Fernwhisper stopped dead in her tracks, as did Cherrystar. "What did you say?" She asked her sister.

Amberleaf didn't reply. She just kept staring in a certain direction. Fernwhisper followed her eyes and gasped at how red the setting sun looked. It looked like it was pouring blood down onto the twolegplace and forest beyond. It really does look like blood!

"So it wasn't an actual trail of blood!" Cherrystar exclaimed. "It was the setting sun all along!"

"I tried to tell you!" Amberleaf sighed, "But you kept ignoring me and saying we had to look for lines of blood along our travels. Starclan is never specific! They only speak in riddle-like terms."

Cherrystar dipped her head. "I know, and I should of listened to you. But with everything going on, I forgot to look to my closest helpers: my deputy and my medicine cat!"

"Thank you, Cherrystar." Fernwhisper mewed, trying not to show how emotional she was getting. "Shall we continue our journey?"

"Of course! How about Amberleaf leads the way. She found the Blood Trail after all!"

"Sure thing, Cherrystar!" Amberleaf took the lead.

They trekked across an open field before they ran into the woods. It was almost like home to Fernwhisper. She longed to climb a tree, chase some squirrels.

By the time they reached a stream, it was way past dark. Everyone was so exhausted, no one cared about getting moss for bedding. Fernwhisper curled up next to her sister and kits on the soft, muddy ground.

Dappled sunlight filtered into Fernwhisper's eyes as she blinked them open. She stretched and ambled over to a tree stump to begin organizing hunting patrols. "Dewfrost, Doepaw, Fallowfern, and-" She scanned the makeshift camp.

"I'll go on one!" Cherrystar's voice sounded behind Fernwhisper.

"Great!" Fernwhisper mewed, "Take Wasppaw with you. And head downstream." She waited as they bounded off before calling the next one. She was about to speak when Duskpeak came up to her.

"Can I lead one?"

"Of course. Take Meadowlark, Prinkleleap, Windwhisp, Tigerlily, and Plumwillow. Head upstream!" Fernwhisper ordered. Now who's left? "Wait! Take Cloudmist with you!"

Cloudmist ran to catch up. "While we're out, can I wash myself in the stream?"

"Sure." Prinkleleap told his mother.

Fernwhisper padded down to the stream. She gazed into the reflective surface. Suddenly, a bright colored object flickered by. Fish! She thought happily. She sat on the bank, making sure she didn't cast a shadow over the water, and held her paw out.

A couple of fish swam up and stopped. Wow, these fish are dumb! She purred to herself. Quick as lightning, Fernhwisper flash a paw into the water, hooking a fish in her claws. She let it flop around for a few moments before stabbing it with her paw, killing it.

She picked it up and carried it over to Amberleaf, Leafkit, and Seedkit. "Ever tried fish before?" She asked the kits, setting the fish down in front of them.

"No." Seedkit mewed hesitantly.

"Here, try some!" Fernwhisper pushed the fish closer.

Seedkit padded slowly up to it, Leafkit trailing behind. Seedkit sunk her teeth into the flesh, ripping off a small chunk. "It's chewy." She mewed.

Leafkit took a small bite, "It's slimy!"

"Well, duh, mouse-brain!" Seedkit mewed matter-a-factly. "It comes from water."

"Oh." Leafkit answered quietly.

Fernwhisper back out of the bush and turned around. Only to see a messy looking cat with chipped teeth and a mangy pelt. "W-Who are you?" Fernwhisper asked.

"Name's Scraggles!" He mewed in a strong accent." Who'r you?"

"Uh, well, I'm Fernwhisper."

"Well, that's a weird name, aint it?"

"Not to me... Can I help you with something, uh, Scraggles?"

"Uh, nope. But I think I can help you!"

"How?"

"Well, first o' all, where you headed to?"'

"The clans." Fernhwisper hesitated.

"Ah, the good ol' clans. My ol' friend Purdy talked of 'em once."

"Is this Purdy, uh, dead?" She asked as politley as possible.

"Nope!" He made a very straggly sound Fernwhisper thought might've been a purr.

"Do you know where I can find him then?"

"Uh huh. He went to them clans he'd talked 'bout once."

Fernwhisper twitched her tail, "Can you tell me which way he went?"

"Yup! He went that way!" Scraggles pointed his skinny tail in the direction opposite of the rising sun. "He followed this group o' cats. Names were weird like yours. One was named Hollyleaf, one was named Brambleclaw, one Lionblaze. Stuff like that. They said they came from somewhere called Thunderclan." He shrugged. "Don't know what they were mewing 'bout though."

"Thank you so much, Scraggles."

"No Problem, Fernrustles!" He rasped before staggering off toward twolegplace.

Fernwhisper almost called out to correct him on her name, but thought better of it. She shrugged and went back to Amberleaf. She told her sister all of the new information she had just heard.

"That's great news!" Amberleaf exclaimed when Fernwhisper finished. "You better go tell Cherrystar."

"She's on a hunting patrol. I'll tell her when they get back."

"Okay. Can you ask Parsleyseed to come here?"

"Sure." Fernwhisper backed out of the bush and stumbled over to Parsleyseed, Reedthicket, and Finsplash, who were bathing in a patch of sunlight with Sagenose, the newest and only elder. "Parsleyseed!"

Parselyseed lifted his gray-and-white head up, "Yes?"

"Amberleaf wants you."

"Okay." He heaved himself up and padded over to Amberleaf's bush.

Fernwhisper sat down in the calming sunlight. She pricked her ears and lifted her snout. She listened to a bunch of robins chirping a song. She loved the smell of the grass and trees and ferns. It made her almost feel homesick. But if we were home, we would be living in a scorched forest of grief and no prey. That thought made hope flare through her veins. We'll find a better home. One with lush forest, near Thunderclan or Riverclan or one of the others.

"Are we making a Fresh-Kill Pile?" Fernwhisper was so lost in thought, she visibly jumped at Duskpeak's voice.

"Yes. Just pile your fresh-kill somewhere in the center of the clearing." She answered.

"I'll help you!" Windwhisp called, catching up to Duskpeak. Fernwhisper noticed those two had gotten somewhat closer...

She looked around for Prinkleleap, she knew he had once loved Windwhisp, but found him sharing tongues with Meadowlark. Finally! She purred. She couldn't believe he hadn't seen the silver-and-white tabby mooning over him for the past, like, two moons. At least the four of them found a solution!

Birds scattered and made alarm calls when Cherrystar, Wasppaw, Dewfrost, and Doepaw, and Fallowfern crashed through the undergrowth. "Welcome back!" Fernwhisper mewed to Cherrystar. "I had the other patrol form a small Fresh-Kill Pile."

Cherrystar nodded approval. "Can I speak with you alone, Fernwhisper?"

"Of course!" They padded away into the foilage and sat down. "I need to speak with you too. But you go first."

Cherrystar dipped her head. "While my patrol was out hunting, I sent Wasppaw with Dewfrost for a moment and climbed a tree. When I reached the top, I looked out opposite of the rising sun and saw something great!"

"What was it?"

"Well, first, I saw a big thunderpath. We'll have to cross that. But then, I saw a hill."

Fernwhisper tilted her head, confused. "Why is that hill great?"

"Because, Fernwhisper, I saw this hill in my dream last night. The dream led me over the hill. On the other side, was a shining lake, cats were walking around it. The full moon was high above."

"C-cats?"

Cherrystar nodded vigorously. "They were all heading to a certain place. I think those were the cats we need to find. We need to cross over that hill!"

Fernwhisper lit up. Finally a sign had been sent, showing them the way. That reminded her, "Also, an old cat named Scraggles came up to me today. He was mewing about this other old cat named Purdy. He said Purdy went to join the clans with cats named Brambleclaw, Lionblaze, Hollyleaf, stuff like that. He said they came from Thunderclan!"

"That's great!" Cherrystar sighed.

Fernwhisper suddenly grew concerned. "What's wrong Cherrystar?"

"Well, I-I kind of fell out of the top of the tree I was in..."

Fernwhisper gasped. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, well I am now anyway. Usually, falling out of a tree, I would lose a life. This time, I was out for so long, I lost two..."

Fernwhisper gasped again. "You need to go see Amberleaf!"

"I will, don't worry. But first, You need to know something. On this journey, Most of the times I lost lives, I lost two at a time. I only have two lives left." Cherrystar mewed quietly.

"Oh no!" Cherrystar could die one more time and lose both lives left at once.

"That is why I wanted to talk to you too. I could die very soon. I'm going to start putting you in charge more often, get you used to leadership, okay?"

"Okay, Cherrystar." Fernwhisper whispered.

"So first things first!" Cherrystar exclaimed, "I'm putting you in charge of getting this clan ready to continue traveling." Fernwhisper watched her leader limp away to Amberleaf's bush.

I can do this. Right?