The Forgotten Warrior

As the cats dispersed, their paw steps and their astonished comments dying into silence, Firestar padded up to Jayfeather and Lionblaze. “You too,” he ordered. “Rest now. You can spend as much time as you want with your sister tomorrow.”

I’m not sure I can face that, Jayfeather thought. I don’t know what to say to her.

Before he could leave for his den, Ivypool and Dovewing padded up, their uneasiness as plain as if they had yowled it from the Highledge.

“Firestar, we’ve got some urgent news,” Dovewing began. “When we found Hollyleaf—or when she found us—we were listening to Sol plotting with some WindClan cats to attack ThunderClan!”

“I knew we couldn’t trust Sol,” Jayfeather hissed. “Where is he now?”

“Not here.” Firestar sounded grave.

Jayfeather snorted. “What a surprise!”

“Firestar, should we attack WindClan?” Ivypool asked.

“That’s not a good idea,” Firestar responded; Jayfeather could feel his anxiety rising. “Onestar is already looking for any sign of hostility, so we’ll have to wait for him to make the first move. But we’ll be ready,” he added. “I’ll order extra patrols, and every cat must be ready for battle at a moment’s notice.”

Jayfeather heard Lionblaze working his claws into the earth of the camp floor. “It’s not that simple,” he meowed. “WindClan will attack through the tunnels, like they did before. ThunderClan cats have no experience in fighting underground, and that means we’ll have to wait until the attackers are right in the heart of our territory.”

“We have the advantage in forests,” Firestar reminded him. “Whatever the risk, we will have to bring the battle to us.”

For the rest of the night Jayfeather slept uneasily, shifting about in his nest, the darkness broken by flashing images of places he didn’t recognize: a rocky slope; a pool by the gnarled roots of an oak; a wide river glittering in starshine. The sound of a cat brushing past the bramble screen brought him back to full wakefulness. He recognized Hollyleaf’s scent, carried on a damp dawn breeze.

“Hi.” Briarlight greeted her confidently. “I’m Briarlight; I’m Jayfeather’s assistant. I’ll wake him for you.”

Jayfeather heard the sound of Briarlight dragging herself out of her nest, followed by a surprised meow from Hollyleaf. “Oh, you can’t…”

“Walk?” Briarlight finished for her. “Not really. But that doesn’t mean I can’t be useful.”

“N-no, I guess not,” Hollyleaf mewed.

Jayfeather rose to his paws and padded into the middle of the den. But when he stood facing his sister, his mouth went dry. He had no idea what to say to her.

“I’m back,” Hollyleaf mewed after a long silence.

“Yes.” Jayfeather had to force out the word.

“Can we go for a walk?” Hollyleaf suggested. “Lionblaze, too? There’s… there’s a lot I need to tell you.”

Clouds covered the sky as Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Hollyleaf headed out into the forest. The air carried the scent of rain and a chilly breeze blew into their faces. But Jayfeather felt ruffled by more than just the wind. None of the three spoke until they emerged from the trees onto the grassy slope that led down to the lake and sat in the shelter of an elder bush. Then Hollyleaf took a deep breath.

“Thank you,” she mewed. “I guess you didn’t tell Firestar what… what I did.”

“There was no point,” Lionblaze replied. “It was much easier for every cat to think it was a rogue who killed Ashfur.”

Jayfeather couldn’t entirely agree, but he said nothing, keeping his face turned toward the lapping of waves on the shore.

“Didn’t any cat think it was odd?” Hollyleaf asked. “The timing, I mean?”

“I don’t think any cat stopped to wonder about it,” Jayfeather grunted. “There was a lot of other stuff going on, if you remember.”

“Yes, of course.” Hollyleaf’s voice was meek. “What about now? Will you tell Firestar the truth?”

“Why would we?” Lionblaze burst out. Jayfeather could imagine his brother’s golden neck fur bristling.

“Because I got away,” Hollyleaf pointed out.

“But you didn’t really,” Lionblaze meowed. “You exiled yourself from the Clan; that’s quite a punishment.”

Something about his brother’s words made Jayfeather’s pain well up and spill over like rain overflowing the edges of a leaf. “No!” he hissed. “You let us think that you were dead! How could you do that?”

For a few heartbeats Hollyleaf was silent. “I had no choice,” she murmured at last. “You were better off without me.”

“That wasn’t your decision to make,” Jayfeather told her. “And you were wrong. You’re our littermate. Nothing you could do will ever change that.”

Hollyleaf sighed. “But I’m not one of the prophecy, am I? Does that mean I’ve ruined everything? That the prophecy won’t come true?”

Jayfeather felt Lionblaze look sharply at him. He took a deep breath. “There is a third cat. You met her last night. She’s Dovewing, Whitewing’s daughter.”

Hollyleaf let out a puff of breath. “Well… maybe it wasn’t a coincidence that I met her in the tunnels last night. What… what can she do?”