The Forgotten Warrior

Sol swallowed the last bite of vole and swiped his tongue appreciatively around his jaws. “You can’t possibly be afraid of WindClan,” he taunted. “Those scrawny rabbit-chasers? They’re no match for our warriors!”

“We’re not your warriors! You’re not a ThunderClan cat!” Ivypool blurted out.

Several cats gasped, and Whitewing turned and glared at her.

“Ivypool! That’s no way to talk to a visitor.”

“Well, he’s not,” Ivypool muttered.

Dovewing pressed her muzzle sympathetically against her sister’s side and Bumblestripe let his tail-tip rest for a heartbeat on her shoulder. The young warrior exchanged a glance with Dovewing over Ivypool’s head, and she gave a tiny nod in reply.

Dovewing and Bumblestripe seem to be getting very close, Lionblaze thought, and added to himself grimly, I wonder what will happen when Bumblestripe finds out about the prophecy?

Meanwhile, the young cats around Sol raced to reassure him that they weren’t afraid of WindClan at all.

“We’ll show them,” Foxleap yowled. “They can’t order us around like that!”

“Yes, we’ll rip their pelts off if they try,” Blossomfall growled.

Lionblaze listened to them with a growing sense of unease. The last thing any cat should want was a battle with another Clan. But Firestar couldn’t ignore Onestar’s challenge. Now he would be forced to offer hospitality to Sol purely in order to preserve the honor of ThunderClan. Anything else would look like Firestar was obeying orders from WindClan.

We can’t back down now, Lionblaze realized. Onestar has forced us to ally ourselves with Sol, even though he isn’t welcome here.

Chapter 12

Dovewing found herself walking through shadowy trees, and for a heartbeat she was terrified that somehow she had found her way into the Dark Forest. But moonlight was filtering down through the branches, and when she looked up she could see the stars.

All was quiet except that in the distance Dovewing could hear the wails of a cat in distress. She began to search among the ferns and brambles, but she couldn’t figure out where the wails were coming from. They grew louder and more urgent, but the cat still remained hidden.

Panicking, Dovewing started to run. Her flying paws tripped over a dead branch; letting out a startled screech, she rolled over on the ground and woke in her own nest, her legs flailing in the struggle to get up. Ivypool was sleeping beside her, while Cherrypaw and Molepaw were curled up together at the opposite side of the den.

“Whew!” Dovewing muttered. “That was some dream!”

Then she realized that she could still hear the wails of distress. They were fainter than in her dream, but loud enough to reach her through the walls of the camp.

“That’s Sorreltail!” she exclaimed. “And she’s somewhere outside the camp.”

Struggling to her paws, Dovewing scrambled out of the den and raced across the camp to find Jayfeather.

“Wake up!” she panted, brushing past the bramble screen at the entrance to the medicine cat’s den. “Jayfeather, it’s Sorreltail!”

“Wha’?” Jayfeather raised his head, his blue eyes blurred with sleep. “What’s the matter?”

“It’s Sorreltail,” Dovewing repeated. “I can hear her wailing. She must be having her kits, and she’s way outside the camp!”

Jayfeather was instantly alert, springing to his paws and shaking bits of moss and bracken from his pelt. “Her kits are coming early!” he exclaimed. “Show me where.”

Briarlight was waking, too, dragging herself out of her nest. “Can I help?” she meowed.

“No, it’ll be too far for you,” Jayfeather replied. “But be ready to give herbs to Dovewing. I’ll send her back to fetch them when I know what I need.”

As he finished speaking he whisked out of the den with Dovewing hard on his paws. Cloudtail was on watch at the entrance to the tunnel through the barrier.

“What’s going on?” he asked, rising to his paws.

“Sorreltail’s out in the forest, and her kits are coming,” Jayfeather panted, hardly breaking stride as he plunged into the thorns.

As Dovewing followed, she thought Cloudtail looked confused, and realized that no other cats could hear Sorreltail’s heartrending cries. Cloudtail must be wondering how they knew. “Fetch Brackenfur,” she called over her shoulder. “Tell him to follow our scent trail.”

Cloudtail waved his tail in acknowledgment as Dovewing headed out of the camp. Jayfeather was waiting for her at the other end of the tunnel, his claws digging impatiently into the ground.

“Lead the way,” he ordered.

Sorreltail’s pitiful wails were even louder now, flooding Dovewing’s senses. She could hardly believe that Jayfeather couldn’t hear them.

“She’s near the lake,” Dovewing meowed, pointing with her tail before remembering that Jayfeather couldn’t see her. “Follow me.”