The Forgotten Warrior

“Sorry.” Ivypool leaped onto the tree-bridge and ran across.

There were no other cat scents in the air as she jumped down onto the pebbly shore of the island, meaning that ThunderClan was the first to arrive. The clearing seemed very quiet as Ivypool wriggled underneath the surrounding bushes and padded toward the Great Oak. Dovewing and Brackenfur, who had followed her, set their paws down carefully as if they didn’t want to break the silence.

Then a scamper of paws sounded from beyond the bushes and Ivypool jumped, startled, as excited squeals rose into the air.

“This way! I’ll race you to the Great Oak!”

“I’ll get there first! You couldn’t race a hedgehog!”

Brackenfur let out a mrrow of amusement. “Our apprentices have arrived for their first Gathering.”

Cherrypaw and Molepaw came squirming through the bushes, with Rosepetal right behind them.

“That’s enough,” she meowed. “Don’t even think of racing around the clearing. We have to wait for the leaders and listen quietly while they’re speaking.” She gestured with her tail. “Sit there.”

The two apprentices obeyed her, but they were wriggling with excitement, exchanging bright-eyed glances as they gazed around.

“Wow! The Great Oak is big!” Cherrypaw exclaimed.

The rest of the ThunderClan cats emerged from the bushes, closely followed by RiverClan and WindClan. A few moments later ShadowClan joined them. As the clearing filled up and the different Clan scents mingled, Ivypool crouched in the middle of her own Clanmates, not wanting to see the cats who were familiar to her from the Dark Forest.

I feel as if I half belong with them, she thought uncomfortably. But I’m betraying them already. I wish I could tell the other Clans exactly what’s going on. Maybe then we could make a plan to fight the Dark Forest from within.

Firestar was the first leader to jump into the branches of the Great Oak, followed by Onestar, Mistystar, and Blackstar. Brambleclaw and the other deputies took their places on the tree roots. The other cats grew quiet at once; Ivypool noticed that most of them had stayed with their own Clans, instead of mingling to exchange news as they usually did.

Mistystar stood on a low branch and let out a yowl, sweeping her blue gaze around the clearing. Moonlight shone on her gray-blue fur. “I will begin,” she announced. “RiverClan is prospering. The dry weather hasn’t affected the water levels in the lake or the stream, so fishing is good.”

A murmur of approval came from RiverClan, but the other cats were silent.

“Also,” Mistystar went on, “we have two new warriors. Mossypaw and Hollowpaw are now Mossyfoot and Hollowflight.”

“Mossyfoot! Hollowflight!”

Ivypool peered out from behind Lionblaze to see the two new warriors sitting with their heads high while the other cats called out their names. She noticed that most of the cheers came from their own Clan; the others weren’t nearly as enthusiastic. When the yowling had died down, Mistystar dipped her head to the other leaders and sat on her branch, letting her tail hang down.

Firestar rose to his paws and advanced a couple of paces to the end of the branch where he had been sitting. “Prey is running well in ThunderClan,” he reported. “Two days ago a fox appeared in our territory, but our warriors chased it off.”

Ivypool breathed a sigh of relief that the Clan leader didn’t mention what she had done with the fox dung, which led to the fox entering ThunderClan in the first place. He hasn’t mentioned injuries, either. He won’t want ThunderClan to seem weak.

“And we have two new apprentices,” Firestar went on, “Cherrypaw and Molepaw.”

The two young cats sat up straight, their eyes shining, as their Clanmates called out their names. Ivypool thought they were in serious danger of bursting with pride. But still there were only a few cats from other Clans who acknowledged them.

Redwillow of ShadowClan was eyeing the two apprentices thoughtfully, though he remained silent. Paws off! Ivypool wanted to tell him. You’re not having them for the Dark Forest!

Firestar waited until the clearing was quiet, then began to step back. But before he could sit down again, Onestar leaped to his paws, rustling the oak leaves as he balanced on his branch.

“I noticed you haven’t mentioned the way your warriors hang around on the WindClan border,” he rasped. “Are you plotting an invasion?”

Ivypool’s heart beat faster and she swallowed nervously. Is this because Birchfall and I were caught washing in the stream?

Instantly Firestar took a pace forward so that he was facing the WindClan leader. His eyes blazed with green fire. “No!” he exclaimed. “You’re being ridiculous!”