Outcast

Hollypaw jumped as another voice joined the conversation. A few fox-lengths deeper into ShadowClan territory, fronds of bracken parted to let Blackstar push his way into the open. The powerful white tom stalked past the trespassing warriors and up the bank to confront Firestar. His neck fur bristled and one of his huge black forepaws tore at the grass.

“Greetings, Blackstar.” Firestar dipped his head. “I’ll make sure my warriors understand they must never cross your border again.”

“It was a mistake!” Berrynose protested.

A low growl came from deep in Blackstar’s throat.

Hollypaw half expected him to attack Firestar.

But when he spoke, he sounded tired and despondent rather than hostile. “We never should have come here, Firestar. StarClan were wrong to bring us, when it’s so hard to tell where one territory ends and the next begins. It was a lot simpler back in the forest.”

Firestar’s eyes clouded. “But the forest is gone, Blackstar,” he meowed softly, and suddenly they were like two old friends sharing memories rather than leaders of rival Clans.

“I miss it as much as any cat, but we have to make our life here now. Besides, StarClan brought cats to the old forest, just as they brought us to the lake.”

“No, they didn’t!” Blackstar’s neck fur, which had begun to lie flat, bristled up again. Hollypaw wondered what was making him so edgy; it seemed like something more than finding another Clan’s cats on his territory. “All the cats of StarClan once lived in the forest, so there must have been a group of ancient cats living there before they divided up into Clans.”

Ancient cats! Hollypaw’s paws began to tingle. Where had those cats come from, to settle in the forest? And what about the cats who settled here by the lake? Cats whose paw prints had left marks at the Moonpool and who had something to do with the underground tunnels where they found the WindClan kits. She knew that Jaypaw hadn’t told them everything when they escaped from the flooding river. She shivered, suddenly aware of seasons beyond seasons leading up to this moment, raining down like leaves in leaf-fall and stretching back into an unfathomable darkness.

“Are you okay?” Brackenfur murmured into her ear. “This is going to end without any more clawed fur, don’t worry.”

Hollypaw straightened up. “I’m fine!”

Blackstar stepped back with a curt nod to Firestar. “Take your warriors away,” he growled. “And don’t think they’ll get off so lightly if we catch them on our territory again.”

“Believe me, they’re not getting off lightly.” Firestar’s voice was grim. He beckoned with his tail for Birchfall and Berrynose to climb the slope. Berrynose stalked across the border, his eyes narrowed in fury, but Birchfall paused and dipped his head respectfully to Blackstar.

“We’re very sorry,” he meowed. “I promise we won’t do it again.”

“See that you don’t,” the ShadowClan leader retorted. He turned to his own warriors. “Carry on with your patrol,” he snapped, before vanishing back into the bracken.

While the ShadowClan cats renewed their scent markers, Firestar led the two young warriors a couple of tail-lengths from the border.

“Go back to camp. Wait for me underneath the Highledge.”

“Yes, Firestar,” Birchfall mewed.

He and Berrynose disappeared around the hazel thicket.

Berrynose cast an angry glance back at his Clan leader, but Firestar had turned away and didn’t see.

“Let’s finish this patrol,” Firestar meowed. “And make sure the scent markers are clear this time.”

Hollypaw followed as he led the way into the bracken along the top of the hollow. She thought of the strange, almost nostalgic mood between the two leaders when they had talked about the forest. Blackstar felt they didn’t belong here because it wasn’t where their ancestors had lived. But some cats had lived here, a long time ago—so where were they now?

Chapter 4

Hollypaw slipped out under the brambles that sheltered the apprentice den. Gray clouds moved sluggishly across the sky and she could scent rain on the breeze. Shivering, she sat down, licking one paw and rubbing it over her face.

The dawn patrol was just leaving; Dustpelt was in the lead, with Mousewhisker, Sandstorm, and Honeypaw. Ferncloud popped her head out of the nursery, sniffed the air, and disappeared inside again. A heartbeat later, Birchfall and Berrynose appeared from the elders’ den, each carrying a huge wad of moss.

Hollypaw’s tail curled up in amusement. Good! Firestar put them back on apprentice duties. She watched them cross the camp and vanish into the thorn tunnel. “Make sure you squeeze all the water out of the fresh moss!” she called mischievously.

“Mousefur will claw you if her pelt gets damp!” Berrynose lashed his tail as he entered the tunnel, but neither of them stopped to reply.

A thin drizzle set in as the rest of the camp began to stir.