The Forgotten Warrior

A chill ran through Ivypool from ears to tail-tip. Has Tigerheart told Dovewing what he saw me doing in the Dark Forest? Her belly heaved as she remembered the moment when Brokenstar had tried to make her kill Flametail when he wandered into the Dark Forest from StarClan.

“What sort of trouble?” she pressed Dovewing, unable to bear the uncertainty. “You know, you can’t believe everything Tigerheart says.”

“Too right!” Dovewing burst out loudly, then lowered her voice again with a swift glance around to see if any warrior was listening. “He’s trying to make me believe that Dawnpelt has a grudge against Jayfeather because he didn’t save Flametail. She thinks Jayfeather murdered him. According to Tigerheart, Dawnpelt is planning something really bad for ThunderClan.” She twitched her whiskers. “Does he think that’s going to scare me?”

Ivypool relaxed, trying not to let her sister see how relieved she was. “Maybe you should tell Brambleclaw,” she suggested. “He might want to put extra cats on ShadowClan border patrols.”

“And get into trouble for talking to Tigerheart?” Dovewing responded. “I don’t think so.” She leaped up onto the end of the tree-bridge and looked down at Ivypool. “Honestly, what damage can Dawnpelt do? It’s all a lie, and she knows it.”

Chapter 7

On the morning after the Gathering, Lionblaze returned from the dawn patrol and headed straight for Firestar’s den. The sun was shining down into the hollow, and puffs of white cloud scudded across a blue sky. The camp was filled with the noise of peaceful activity, but Lionblaze couldn’t help feeling that trouble was heading for them like a swelling storm cloud.

As he climbed up to the top of the tumbled rocks, Lionblaze heard Brambleclaw’s voice coming from Firestar’s den.

“Do you think Onestar was making all that up?” the Clan deputy meowed. “Is he looking for a fight?”

“I hope not,” Firestar replied. “But WindClan is certainly getting hostile.”

“Firestar?” Lionblaze reached the entrance to the den and poked his head inside. “Can I talk to you?”

Firestar was sitting on his pile of bedding at the back of the den, with Brambleclaw standing beside him. “Come in,” he invited with a wave of his tail. “We were just discussing Onestar’s outburst at the Gathering.”

Lionblaze padded into the den, dipping his head to Brambleclaw. “I heard what you were saying,” he began. “That’s what I wanted to discuss, too. What if WindClan is right?”

“What?” Brambleclaw’s tail-tip twitched. “You think ThunderClan cats—?”

“No,” Lionblaze interrupted. “I know that’s not true. But suppose they have seen a cat hanging around? Remember what Cherrypaw and Molepaw said they saw. We might well have a rogue wandering about in the territory.”

Firestar nodded. “That’s a very good point.”

“I’ll track it down if you like,” Lionblaze offered, “and send it on its way.” Waiting tensely for his leader’s reply, he added to himself, And then I can find out if what Jayfeather and I suspect is true.

“There’s no need for that,” Brambleclaw meowed. “We can just send out extra patrols.”

“No,” Firestar decided after a moment’s thought. “Lionblaze can go alone if he wants. There’s no need to be aggressive about this. We just need to find out if there’s any evidence of an intruder.”

Brambleclaw looked slightly puzzled, but dipped his head toward Firestar. “Fine, if you think that’s best.”

Lionblaze bade the two cats a hasty farewell, and ran down the tumbled rocks into the clearing. On his way to the thorn tunnel, he spotted Jayfeather outside his den, sniffing at the fox bite on Foxleap’s shoulder. Lionblaze veered toward him.

“That smells fine,” Jayfeather meowed to Foxleap as Lionblaze approached. “See me again tomorrow. If there are no more problems I think you can go back to warrior duties in a few days.”

“Great, thanks!” Foxleap replied, heading toward the warriors’ den.

Jayfeather turned to Lionblaze. “Well? What are you so excited about?”

Lionblaze paused for a heartbeat, still finding it odd after all this time that Jayfeather could judge his feelings so accurately without being able to see him. “Firestar has given me permission to go and look for the intruder,” he told his brother.

Jayfeather twitched his ears. “Really? You’d better be careful, then.” A heartbeat later, he added, “What will you do if we’re right?”

“I don’t know,” Lionblaze admitted, feeling a tingle in his paws. “But I don’t want any other cat finding out first.”

“True enough,” Jayfeather commented.