Handicapped since birth, Earth Shadow is anxious to step out of the shadow of Sunrise, his physically stronger twin brother when the two join their clan' s adults on the annual Walk Around. He worries that if he doesn' t participate in the hunt that will take place at the Great Gathering of all the clans, this Walk Around will be his last, and he will spend the rest of his summers with the sick, elderly, and very young. As he listens to Grandmother's stories of the ancestors, Earth Shadow discovers that his creativity and reasoning may be as important to the survival and success of the clan as his brother's hunting skills.