Eclipse

Chapter 20

Hollypaw stared at Sol, suddenly aware of how untidy she and her littermates looked. Their pelts were ruffled, with crumbs of leaf and scraps of moss sticking out, and she and Lionpaw were bloodstained around their claws. Sol gazed at them, his elegant tricolored head tilted, the white patches on his pelt tinged pink by the late-afternoon sun. His eyes shone, amber as sunlit sap.

Would he be angry they’d tracked him down?

He didn’t look angry.

He didn’t even look surprised, just blinked calmly at them and dipped his head in greeting.

“I thought you would come.” His mew was as rich and smooth as high-season honey. He was looking at Jaypaw. “I knew you’d be curious after the great darkness came.”

Jaypaw padded forward. “How did you know it was coming?”

Sol’s whiskers twitched. “Did it frighten you?”

“Of course!”

“Even though I told you it would happen?”

His gaze was unwavering, and so intense that Hollypaw found her sight glazing until the forest blurred around her and all she could see was Sol’s eyes.

She blinked, shivering. She was just tired.

Jaypaw lifted his chin challengingly toward Sol. “Is that why you came to ThunderClan? To warn us?”

The tip of Sol’s tail twitched. “It’s not my business to give warnings.” He padded onto the unkempt grass at the side of the pebbly path, flattening a patch with his paws before sitting down. He swept his thick brown-and-white tail over the grass and rested it in front of him.

“Come.” He tipped his head to one side, indicating that they should sit down too. “If we are going to talk, we may as well be comfortable.”

Jaypaw padded forward, feeling for the grass. Hollypaw followed a little self-consciously. Sol was watching them closely.

The grass was long but soft, and she flattened a spot to sit on, as Sol had done.

Lionpaw hung back in the doorway, his fur bristling.

“Come on,” Hollypaw called, smoothing a space next to her with her tail.

Lionpaw padded forward with his eyes fixed on the stranger and sat down beside her.

“Your brother looks as if he doesn’t trust me,” Sol observed.

“You’re not a Clan cat,” Lionpaw answered.

Sol blinked. “Do you trust every Clan cat?”

“Of course not!” Lionpaw snapped. “But I can make a pretty good guess at what they’re thinking.”

“You came looking for me, don’t forget,” Sol chided. “Is it fair to disturb me, then reproach me because you can’t read my thoughts?”

Lionpaw narrowed his eyes. “I guess not.”

Hollypaw felt Jaypaw fidgeting beside her, running his forepaws over the grass.

Sol must have noticed too. “You have something you want to ask me, yes?” he prompted.

“Do you know about the prophecy?” Jaypaw burst out.

Hollypaw stretched her eyes wide. No cat knew about the prophecy except Firestar—and he didn’t know that they knew.

Beside her, Lionpaw’s ears were twitching. Why was Jaypaw sharing their deepest secret with a complete stranger?

But he had known the sun would vanish.

Sol flicked the tip of his tail. “It concerns all three of you, doesn’t it?”

Jaypaw nodded. “‘There will be three, kin of your kin, who hold the power of the stars in their paws.’”

“And you are the kin,” Sol murmured. He dipped his head with respect.

Jaypaw was trembling like an excited kit. Hollypaw glanced at him in surprise. He really believed that this cat held answers StarClan would not give him. Or could not give him. A shiver rippled down Hollypaw’s spine. Maybe the prophecy did lie beyond anything StarClan could predict.

She felt sick, and pushed away the thought as her heart began to race. There was nothing beyond StarClan! Nothing beyond the warrior code!

Sol interrupted her thoughts. “The prophecy is a grave responsibility for three such young cats to bear.” His amber eyes were round with sympathy.

Jaypaw clawed at the grass. “I can walk in other cats’ dreams, and in their memories.”

But Sol was staring at Lionpaw. “And you? I can see something burns within.”

Lionpaw’s tail quivered.

Sol’s voice softened. “Something that maybe frightens you a little?”

“I can fight in battles without getting hurt,” Lionpaw confessed, sounding very young and small.

Hollypaw stared at her paws. What was her special power?

She knew it was there. She could feel it inside her. But the only thing she felt certain of—so certain it felt like a thorn-sharp stab in her side—was the need to defend the warrior code, the absolute faith that it was vital for the Clans’ existence.

Would Sol understand? He was a loner. How could he appreciate the importance of something that held the four Clans together? She looked up at him, expecting to see his amber gaze on her, but Sol had tipped his head to one side again and closed his eyes.

“Of course, you must nurture these powers.” His mew was light, as though this were a small matter to him. “Listen to your inner voices, to the instinct that in every other cat would merely help them find food or shelter. Who’s to say that in you, these instincts won’t help you achieve more?”

Jaypaw f licked a mosquito from his nose. “Did the vanishing sun have anything to do with us?”

Hollypaw blinked. It hadn’t occurred to her that the prophecy and the sun’s terrifying disappearance might be connected. She leaned forward, paws prickling.

“Maybe it did.” Sol swept his tail over the grass.

Hollypaw felt Lionpaw stiffen beside her. “How?”

“Maybe you are like the shadow covering the sun, and one day you will cover the stars in the sky, so that the cats see you instead of StarClan.”

Hollypaw gasped. “Does that mean we’ll be dead?”

Sol shook his head. “Of course not,” he meowed. “You’ll just be more powerful than your warrior ancestors. The light will return, just like the sun came back, but it will be your light, and yours to control.”

Our light?

Jaypaw looked like a startled mouse, his tail sticking straight out behind him.

“B-but if we control the light…” Hollypaw searched for the words to describe the fear rising inside her. Nothing made sense right now. It was all upside down. “If we control the light…”

Sol leaned forward, as though willing her to speak.

“What about the warrior code?” she mewed at last. “How will it fit in?”

“However you want it to,” Sol meowed simply. “You will have the power to destroy the code, or preserve it. It’s up to you.”

Destroy the code!

Hollypaw felt dizzy. “We can’t be more powerful than the code,” she whispered.

Jaypaw padded in front of her. “Sol.” He looked up at the tom. “You must come back with us.” His mew was urgent.

“We need you to be our mentor.”

“Me?” Sol paused for a moment to wrap his tail neatly over his paws. “You don’t need me. The prophecy will take care of itself.” He made it sound like the simplest thing in the world.

“But you know so much more than the others,” Jaypaw insisted. “You knew the sun was going to vanish. You must be able to help us.”

“But I can’t possibly live in your territory,” Sol pointed out.

“Firestar would never allow it.”

Lionpaw stepped forward, eyes shining. “You could live just outside it, though.” A bat fluttered above them. “We could build you a den and visit you every day and bring food.”

Hollypaw was still swimming against the tide of fear lapping at her. More powerful than the code! She felt Jaypaw nudging her.

“You want him to come, don’t you?” he mewed.

She heard herself answer. “W-won’t it be hard to keep up with our apprentice duties?” Her common sense worked her tongue while her mind still reeled. What might this stranger show them? They had learned nearly everything their mentors had to teach, yet there was room for so much more. And if they were really destined to be more powerful than the warrior code, they were going to need much greater guidance.

“Please come!” Jaypaw begged.

Sol glanced at the Twoleg nest, wrinkling his nose. “Very well.”

Hollypaw stared at him in surprise. How had he changed his mind so quickly? “Really?” She gasped, relief flooding her.

Sol nodded. “How can I ignore the prophecy? You have asked for my help to walk your true path.”

Jaypaw bounced onto the stone trail. “Let’s go!”

Lionpaw took the lead, and Sol fell in behind. Jaypaw skittered after Lionpaw like a kit, trying to make him go faster, as if he couldn’t wait to have his first lesson from Sol. Hollypaw was used to seeing her brother stomping reluctantly about the camp as he carried out his apprentice duties. Now he was so excited, she wondered why she felt only fear.

But it was exciting, wasn’t it? Just because she would be more powerful than the warrior code didn’t mean she’d have to destroy it. She would have the power to preserve it forever.

Sol had said so. It was more than she had ever hoped for: the ability to secure the future of all four Clans for all the moons to come.

They retraced their steps to the ShadowClan border, then followed the scent markers toward their own territory. It was late, the sun sinking toward the treetops and Lionpaw was pushing the pace, clearly keen to get Sol settled and return to camp. Had they been missed? How would they explain their disappearance?

A rustle in the bushes on the other side of the border made Hollypaw jump.

Jaypaw halted, pulling on Lionpaw’s tail. “Shh!”

The cats ducked, trying to hide, but it was too late.

“What in the name of StarClan are you doing there?”

Russetfur’s eyes burned in the shadows, wide with astonishment.

“Don’t worry,” Hollypaw whispered to Sol. “ShadowClan were our allies in the battle today.”

“Are you spying on us?” Russetfur’s mew was sharp. “Did Firestar send you?”

Jaypaw straightened up and faced the ShadowClan deputy across the scent line. “Like Firestar would send me to spy,” he meowed sarcastically.

“Then what are you doing here?” Russetfur demanded.

Smokefoot padded out of the shadows behind her. He was staring at Sol, his gaze lingering on the cat’s soft fur and blunt claws. “Looks like Firestar’s adopting another kittypet,” he declared.

Sol frowned. “Kittypet?”

Lionpaw glanced at him. “He means a cat born in a Twoleg nest.” He turned to Smokefoot, eyes gleaming. “Sol isn’t a kittypet.”

“Then he’s a loner,” Smokefoot growled. “And no more welcome in a Clan than a kittypet.”

A tabby she-cat with long unkempt fur slid in beside her Clanmates. “Oh, but ThunderClan welcomes everyone,” she sneered.

Lionpaw unsheathed his claws.

Russetfur stiffened. “Shut up, Kinkfur,” she hissed. “I don’t want any more fighting today.” Her mew seemed edged with fear. Hollypaw noticed for the first time how tatty the ShadowClan deputy’s pelt was. Dried blood crusted the tip of one ear, and Smokefoot’s eyes were dull with tiredness. The battle had taken its toll on ShadowClan, too. She spotted Owlpaw behind his Clanmates. The apprentice was gazing fearfully up at the sun, fiery now as it slid behind the treetops. Were they afraid that StarClan would hide it again if they started fighting?

“They won’t attack,” Hollypaw whispered. She nudged Lionpaw and tipped her nose toward the sun.

He seemed to understand. “Come on.” He beckoned Sol and his littermates with a flick of his tail. “Let’s go home.”

“Wait!” Russetfur ordered.

Hollypaw froze. They weren’t going to get away so easily after all.

“You’re coming to explain to Blackstar what you’re doing on our borders.”

Jaypaw spat, “We haven’t even crossed the scent line!”

“You’re close enough.” Russetfur flicked her tail, and her patrol dashed over the border and surrounded the ThunderClan cats.

Lionpaw arched his back, hissing. Hollypaw unsheathed her claws, but Sol just stared at the ShadowClan cats. His calm gaze seemed to unnerve them, and they backed away.

“What kind of loner are you?” Russetfur looked him over, her pelt ruffled. “Don’t you know we’re warriors?”

“Yes, I know.” Sol kept staring at her. “Blackstar is your leader, right?”

Russetfur flattened her ears. “Yes,” she answered warily.

“I’d be interested in meeting him.”

Hollypaw’s heart sank. There wasn’t time to go to the ShadowClan camp! Firestar was sure to notice they were missing any moment now.

Jaypaw began to pad toward the ShadowClan border. “We might as well go,” he mewed. “Think how much Sol can learn from another Clan.”

He can teach us ShadowClan’s secrets! Perhaps this wasn’t such a bad idea after all. And compared with what they could learn about another Clan, Firestar’s anger didn’t seem so important.

Hollypaw followed Jaypaw, enjoying the puzzlement clouding the eyes of their ShadowClan captors. She guided her brother through the unfamiliar woods, pressing against his shoulder to keep him on the faint path. Lionpaw walked a few paces ahead, calling out every time there was a twig to trip on or a prey-hole to stumble into. Sol padded alongside them, gazing around the forest with fascination.

Russetfur didn’t take her eyes off the stranger. Was she regretting bringing him into the heart of her territory?

After a while, Hollypaw began to recognize the landscape.

A slope led up to a small ridge. She had followed this path when she had come to beg Blackstar for help. A few more paw steps through the trees, and she spotted the great bramble wall of the ShadowClan camp.

Rowanclaw was guarding the entrance this time, his dark ginger pelt the only color in the darkening forest. He stared in surprise at the approaching patrol, but Russetfur simply swept past him with her prisoners.

Ivytail and Toadfoot leaped to their paws as the ThunderClan cats entered the camp. A half-eaten mouse lay between them. Snaketail and Scorchpaw stood in the middle of the clearing, staring in unconcealed shock at Sol.

“Who is he?” Scorchpaw whispered.

Snaketail tasted the air. “Not a Clan cat, that’s for sure.”

“Where is everyone?” Lionpaw hissed in Hollypaw’s ear.

Hollypaw looked around the camp. It was strangely empty.

“They must be resting after the battle,” she guessed.

“Wait there,” Russetfur ordered, and disappeared into Blackstar’s den.

The brambles rustled at one side of the camp. Hollypaw recognized the nursery entrance, where Snowbird had gathered Tawnypelt’s kits. Flamekit, Dawnkit, and Tigerkit were tumbling out now, their eyes bright with excitement.

“Hollypaw!” Flamekit reached her first and started jumping up to grab her tail. She spun around and greeted him with a playful cuff over his ear.

Tigerkit was bouncing around Lionpaw. “Have I grown?” the kit demanded, stretching himself up to his full height.

Dawnkit leaped on her brother, bowling him over. “You must have grown, the amount you eat!” She pummeled his back with her hind paws, then stopped when she spotted Sol.

She scrambled to her paws and stared at the stranger. “Who’s he?”

Tigerkit followed her gaze. “What’s he doing here?” He frowned and gazed up at Hollypaw. “Why are you here?” Was he worried they’d come to take his mother away again?

Flamekit was padding around Jaypaw. “Who are you?”

“He’s Jaypaw, our brother,” Lionpaw told her.

Jaypaw stared blankly ahead as Flamekit circled him.

“Why isn’t he looking at me?” he asked.

Jaypaw leaned down suddenly. “Do you want me to look at you?” His nose was a whisker away from Flamekit’s eyes.

Flamekit leaped back with surprise. “His eyes are all stare-y!”

Hollypaw glanced nervously at Jaypaw.

“I’m blind,” he explained more softly.

Flamekit padded closer. “How did you get here, then?”

“I walked,” Jaypaw mewed.

“Without bumping into anything?” Tigerkit sounded impressed.

“I hope you’re not being rude!” Tawnypelt’s stern mew sounded from the nursery. The ShadowClan she-cat padded out, yawning and ruffled. She blinked in surprise as she caught sight of Hollypaw. “You’re back again!” Then her gaze flicked to Jaypaw, Lionpaw, and finally Sol. “What in StarClan’s name are you doing here?” She pawed her kits back toward their den. “And who’s he?” Tigerkit tried to leap out of the way, but she caught him with an expert flick of her tail and sent him bundling toward the den. “Go inside,” she ordered.

“You can come out and say good-bye when they leave.”

“But—” Dawnkit began to argue.

“But nothing.” Tawnypelt gave the kits a final gentle shove, and they disappeared into the brambles.

Tawnypelt looked warily at Sol. “Who are you?”

“I’ve come to meet Blackstar.”

As he spoke, Russetfur appeared from Blackstar’s den and stood to one side to let her leader pass. Blackstar’s white pelt was unwashed. His long tail drooped behind him, and he padded across the clearing as though his soot-black paws were too heavy for him.

“Russetfur tells me there is a stranger among us,” he growled. He glanced at Hollypaw, Lionpaw, and Jaypaw. “She said you were showing him around our border.”

“We weren’t showing him anything!” Jaypaw mewed hotly.

“We were on our way home.”

“Why were you there at all?” Blackstar sat down and looked at them. His eyes were strangely dull, considering he was the leader of a Clan who’d just been involved in a terrible battle.

Hollypaw stepped forward. “We went to find Sol.”

Blackstar looked at the stranger for the first time. “And this is Sol, I suppose.”

“It is.” Sol dipped his head. “I’m honored to meet the leader of ShadowClan.”

“You know about ShadowClan?” A glimmer of interest sparked in Blackstar’s eyes.

“I have heard much about you.”

Blackstar tilted his head. “From these three trespassers?”

“We never crossed your border!” Jaypaw growled. He stared toward Russetfur as though challenging her to deny it.

Lionpaw moved closer to his brother. “We were looking for Sol.”

“So you said. But why? He’s just a loner, isn’t he?”

“A traveler,” Sol corrected him.

Blackstar blinked. “Why would three apprentices be so interested in a traveler?”

Jaypaw flicked his tail. “Because he told us the sun was going to disappear and it did!”

Russetfur’s pelt bristled. Behind her, Ivytail and Toadfoot stared wide-eyed.

Tawnypelt shifted on her paws. “You knew it would happen?”

Sol nodded. “I saw a great darkness fall over the Clans.”

“Did StarClan tell you?” ShadowClan’s medicine cat, Littlecloud, had come out of his den and was staring at Sol.

Sol swung his head around to face the medicine cat. “The great darkness had nothing to do with StarClan.”

Silence gripped the camp as the setting sun turned the brambles to liquid amber.

“Then who made the sun disappear?” Blackstar growled.

Sol padded across the clearing and turned so that his tail swept a rainbow shape on the needle-strewn ground. “It was a sign.” He lifted his chin, the dark patches on his fur shining in the last rays of sunshine. Lean, hard muscles rippled under the thick-furred pelt on his shoulders. “A sign of change that will come whether you want it or not.”

Are we part of that change? Hollypaw glanced at Lionpaw, anxiety stirring in her belly. Lionpaw gave a small shake of his head. She understood.

Say nothing about the prophecy.

Blackstar padded toward Sol, his eyes gleaming. “What sort of change?”

“Do you want change?” Sol lowered his voice to barely a whisper.

Blackstar stepped closer. “I’m not sure the Clans should be here,” he confessed.

Hollypaw wondered if the ShadowClan leader had forgotten where he was. Should he be sharing his fears so openly?

But Blackstar’s eyes were brimming with hope as he gazed at Sol as though here was someone who finally understood.

“Could StarClan have made a mistake by telling us to settle by the lake?”

Smokefoot shot an astonished glance at Ivytail, who shrugged. Littlecloud was leaning forward, as if he were finding it hard to hear—or finding it hard to believe what he was hearing.

Or perhaps he was simply waiting for Sol’s answer.

Hollypaw’s heart began to race. Were ShadowClan about to reject StarClan? And the warrior code?

“Change is not necessarily a bad thing,” Sol murmured.

Yes, it is! She dug her claws deep into the ground, desperate to root herself in something solid.

Sol’s voice chanted on, soft, yet loud enough to reach to the edges of the clearing. “Especially if we anticipate what’s coming and prepare for it.”

Blackstar was nodding as Sol continued. “There is more than one path to tread in this life.”

“There must be an easier one than this,” Blackstar agreed.

“Life here is so hard. There is great hunger in leaf-bare, and in greenleaf the Twolegs drive us farther and farther from our hunting grounds.”

Sol closed his eyes as Blackstar went on, as if he were picturing Blackstar’s description of life in ShadowClan’s new home.

“We are plagued by battle after battle, and even the moonhigh trek to the Gatherings is longer and harder than in the forest.”

“You are greatly troubled,” Sol sympathized without opening his eyes.

“My troubles are endless,” Blackstar told him.

Tawnypelt stepped forward. “Night is falling,” she meowed briskly. “The ThunderClan apprentices should be on their way home.” She flashed a knowing look at Hollypaw. “Their Clanmates will be wondering where they are.”

She’s guessed we shouldn’t be out of camp. Hollypaw stared at her paws, feeling hot and guilty. And she doesn’t want us to hear what Blackstar is saying.

Blackstar turned from Sol, blinking as if he were surprised to find them still there. “Of course.” He beckoned Smokefoot and Ivytail with his tail. “Take them to the border.”

Lionpaw tipped his head to one side. “What about Sol?”

“I must stay here.” Sol’s answer was soft but firm. He gazed at the ShadowClan leader. “That is, if Blackstar will have me.”

Blackstar did not hesitate. “Of course!”

Hollypaw stared at him. “But he was coming with us!”

They had so much to learn from him. He was going to be their mentor, not Blackstar’s. Why did a Clan leader need a mentor? Outrage shot through her. Sol knew about the prophecy!

He promised he’d come with us!

Jaypaw stepped forward. “You promised—”

Lionpaw cut him off. “Let’s go, before we get into more trouble,” he hissed into Jaypaw’s ear.

“Kits!” Tawnypelt called to the nursery and Flamekit, Dawnkit, and Tigerkit charged out. “I promised you could say good-bye.”

Dawnkit held her muzzle up to Hollypaw, purring when Hollypaw ran her cheek along the top of her head. “Good-bye.”

Tigerkit arched his back and bounced toward Lionpaw.

“Next time we meet, I’ll be even bigger!”

Flamekit approached Jaypaw a little cautiously. “Bye.”

Ivytail marched past, sweeping the kits out of the way. “Go play with your own Clanmates,” she growled.

As Hollypaw followed her escort through the tunnel, she glanced back into the clearing. Blackstar and Sol were sitting with their heads close together, talking too quietly to hear.