At the beginning of the book, Hollypaw, Lionpaw, and Jaypaw, apprentices in ThunderClan, resume their daily lives after the events of Dark River. Jaypaw becomes obsessed with learning about cats who live by the lake before the Clans, whom he meets in the previous book during a time-travelling experience. Lionpaw continues training with Tigerstar, a dead evil cat, in his dreams. Hollypaw realizes she wants to become leader of her Clan one day. Each finds the idea of traveling to the mountains intriguing, and when cats from a group in the mountains called the Tribe of Rushing Water ask ThunderClan for help, they get their chance. ThunderClan finds out that the Tribe has been harassed by a group of rogue cats who steal the Tribe's prey. It is revealed that Stormfur and Brook Where Small Fish Swim (Brook) return to ThunderClan from the Tribe in Twilight because they had been banished: Stormfur leads the Tribe into battle against the rogues, but many cats die because the Tribe is not used to battling other cats.
Brambleclaw, Squirrelflight, Tawnypelt, Crowfeather, Stormfur, Brook, Breezepaw, Jaypaw, Hollypaw, and Lionpaw journey to the mountains to help deal with the rogues. The Clan cats attempt to reason with the rogues and mark borders. The rogues ignore the borders, forcing the Tribe to take more drastic measures. The Clan cats teach the Tribe cats to fight. The Tribe is reluctant to fight at first, but manage to defeat the invaders. Meanwhile, Jaypaw continues to try to find out about the prophecy from the ancient cats that refers to himself and his littermates: "There will be three, kin of your kin, who hold the powers of the stars in their paws". He learns that the Tribe originally lived by the lake and decides to tell his brother and sister about the prophecy at the end of the book.