Chapter 1

                                    

                                          
	Clouds drifted slowly overhead, the early morning air was chilly, biting at the ear-tips of the cats who lived in the mountains. Owlpaw breathed in the brisk air, her body shivering slightly. Leaf-fall is here. She thought fearfully. We only have so much time before leaf-bare, we shouldn't be travelling in the snow. Owlpaw looked down at her paws. I don't know if I can. This will be my first leaf-bare. What happens if I get greencough? She cleared her throat, it didn't feel any more scratchy than usual. 
                          
	I just have to keep as healthy as can be. Owlpaw shook the thought of sickness away and padded back into the den that the Clan cats had been sleeping in. The rouge, Nettle, who had been injured by another rouge by the name of Raptor, was still sleeping.
                          
	Owlpaw padded to the rouge's side and gave her wound a gentle sniff. The only scent was of herbs, no infection. Owlpaw breathed a sigh of relief. That's good at least. She looked over Nettle's golden brown pelt, she would have a rather nasty scar, but she would live.
                          
	Owlpaw stepped back out into the mountain that she had called her home for almost two moons now. Her and seven other Clan cats had been sent by their leaders on a mission from StarClan. They originally had no idea what their mission was, until they met a loner named Sheer Mountain and her family who lived in the mountains. There was Sheer Mountain's father, Tumbleweed and her three adoptive kits, Finch, Wren and Sparrow. When they arrived in the mountains, the Clan cats had been visited by a former MoonClan medicine cat by the name of Mosscloud who told them their mission was to build a fifth Clan and return them to the mountains, and the leader of this new Clan was supposed to be Sheer Mountain.
                          
	Sheer Mountain didn't believe in StarClan, but her mother had. Her mother, a loner by the name of Star believed in cats that lived in the stars. This believe had gotten her killed during a thunderstorm. Sheer Mountain believed her mother was insane, and had gotten rather upset with Owlpaw when she brought it up.
                          
	However, Owlpaw had told Sheer Mountain the truth, that it was her destiny to lead a new Clan and that she would give Sheer Mountain time to think about it. In the short time that had passed, she and Sheer Mountain hadn't spoken about it since then. Owlpaw had been focused on healing Nettle instead. 
                          
	Owlpaw knew her travel mates were getting impatient, she had to find a way to move Sheer Mountain along without pushing her too much. We can't wait forever, we have to go home eventually. Owlpaw looked at the pale blue sky. And if we take too long, we may get trapped here during leaf-bare.
                          
	"Hey, Owlpaw!" Owlpaw heard the eager call of Wren. She and her two brothers were sitting on the other side of the cavern, with a ball of moss between them. "Can you come over here?"
                          
	"Sure." Owlpaw trotted over to the kits. "What do you need?" She looked at the three of them. Wren had a very faint scar on her leg, an injury from when Raptor and his rogue's tried driving the Clan cats out.
                          
	"We want you to play with us!" Finch declared, his eyes sparkling.
                          
	Owlpaw blinked in surprise. "You want me to play with you? Why?"
                          
	"We want to play a game but we an uneven number." Sparrow explained. "You're small enough to play with us, and you can be on a team with Wren!"
                          
	Owlpaw looked at the three kits in curiosity. "Are you sure?" She was small, but she wasn't as small as the kits.
                          
	"Yeah!" Wren jumped. "It will be fun!"
                          
	"Oh-okay." Owlpaw wasn't quite sure how to feel about playing with the kits, she had never done much playing, she had been too sick as a kit to really play with her siblings, Briarrose didn't let her. "What do I do?"