This is not my Clan. Not any longer. ThunderClan is led by a kittypet, and there's nothing left to fight for. I feel no loyalty to ThunderClan. In the whole forest, the only cat worth following is Tigerstar.

My name is Echo. I dream of cats with stars in their fur.

You're a medicine cat. I understand what that means now. StarClan go with you, Leafpool. I'll never forget you.

I've never doubted that you should be our leader. I've always believed that, ever since Firestar took you to the Skyrock to receive your nine lives. I challenged you, yes, so I could be sure of your conviction that you were doing the right thing. What SkyClan needs more than anything else is a leader who has faith in herself. Because only then could other cats have faith in her, too.

I have to stay here and bury her," he whispered. "Here, between RiverClan and ThunderClan. After this, not even her own Clan will want to mourn her.

Two Windclan apprentices were wandering toward them. Fireheart twitched his ears to warn his friends they had an audience. "Oh, yes," meowed Ravenpaw, raising his voice. "We loners eat Clan apprentices whenever we can catch one.

The truth is, I love Firestar now as much as I ever did, and I'll watch over him forever, knowing that he can never be mine. He belongs to Sandstorm and to ThunderClan. But my heart is his, and always will be.