The Forgotten Warrior

“You shouldn’t doubt Brokenstar’s decisions,” a white she-cat mewed. “Don’t you trust him?”

Ivypool dipped her head, her fur hot with annoyance that she had made such a mouse-brained error. “Yeah, sorry.”

“Go back to your training,” Brokenstar continued from the pile of tree trunks, “and be ready for the final signal. It will come soon.”

He and the other leaders jumped down from the fallen trees and the ranks of cats began to file into the shadows. Ivypool wriggled through the crowd, craning her neck to look for Hawkfrost. Finally she spotted him; he had seen her, too, and was beckoning to her with his tail. Shouldering her way through the crush of bodies, Ivypool reached his side.

“I want to speak to Brokenstar,” she announced.

“He’s busy,” Hawkfrost replied, angling his ears to where Brokenstar and the other leaders were talking quietly together at the foot of the pile of tree trunks.

“But this is important,” Ivypool insisted.

Hawkfrost twitched his whiskers. “Do you have information we should know about?”

“No,” Ivypool answered, thinking fast. “I-I just want to know what I have to do to be treated like a warrior. I don’t want to fight at the back, where cowards hide. I want to be at the head of the attack, doing the most that I can to help my Dark Forest Clanmates.”

Hawkfrost blinked, looking impressed. “I knew you were special,” he meowed. “I’m glad I chose you. Come with me.” He turned and led the way toward the senior warriors. “Excuse me, Brokenstar,” he murmured. “My apprentice wants a word with you.”

Mapleshade let out a furious hiss at the interruption, her amber eyes glaring at Ivypool. But to Ivypool’s surprise Tigerstar beckoned her forward with a jerk of his massive head. “You can say what you have to say in front of all of us,” he mewed.

As she took a deep breath, Ivypool felt Brokenstar’s piercing stare burn her pelt. She tried not to flinch. He challenged my loyalty when Flametail wandered into the Dark Forest, she remembered. Oh, StarClan, let him believe me now!

She was aware, too, of other cats around her, hanging back from those who were filing into the trees. They were gazing at her in awe that a mere apprentice should dare to address the most senior cats in the Dark Forest.

This is the most important thing I will ever do for ThunderClan.

“Make me a warrior,” she meowed to Brokenstar. “I will do whatever it takes to earn your trust. I want to help you defeat the Clans as much as any cat here, if not more. Use me however you wish.”

The oldest of the leaders, little more than a faint shadow against the slimy trunk behind him, loomed threateningly over her. “Big words for one so small,” he growled.

Ivypool forced herself not to shy away from his stinky breath and his baleful eyes as he inspected her all over.

Brokenstar shoved him away. “Leave her alone, Maggottail.” Glancing around, he flicked his tail to summon another cat. “Come here, Antpelt.” When the brown tom was standing beside them, he addressed Ivypool. “You fought once before, and Antpelt lost. Can you beat him again?”

Ivypool swallowed hard. She knew exactly what Brokenstar meant. There can only be one survivor this time. She glanced at Antpelt, whose neck fur was bristling in anticipation of a fight. He’s dead already. He’s dead already, she reminded herself desperately. If I kill him here, it’s not like killing him for real. And maybe Antpelt would be better off out of this terrible place before the final battle. He was a good cat when I first knew him. How will he feel if he has to attack his former Clanmates?

For the sake of ThunderClan, for the sake of all the Clans by the lake, Ivypool knew she had to win this fight. She took a deep breath. StarClan help me!

Summoning all her strength, all the battle moves she had ever learned, and the last reserves of her courage, Ivypool sprang at Antpelt. He reared up to meet her; as she slammed into his belly he grasped her shoulders with his forepaws, raking his claws through her fur. The hot scent of her own blood hit Ivypool in the throat. Letting herself fall backward, she battered at Antpelt’s belly with her hind claws, and felt savage satisfaction when she gouged out tufts of brown fur.

Antpelt screeched and rolled away from her but as Ivypool scrambled to her paws he crashed into her side, carrying her to the ground again and slashing his claws down her flank.