Sunrise (book)

Sunrise is the final book in the Power of Three arc. Hollyleaf is the cat on the cover.

Dedication

 * To Lynn and Steve Wiman, with heartfelt thanks

The Blurb
'''There will be three, kin of your kin. . . who hold the power of the stars in their paws.'''

''A mysterious murder in the ranks has ripped ThunderClan apart. But more secrets still remain to be discovered.''

''Jayfeather is determined to find out who his real parents are. But he'll have to trample through a forest of lies in order to uncover the truth. Hollyleaf is shocked by her Clan's disobedience of the warrior code, and distraught enough to strike out at someone she's always admired. And Lionblaze must bear horrified witness to events that will change everything he believes.''

In the harshest days of leaf-bare Clanmate turns upon Clanmate, danger lurks behind familar faces, and one more warrior may be lost forever....

The Praise

 * "Book six of the "Warriors: Power of Three" series begins with tumult among the members of ThunderClan. Ashfur has been murdered and the Clan sends warriors to find Sol, a Clanless cat, and bring him back for justice. Siblings Lionblaze, Hollyleaf, and Jayfeather have learned that Squirrelflight lied when she claimed to be their mother. News of their questionable parentage may mean they are not the powerful three mentioned in the prophecy. While they want this news to remain secret, each deals with it in a different way. Lionblaze is determined to use his warrior skills to learn the truth while on the quest to find Sol. Hollyleaf's anger causes her to become careless and leads to tragic results. Jayfeather, apprentice to Leafpool the medicine cat, uses detective skills to seek the truth. Warriors fans will welcome this title in the adventures of the cat Clans. While the numerous characters may be confusing to those unfamiliar with the series, it will not take many pages for them to become enthralled with the adventures of the cats and anxiously be awaiting future books."
 * -Shirley Nelson, Children's Literature

Detailed Plot Summary

 * Leafpool and Jayfeather are first seen repeating a long-used ritual to send Ashfur to StarClan. While Leafpool is doing it, she discovers a tuft of fur in Ashfur's claws, which scares her because it's the fur of a cat she knows. She tries to convince herself it came from one of the cats that brought Ashfur back to camp, but Ashfur's claws wouldn't be strong enough to tear fur out from a carrier, saying that his claws would only flex the fur, not tear it out. Leafpool, in a lot of pain and shock, then wonders if it's her fault he's dead.


 * Meanwhile, in StarClan, Yellowfang starts fighting with Bluestar, saying that the secret that they kept buried for so long is eating away at ThunderClan. Yellowfang comments that Jayfeather, Hollyleaf and Lionblaze might not even be the three, but Bluestar objects. Yellowfang then mentions that Bluestar may have destroyed the Clan she loved so much with her lies.


 * The story then shifts to Lionblaze, who's in the Dark Forest, fighting Tigerstar. He attacks Tigerstar, wounding him. Tigerstar shows fear in his eyes, only for a slight moment, and then says to Lionblaze that he would never be brave enough to kill him. Lionblaze steps away, saying, "You're already dead."


 * Back in ThunderClan, many cats are discussing Ashfur's murder. Thornclaw, Spiderleg and a few other cats think that a WindClan cat killed him. Thornclaw "plans" an ambush on WindClan, only to be interrupted by Brambleclaw. After Thornclaw's group was split up, Brambleclaw questions Lionblaze - since he was Ashfur's last apprentice - and Lionblaze answers that he knows nothing about Ashfur's murder, since he and Ashfur were never very close. Sorreltail comments on how much Brambleclaw is concerned about Lionblaze, causing him to think, "He's not my father!"


 * Firestar then sends a patrol to WindClan territory to ask if they know anything about Ashfur's murder. They are spotted on the border of their territory and WindClan's by a patrol. After talking for a moment, Firestar's patrol is then escorted to the WindClan camp. While there, Lionblaze sees that Breezepelt, Crowfeather's obnoxious son, and Heathertail, Lionblaze's old friend that he secretly met with in the tunnels, are extremely close, leading to the possibility that they could be closer than friends. After Onestar says that WindClan had nothing to do with the ThunderClan warrior's murder, he asks a patrol of cats, Ashfoot, the deputy of WindClan, and Breezepelt among them. When they reach the end WindClan's territory, Ashfoot tells the patrol of ThunderClan cats that she sighted Sol near the sight of Ashfur's dead body, and this leads to the thought that Sol killed Ashfur.


 * When Firestar's patrol returns to their camp, he holds a Clan meeting to inform the rest of the Clan as to what they learned from Ashfoot. It's noted that Thornclaw's group was more reluctant to the idea that a rogue killed Ashfur, instead of another warrior, and their theory that WindClan killed Ashfur is forgotten. As Firestar ends the meeting, Hollyleaf reveals that she ran into Sol before he left the lake territory, and he said that he'll be back, and the Clan takes Sol's last words to her as a threat. With this information, Firestar decides to send a patrol to the sun-drown place to search for Sol. The cats chosen are Birchfall, Brambleclaw, Brackenfur, Hazeltail, Hollyleaf and Lionblaze.


 * As they depart the lake area, Brambleclaw decides to make a quick stop to see Smoky and Floss, the two cats who live in the Horseplace. This is where he introduces Smoky to his daughter, Hazeltail. The two bond for a brief moment, and then the patrol leaves. On the way, the travelers run into some dogs and are saved by a she-cat named Jingo. She brings them to a group of cats that once sheltered Sol, and the cats seem to hate Sol. They then learn about how Sol has controlled these cats just like he did with ShadowClan. Soon after they leave, they run into Purdy and Sol and they bring both back to ThunderClan for questioning.


 * Lionblaze is on the flat rocks with Honeyfern and Berrynose. Millie and Graystripe's kits, Bumblekit, Blossomkit, and Briarkit, are playing on the rocks until a poisonous snake appears behind Briarkit. Honeyfern jumps and pushes Briarkit out of the way, but in the process she is bitten by the snake, and all Leafpool does is stare at Honeyfern's littermate, Cinderheart. Sorreltail, Honeyfern's mother, asks Leafpool why she wasn't doing anything, but Leafpool says that the poison already took hold of Honeyfern and she can't do anything. She soon dies, and Berrynose is heartbroken.


 * Jayfeather, on the other hand, tries to figure out the mystery herb that Leafpool mixed in with Mousefur's tansy at the time of his birth. He later brushes against it, and Littlecloud tells him it's parsley, used for stopping milk in nursing queens if their kits die. Jayfeather then realizes his real mother must have had to take it to stop her milk. He then realizes that his mother is Leafpool, and she confirms this, telling Hollyleaf as well. When she talks with her, she also reveals that Hollyleaf was Ashfur's killer.


 * The three ask Sol about the prophecy and their real father, until Yellowfang comes to Jayfeather in a dream and brings him a crow's feather, revealing that their father was Crowfeather of WindClan. Hollyleaf, the one with the strongest faith in the code, is shattered. Jayfeather gets back to camp and helps deliver Whitewing's kits.


 * At the Gathering, Hollyleaf reveals the secret of her, Lionblaze, and Jayfeather's parentage. Crowfeather states that his only mate is Nightcloud, and his sole kit is Breezepelt, also saying that Leafpool and their kits mean nothing to him. What Hollyleaf says also makes Brambleclaw upset at Squirrelflight for lying to him and everyone else. When Cinderheart asks Hollyleaf what she'd done, she says she'd done the right thing, but Cinderheart says that there was no right thing and everything to do with it led to more pain, as if channeling Cinderpelt. Hollyleaf then figures that the whole thing was Leafpool's fault. She then stops Leafpool in the medicine den and tries to force her to eat deathberries. Leafpool then states that she lost the one cat she loved and her calling as a medicine cat. She then asks which would be easier for her: "To die or go on living?" Hollyleaf then lets her mother go, and then flees into the forest with Jayfeather and Lionblaze following her. Hollyleaf then runs into the tunnels, but they collapse, thus possibly trapping her. Jayfeather and Lionblaze are unable to get her out, and her fate is left ambiguous.


 * Now that there are only two, Jayfeather and Lionblaze wonder who the third cat in the prophecy is. Then Whitewing, Cloudtail's daughter has two kits, Dovekit and Ivykit. Jayfeather realizes that because they are kin of Firestar's kin, that one of them could possibly the third cat in the prophecy. This brings us to the end of the Power of Three arc.

Trivia

 * Sunrise was formerly known as Cruel Season. The title was changed because HarperCollins felt that "Cruel Season" was too dark of a title.
 * On page 49, Ashfoot is mistakenly called 'Ashfur.': "There." Ashfur flicked her ears toward a rough place on the mesh where a long, silky strand of reddish fur was caught.

Publication History

 * Sunrise (EN), HarperCollins (hardcover), 21 April 2009
 * Sunrise (EN), HarperCollins (e-book), 21 April 2009
 * Sunrise (EN), HarperCollins (paperback), 9 March 2010
 * Восход солнца (RU), OLMA Media Group (hardcover), 4 April 2010, translated by Veronica Maximova
 * 拂曉之光 (CN), Morning Star (unknown binding), 31 March 2010, translated by Gao Mei