Read Online Firestar's Quest by Erin Hunter - Free Book Online

The cave was utterly dark. Firestar rose to his paws and limped across the cave floor, close to panic until he stumbled into the entrance to the tunnel. When he emerged onto the side of the hill a stiff breeze was shredding the clouds like wet cobweb. Firestar caught only fitful glimpses of the moon, but stars were shining overhead once more.
    He crawled onto the flat rock where he had waited earlier and collapsed there, gazing upward. He could not see the kindly eyes of his warrior ancestors in the starlight any longer. The desperate cries of the lost and tortured SkyClan echoed through his mind. How am I meant to help them ?
    All those cats must be dead by now. They had fled so long ago that no cat remembered them. But where were their descendants, the living SkyClan?
    Â 
    Firestar lay on the rock until the sky grew milk-pale with dawn. Then he made his way, pawstep by painful pawstep, down the hill and into the fields, leaving the jagged peak of Highstones behind him. A feeling of betrayal still swirled through him like a flooding river. He had always respected StarClan, trusting them to want what was best for all theClans. Now he had discovered that they could make mistakes, just like any living cat. If he couldn’t trust them, would he ever come here to share tongues with his warrior ancestors again?
    His belly felt hollow with hunger. Passing Ravenpaw’s barn, he fought the temptation to go in to see his friends, to feast on their prey and rest in the soft heap of hay. But Ravenpaw was bound to ask him what StarClan had said about the strange cats, and he could not think what he would answer. Ravenpaw still clung to his faith in StarClan, even though he had left the forest; could Firestar shatter that faith by revealing how their warrior ancestors had lied to all the cats in the forest, over and over again?
    Once he had left the Twoleg farm behind, Firestar stopped to hunt, swiping an unsuspecting mouse as it nibbled seeds in the shelter of a hedge. It scarcely took the edge off his hunger, but he was too exhausted to go looking for more. He curled up under a hawthorn bush and fell headlong into sleep.
    When he woke it was almost sunhigh. Feeling better, Firestar set off again, skirting the edge of a field where the corn grew tall, beginning to turn golden in the sun. He spotted another mouse as it slipped between the stiff stems, pounced on it, and killed it with a swift bite to the neck. Gulping down the last few mouthfuls he headed for the moors.
    The sun was going down when he limped at last into the ThunderClan camp. Red light bathed the clearing, barred with the shadows of trees. Firestar let out a long, despairingsigh. It was good to be home, but could he really go on as Clan leader, knowing what he knew now?
    As he hesitated at the mouth of the gorse tunnel, Graystripe came charging across from the warriors’ den. Sandstorm glanced up from where she crouched beside the fresh-kill pile and padded more slowly to join him.
    â€œFirestar, you’re back!” Graystripe exclaimed. “It’s great to see you.” Halting in front of his friend, he added more doubtfully, “Is everything okay?”
    â€œI’m fine, thanks,” Firestar replied, every word an effort. “I’m tired; that’s all.”
    Sandstorm brushed her tail sympathetically along his flank. Her green eyes searched his face, and he knew she realized that it was not only weariness that troubled him. But she didn’t question him, just mewed, “Then it’s time you got some rest.”
    â€œListen, Firestar,” Graystripe went on, “the afternoon patrol just got back. They think that fox Tallstar was talking about has crossed over into ThunderClan territory. At least, they picked up strong, fresh fox scent on the border, not far from the Twoleg bridge.”
    Firestar squeezed his eyes shut, trying to concentrate on what this would mean for his Clan. “Did they follow the