Rise of the Clans

Rise of the Clans is the first book in the Rising Clans arc. Leaf is the cat depicted on the cover.

The Blurb
''Leaf, a young she-cat, finds herself among strangers. After a tragedy that costs her her new home, Leaf and her new found friends must rebuild their lives in the style of the cats who once lived in "Clans." How will Leaf keep the group together? Or will Talon, the old leader, stay in control? It all boils down to a single battle that will determine the fates of all the cats in the forest, in the Clans or not.''

Detailed Plot Summary
Somewhere in the flat-lands, a she-cat is lost in a storm. Sometime before this, something happened and now one of the cats in Leaf's tribe is dead, and the tribe has thrown her out... in the middle of a snowstorm. Leaf is forced to seek shelter, and falls asleep in the middle of a forest.

In Leaf's dreams, she is near her home. Yowling in joy, Leaf starts to return to her den, when she is stopped by the ground shaking. She hears a roar like a lion's, and then the sun is blocked out by a large bird of prey. It swoops at Leaf.

Far above Leaf, two spirit cats are discussing the fate of certain cats. The clouds part, and Sharp Flame is afraid that Sharp Leap has killed Leaf. Sharp Leap responds "She’s not dead! I’ve shown her the omens, plus, that [tom’s] found her already. Now we just wait." Talon sees Leaf, and runs forward.

Leaf awakes inside the barn, with Peach staring her in the face. Yowling in alarm, Peach runs over to Sun to tell her about Leaf. Sun helps her up, telling her what happened.

A few cats appear, and tells Sun that Talon and Flower are fighting. Sun is conserned, and takes Leaf to where the two are battling. After they break up the fight, Leaf says she wants to go hunting.

While she hunts with Sun, he tells her about the barn cats. Leaf hunts, and then starts to return to the barn. Sun stops her and asks why she was doing that. Leaf explains that Ripple, Bay, and the kits can't hunt for themselves.

She then returns and gives them the food. Talon gets angry at them,