Long Shadows/Chapter 16

"How many cats have to die before we look for somewhere else to live? There must be other places with prey and shelter for all of us."

— Half Moon in Long Shadows, page 199

Long Shadows
Chapter number:	16 (of 28)
Page numbers:	197-207
Point of View:	Jaypaw
Chronology

Below contains in-depth information for chapter sixteen of Long Shadows. If you are looking for a shorter summary of the entire book, please check the main article.

Chapter Number: 16 (of 28)

Page Numbers: 197-207

Chapter Summary

Jaypaw awakens to find that Dove's Wing has brought him a mouse. Two cats named Fish Leap and Half Moon are with her, and are eager to learn what happened to Jay's Wing during his time in the tunnels. They are eager to become sharpclaws, but Furled Bracken does not believe they are ready for their assessment yet. The four cats share a moment of grief for the loss of Fallen Leaves, and Jaypaw regrets that he cannot tell them Fallen Leaves is dead. He begins to fall back asleep when he overhears Fish Leap and Half Moon arguing over whether the Ancients should leave their territory to find a new home. He briefly wakes in the night to find Dove's Wing curled up next to him.

When he wakes in the morning, Dove's Wing is gone, and Dawn River leads him and Fish Leap on a hunt. Jaypaw is unused to being able to see as he walks through the forest, which makes him clumsy and distracted. He falls into a rabbit hole, runs into a tree, and fails to catch a mouse. When Fish Leap and Dawn River return with prey and see that he hasn't caught anything yet, he lies that he was searching for horsetail to treat his injured pads. He realizes that these cats all hunt for themselves, and if he doesn't catch anything, he will go hungry. He searches for the stone hollow where the ThunderClan camp will one day be, and finds the Twoleg nest where the sick ThunderClan cats in the present are staying beside a Thunderpath.

Jaypaw finds the hollow and looks around, trying to imagine where the dens and the Highledge would be in the future. Half Moon finds him and warns him about badgers, and the two of them quickly flee from the hollow. Half Moon reveals that she brought him a blackbird, since she thought it might be hard for him to hunt with sore pads. Jaypaw assumes that it's been difficult for the cats to find prey, and Half Moon wonders if Stone Song is correct that they should leave to find a new home. She recalls that Jay's Wing agreed with the plan to leave. Jaypaw tells her there must be a place with more plentiful prey and less danger, but is unsure what that place could be.

Characters

Major

• Jaypaw

Minor

• Dove's Wing
• Fish Leap
• Half Moon
• Dawn River

Mentioned

• Jay's Wing
• Furled Bracken
• Fallen Leaves
• Broken Shadow
• Cinderpelt
• Whispering Breeze
• Stone Song

Errors

• Broken Shadow is mistakenly called Broken Shadows.