Sign Of The Moon

“There’s ivy on that tree.” Cloudtail whisked his tail around to point at an ancient oak tree whose trunk was covered in glossy dark green leaves. Foxleap scrambled up the tree and bit off a long tendril; as soon as it was loose Cloudtail tugged it free and bounded back with it trailing behind him.

“Wrap one end around that sapling,” Birchfall directed, angling his ears toward a young ash tree that grew near the hole. “Then we can drop the other end down to Icecloud.”

When the ivy tendril was secure, Foxleap dangled the free end down to his sister. Icecloud gripped it in her teeth, but as soon as the other cats started to haul it up she let go and dropped back onto the mound of earth.

“I’m too heavy!” she gasped. “I can’t hold on.”

“Wrap it around yourself, then,” Lionblaze suggested.

Icecloud tried, but it was obvious that her injured shoulder was hampering her. “It’s no use!” Her voice rose to a wail. “I’ll be stuck down here forever!”

“Nonsense,” Lionblaze mewed. “We’ll think of something.”

“What if we drop more earth and stones down the hole?” Spiderleg suggested, peering down. “We could make that heap big enough so she can climb out.”

“It might work,” Birchfall murmured. “But we’d risk burying her…”

“No, please don’t!” Icecloud’s panicky mew came up from the bottom of the hole.

The sound of more paw steps approaching distracted Lionblaze. He turned to see Jayfeather and Blossomfall skirting the bramble thicket, and headed back up the slope to meet them.

“I heard Spiderleg telling the Clan what happened,” Jayfeather meowed as Lionblaze bounded up. He paused; Lionblaze could tell that he knew this was part of the same tunnel where Hollyleaf had disappeared.

Lionblaze waited until Blossomfall had joined the other cats around the hole. “There’s nothing there apart from Icecloud that I can see,” he whispered. “The mudfall is farther down the slope.”

“You can’t let any other cats go down!” Jayfeather hissed.

“I know that!” Lionblaze retorted. Belly churning again, he led Jayfeather the few paw steps to join the other cats.

“I’m going in,” Foxleap announced. “You can lower me into the hole, I’ll tie the tendril around Icecloud, and then you can pull her up.”

“No,” Lionblaze said as he stepped forward. “It’s too dangerous. I’ll go.”

“What?” Birchfall lashed his tail. “Don’t be mouse-brained! You’re too heavy.”

“And why would it be dangerous?” Foxleap argued, stepping forward to confront Lionblaze. “There’s nothing down there except Icecloud.”

“You don’t know that!” Lionblaze snapped.

Cloudtail had been leaning over the hole, peering curiously up and down the tunnel. Finally he drew back. “Are these the tunnels WindClan used to invade us?”

Lionblaze nodded; a familiar pang of guilt clawed him in the belly as he remembered how he and Heathertail had been the first to discover the network of tunnels.

Foxleap drew in a shocked breath. “Great StarClan! There could be WindClan warriors down there now, waiting to attack Icecloud!”

Cloudtail rolled his eyes. “Oh, sure! WindClan must spend all their time down there, waiting for a ThunderClan warrior to fall in.”

In spite of the white warrior’s scathing words, Lionblaze felt an added urgency among the cats around the hole. A plaintive mew came up from Icecloud in the depths. “Get me out, please!”

“I’ll go,” Dovepaw volunteered, giving Lionblaze a hard stare, as if she remembered how he had told her not to let another cat go down. Does that include me? she seemed to be asking.

Jayfeather nodded. “Better her than another cat,” he whispered to Lionblaze.

“But she’s only an apprentice!” Foxleap protested. Lionblaze could sense that in a couple of heartbeats he would leap into the hole himself, whether he had permission from the senior warriors or not.

“I’m the lightest of all of you,” Dovepaw pointed out. “And all I have to do is jump down and wrap the tendril around Icecloud.” As if the decision had already been made, she turned to Lionblaze and asked quietly, “Is there anything I should look out for?”

Yes, my dead sister. Lionblaze swallowed hard; instead, he answered, “Just keep your eyes open. Cats don’t belong in these tunnels, so we must treat them as hostile territory.”

Birchfall wound the tendril around Dovepaw’s body; then he and Cloudtail lowered her into the hole. Her eyes widened as she vanished over the edge. Lionblaze looked down to see her unwinding the tendril from herself, and wrapping it securely around Icecloud.

“Ready!” she called.

Birchfall and Cloudtail began hauling on the vine. A yowl of pain came from Icecloud, quickly suppressed. “Sorry,” she mewed through gritted teeth. “My shoulder really hurts.”

Slowly the white she-cat was drawn up out of the hole. As soon as she appeared over the edge, Foxleap rushed up and supported her with his shoulder. “Come on,” he meowed. “We’ll get you back to camp and Jayfeather will take a look at you.”