| "The cats watched in horror as the Twoleg worked its way around the clearing until the last oak had fallen. Fourtrees, the place where the four Clans had met for many, many generations, was no more. The four giant oaks lay sprawled on the ground, their branches quivering into stillness. Twoleg monsters snarled at the edge of the clearing, ready to move in to carve up the fresh-kill, but the cats stayed frozen at the top of the slope, unable to move." |
| — Narrator in Dawn, page 4 |
- Below contains in-depth information for the prologue of Dawn (book). If you are looking for a shorter summary of the entire book, please check the main article.
- Chapter Number: Prologue (of 25)
- Page Numbers: 1-4
Chapter description[]
- Two cats are softly prowling the forest at night, because that is the only time the Twoleg monsters that are destroying the forest are sleeping. The two cats are revealed to be mates, and the she-cat matches the stride of the tom, but her stride falters, revealing hunger and deep thought. The she-cat asks if their daughters will find them when they get home. The tomcat mews that they can only pray, and the she-cat turns to a gray tom next to her and asks his opinion. The ginger tom, Firestar, growls that they should have sent out more patrols to search for their missing daughter, Leafpaw, but the gray tomcat, Graystripe, interrupts.
- The she-cat, named Sandstorm, whispers something to Graystripe, and he hisses back to her. Sandstorm mews that they have lost so many cats that moon. Firestar growls that maybe the Clans will finally agree to work together. Then, a dark tabby, Dustpelt, cuts in, pointing out that WindClan especially will be hard to sway. Sandstorm argues about how Clans can be strong with no kits, but then solemnly mews that she is sorry, knowing that he himself had lost a daughter, Larchkit. The four cats continue to discuss the situation upon them. Suddenly their conversation is cut to a halt, and Graystripe yowls that something is going on at Fourtrees.
- Firestar and his Clanmates follow him to the ancient Gathering place. Bright yellow lights are illuminating the hollow, especially the four oak trees. Twolegs are destroying Fourtrees. The Great Rock is noted to look tiny and rather exposed, unlike how it is usually seen. Twolegs are infesting the sacred hollow, and suddenly one jams a shiny thing into the trunk of one of the oak trees, and the trunk is sliced, slowly but surely. The tree falls to the ground. The Twolegs work with the remaining oaks until all of them had fallen. Fourtrees is no more. The four cats stay and Sandstorm murmurs that there is no hope left and the forest is dead. Firestar tries to reassure his mate that there is hope, and they need to have that and courage; ThunderClan still lives.
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| Dawn (book) chapters | |
|---|---|
| Prologue • Chapter 1 • Chapter 2 • Chapter 3 • Chapter 4 • Chapter 5 • Chapter 6 • Chapter 7 • Chapter 8 • Chapter 9 • Chapter 10 • Chapter 11 • Chapter 12 • Chapter 13 • Chapter 14 • Chapter 15 • Chapter 16 • Chapter 17 • Chapter 18 • Chapter 19 • Chapter 20 • Chapter 21 • Chapter 22 • Chapter 23 • Chapter 24 • Chapter 25 | |