The Forgotten Warrior

Dovewing thought for a heartbeat, then shook her head. “I don’t want to get our Clanmates into trouble when I can’t be sure exactly what was going on. And it’s all Sol’s fault, anyway. You can bet that I’ll keep a close watch on him from now on,” she added more forcefully as she bounded away.

Ivypool followed, her belly still churning. Even if Dove-wing doubted what she had overheard, Ivypool was convinced that her sister’s first instincts had been right.

Something’s going on, and Sol is at the bottom of it.

Ivypool woke with a start. Dovewing was curled up close beside her, while at the opposite side of the den Molepaw was snoring softly and Cherrypaw’s tail was twitching as if she were deep inside a dream.

I wish the warriors’ den weren’t so crowded, Ivypool thought. We’re warriors; we shouldn’t be stuck in here with the apprentices!

But there was no time to worry about that now. Somehow in her sleep an idea had come to her, and she knew she had to check it out right away. She gave Dovewing a gentle prod.

“Wake up,” she breathed into her sister’s ear. “And keep quiet. We don’t want to wake the apprentices.”

Dovewing sat straight up, instantly alert. “Is something happening in the Dark Forest?”

Ivypool shook her head, relieved that her dreams hadn’t taken her there that night. “No, this is about Sol,” she replied in a whisper. “I think I know where he vanished to today.”

The visiting cat hadn’t returned to the camp before dark, and no cat had seemed to know where he was. Ivypool had heard Dustpelt muttering, “Good riddance. I never trusted him anyway.”

Cloudtail had agreed with a lash of his tail. “That cat is trouble wherever he goes.”

Now Ivypool leaned even closer to murmur into Dove-wing’s ear. “Come with me. We have to go right away, or it might be too late.”

Side by side, the two she-cats slipped out of their den. Clouds drifted across the moon; its light was faint and uneven. Here and there a warrior of StarClan glittered frostily. Graystripe was on watch; they waited until his head was turned the other way, then raced across the camp and plunged into the dirtplace tunnel. Heartbeats later they were once more climbing the path that led to the top of the hollow.

“Take me to the place where you heard Sol,” Ivypool meowed.

She followed Dovewing until they reached a bramble thicket near the edge of the cliff. Jaws parted to pick up Sol’s scent, Ivypool began to search, poking among the bramble tendrils, crouching low so that she could see underneath them.

“I don’t think Sol would hide under there,” Dovewing objected. “He likes to be comfortable.”

“I’m not looking for a cozy hiding place,” Ivypool replied. She knew exactly what she was looking for. It has to be here somewhere.

At last she spotted what she was searching for; her paws tingled with a mixture of fear and excitement as she clawed aside a pawful of bramble tendrils to reveal a dark hole leading deep into the ground.

“Sol went down there?” Dovewing asked, sounding incredulous.

“It’s a tunnel,” Ivypool explained. “The hillside is full of them. Remember when Icecloud fell into one, when we were doing our assessment? Well…” She went on more hesitantly as Dovewing flicked her ears. “Blossomfall and I… er… went down there, too. We walked underground for ages.”

“You never told me!” Dovewing exclaimed indignantly.

Ivypool shrugged, unwilling to get into an argument. “If Sol knows about these tunnels,” she pointed out, “then he could have gone down one and be anywhere by now.”

Dovewing crept closer and took a deep sniff. “Sol’s scent is here,” she meowed. “It’s faint, but it’s definitely his.” She paused for a heartbeat, then added, “What do we do now?”

“Follow him,” Ivypool declared. She was half-scared by her own suggestion, but she didn’t see any other option. They couldn’t accuse a cat who was considered a hero by half her Clanmates of plotting with WindClan—not unless they had real evidence.

Dovewing’s eyes stretched wide, but she didn’t argue, just gave her sister a brief nod. “Lead on,” she mewed.

Ivypool squeezed into the tunnel. It was so narrow that her fur brushed the walls on either side, and their bodies blocked the dim light from outside. Her heart began to pound as she walked into the dark, but she made herself keep going.

“This shouldn’t be as bad as last time I was underground,” she whispered after a few moments, trying to reassure herself as much as Dovewing. “With your special senses, you should be able to work out where we’re going, just as easily as if we could see.”

“I’m not sure.” Dovewing’s voice quivered. “It’s all so strange down here… so confusing… Give me a moment to get used to it.”