The Forgotten Warrior

The paw steps of the WindClan cats were drawing closer, speeding up as they sensed their quarry was near. Ivypool could picture them bounding along the tunnel toward them, jaws parted to take in their ThunderClan scent.

“Okay,” Dovewing mewed. “Show us the way.”

Hollyleaf spun around and whisked down a narrow side tunnel. Ivypool and Dovewing followed her, just as the first of the WindClan cats raced past. Ivypool heard their flying paw steps halt suddenly, followed by a murmur of confused voices.

“Where did they go?”

“They were here, I know they were.”

“Fox dung! We’ve lost them!”

Hollyleaf ignored the WindClan cats, heading deeper into the tunnels. Ivypool pressed close up behind her, terrified of losing her. She knew that she and Dovewing would never find their way out alone. After a while Hollyleaf paused; in the pitch-blackness of the tunnels Ivypool almost barged into her.

“You can trust me, you know,” Hollyleaf meowed. “I led you out once before, remember?”

“Oh!” Ivypool gulped, realizing why Hollyleaf’s scent had seemed familiar. “That was you?”

Hollyleaf padded on without saying more. Soon Ivypool realized that a pale light was filtering into the tunnel; Hollyleaf’s head and ears were outlined against it. A moment later they emerged into a shallow dip of tumbled rocks and fern on the hillside; Ivypool drew in the fresh night air, loaded with the scents of ThunderClan. She turned to their rescuer, a slender, long-legged black she-cat with piercing green eyes. “Thank you!”

“We’d never have made it without you,” Dovewing added, following them out of the tunnel and giving her pelt a shake.

Hollyleaf gave her a curt nod. “Listen,” she meowed. “I’ve heard Sol plotting with the WindClan cats for the last half-moon, and—”

“What?” Ivypool interrupted. “That’s even before he came to ThunderClan.”

“They’re going to attack through the tunnels,” Hollyleaf continued, as if Ivypool hadn’t spoken.

“Then we have to warn the others,” Dovewing mewed, her eyes wide with dismay. “Come on, Ivypool!”

“Wait.” Hollyleaf raised her tail as Dovewing spun around to head for the camp. “It’s not going to happen yet. Sol wants to win more support from your Clanmates first. The WindClan cats know that he’s winning ThunderClan’s friendship so he can betray you.” A soft growl rumbled in her throat. “You should never have let him come back!”

“It wasn’t up to us,” Ivypool pointed out. “And he did save the apprentices from a fox.”

“Sol didn’t save them,” Hollyleaf hissed scornfully. “That was me.”

Shock kept Ivypool silent for a moment. Before she could recover, she saw Dovewing’s ears flick up, and a heartbeat later she heard voices coming from the direction of the camp.

“Dovewing! Ivypool!”

“Mouse dung!” she muttered. “They’re looking for us.”

Panic flared in Hollyleaf’s green eyes. “Don’t tell any cat you saw me,” she begged.

“Why not?” Dovewing asked. “Why can’t you come home? You belong here!”

“You don’t understand,” Hollyleaf whispered, beginning to back away toward the tunnel opening. “I have to go!”

But before she could plunge back into the darkness, a shaft of moonlight broke through the clouds, fixing all three cats in a pool of silver light. At the same moment Lionblaze appeared on a rock at the edge of the dip, and stood looking down at them.

“No!” His voice rang out in the night air. “Hollyleaf, I won’t let you run away again.”

Chapter 14

Movement outside his den woke Jayfeather, and he padded into the clearing to discover several of his Clanmates milling around outside their dens.

“What’s going on?” he asked, hurrying up to Graystripe, who was standing beside Firestar near the thorn tunnel.

“Cherrypaw woke up,” the gray warrior replied. “She realized that Ivypool and Dovewing weren’t in their nests. She told Firestar, and we’ve been searching the camp.”

“There’s no sign of either of them,” Sandstorm reported worriedly, bounding over to join them.

“Then we have to send out search parties,” the ThunderClan leader decided. “I don’t trust WindClan since Onestar threatened us. Dovewing and Ivypool could have been captured.”

“If WindClan has laid a claw on our warriors, we’ll rip their pelts off,” Graystripe growled.

Since Jayfeather couldn’t help with the search, he returned to his den, but he couldn’t sleep. He wasn’t as worried about Dovewing and Ivypool as the rest of the Clan, knowing what he did about them.

But it’s odd that they’d vanish in the night without giving me any idea of what they’re doing, he thought. He shivered as a new thought struck him. They wouldn’t put WindClan’s threats to the test on their own, would they? They’ve already gotten in trouble for visiting their camp in the past.