thorns. Her mind filled with the moment she had discovered the neat teethmarks in Ashfur’s neck. Too small for a dog, too clean for a fox, too sharp for a badger. Only a cat could have left them. But which cat? Who hated Ashfur enough to kill him in cold blood, leaving no signs of a struggle? Had it been an honest clash over borders or stolen prey? Could it have been a WindClan cat, or a passing rogue? Please, StarClan, let it be that!
The thought that a ThunderClan cat might have murdered Ashfur made Leafpool cold to her bones. Ashfur had been outspoken and strong-willed, yes, but a loyal and respected warrior as well. Surely none of his Clanmates had any reason to want him dead?
Bending over his body again, Leafpool began to clean earth and grit out of the dead warrior’s pads. Something soft and light fluttered against her muzzle; she drew back to see a tuft of fur snagged in Ashfur’s claws.
No! This can’t be true! Leaning closer, Leafpool sniffed the fur. I know that scent!
Desperately she tried to convince herself that the clump of fur had come from one of the cats who had carried Ashfur back to the camp from where he had been found, floating in the stream on the WindClan border. But the smell of river water was too strong to have come from a cat with dry fur, and besides, Ashfur’s claws were soft and limp now. They would flex rather than pull out a tuft of hair if they brushed against another cat.
The only cat this tuft of fur could have come from was Ashfur’s killer.
Breathless and shaking, Leafpool gently teased out the fur and carried it into her den. She forced her trembling paws to place the tuft on a leaf, which she folded into a tight wrap. Then she pushed it right to the back of her store, deep into the cleft in the rock, behind the last bundle of herbs. The truth about Ashfur’s death must never come out.
In more pain than she had ever imagined she could feel without dying, she asked herself: Was all this my fault?
With a snarl, Yellowfang leaped on Bluestar, bowling her over and pinning her down in the lush grass of the forest where StarClan walked. “This is all your fault!” she spat. “None of this would have happened if you hadn’t left that wretched secret to fester in ThunderClan.”
Bluestar battered at Yellowfang’s belly with her hind paws, but couldn’t dislodge the former medicine cat’s grip. “What’s wrong with you?” she hissed. “Don’t forget that I was your Clan leader.”
All the respect that Yellowfang had once felt for the former ThunderClan leader had vanished. Their shared history crumbled to dust in the face of the terrible future she foresaw for the Clan she had made her own.
“Your secret has been like a maggot eating away inside an apple,” Yellowfang growled, her bared fangs close to Bluestar’s ear. “ThunderClan is rotten to the core—and more blood will be shed before the truth comes out.”
“You can’t know that,” Bluestar protested, straining to throw off her opponent.
“A blind rabbit could see it! The truth will come out. Midnight told Sol everything. And we both know that Sol will return to ThunderClan.”
Summoning her trained warrior reflexes, Bluestar butted her head into Yellowfang’s chest and managed to slip to one side. Suddenly giving up, Yellowfang sprang away. She stood shaking her ruffled gray pelt.
Bluestar scrambled to her paws and stood, panting. “What’s the point of fighting?” she rasped when she had caught her breath. “The damage has been done—and whatever you say, this is not my fault.”
Yellowfang grunted.
“I still can’t believe Midnight betrayed us,” Bluestar went on. “I trusted her to watch over the Clans.”
“It’s not Midnight who was the traitor,” Yellowfang pointed out, her pelt bristling. “The betrayal began with the first lies, with the secret that you have kept for all these moons. ThunderClan has been living a lie! If these three cats are as powerful as the prophecy says they are, they would have been able to cope with the truth. Unless you think we’ve been wrong about them all along.”
“Never!” Bluestar retorted. “Who else could the Three be? I didn’t want to lie!” she added, her voice rising to a wail. “But when could I have told them? They have been happy. Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw are good parents. What good would it have done to tell them what really happened?”
“We’ll find out soon enough,” Yellowfang growled. “Old secrets can’t stay buried forever.” She lashed her tail and began to stalk away; then she paused, glancing back over her shoulder. “And if these three cats are not strong enough to deal with the truth,” she added, “then you, Bluestar, will have destroyed the Clan you love so much. . . .”
CHAPTER 1
Dead bracken rustled beneath Lionblaze’s paws as he stalked through the forest. Above the leafless trees, the sky was dark and empty. Terror raised the hairs on the young warrior’s neck, and he shivered from ears to tail-tip.
This is a place that has never known the light of StarClan.
He padded on, skirting clumps of fern and nosing under bushes, but he found no sight or scent of other cats. I’ve had enough of this, he thought, tugging his tail free from a trailing bramble. Panic sparked in his mind as he stared at the darkness that stretched away between the trees. What if I never find my way out of here?
“Looking for me?”
Lionblaze jumped and spun around. “Tigerstar!”
The massive warrior had appeared around the edge of a bramble thicket. His tabby pelt shone with a strange light that reminded Lionblaze of the sickly glow of fungus on dead trees.
“You’ve missed a lot of training,” Tigerstar meowed, padding forward until he stood a tail-length from the ThunderClan warrior. “You should have come back sooner.”
“No, I shouldn’t!” Lionblaze blurted out. “I shouldn’t have come here at all, and you never should have trained me. Brambleclaw isn’t my father! You’re not my kin!”
Tigerstar blinked once, but he showed no surprise, not even a flick of his ears. His amber eyes narrowed to slits, and he seemed to be waiting for Lionblaze to say more.
“You . . . you knew!” Lionblaze whispered. The trees seemed to spin around him. Squirrelflight isn’t the only cat who kept secrets!
“Of course I knew.” Tigerstar shrugged. “It’s not important. You were willing enough to learn from me, weren’t you?”
“But—”
“Blood isn’t everything,” Tigerstar snarled. His lip curled, showing the glint of sharp fangs. “Just ask Firestar.”
Lionblaze felt his neck fur begin to bristle as fury coursed through him. “Firestar’s a finer warrior than you ever were.”
“Don’t forget that he’s not your kin, either,” Tigerstar hissed softly. “There’s no point defending him now.”
Lionblaze stared at the dusk-lit warrior. Does he know who my real father is? “You knew all along that I wasn’t Firestar’s kin,” he growled. “You let me believe a lie!”
Tigerstar twitched one ear. “So?”
Rage and frustration overwhelmed Lionblaze. Leaping into the air, he threw himself at Tigerstar and tried to push him over. He battered at the tabby warrior’s head and shoulders, his claws unsheathed, tearing out huge clumps of fur. But the red haze of fury that filled his head made him clumsy, unfocused. His blows landed at random, barely scratching Tigerstar’s skin.
The huge tabby tom went limp, letting himself drop to one side and hooking one paw around Lionblaze’s leg to unbalance him. Lionblaze landed among the bracken with a jolt that drove the breath from his body. A heartbeat later he felt a huge paw clamp down on his shoulders, pinning him to the ground.
“I’ve taught you better than that, little warrior,” Tigerstar taunted him. “You’re out of practice.”
Taking a deep breath, Lionblaze heaved himself upward. Tigerstar leaped back and crouched a fox-length away, his amber eyes burning.
“I’ll show you who’s out of practice,” Lionblaze panted.
He forced his anger down, summoning a cold determination—all the fighting moves he had ever learned were at the tips of his claws. When Tigerstar sprang at him, he was prepared; he dived forward and hurled himself underneath his opponent’s belly. As soon as Tigerstar’s paws hit the ground, Lionblaze whipped around and landed a couple of blows on the tabby tom’s hindquarters before leaping out of range.
Tigerstar spun to face him. “Better,” he meowed, mockery still in his voice. “I have mentored you well.”
