Chapter One

The air was tense and excited all at once.

This clash of emotions, along with the similar battle of feelings in his stomach, made Stonepaw's neck fur prickle. The ground seemed to be tilting; he felt a sudden rush of dizziness and plopped onto the frosty earth with a thud.

"Urghhhh." The gray tabby grimaced at the shock of cold rushing through his body. He considered scrambling back up to his paws, but he didn't feel like standing, so there. He knew his belly fur was going to get soaked and frozen, the white turning brown at the tips from the soil, but he didn't particularly care. Only parents cared about how presentable you looked at your coming-of-age ceremony.

"Stonepaw, you mouse-brain," came a proclamation from above him. Stonepaw's eyes had squinched shut, but he cracked one slightly open and saw a blurry golden figure standing in front of him.

"You're a mouse-brain, Dawnpaw," the apprentice mumbled reflexively. Nevertheless, he opened both eyes and raised his neck to face his sister. "Aren't you one bit scared at all?"

"Scared? Of what? The only thing scary would be Brightpetal's reaction when you mosey up the Highrock with an iced-up, muddy stomach."

Stonepaw winced at the thought. "Okay, okay, I'm getting up."

"Greeeeat StarClan!" Dawnpaw went on, disregarding him. She could have mimicked their mother's voice almost perfectly, save for the satirical tone to her voice. "I raised you better than this! You better sit your tail down and get-chor-self a thor-ough grooming, or so help me! Messy apprentices ought not to get their ceremony! You'll be scrambling to get to the Moon Tunnels when I'm through with you!"

Stonepaw involuntarily cringed at the mention of the Moon Tunnels. When Dawnpaw's green eyes narrowed, he hurried to distract her. "Yup, yes, that's absolutely what Brightpetal would say. Got your point. I'll just. Clean up."

Groaning, the tabby lifted himself back to a sitting position and began lapping at his underside. "How long 'til sunhigh?" he asked his sister between licks.

Dawnpaw frowned up at the sky. "It's too cloudy to tell." She lashed her tail.

Stonepaw did not comment on this. He was vaguely aware of other cats' eyes on him, swift as butterflies, disappearing as soon as he turned towards the source of the feeling. It seemed that ThunderClan was incredibly antsy for this particular send-ing off ceremony.

And rightfully so! Theirs was the first one in moons. It had been a slow descent into the apprentice-less state of the Clan; the normal, steady trickle of new kits being born had ever so slowly decreased, until there were none at all. The cats were too scared, too fearful of condemning their children to an inescapable fate.

The whole thing, Stonepaw thought as he groomed, started with Mintpaw.

Seasons ago —over a year, for Stonepaw had not been alive then— ThunderClan, and all the Clans, had prospered. They were reaping the plentiful benefits of the northern, underground Moon Tunnels, and more year-old apprentices were sent to journey there almost every Gathering.

It was a long journey, the path to the Moon Tunnels, but it was also a rite of passage. If you made it, you received StarClan's blessing, and returned a true warrior; if not, you were honored as an determined apprentice: incredibly valiant, but also incredibly dead.

The goings-on in the Moon Tunnels were sacred and therefore secret. The warriors didn't speak of it. The only information the apprentices and kits knew was that StarClan spoke to you in there and left you with a gift to benefit your clan. The gift might be tangible, like seeds for a new variety of herb, or stones that sharpened your claws better than any old in-territory rock. It could be something more cryptic, like a warning or prophecy from StarClan themselves. In any case, it was something the receiving Clan direly needed.

But then one day, they had sent off a promising apprentice —Mintpaw— and he had never returned.

Nor did any of the other cats in that group.

The next also failed to come back; and the next, and the next, and the next.

None were ever seen again.

Superstitions brewed. Was StarClan angry at them? New traditions were even made, like giving the apprentices a faux warrior name before sending them off in the hopes that it would give them the much needed strength.

The Clans clung hopelessly to the customs that had served them so easily since the beginning of time. There was pletny of talk, at Gatherings as well as in ThunderClan itself, about not sending apprentices off anymore.

And this was why everyone was so anxious.

Spottedstar had remained mysteriously silent in the midst of the arguing, even when directly asked if she was going to send the Clan's only fresh blood off on a fruitless quest. The golden she-cat merely turned her head away from her warriors, oftentimes lost in thought, face tilted to the sky as if asking her ancestors for guidance.

Stonepaw knew that Dawnpaw absolutely wanted to go. It was easy, he supposed, to think that you could succeed where others had failed, because they were just others and you were you.

Plus, the golden tabby had more reason than the average apprentice to think that she could make it. A wildfire blazed inside of her, an inferno of ambition and talent combined: a dangerous, very potent combination. Dawnpaw excelled in all her assessments, caught more prey than some warriors would on a good day, and had claws as sharp as her tongue.

If his sister was fire, Stonepaw was water: slow-moving, calm and cool. Possibly not cool. He was clumsy, he was awkward; he splashed in all the worst spots and he was the sluggish kind of water in a stagnant puddle. Worries sunk into his depths like grime, and dissolved, never to be removed.

Well, anyway, if they were going to the Moon Tunnels, he would have her with him. If they weren't, they could continue on peacefully with Clan life.

And if he was being honest: scared as he was of the mysterious cause of the other warriors' disappearances, Stonepaw felt a tremor of excitement in his belly every time he thought of leaving ThunderClan to go on an adventure. He quietly daydreamed of scenarios where his group returned back and solved the mystery and were honored by the Clans as heroes; where he was in the tunnels and he was super-blessed by StarClan for being the most worthy apprentice of them all; where he brought back a new treasure that the Clans had never seen before that solved all of ThunderClan's problems forever.

Scenarios where he was special, and great, and the best.

Which would never happen.

The ache that came with these dreams never really went away, but Stonepaw pushed them to the back of his mind for now.

"Nervous?"

Thrushfeather's voice made Stonepaw jump. He twisted his head and saw his father watching him, whiskers twitching, gray head cocked slightly to the side.

Am I? I mean, yes, I am, but if I say yes that gives the wrong idea, because I am nervous but also looking forward to it. It's like half negative feelings and half positive ones and I'm getting a headache from it. Stonepaw pondered over the proper reply before realizing too long of a pause had passed since the question, so he answered with a quick, slightly-too-vigorous nod. He hoped that Thrushfeather would say something like, "And excited, too, I bet," so he could respond with another affirmative and clear things up. However, all the older tabby said was:

"It'll be fine. Don't worry."

Stonepaw studied his father closely. Thrushfeather was a mirror image of his son, but more muscled, moving with the kind of respectable grace that Stonepaw longed to have. The only difference between them in color were the gray speckles on the warrior's chest. And his green eyes revealed nothing, serenely reflecting Stonepaw's own.

Do you think we'll survive the journey to the Moon Tunnels? Will Spottedstar even let us go? As the mentor of his children and the deputy of ThunderClan, Thrushfeather should know the answer to both of these questions. But Stonepaw did not ask; he was too scared of the answer.

Ever since the cats never came back from their journey to the Moon Tunnels, mentoring apprentices had become a group effort of all the Clan. An apprentice's parents would deal with most of their training, but everyone would pitch in, in the hopes that a varied skill set would prepare them for whatever obstacles they would face.

Which meant Thrushfeather knew him better than any cat... which also meant Stonepaw wouldn't be able to bear it if his answer was "no".

No, you can't survive the journey. Dawnpaw, maybe, but not you. You're a weakling, you lose half the prey you try to catch and all the battles you try to fight. Not a chance.

"It's almost sunhigh," said Thrushfeather, tilting his head towards the cloudy leaf-bare sky. "Get ready to be a warrior." He moved closer to his son and touched his muzzle to Stonepaw's forehead. "I'm proud of you."

Stonepaw watched as his father padded away, feeling a strange emotion blooming in his chest.

It wasn't until Thrushfeather had slipped out of camp, out of sight, that he realized he hadn't spoken a single word.

...

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!"

Spottedstar's yowl rang through ThunderClan's camp. Warriors and elders poked their heads out of their dens and got up from their spots in the clearing to gather below the Highrock, on which their leader was perched regally.

"Not that there's any cat too young to catch their own prey," Stonepaw heard a warrior mutter as he made his way to the front of the group, flanked by Dawnpaw.

"Today," the dappled ginger leader called, "ThunderClan's two apprentices have reached their coming of age. Stonepaw, Dawnpaw, come up here."

Stonepaw's paws were clammy as he clambered up the Highrock, now following Dawnpaw, who was faster than him in climbing up the rock. StarClan, don't let me slip and fall. He unsheathed his claws to get a better grip and made it to the top to stand by Spottedstar and Dawnpaw.

"I, Spottedstar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these two apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you come-of-age apprentices in their turn. Stonepaw, Dawnpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do," Dawnpaw breathed.

Stonepaw choked out his own "I do."

"Then, by the powers of StarClan, I give you your first full names, in the hopes that they will serve you well for when you need them." Spottedstar turned her piercing orange gaze to Dawnpaw first.

"Dawnpaw, until StarClan's blessing is given, you will be known as Dawnheart. We honor your skill and spirit, and ThunderClan welcomes you to our ranks."

Dawnheart! Stonepaw fizzed with pride for his sister as Spottedstar rested her muzzle on her head, and Dawnheart licked her shoulder.

"Stonepaw." Spottedstar's eyes were on him now. "Until StarClan's blessing is given, you will be known as Stonefall."

Stonefall. My name, for now, is Stonefall. What virtues of mine will be honored? he wondered briefly, in the split second pause it took before Spottedstar went on.

"We honor your intelligence and determination, and ThunderClan welcomes you to our ranks."

The camp was filled with cries of "Dawnheart! Stonefall! Dawnheart! Stonefall!" Stonefall shifted his paws, wondering when he was supposed to leave. He didn't remember what happened after this. Spottedstar held up her tail, signaling for the newly named almost-wariors to stay still until the cheers died down and the confused Clan quieted.

"Traditionally," Spottedstar began, and this one word sent murmurs rippling through the cats, "we send off our apprentices once they have come of age, and they return with a name given by StarClan. Recently, as you all know, they have been sent off with placeholder name, to give them the strength and courage of a warrior, if not the title. You all accepted this development peacefully, if a little grudgingly, and I hope that I will see the same today."

Frantic whispers made their way through the crowd of cats. Stonefall couldn't hear anything from where he was, but the warriors seemed ruffled by their leader's words.

She's not going to let us go, he thought. We'll be the first warriors to never go to the Moon Tunnels. He didn't know how he felt. Relieved? ...Disappointed?

"Given the circumstances," meowed Spottedstar slowly, tentatively, as if she was stepping on ice and wasn't sure how thin it was, "I have come to the decision that only one of our apprentices will go to the Moon Tunnels."

Cries came from the cats below.

"This is unprecedented!"

"We were not listened to in this discussion!"

Most voices were outraged, a few approving, some dismayed that one apprentice would be sent to their almost certain death.

We all know it's going to be Dawnheart.

Stonefall still didn't know how he felt. Something had shifted. Was that a glimmer of hope he saw, dangling in his mind? What if it's me?

No, it's definitely Dawnheart.

"Everyone, listen to me." Spottedstar shifted her head to look at all of her Clanmates, imploring them to see reason. Stonefall could see the struggle in the rippling of her fur. "If we go on as we always have, ThunderClan will die out— all the Clans will."

The protests were dying down; they were giving their leader a chance to explain herself.

"We have all taught these young cats everything they know today. We know that they are capable and as honorable as any warrior. Can that not be enough, at least for now, when all the apprentices we send away never return? I have thought for moons over this decision. Trust me when I say that it was not made lightly, and not made without listening to the thoughts of all of the Clan.

"I value your beliefs, your opinions, and the customs we have upheld for so long. Time brings change the way the winds bring leaf-fall, but the spirit of ThunderClan remains. Am I not right?"

Silence from below as the cats took in Spottedstar's words. Then, Thrushfeather, sitting by the base of the Highrock with Brightpetal, raised his head and yowled:

"Is she not right? ThunderClan's spirit is but determined by its cats!"

Slowly, then all at once, the warriors called out.

"Spottedstar is right!"

"ThunderClan is proud to have these warriors!"

"We have to adapt!

"Accept change!"

Stonefall saw Spottedstar relax, and he let out the breath that he had been holding. Next to him, Dawnheart was getting twitchy.

I wish I could have a fraction of that effect on cats. He wondered who he envied more: Spottedstar, who had found all the right words to soothe her Clanmates, or Thrushfeather, who had led them in the cries of support?

"Thank you, ThunderClan." The golden she-cat dipped her head. "Now, it is time to name the warrior who will be leaving."

Dawnheart was trembling. Stonefall realized that he was, too. The littermates pressed against each other, offering mutual support as Spottedstar opened her jaws. Do I want her to go to her death? Do I want to go to mine? Do I want a chance at becoming a hero, or do I want to leave that to her? He was confused, confused, confused, and when Spottedstar spoke, it only added to his confusion, because there must have been a mistake.

"Stonefall will travel to the Moon Tunnels."

ME. STONEFALL.

I'm going to the Moon Tunnels.

Surprised noises billowed through the cats. Stonefall couldn't blame them, although it still stung a little. Stunned, he looked at Dawnheart, who was in turn looking at Spottedstar with unconcealed outrage.

"You can't let Stonefall go on his own!" she cried. "Spottedstar, why? Why not me? I want to go to the Moon Tunnels, I'm stronger than Stonefall; if only one of us, let it be me, or else let the both of us go?" She made to continue, but Spottedstar cut her off.

"Dawnheart, are you angry because Stonefall was chosen over you, or because you don't think he can make it?" she challenged calmly.

Dawnheart glared at her leader without responding. Finally, through clenched teeth, she muttered, "I'm angry because I'm being denied my rite of passage."

"Ah. You feel you would be dishonored if you were a warrior without surviving the journey to the Moon Tunnels. Did you hear what I said earlier...?"

"Yes," said Dawnheart, "but I didn't understand it."

"Understanding comes with age."

Stonefall felt a jolt in his belly as Spottedstar turned to him. "Stonefall, do you want Dawnheart to go in your place?"

He felt like he was drowning, crushed under the weight of the decision.

If I said yes, I might be killing her, and squandering this opportunity. If I said no, she'd be angry at me, but isn't that a small price to pay, for my sister's life... and my one chance at being the hero? He was so, so, tempted.

"No," Stonefall meowed, willing his voice not to shake.

He flinched at the hurt and anger that radiated off of Dawnheart's bristling golden pelt. Why was I chosen? he wondered. Am I better than Dawnheart? He pushed that unlikely thought away as his brain went into overdrive.

Dawnheart is definitely more skilled than I am, and what ThunderClan needs the most right now is skilled warriors; all of our cats are growing old, and there's no next generation to take their place. Better to send off the hopeless brother on a hopeless journey and keep the prodigious sister safe and sound, instead of giving the latter a small chance at success and most likely losing her, then being left with just the useless former.

Come to think of it, why send one and keep the other?

Of all the debates I heard, it was between "keep sending apprentices" or "don't send apprentices," not "send one and keep the other."

Maybe they want to get rid of me maybe I'm even worse than I thought I was maybe this was all just planned to get me out of everybody's way maybe—

Stonefall's increasingly paranoid string of thoughts was interrupted by Spottedstar's reply.

"Of course you don't... I knew I was right in trusting Thrushfeather's choice." The leader went on about how the Gathering was in two days and to get plenty of rest so he was well prepared for the long journey, but Stonefall didn't register any of it. His eyes flew to Dawnheart's, who was shocked into meeting his gaze.

Green eyes tore away from green eyes and both siblings stared down at the gray tom, who was looking at the ground, not meeting either of his children's gaze.

Thrushfeather's choice?

Does my father want me gone?