The Forgotten Warrior

Dovewing narrowed her eyes. Maybe you’re just as furious as you seem, she thought. And maybe you’re not. But you’d better not put a paw wrong now, because I’ll be watching.

“Mouse-brains!” Ivypool muttered with an icy glare. “They’re lucky we never told Firestar what you heard.”

“Thank StarClan Sol left, and they never got pulled deeper in,” Dovewing responded in a whisper.

Firestar waited until the worst of the noise had died down.

“I can’t say I’m surprised to hear what Sol is up to,” he went on. “It explains why he hasn’t shown himself here in the hollow for the last few sunrises.”

“He’d better stay away if he knows what’s good for him,” Thornclaw growled.

“We have to attack WindClan now!” Cloudtail’s neck fur fluffed up as he spoke, and several other warriors caterwauled in agreement.

Dovewing half expected her Clan to stream out through the thorn barrier and race for the WindClan border without any more discussion. Even though she knew what a bad idea that would be, her paws itched to be on the move.

But Firestar raised his tail for silence. Gradually the tumult died away and the cats sat down again, but their neck fur was still fluffed up; their eyes glared with hostility and their claws scratched at the bare earth.

“We are not at war with WindClan yet,” the Clan leader meowed. “We have no way of knowing whether Onestar is aware of this, or whether Sol is making plans with a few cats he has befriended. And we’re not going to approach Onestar about it, because we don’t want to give him the idea of attacking.”

“Then what are we going to do?” Dustpelt challenged. “We can’t just sit here and wait.”

“Of course not,” Firestar replied. “We’ll plan for a battle with the whole of WindClan, but it might not come to that. We’ll wait for WindClan to come to us, because we’re strongest in our own territory. We all know that WindClan doesn’t like fighting among trees.”

“That’s right!” Birchfall called out. “We can climb trees and drop on their heads, like we did when we fought ShadowClan.”

“And ambush them from the undergrowth,” Sandstorm added. “WindClan cats are used to being able to see a long way in all directions.”

“Good suggestions,” Firestar responded, dipping his head.

“I can’t believe this!” Dovewing heard Poppyfrost murmur to Berrynose a couple of tail-lengths away. “That fleapelt even lied about saving our kits!”

Berrynose nodded, flexing his claws. “How dare he betray us! I’ll claw his fur off the next time I see him.”

“I knew we shouldn’t have trusted him again,” Graystripe meowed, overhearing them. He had an expression of grim satisfaction on his face. “He’s treacherous through and through.”

While they were speaking, Brambleclaw had risen to his paws and stepped forward to the edge of the Highledge. “We need extra border patrols,” he announced. “Sandstorm, will you lead one with Cloudtail and Hazeltail? Graystripe, you lead the other; Spiderleg and Bumblestripe, go with him. And all the hunting patrols still need to stay away from the WindClan border. We don’t want to look for trouble, so no more washing your paws in the stream!”

“As if we would!” Dovewing exclaimed indignantly, while Ivypool hunched her shoulders and gave her chest fur a couple of embarrassed licks.

“Dustpelt and Brackenfur,” Brambleclaw went on, “I want you to work out a way to block off the entrances to the tunnels nearest the camp. We have to stop WindClan from attacking us in the heart of our territory.”

Hollyleaf sprang up. “Don’t block all of them!”

There were a few gasps of shock, as if some cats couldn’t believe that the newly returned warrior would dare to interrupt the Clan deputy. Brambleclaw looked startled, his neck fur fluffing up as he turned his gaze on the black she-cat.

“Why not?” he queried.

“It’s better that we keep the WindClan cats contained in a small area when they do attack,” Hollyleaf explained. Her voice was quiet, and she dipped her head respectfully to the deputy. “There are tunnels at the edge of our territory that we should block off first, to stop the WindClan cats from surrounding us.”

Brambleclaw blinked thoughtfully, recovering from his surprise, his neck fur flattening again. “So, which tunnels should we block?”

“Come down here, and I’ll show you.”

While Firestar and Brambleclaw ran down the tumbled rocks, Hollyleaf used her tail to clear fallen leaves from a patch of earth. She began to sketch a plan with her claws; Dovewing wriggled in frustration that she was too far away to see.

“These are the farthest tunnels,” Hollyleaf mewed, slicing her claws at the ground. “They should be blocked first.”

Dustpelt and Brackenfur shouldered their way through their Clanmates so they could watch.

“There’s sense in that,” Dustpelt admitted.

“What’s the best way to block the openings?” Brackenfur asked.