Hollyleaf’s Story

APPRENTICE, SUNPAW (tortoiseshell she-cat with large white mark on her forehead)   HEATHERTAIL—light brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes   BREEZEPELT—black tom with amber eyes ELDERS MORNINGFLOWER—very old tortoiseshell queen   WEBFOOT—dark gray tabby tom       RIVERCLAN LEADER LEOPARDSTAR—unusually spotted golden tabby she-cat DEPUTY MISTYFOOT—gray she-cat with blue eyes MEDICINE CAT MOTHWING—dappled golden she-cat

APPRENTICE, WILLOWSHINE (gray tabby she-cat) WARRIORS BLACKCLAW—smoky black tom   VOLETOOTH—small brown tabby tom

APPRENTICE, MINNOWPAW (dark gray she-cat)   REEDWHISKER—black tom   MOSSPELT—tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes

APPRENTICE, PEBBLEPAW (mottled gray tom)   BEECHFUR—light brown tom   RIPPLETAIL—dark gray tabby tom

APPRENTICE, MALLOWPAW (light brown tabby tom)   GRAYMIST—pale gray tabby   DAWNFLOWER—pale gray she-cat   DAPPLENOSE—mottled gray she-cat   POUNCETAIL—ginger-and-white tom   MINTFUR—light gray tabby tom

APPRENTICE, NETTLEPAW (dark brown tabby tom)   OTTERHEART—dark brown she-cat

APPRENTICE, SNEEZEPAW (gray-and-white tom)   PINEFUR—very short-haired tabby she-cat

APPRENTICE, ROBINPAW (tortoiseshell-and-white tom)   RAINSTORM—mottled gray-blue tom   DUSKFUR—brown tabby she-cat

APPRENTICE, COPPERPAW (dark ginger she-cat) QUEENS ICEWING—white cat with blue eyes, mother of Beetlekit, Pricklekit, Petalkit, and Grasskit ELDERS HEAVYSTEP—thickset tabby tom   SWALLOWTAIL—dark tabby she-cat   STONESTREAM—gray tom       CATS OUTSIDE CLANS   SOL—white-and-brown tabby long-haired tom with pale yellow eyes   SMOKY—muscular gray-and-white tom who lives in a barn at the horseplace   FLOSS—small gray-and-white she-cat who lives at the horseplace   PURDY—elderly, plump tabby loner with a gray muzzle   JINGO—dark brown tabby she-cat   HUSSAR—broad-shouldered gray tom   SPECKLE—flecked brown she-cat, nursing four kits   FRITZ—black-and-white tom with a torn ear   POD—scrawny brown tom with a gray muzzle   JET—long-haired black tom   MERRY—ginger-and-white she-cat   CHIRP—pale gray tabby tom       OTHER ANIMALS   MIDNIGHT—a star-gazing badger who lives by the sea

Maps

Chapter 1

Thunder crashed, louder than anything Hollyleaf had heard before. There was a ripple overhead and a strange cracking sound. The sky is falling! And then it was all around her, sharper and harder than Hollyleaf expected, throwing her to the ground and crushing her bones. I can’t breathe! She struggled frantically, feeling her claws rip, but the sky was too heavy, too cold, and she let the endless dark sweep her away.

Hollyleaf was standing on the edge of a cliff. Behind her, the hollow yawned like a hungry mouth. Flames, hissing and orange, filled the air with smoke and bitter ash. Hollyleaf’s littermates, Lionblaze and Jayfeather, crouched beside her; she could feel them trembling against her fur. In front of them, Ashfur stood at the end of a branch that would lead them through the fire. Squirrelflight stood next to him, fury blazing in her eyes. Hollyleaf stared at her mother, waiting for her to move Ashfur out of the way.

“Enough, Ashfur,” Squirrelflight hissed. “Your quarrel is with me. These young cats have done nothing to hurt you. Do what you like with me, but let them out of the fire.”