The Forgotten Warrior

Lionblaze felt the tension in the deputy’s voice, and watched his slowly lashing tail. I don’t blame him for getting frustrated, he thought with a stab of sympathy.

“Millie,” Brambleclaw went on more quietly as the querulous voices died down. “You’re leading a hunting patrol with Toadstep, Mousewhisker, and Hollyleaf.”

Lionblaze heard several gasps of shock as Brambleclaw announced the names, a protest rippling like a cold wind through the Clan. Toadstep muttered something to Foxleap.

“What was that, Toadstep?” Brambleclaw’s voice was icy.

Toadstep hesitated for a moment, then raised his head defiantly. “I don’t want to be on a patrol with Hollyleaf,” he meowed. “I don’t know her! Patrols are supposed to trust one another with their lives, but we have no idea what Hollyleaf has been doing since she vanished.”

Lionblaze stared at the young warrior in dismay. Did he really say that? As more murmurings broke out around him he realized that Toadstep wasn’t the only cat who was suspicious about Hollyleaf.

“She could have been anywhere,” Icecloud whispered.

“Yeah, how do we know she wasn’t with one of the other Clans?” Hazeltail responded.

“No offense, Hollyleaf.” Mousewhisker stepped forward and confronted the black she-cat. “I know we were friends before, but you’ve hardly said anything about where you’ve been. And now you’ve come back just when Sol reappears—is there a connection?”

Hollyleaf looked startled.

“There’s no need for this,” Brambleclaw meowed, before any other cat could say anything. “The past is the past. You’re making a fuss about nothing.”

“Really, Brambleclaw? Nothing?” Birchfall padded up to the deputy, his amber eyes serious. “Why won’t Hollyleaf tell us where she’s been? And why did she leave in the first place?”

Lionblaze took a breath for an indignant protest, but left it unspoken. Perhaps these questions would have to be answered before Hollyleaf could stay in the Clan.

“Yes, why did you leave?” Thornclaw sounded much more belligerent than his Clanmates.

Brightheart let her tail rest lightly on the tabby warrior’s shoulder. “No need to ruffle your fur, Thornclaw,” she mewed. To Hollyleaf she added gently, “If you tell us, we’ll understand, whatever it is. Did some cat do something to hurt you? We need to know.”

Hollyleaf was still silent.

Thornclaw shook off Brightheart’s tail. “You left not long after Ashfur was killed.” He spoke slowly, as if he was thinking about every word. “Hollyleaf, did it have something to do with that?”

Lionblaze thought that his heart had stopped beating. A thick silence hung in the clearing, as though every cat had been turned to ice.

Then Poppyfrost called out, “No, of course it doesn’t! If Hollyleaf had seen who had killed Ashfur, she would have told us back then.”

Thornclaw blinked. “I’m not asking if she witnessed another cat killing him.”

This time Lionblaze thought that the silence would last forever. Berrynose turned to Thornclaw. His whisper sounded throughout the clearing like the shriek of trapped prey. “You think Hollyleaf was the killer?”

Poppyfrost’s eyes stretched wide. “She can’t be!”

“I won’t believe it,” Cinderheart declared.

“Nor will I,” Leafpool agreed. “Oh, Hollyleaf…” Her voice faded into silence.

Birchfall’s gaze was fixed on Hollyleaf. “I don’t want to believe it,” he rasped. “But it makes sense.”

More voices rose around Hollyleaf where she stood, hunched and small, in the middle of the clearing. Lionblaze stared desperately at his Clanmates, wondering what in the name of StarClan he could say; he felt as if a piece of fresh-kill was lodged in his throat, choking him. He glanced at Firestar for help, but the Clan leader was standing in silence, his eyes slightly narrowed and his gaze fixed on Hollyleaf. There was nothing to tell Lionblaze what he was thinking.

“Hollyleaf, you have to speak for yourself,” Graystripe called out.

“Yes, let’s hear what happened,” Thornclaw demanded, sliding out his claws with a menacing look at Hollyleaf.

Lionblaze stepped forward, putting himself between his sister and the tabby warrior. “Stop!” he snarled. “This is ridiculous. There’s no way that Hollyleaf knows anything about Ashfur’s death.”

Hollyleaf took a pace toward Lionblaze until they were so close that their pelts brushed. Her green eyes were full of misery, and she was gaunt from the hardship of her life as a loner, but Lionblaze could read determination in every hair on her pelt.

“No, Lionblaze,” she whispered. “I know you’re only trying to help, but you must let me speak. I think it’s time for the truth to come out.”

Lionblaze heard a whimper from somewhere at the back of the crowd. Without turning to look, he knew that it had come from Squirrelflight. The rest of the Clan was silent, pressing around Hollyleaf in a circle, a barrier of eyes.

Hollyleaf raised her head and spoke clearly to her Clan. “Thornclaw is right. I was there when Ashfur died. And his death was my fault.”