Sign Of The Moon

Chapter 2

Lionblaze pounded around the bramble thicket, wishing he was small enough to head straight through it like Dovepaw. On the other side he halted, panting. Dovepaw was halfway down the slope, crouching at the edge of a hole. Suddenly she lurched backward. Lionblaze heard a shriek and caught a glimpse of a thrashing white paw as Icecloud vanished into the earth.

It’s one of the tunnels! Panic throbbed through Lionblaze as he remembered his sister, Hollyleaf. In his mind, he saw her again, darting back into the mouth of the tunnel, ignoring everything he and Jayfeather said to warn her, and then all he could see was the endless fall of soil and rocks that had buried her underground forever.

“What’s going on?” Spiderleg’s meow jolted Lionblaze back to the present.

The black warrior darted past and joined Dovepaw, who was peering down into the hole. Looking around, Lionblaze spotted a familiar gorse bush and a spot where a tiny spring welled up between two flat stones. He realized that they were a little way up the slope from the exact place where Hollyleaf had disappeared. Icecloud had fallen into the same tunnel!

Lionblaze’s belly lurched. Great StarClan, what might they find down there?

He rushed down the slope to the edge of the hole, shouldering Spiderleg out of the way. Dovepaw jumped back, clearly startled by the look of horror on his face. There was just enough light in the tunnel to show Lionblaze the walls and floor as he peered down. Several tail-lengths below, Icecloud was scrambling out of a heap of earth and stones, shaking soil from her pelt.

“Get me out of here!” she yowled when she looked up and saw Lionblaze.

“Are you hurt?” he asked.

“Not much. Just my shoulder.” Icecloud spat out earth. “Please get me out.”

Lionblaze leaned over the edge of the hole as far as he dared, and looked up and down the tunnel. Farther into the hill, it vanished into blackness. Lower down, a fall of earth and stones blocked the former entrance.

Is Hollyleaf under that? Lionblaze wondered, suppressing a shudder. “Spiderleg, go and fetch help,” he directed.

As the black warrior dashed off, Lionblaze gazed down again at Icecloud, who was crouching among the soil, her pelt ruffled and her eyes big and scared. “It won’t be long now,” he promised.

“Thanks, Lionblaze.” The young she-cat’s voice quivered. “It’s really dark down here.”

“I’ll try to make the hole bigger,” Dovepaw mewed. “That’ll let in more light.”

But as she began scraping at the edge of the hole, more earth started to rain down on Icecloud.

“No! Stop!” she wailed.

“Sorry.” Dovepaw stopped scraping and sat at the edge of the hole.

Lionblaze leaned over to hiss close to her ear. “No other cat is to go into the hole except me. Got it?”

The gray apprentice’s eyes widened with surprise, but she nodded. Lionblaze let out a tiny sigh of relief. He knew that if there were any dark secrets to be discovered down the hole, he needed to be the first cat to find them. His belly churned as he waited. For the first time in many moons, he wondered if his Clanmates really believed that a passing rogue had killed Ashfur, and that Hollyleaf’s disappearance had nothing to do with it.

I don’t want the Clan to start thinking about those times again. I have to protect Hollyleaf’s memory!

At last he heard the sound of paw steps hurtling through the undergrowth. Spiderleg reappeared at a run, with Cloudtail, Birchfall, and Foxleap just behind. Foxleap dashed up to the edge of the hole, leaning over to see his littermate.

“We’re here! We’ll get you out soon,” he encouraged her.

Icecloud blinked up at him. “Hurry!”

“We need something to pull her out with,” Birchfall thought out loud. “Maybe a long, thick tendril. Not bramble, but something like ivy or bindweed.”

“There’s ivy on that tree.” Cloudtail whisked his tail around to point at an ancient oak tree whose trunk was covered in glossy dark green leaves. Foxleap scrambled up the tree and bit off a long tendril; as soon as it was loose Cloudtail tugged it free and bounded back with it trailing behind him.

“Wrap one end around that sapling,” Birchfall directed, angling his ears toward a young ash tree that grew near the hole. “Then we can drop the other end down to Icecloud.”

When the ivy tendril was secure, Foxleap dangled the free end down to his sister. Icecloud gripped it in her teeth, but as soon as the other cats started to haul it up she let go and dropped back onto the mound of earth.

“I’m too heavy!” she gasped. “I can’t hold on.”

“Wrap it around yourself, then,” Lionblaze suggested.

Icecloud tried, but it was obvious that her injured shoulder was hampering her. “It’s no use!” Her voice rose to a wail. “I’ll be stuck down here forever!”

“Nonsense,” Lionblaze mewed. “We’ll think of something.”

“What if we drop more earth and stones down the hole?” Spiderleg suggested, peering down. “We could make that heap big enough so she can climb out.”

“It might work,” Birchfall murmured. “But we’d risk burying her…”

“No, please don’t!” Icecloud’s panicky mew came up from the bottom of the hole.

The sound of more paw steps approaching distracted Lionblaze. He turned to see Jayfeather and Blossomfall skirting the bramble thicket, and headed back up the slope to meet them.

“I heard Spiderleg telling the Clan what happened,” Jayfeather meowed as Lionblaze bounded up. He paused; Lionblaze could tell that he knew this was part of the same tunnel where Hollyleaf had disappeared.

Lionblaze waited until Blossomfall had joined the other cats around the hole. “There’s nothing there apart from Icecloud that I can see,” he whispered. “The mudfall is farther down the slope.”

“You can’t let any other cats go down!” Jayfeather hissed.

“I know that!” Lionblaze retorted. Belly churning again, he led Jayfeather the few paw steps to join the other cats.

“I’m going in,” Foxleap announced. “You can lower me into the hole, I’ll tie the tendril around Icecloud, and then you can pull her up.”

“No,” Lionblaze said as he stepped forward. “It’s too dangerous. I’ll go.”

“What?” Birchfall lashed his tail. “Don’t be mouse-brained! You’re too heavy.”

“And why would it be dangerous?” Foxleap argued, stepping forward to confront Lionblaze. “There’s nothing down there except Icecloud.”

“You don’t know that!” Lionblaze snapped.

Cloudtail had been leaning over the hole, peering curiously up and down the tunnel. Finally he drew back. “Are these the tunnels WindClan used to invade us?”

Lionblaze nodded; a familiar pang of guilt clawed him in the belly as he remembered how he and Heathertail had been the first to discover the network of tunnels.

Foxleap drew in a shocked breath. “Great StarClan! There could be WindClan warriors down there now, waiting to attack Icecloud!”

Cloudtail rolled his eyes. “Oh, sure! WindClan must spend all their time down there, waiting for a ThunderClan warrior to fall in.”

In spite of the white warrior’s scathing words, Lionblaze felt an added urgency among the cats around the hole. A plaintive mew came up from Icecloud in the depths. “Get me out, please!”

“I’ll go,” Dovepaw volunteered, giving Lionblaze a hard stare, as if she remembered how he had told her not to let another cat go down. Does that include me? she seemed to be asking.

Jayfeather nodded. “Better her than another cat,” he whispered to Lionblaze.

“But she’s only an apprentice!” Foxleap protested. Lionblaze could sense that in a couple of heartbeats he would leap into the hole himself, whether he had permission from the senior warriors or not.

“I’m the lightest of all of you,” Dovepaw pointed out. “And all I have to do is jump down and wrap the tendril around Icecloud.” As if the decision had already been made, she turned to Lionblaze and asked quietly, “Is there anything I should look out for?”

Yes, my dead sister. Lionblaze swallowed hard; instead, he answered, “Just keep your eyes open. Cats don’t belong in these tunnels, so we must treat them as hostile territory.”

Birchfall wound the tendril around Dovepaw’s body; then he and Cloudtail lowered her into the hole. Her eyes widened as she vanished over the edge. Lionblaze looked down to see her unwinding the tendril from herself, and wrapping it securely around Icecloud.

“Ready!” she called.

Birchfall and Cloudtail began hauling on the vine. A yowl of pain came from Icecloud, quickly suppressed. “Sorry,” she mewed through gritted teeth. “My shoulder really hurts.”

Slowly the white she-cat was drawn up out of the hole. As soon as she appeared over the edge, Foxleap rushed up and supported her with his shoulder. “Come on,” he meowed. “We’ll get you back to camp and Jayfeather will take a look at you.”

“I’ll be fine,” Icecloud murmured, though she couldn’t put one forepaw to the ground, and her breath was coming in rapid gasps of pain. She leaned heavily on Foxleap as they headed toward the camp.

Cloudtail flanked Icecloud on the other side, glancing back with surprise in his blue eyes when Jayfeather didn’t move. The ThunderClan medicine cat was still leaning over the hole, his head cocked as if he was listening.

“Come on,” Cloudtail urged. “The others can bring Dovepaw up.”

Jayfeather hesitated, then followed.

Meanwhile, Birchfall and Spiderleg had passed the vine back to Dovepaw, and were preparing to haul her up. A moment later she scrabbled her way over the edge of the hole; Lionblaze bent down and tugged her the last tail-length by the scruff.

“Thanks!” Dovepaw panted, shaking earth out of her pelt. “It was horrible down there.”

Lionblaze was dying to ask her what she had seen in the tunnel, but he knew he couldn’t say anything, not in front of the other cats. Besides, if Dovepaw had seen a dead cat down there, they would have heard her screeching back in the stone hollow.

“What are we going to do about this hole?” Birchfall meowed. “We don’t want any other cat falling into it.”

“It’s too big to fill in,” Spiderleg commented. “And if we cover it up, the cover might give way if cats walked on it.”

“Maybe we can put something around it?” Blossomfall suggested.

“Good idea!” Lionblaze gave the young warrior an approving nod. “Let’s pile up sticks to surround it for now. Later on we can figure out how to build something more permanent.”

As they collected sticks and constructed the barrier, Lionblaze’s paws itched with longing to climb down into the hole and have a look around. But the other cats would have asked too many questions. He had to leave with the others when the barrier was finished, though he cast a reluctant glance over his shoulder as he followed them up the slope.

Dovepaw padded alongside him. Lionblaze could feel her curiosity about the tunnel, but he hadn’t decided yet how much he wanted to tell her. To his relief, as they headed for the old Thunderpath, her gaze fell on Spiderleg and she was instantly distracted.

“Oh, no!” she wailed. “I forgot about my assessment. I blew it, didn’t I?”

“I’m not sure,” Lionblaze admitted. “You weren’t at your best when you were hunting, but you did help to save Icecloud. You were very brave, going down into the hole like that.”

Looking dejected, Dovepaw glanced at Spiderleg again, but the black warrior was too far ahead to overhear. Lionblaze wanted to reassure her, but there was nothing he could tell her until he had consulted with Spiderleg. As they entered the stone hollow, Ivypaw dashed across the camp and skidded to a halt in front of Dovepaw.

“What happened?” she demanded. “Where have you been? What’s the matter with Icecloud?” she added. “I saw her limping into Jayfeather’s den.”

“She fell down a hole,” Dovepaw replied, launching into the story of what they had to do to get Icecloud out again.

Hazeltail came bounding up to listen, followed by Cinderheart and Millie. Brightheart and Bumblestripe pushed their way out of the warriors’ den and Molekit and Cherrykit bounced out of the nursery with Poppyfrost chasing after them. Mousewhisker, Berrynose, and Whitewing crowded at the back.

“I heard Icecloud fell into an underground river!” Bumblestripe meowed, interrupting Dovepaw’s story. “And you fell in after her.”

“No,” Whitewing argued. “Birchfall told me it was just a hole.”

“Dovepaw didn’t fall in.” Lionblaze was determined to defend his apprentice. “She climbed in to help Icecloud.”

“Wow, that was brave!” Bumblestripe gave Dovepaw an admiring glance.

“Maybe Icecloud’s back is broken, like Briarlight’s!” Berrynose gasped, his eyes wide with horror.

Brightheart flicked his ear with her tail. “Mouse-brain! She was walking into Jayfeather’s den.”

Dovepaw twitched her whiskers. “Do you want to know what really happened, or not?”

“It’s tough that you didn’t get to finish your assessment,” Bumblestripe mewed when Dovepaw had finished.

Dovepaw’s tail drooped, and her eyes grew anxious. “I know. Maybe Firestar won’t give me my warrior name.” Giving herself a shake, she turned to Ivypaw. “How did you do?” she prompted. “Who did the team hunting with you?”

“Hazeltail,” Ivypaw replied. Her eyes shone. “It was really great! We caught two mice.”

“Fantastic!”

Lionblaze could tell that Dovepaw was making an effort to be glad for her sister, but disappointment still weighed on her like snow on a branch. He was about to step in with a word of encouragement when Ivypaw leaned close to her sister and pressed her muzzle against Dovepaw’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry,” she murmured, so softly that only Dovepaw and Lionblaze could hear. “Firestar knows how important you are to the Clan. You don’t have to prove yourself by catching squirrels.”

Dovepaw shrugged her off. “I want to be judged like a normal cat for once!” she retorted.

Ivypaw stared at her, puzzled. “But you’re not like the rest of us,” she pointed out.

“Quiet!” Lionblaze warned them. He had just noticed Firestar emerging from Jayfeather’s den, where he must have been visiting Icecloud.

The ThunderClan leader darted across the clearing, leaping across the beech boughs in his way, and ran up the tumbled rocks to stand on the Highledge. His flame-colored pelt glowed, a spot of warmth in the cold leaf-bare light.

“Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting,” he announced.

The cats already in the clearing sat down facing the Highledge. Molekit and Cherrykit frisked about at the front of the group until Poppyfrost gathered them with a sweep of her tail and made them sit quietly. Daisy and Ferncloud appeared at the entrance to the nursery and sat with their pelts brushing. Mousefur poked her head out from the beech branches that enclosed the elders’ den, then emerged into the open with Purdy hard on her paws. Foxleap padded out from the medicine cat’s den, while Jayfeather pushed back the bramble screen so Briarlight could watch from the entrance. Sandstorm, Dustpelt, Cloudtail, and Sorreltail all slid out of the warriors’ den and found places at the foot of the cliff; Sorreltail lifted one hind paw and scratched her ear, as if she was chasing a flea.

Firestar raised his tail for silence. “Cats of ThunderClan,” he began, “I think you’ve all heard about Icecloud’s accident. She fell into a hole and dislocated her shoulder, but Jayfeather put it back in place.” Firestar’s tone was firm and reassuring; Lionblaze saw how well he understood his Clan’s fears after what happened to Briarlight. “Jayfeather says she will need to rest,” Firestar continued, “but she should only be off her paws for a quarter moon.”

Murmurs of relief rose from the assembled cats; a couple of them called out, “Jayfeather! Jayfeather!”

“I’ll check the hole myself later on,” the Clan leader continued. He shot a glance at Lionblaze from glowing green eyes, clearly asking Lionblaze to guide him there; Lionblaze replied with a nod. “Meanwhile, Dustpelt and Brackenfur, you’re the best at building. I want a solid barrier around that hole by sunset today. We can’t fill it in, and we don’t want any other cats falling down there.”

“Sure, Firestar,” Dustpelt called. “We’ll get to it as soon as Brackenfur returns from patrol.”

“And don’t either of you two dare go anywhere near the hole,” Poppyfrost warned her kits, reinforcing her words with a flick of her tail around their ears.

“Like we can!” Molekit complained. “We’re not even allowed out of the hollow.”

“And that’s totally unfair,” his sister agreed.

“There’s another reason that I called the Clan together,” Firestar went on. “Two apprentices completed their warrior assessments today.”

A ripple of excitement ran through the cats; Ivypaw’s eyes were shining, but Dovepaw just studied her paws. A pang of worry shot through Lionblaze and he glanced at Spiderleg, but the black warrior’s face was expressionless, giving nothing away.

I hope Spiderleg’s not too hard on her, he thought, wishing he had managed to consult the black warrior before the meeting.

“Cinderheart?” Firestar waved his tail, inviting Ivypaw’s mentor to speak.

The gray warrior rose to her paws. “Ivypaw works hard,” she began. “Her battle training in particular is exceptional. Her hunting could still use some work, though. When she was hunting alone today she caught a vole, but it was a messy catch: She let the vole get downwind of her and it nearly escaped.” The gray warrior turned and dipped her head politely to Millie. “What do you think?” she asked.

Millie rose in her turn and took a step forward to stand beside Cinderheart. “Yes, I agree,” she meowed. “And when Ivypaw was hunting with Hazeltail, she seemed embarrassed to be telling her what to do. She’ll have to shape up if she’s ever put in charge of a patrol.” She cast a kind glance at Ivypaw, who was listening with wide, troubled eyes. “But Hazeltail and Ivypaw worked well together. They caught two mice, and they were really neat catches. The mice never had a chance!” Her voice grew warm. “In my opinion, Ivypaw deserves to become a warrior of ThunderClan. We’re lucky to have her!”

A chorus of approving yowls broke out, while Dovepaw gave her sister’s ear a lick. “Congratulations,” she purred. “Millie’s right. You do deserve it.”

Ivypaw’s eyes glowed with relief. “I was so scared when Cinderheart said that about the vole,” she confessed. “It was a really awful catch.”

“Lionblaze?” The Clan grew quiet again as Firestar spoke. “What about Dovepaw?”

Lionblaze felt a twinge of apprehension as he rose to his paws. He wanted to do the best he could for his apprentice, but he couldn’t hide the fact that she hadn’t caught anything. “Dovepaw is the best apprentice any cat could hope for,” he began. “She works hard, and she learns fast. Today, she started by looking for a squirrel. She found one quickly, and she did some excellent stalking work, getting into position. The squirrel had no idea she was there.” He flashed a glance at Dovepaw, who still wasn’t looking at him. “But then,” he went on, “as she was creeping up on it, she accidentally disturbed a leaf. The squirrel spotted her and fled up a tree.”

“She might have caught it if she’d been faster.” Spiderleg rose to speak. “But once it got as far as the branches, there was no chance of finding it again.”

Lionblaze glared at the black warrior. There’s no need to make it sound as bad as that!

“What about her team hunting?” Firestar prompted.

“She organized herself and Icecloud well,” Lionblaze meowed. “She positioned Icecloud in undergrowth to hide her white pelt, and started driving a blackbird toward her. But then…” Lionblaze hesitated. He was aware that this next part wouldn’t sound good at all. He couldn’t mention Dovepaw’s extra powers, to explain why she had suddenly gone chasing after Icecloud. “Then she must have heard something,” he went on. “She left the blackbird and ran through a bramble thicket to help Icecloud, who had fallen into the hole. The blackbird got away.”

“So Dovepaw didn’t catch anything today?” Firestar inquired.

Lionblaze shook his head, feeling hot under his pelt. “No.” Never mind that Dovepaw is one of the best hunters in the Clan, he thought sadly. Whether she becomes a warrior or not depends on what she did today.

“Not a feather, not a whisker,” Spiderleg confirmed. “If you ask me, she’s far too easily distracted. If she’d kept her mind on what she was doing, she would have caught the squirrel and the blackbird.”

Lionblaze could see his own disappointment reflected in his Clan leader’s eyes. “In that case—” Firestar began.

“Hang on, Firestar, I haven’t finished,” Spiderleg interrupted. “Dovepaw made a mess of the hunting, true. But she ran to help a Clanmate in trouble when she had no idea what danger she would have to face on the other side of that bramble thicket. And when we couldn’t get Icecloud out of the hole, she was quick to volunteer to be lowered down to help her, even though no cat really knew what might have been down there.” He gave Dovepaw an approving glance. “These are the qualities ThunderClan needs most,” he went on. “Courage, loyalty, and the willingness to face danger for the good of a Clanmate. In my opinion, we’d be mouse-brained not to make her a warrior.”

Dovepaw was staring at him incredulously, as her Clanmates yowled their approval. Her eyes shone as it sunk in that she would become a warrior that day. Ivypaw skipped around her, as excited as a kit.

Firestar waved his tail for silence. “Thank you, Spiderleg,” he meowed when he could make himself heard. “ThunderClan will be all the stronger for the two new warriors I shall make today.” He bounded down the tumbled rocks and stood in front of his Clan, beckoning Ivypaw forward with a flick of his tail. The Clan quieted down to allow their leader to begin the ceremony.

Firestar raised his head and looked around at his Clanmates. His voice rang out clearly as he spoke the ancient words. “I, Firestar, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn.” Gazing down at Ivypaw, he continued, “Ivypaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?”

“I do.” Ivypaw’s voice shook.

Icy claws raked Lionblaze’s pelt as he realized how Ivypaw was already carrying out the oath she had just sworn. Few cats had ever taken the kind of risk she took every night when she walked in her dreams with the cats of the Dark Forest.

“Then by the powers of StarClan,” Firestar went on, “I give you your warrior name. Ivypaw, from this moment you will be known as Ivypool. StarClan honors your courage and your loyalty, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan.” Taking a pace forward, Firestar rested his muzzle on the top of Ivypool’s head. She licked his shoulder in response.

“Ivypool! Ivypool!” The Clan greeted the new warrior by calling her name. As the yowls died down, Ivypool stepped back between Dustpelt and Cinderheart. The gray warrior laid her tail briefly across her former apprentice’s shoulders, and Dustpelt gave her an approving nod.

Firestar raised his tail to beckon Dovepaw, and Lionblaze watched as his apprentice padded forward and halted in front of the flame-colored tom. She held Firestar’s gaze without blinking as her leader called upon StarClan to look down upon her. “Dovepaw,” he questioned her, “do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?”

“I do,” Dovepaw responded.

Lionblaze realized how much weight the oath carried for his apprentice. Dovepaw had much to offer her Clan, but becoming a warrior meant that even more demands would be laid on the shoulders of the young she-cat. Lionblaze wondered which of Dovepaw’s qualities Firestar would choose to single out. He can’t mention her special powers. Not in front of the whole Clan.

“Then by the powers of StarClan,” Firestar continued, “I give you your warrior name. Dovepaw, from this moment you will be known as Dovewing. StarClan honors your intelligence and your enterprise, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan.”

Once again the Clan leader bent to rest his muzzle on the top of the new warrior’s head, and Dovewing licked his shoulder.

“Dovewing! Dovewing!” the Clan yowled their welcome enthusiastically.

Dovewing stepped back a pace, then turned and bounded over to stand beside Lionblaze.

“Well done!” he murmured. “If ever a cat deserved her warrior name, you do.”

Dovewing was purring too hard to reply, but her eyes sparkled.

As the noise died down, Firestar raised his tail. “I want to remind the Clan that now we have no apprentices,” he meowed. “The younger warriors will have to share the apprentice duties for the time being.”

“I knew it!” Bumblestripe sighed. “Back to picking ticks off the elders!”

“We’ll be apprentices!” Molekit called out. “We’ll work as hard as anything.”

“I’m sure you will,” Poppyfrost purred. “But you have to wait until you’re six moons old.”

“Why?” Cherrykit demanded.

“Because that’s the warrior code,” Firestar replied, amusement in his meow. “And you’ll be fine apprentices when the time comes. For now, every cat must be patient if the duties are carried out a bit later than usual. Patrols must still go out on time.”

“For that matter, we can do our own ticks,” Purdy offered, giving his rumpled tabby pelt a shake. “We may be elders, but we’re not helpless.”

“Thank you.” Firestar dipped his head to the Clan. “The meeting is at an end.”

As the cats began to drift apart, Lionblaze padded over to Cinderheart. “Congratulations,” he mewed. “Isn’t it great that both our apprentices are warriors now?”

Cinderheart dipped her head. “Congratulations to you, too, Lionblaze. I knew Dovewing would make it.”

Her tone was friendly, but as distant as if she was a cat from another Clan. Lionblaze’s heart ached as her sweet scent flooded over him.

You know what I want, Cinderheart. Why don’t you want it too?

But he knew very well why Cinderheart had turned away from him. He had told her about the prophecy. And now she thought that she wasn’t special enough to be his mate.

To me, you’re the most special cat in the Clan. Lionblaze hated knowing he could never say that aloud to the cat he loved. Cinderheart would be horrified to think she had distracted him from being one of the Three. I wish I could just be an ordinary Clan cat, and then I could be with you.