Warriors: Dawn of the Clans #1: The Sun Trail Read Online Free PDF Page B

want to go without enough cats to stand a chance of surviving the journey.”
    Stoneteller glanced around at the other cats. Gray Wing could see that their anger was dying down. “Gray Wing, Bright Stream,” the Healer mewed, “please collect as many stones as there are cats.”
    “Even me?” Jagged Peak squeaked, with an excited bounce.
    Quiet Rain stretched out her tail to caress her son’s ear. “No, not the kits—” she began.
    “Even the kits,” Stoneteller interrupted gently. “Every cat will have a chance to be heard. We are still one community, friends and kin over seasons upon seasons. We must all have a part in deciding our future.”
    Dipping his head to Stoneteller, Gray Wing headed out of the cave with Bright Stream. They found a scatter of small stones not far from the waterfall, under an overhang, and began to roll them together into a heap.
    “Quiet Rain wants me to leave,” he told Bright Stream after a moment.
    Bright Stream’s eyes widened and her ears flicked up in surprise. “I’d have thought she would want you and Clear Sky to stay now.”
    Gray Wing shook his head. “She believes we stand a better chance of survival in the place that Stoneteller has seen.”
    Bright Stream added another stone to the pile before she responded. “Are you going to go?” she asked hesitantly.
    “I don’t know.” Gray Wing found himself giving voice to his inward struggle. “The way Fluttering Bird died showed me how vulnerable we are here in the mountains. But . . . is it cowardly to run away?”
    “No cat could think that you’re a coward, Gray Wing,” Bright Stream told him.
    When they had collected enough stones, they carried them back into the cave, a few at a time. Shaded Moss and Tall Shadow gathered the pebbles into a pile at Stoneteller’s paws, their gaze solemn with the importance of their task.
    “Now,” Stoneteller meowed, “every cat must take a stone. Place it on the waterfall side of the cave if you think Shaded Moss and all the cats who want to go should leave the mountains, and on the inner cave wall if you think they should stay. Shaded Moss, you go first.”
    Shaded Moss stepped forward and dipped his head to Stoneteller with deep respect. “I trust you with my life,” he told her. “If you have seen a better place for some of us to live, I promise I will find it.”
    Taking a stone in his jaws, he carried it to the waterfall side of the cave and laid it down so close to the cascade that drops of sparkling water splashed over it.
    Meanwhile the rest of the Tribe lined up for their turn to vote. Jagged Peak scraped his claws along the cave floor as if he was too excited to wait.
    Lion’s Roar was the next cat to pick up a pebble, and he laid it down near the waterfall. “My old bones won’t carry me on the journey,” he rasped. “But if I were young enough, I’d leave.”
    Snow Hare and Misty Water followed, both voting for the cats to stay. Clear Sky came next, in a little group with Dappled Pelt and Turtle Tail, all of them taking their stones to the waterfall side. Then Jagged Peak bounced up to the pile of stones and took one, carefully carrying it over to set it down beside his brother’s.
    Quiet Rain shook her head. “My beloved son, I can’t allow you to leave. But the older cats should have the chance to go.” She took her stone and laid it by the waterfall beside her kits’.
    Jagged Peak’s eyes sparkled rebelliously as he stomped toward the sleeping hollows, his tail high in the air.
    Bright Stream was the next cat to take a stone. Without hesitation she placed it with the others beside the waterfall.
    Clear Sky’s fur fluffed out with surprise as he watched her, a look of warm affection creeping into his eyes. “Thank you,” he whispered as she joined him, standing so close that their pelts were brushing.
    “I did it for all our future kits,” she responded.
    Gray Wing realized that his turn to vote had come. He felt a hard jolt in his belly,