The Forgotten Warrior

“No!” Dovewing burst out. “I didn’t hear anything, okay? Stop expecting me to look after the whole Clan!”

She turned her back on Jayfeather and stalked off. A moment later Lionblaze’s scent wafted over Jayfeather, and his littermate came to stand beside him.

“What’s going on?” Lionblaze asked.

“I think the apprentices were right,” Jayfeather told him. “There is an intruder.”

Alarm surged through Lionblaze; Jayfeather could imagine his neck fur fluffing out. “I’ve got to get a patrol together to track it down,” he meowed.

“No, wait.” Jayfeather reached out and curled his tail around his brother’s foreleg. “If this cat saved the apprentices, then I don’t think she’s any threat. In fact, I don’t think she was a threat to begin with.”

For a moment Lionblaze said nothing; Jayfeather could almost hear thoughts buzzing in his head like bees in a hollow tree. He knew Lionblaze would reach the same conclusion as he had. “Really? You think so?” Lionblaze mewed at last. There was an undercurrent of hope in his voice, as well as nervousness.

“We didn’t find her in the tunnel,” Jayfeather pointed out.

“Would she really come back?”

Jayfeather took a long breath. “We learned long ago that we didn’t know her as well as we thought. Maybe she would.”

Chapter 6

“Climb higher! Higher than that!”

Twigs lashed across Ivypool’s face and raked through her pelt as she clawed her way up the tree.

“Faster!” The insistent yowl came from the ground below. “Higher! Now jump!”

“Great StarClan!” Ivypool muttered, digging her claws into the bark of the trunk. “I’ll break my neck if I jump from this high up.”

She and the cats with her were so far up the tree that the trunk was starting to bend under their weight. There wasn’t enough room for four cats to climb safely.

Ivypool risked a glance downward, peering through the gloom of the Dark Forest. She could hear the sounds of cats training all around her, until the noise of fighting almost drowned out the slimy rustling of the leaves. I wonder if Birchfall is here? And how many other ThunderClan cats?

Below she could just make out Shredtail, who was in charge of the training exercise, sitting on the trunk of a fallen tree. Antpelt stood beside him. He had been Shredtail’s apprentice when he first came to the Dark Forest, but now he was a full warrior; it was he who was doing all the yowling.

“That mangepelt loves throwing his weight around,” Breezepelt hissed, clinging to the trunk beside Ivypool. “Just because he died doesn’t make him more important!”

Hollowpaw of RiverClan was trying to balance on a thin branch just below Ivypool, his eyes shut tight as he let out a low moan of terror. His Clanmate Minnowtail scrambled past him and headed for the top of the tree, almost knocking Ivypool off her precarious perch.

“Hey, watch it!” Ivypool growled, envying the RiverClan cat’s light, strong body and confident movements.

“Minnowtail, you won!” Shredtail yowled from below. “You don’t have to jump. The rest of you, I want to see you jump now!”

Ivypool took a deep breath. I don’t have any choice… Spotting a pile of dead leaves underneath the tree, she launched herself into the air. All the air was driven out of her body as she hit the ground, and before she could struggle to her paws Antpelt was on top of her, holding her down. His amber eyes glared into hers.

“Too slow, mouse-brain!”

Ivypool heaved at him, bringing up her hindpaws to batter at his belly. “I can’t believe you’ve forgotten how I helped you,” she panted. “Thistleclaw wounded you so badly on the woodpile that you died, remember?”

“Who cares about the past? This is my Clan now!” Antpelt hissed, slashing his claws toward her throat. “I deserve to be here.”

Ivypool tucked in her chin and bit down on Antpelt’s outstretched paw. Yes, she thought bleakly. You do. Above her, Antpelt let out a furious yowl and snatched back his foot. Gathering all her strength, Ivypool shoved Antpelt off in time to see Minnowtail jump gracefully down from the tree and land in a clump of fern.

“Well done,” Shredtail meowed as she emerged, looking smug. “It’s a pity more cats aren’t like you.” Swinging around to rake Ivypool, Breezepelt, and Hollowpaw with a glare, he continued, “Right. Time for battle training. I want to see the backflip we practiced last time.”

Ivypool paired up with Hollowpaw while Breezepelt and Minnowtail worked together. The RiverClan cat wasn’t the same nervous apprentice she had tried to help when he first came to the Dark Forest a moon ago. He had learned a lot since then, and his movements were strong and sure. Ivypool was shocked at the power behind his blows as he leaped on top of her, and shocked, too, at her own skill as she slid out from under him and raked her claws over his ears.