The New Prophecy
Warriors
Sunset
Erin Hunter
To Rod Ritchie, who first figured out what really goes on beyond the garden fence…
Special thanks to Cherith Baldry
Allegiances
THUNDERCLAN
FIRESTAR—ginger tom with a flame-colored pelt
GRAYSTRIPE—long-haired gray tom
LEAFPOOL—light brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes
DUSTPELT—dark brown tabby tom
SANDSTORM—pale ginger she-cat
CLOUDTAIL—long-haired white tom
BRACKENFUR—golden brown tabby tom
APPRENTICE, WHITEPAW
THORNCLAW—golden brown tabby tom
BRIGHTHEART—white she-cat with ginger patches
BRAMBLECLAW—dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes
ASHFUR—pale gray (with darker flecks) tom, dark blue eyes
APPRENTICE, BIRCHPAW
RAINWHISKER—dark gray tom with blue eyes
SQUIRRELFLIGHT—dark ginger she-cat with green eyes
SPIDERLEG—long-limbed black tom with brown underbelly and amber eyes
WHITEPAW—white she-cat with green eyes
BIRCHPAW—light brown tabby tom
FERNCLOUD—pale gray (with darker flecks) she-cat, green eyes, mother of Dustpelt’s kits
SORRELTAIL—tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with amber eyes
DAISY—cream-colored, long-furred cat from the horseplace
GOLDENFLOWER—pale ginger coat, the oldest nursery queen
LONGTAIL—pale tabby tom with dark black stripes, retired early due to failing sight
MOUSEFUR—small dusky brown she-cat
SHADOWCLAN
BLACKSTAR—large white tom with huge jet-black paws
RUSSETFUR—dark ginger she-cat
LITTLECLOUD—very small tabby tom
OAKFUR—small brown tom
APPRENTICE, SMOKEPAW
CEDARHEART—dark gray tom
ROWANCLAW—ginger tom
TAWNYPELT—tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes
TALLPOPPY—long-legged light brown tabby she-cat
BOULDER—skinny gray tom
WINDCLAN
ONESTAR—brown tabby tom
ASHFOOT—gray she-cat
BARKFACE—short-tailed brown tom
TORNEAR—tabby tom
WEBFOOT—dark gray tabby tom
CROWFEATHER—dark gray tom
OWLWHISKER—light brown tabby tom
NIGHTCLOUD—black she-cat
WEASELFUR—ginger tom with white paws
WHITETAIL—small white she-cat
MORNINGFLOWER—tortoiseshell queen
RUSHTAIL—light brown tom
RIVERCLAN
LEOPARDSTAR—unusually spotted golden tabby she-cat
MISTYFOOT—gray she-cat with blue eyes
MOTHWING—dappled golden she-cat
APPRENTICE, WILLOWPAW
BLACKCLAW—smoky black tom
APPRENTICE, BEECHPAW
HAWKFROST—dark brown tom with a white underbelly and ice-blue eyes
VOLETOOTH—small brown tabby tom
SWALLOWTAIL—dark tabby she-cat
STONESTREAM—gray tom
REEDWHISKER—black tom
APPRENTICE, RIPPLEPAW
MOSSPELT—tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes
DAWNFLOWER—pale gray she-cat
HEAVYSTEP—thickset tabby tom
THE TRIBE OF RUSHING WATER
BROOK WHERE SMALL FISH SWIM (BROOK)—brown tabby she-cat
STORMFUR—dark gray tom with amber eyes
OTHER ANIMALS
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
PIP—black and white terrier who lives with Twolegs near the horseplace
MIDNIGHT—a stargazing badger who lives by the sea
Map
Prologue
Night lay heavily over the forest. No wind stirred the long grass at the edge of the path where a massive tabby cat stalked through the shadows. He paused, ears pricked, amber eyes narrowed. No moon or stars shone in the sky above his head but tree trunks thick with fungus shed an eerie glow on the bare earth beneath his paws.
The huge tom opened his jaws to draw in air, though he did not expect to taste the scent of prey. He knew that the twitching of the ferns meant nothing, and the flickering scraps of darkness that he could see from the corner of his eye would vanish like mist if he pounced on them. There was no hunger in this place, but he longed for the sensation of claws sinking into prey and the first warm bite of fresh-kill after a successful hunt.
The fur on his neck and shoulders rose as a new scent drifted toward him: the scent of cat, but not the two he had met here before. This was a different cat, a cat he knew from long ago. He stalked forward, following the scent, until the trees thinned out and he stood at the edge of a clearing washed by sickly light. The other cat came bounding across the open space to meet him, ears flattened and eyes wild with terror.
“Tigerstar!” he gasped, sliding to a halt and cowering to the ground. “Where did you come from? I thought I was alone here.”
“Get up, Darkstripe.” The tabby tom’s voice was a rumble of disgust. “Stop cringing like a terrified kit.”
Darkstripe rose to his paws and gave his fur a couple of quick licks. Once sleek like a well-fed fish, his pelt was now thin and tangled with burrs. “I don’t understand this place,” he meowed. “Where are we? Where are StarClan?”
“StarClan do not walk here.”
Darkstripe’s eyes stretched wide. “Why not? And why is it always dark here? Where is the moon?” A shiver ran through him. “I thought we would be hunting across the sky with our warrior ancestors, and watching over our Clanmates.”
Tigerstar let out a faint hiss. “That way is not for us. But I don’t need starlight to follow my path. If StarClan think they can forget about us, they’re wrong.”
He turned his back on Darkstripe, shouldering his way through the ferns without waiting to see whether the other cat followed him or not.