The Forgotten Warrior

Chapter 23

Lionblaze pushed his way between the branches of the warriors’ den and bounded across the clearing to join the cats clustered around Firestar. The full moon floated high in a clear sky, the warriors of StarClan glittering around it. Lionblaze’s paws tingled with anticipation of the Gathering.

“I’m not going to mention Onestar’s threats,” Firestar was meowing as Lionblaze reached his side. “There’s no point in drawing the other Clans’ attention to what could just be a minor dispute.” He twitched his whiskers at the murmurs of uncertainty that came from his Clanmates. “Besides,” he went on, “we haven’t seen Sol in ThunderClan territory for a half-moon. Onestar has no reason to attack us now.”

Lionblaze agreed, though part of him wished that Onestar could be called to account for his outburst of hostility toward ThunderClan. It’s none of his business that we let Sol stay in our camp!

Jayfeather and Cinderheart emerged from the medicine cat’s den and padded over to the group of warriors.

“I want you to stay here,” Jayfeather told the gray she-cat. “Lilykit has a fever, and I’d be happier if you kept an eye on her.”

Cinderheart looked briefly disappointed, then dipped her head and padded off toward the nursery.

I bet Sorreltail’s kit would be fine without a medicine cat hovering over her, Lionblaze thought as he joined his brother on the edge of the group. “You don’t want to make awkward explanations about why Cinderheart has suddenly changed to being a medicine cat,” he murmured in Jayfeather’s ear.

Jayfeather’s tail lashed irritably. “She’s not the first cat to switch roles!” he growled.

“No, but she’s the first cat to be another cat first. Kind of…” Lionblaze responded.

Jayfeather opened his jaws to reply, but in the same heartbeat Firestar raised his tail and beckoned. He headed out through the thorn tunnel with the rest of the cats streaming behind him.

As they made their way down to the lakeshore, Lionblaze found himself walking beside Graystripe and Millie. “What did you think of the session this morning?” he asked. All three of them had gone with Birchfall and Hazeltail for underground battle training with Hollyleaf. “I have to admit that I don’t like fighting in the dark. I’d rather see my enemy and know where I can strike without risking my paws on hard stone.”

Millie twitched her shoulders. “I wasn’t comfortable in the tunnels at all,” she confessed. “I couldn’t stop thinking about the amount of rock above my head!”

“But you were brilliant,” Graystripe meowed, resting his tail on his mate’s shoulder. “I think we all felt the same. Fighting underground isn’t natural, but neither is Sol. What kind of cat would keep trying to befriend a Clan, only to betray them?” The gray warrior ducked under a hawthorn bough, and went on, “Sol did it with Blackstar and ShadowClan, and now he’s turning WindClan against ThunderClan. If he has a reason, I’d like to know what it is.”

Whitewing caught up in time to hear the gray warrior’s last few words. “Sol knew that the sun was going to vanish,” she pointed out, suppressing a shiver. “That suggests he has more power than any of us.”

Lionblaze snorted. No cat has the power to challenge me when it comes to a battle! His paws itched to take on Sol in single combat. He made me help him to escape from ThunderClan all those moons ago. The memory surged up inside Lionblaze, making him feel as if flames were scorching his pelt. I’d like to punish him for that. And for bringing more trouble to the Clans now, when we should be thinking about the Dark Forest.

A sudden thought struck Lionblaze, briefly freezing his paws to the ground. Was Sol sent by the Dark Forest cats to stir up trouble? Is this the beginning of the end?

Forcing himself to move on, he spotted Jayfeather a couple of tail-lengths away, slipping unerringly through the undergrowth. “I just had a horrible idea,” Lionblaze hissed. “Do you think Sol is helping the Dark Forest?”

Jayfeather paused, then shrugged. “I don’t know. But I wouldn’t be surprised.”

In the clearing around the Great Oak, the air was filled with tension, as if a greenleaf storm was about to break. Lionblaze noticed that the medicine cats especially seemed hostile, sitting loosely in a group underneath a pine tree, but not acknowledging one another. Every Clan is going it alone, he thought, twitching his whiskers apprehensively. It’s really bad when even the medicine cats are enemies.

Only Mothwing was speaking to her fellow medicine cats, but they barely replied. Lionblaze saw her flex her claws in exasperation and finally give up, sitting down beside her apprentice, Willowshine.

The rest of the cats settled down within their own Clans, without any of the mingling and gossiping that used to be part of a Gathering. Lionblaze watched carefully for any signs that cats knew one another in the Dark Forest. Once alerted, he spotted plenty of indications: Redwillow exchanging a glance with Breezepelt; Icewing of RiverClan nodding to Ivypool; the twitch of a tail as Tigerheart’s gaze met Hollowflight’s.

They know each other, Lionblaze thought, chilled. Better than any warrior should know a cat from another Clan. Then he gave his pelt a shake. Don’t get carried away, he told himself. Not every cat is being trained by unseen enemies.

He was distracted from thoughts of the Dark Forest when he noticed Crowfeather among the WindClan cats. The gray-black warrior had just spotted Hollyleaf, and he was staring as if his eyes were about to leap out of his head. Beside him, his mate, Nightcloud, followed his gaze and drew back her lips in a snarl.

Lionblaze realized that Hollyleaf had seen them, but she turned her back on them, staying close to her own Clanmates. Surprised murmurs spread around the clearing as more cats realized that she was there. One or two younger cats sprang to their paws to get a better view of her.

“This feels kind of weird,” Hollyleaf muttered, picking her way over to sit beside Lionblaze.

Lionblaze touched her ear with his nose. “You must have known it wouldn’t be easy.”

“It’s what kept me away for so long,” Hollyleaf admitted. “I can’t bear the whispers, the gossip…”

The compassion Lionblaze felt faded into a flash of annoyance. Jayfeather and I have had to put up with whispers and gossip for a very long time. But he realized that Hollyleaf felt genuinely uncomfortable, and pushed aside his resentment. Wrapping his tail around her shoulders, he stared straight ahead, ignoring the whispers.

The atmosphere seemed to be growing more and more hostile. Lionblaze was relieved when Mistystar rose to her paws on her branch of the Great Oak and announced that the Gathering would begin.

“We have had a few problems with Twolegs,” she reported. “As always in greenleaf, they come to fish in the lake and the streams around our camp. But we have managed to stay out of their way, and they didn’t catch enough fish to threaten our stocks of fresh-kill.”

“Huh!” Mistystar’s deputy, Reedwhisker, exclaimed. “Twolegs couldn’t catch a fish if it leaped out of the water and begged them.”

Mistystar gave her deputy an amused glance from glimmering blue eyes, and sat down again.

Firestar rose in his turn and advanced along his branch, carefully avoiding a cluster of oak leaves. “I have good news to report from ThunderClan,” he began, gazing down into the clearing. “Our warrior Hollyleaf has returned, after we believed she was dead for so many moons.”

Murmurs and gasps rose from the other Clans. “Where has she been?” some cat called out loudly. Beside him, Lionblaze felt Hollyleaf grow tense.

Firestar ignored the question. “We welcome her back,” he continued, turning his warm green gaze onto Hollyleaf. “We are glad to have her in ThunderClan once again, and I look forward to patrolling alongside her for many future moons.”

Lionblaze was relieved that Firestar had kept to his earlier intention of saying nothing about Sol or WindClan. But now he braced himself for cats from the other Clans to mention Ashfur and the time that Hollyleaf had disappeared, just after she revealed the terrible truth about Leafpool and Crowfeather at a Gathering.

But no cat asked the crucial questions, only murmured comments as they reacted to Firestar’s announcement.

“I’m surprised she showed her face after what she told us!”

“I bet Crowfeather isn’t pleased to see her.”

Nightcloud rose and lashed her tail, raking Hollyleaf with an icy gaze. “Does she think she’s welcome?” she snarled.

Firestar still refused to react to any of the comments; he dipped his head to Hollyleaf and retreated to sit down again farther back on his branch. Immediately Onestar took his place.

“This is surprising news, Firestar,” he mewed smoothly. “But I’m sure that any Clan leader would welcome back a trained and loyal warrior.”

Is he suggesting that Hollyleaf isn’t loyal? Lionblaze wondered, beginning to bristle.

“My patrols are as vigilant as ever,” Onestar continued. “We will do anything to defend our territory from rogues and strays.”

Lionblaze’s belly churned. Now he’s insulting all of us! He’s suggesting that ThunderClan is a bunch of rogues and strays! Glancing up at Firestar, half-hidden by the leaves of the Great Oak, Lionblaze could see that his Clan leader was struggling to keep his fur flat and his mouth closed.

With a triumphant glance at Firestar, Onestar sat down again. When Blackstar stood up, Lionblaze could see that he looked puzzled by the hostility between ThunderClan and WindClan, but after a moment’s hesitation he gave a tiny shrug and began to speak.

“Like RiverClan, we have had problems with Twolegs by the lake,” he began. “The warm weather brings them out like earthworms after rain. But they haven’t come into the forest far enough to bother us close to our camp.”

When he had finished he was about to sit down again, only to check as a voice rose up from among the cats in the clearing. “Blackstar, may I speak?”

Lionblaze glanced across to where the ShadowClan cats were sitting, and saw that Dawnpelt had risen to her paws, her cream-colored fur luminous in the moonlight. Blackstar blinked in surprise, then dipped his head. Instantly Dawnpelt leaped up onto a tree stump. Her neck fur was bristling and her tail fluffed up to twice its size.

“There is a murderer among us!” she yowled.

Silence crashed down on the clearing. Lionblaze tensed, and wrapped his tail more firmly around his sister’s shoulders. Oh, Great StarClan! How could she have found out about Hollyleaf?

But Dawnpelt raised a paw and pointed toward the pine tree where the medicine cats were sitting. “Jayfeather killed Flametail!”

The cats in the clearing exploded into yowls and screeches of horror. At first Lionblaze couldn’t make sense of what any of them were saying. Then Brambleclaw rose to his paws on the root of the Great Oak and made his voice heard above the clamor.

“We all know about Flametail’s death, and we grieve for him, too. But how was Jayfeather involved?”

“And why speak up now?” Graystripe added.

Dawnpelt turned her gaze onto the ThunderClan cats; her eyes were filled with hatred. “Jayfeather was there when Flametail drowned,” she hissed. “We all saw him struggling in the water beside him. Why do we believe his story that he was trying to save Flametail?”

“Why not believe him?” Brambleclaw challenged her.

“Since when has Jayfeather shown compassion for cats in other Clans?” Dawnpelt snarled. “I believe that he deliberately drowned Flametail in front of all of us!”

Firestar sprang to his paws, thrusting his way out of the leaves. “That’s ridiculous! It goes against the warrior code and the medicine cat code. Jayfeather would never murder Flametail!”

Lionblaze, too, had risen to his paws, his fur bristling. He wanted nothing more than to rake his claws across Dawnpelt’s accusing face. Feeling a nudge from Hollyleaf, he glanced down at her.

“Sit down,” she murmured. “Don’t give Dawnpelt the satisfaction of provoking a fight.”

Lionblaze flexed his claws, then realized the sense of what his littermate was saying, and forced himself to sit down. This is a Gathering, he reminded himself. ShadowClan would be delighted if ThunderClan broke the truce.

“I met Dawnpelt on border patrol,” Hollyleaf continued quietly. “She was doing her best to pick a fight then, too.”

“What’s her quarrel with ThunderClan?” Lionblaze asked, bewildered.

Hollyleaf gave him a long look. “Her brother drowned and Jayfeather was there,” she mewed. “That’s enough.”

The clearing had descended into turmoil again, with no cat able to make themselves heard. Lionblaze spotted Dovewing and Ivypool weaving their way among their Clanmates until they reached his side.

“I knew Dawnpelt was planning something,” Ivypool whispered. “But I didn’t know this was it.”

Lionblaze wondered if Ivypool had heard something in the Dark Forest, perhaps from Dawnpelt herself. But he didn’t want to ask where other cats might overhear.

“It’s ridiculous!” Dovewing exclaimed. “I… I heard Flame-tail drown. I know Jayfeather was trying to save him.”

But there’s no way we can tell that to Dawnpelt and get her to believe it, Lionblaze thought. Gazing across the clearing at the medicine cats, he saw that his brother had risen to his paws. He looked icy calm, though Lionblaze could guess at the emotions that must be surging through him. Jayfeather waited, not even trying to speak, until the noise in the clearing died down.

“Dawnpelt, I was there when your brother died,” he began. There was an edge to his voice, telling Lionblaze of his resentment that he had to defend himself in public over such an absurd accusation. “But I was trying to save him. That I failed is a tragedy for all of us.” His voice shook on the last few words and he paused until he could go on steadily. “I had no reason to want him dead. And the water would have killed him on its own; he didn’t need me as well.”

Muttering rose from the ShadowClan cats around Dawnpelt. “Are you sure you weren’t just helping the water kill him?” Ratscar called out.

“The medicine cats have been very separate recently,” Rowanclaw, the ShadowClan deputy, added more thoughtfully. “Is their code changing? Are they even still allied across Clan borders?” He stared straight at Jayfeather. “Perhaps Flametail knew too much about you?”

Lionblaze stiffened. Do any other cats know about the prophecy? I never thought of that!

“Enough!” Firestar ordered from his place in the Great Oak. “This accusation is groundless! Jayfeather could have drowned in that water just as easily as Flametail. He risked his own life by going to help him. Surely no cat takes this accusation seriously?” Firestar gazed around at Mistystar, Blackstar, and Onestar. All three Clan leaders were looking uncomfortable.

“I find it hard to believe that any cat would do something like this,” Mistystar mewed.

Onestar nodded. “I’m sure Jayfeather could have found an easier way to eliminate an enemy.”

Blackstar said nothing at all.

That’s hardly the best defense they could come up with! Lionblaze thought angrily. But when he looked back at Dawnpelt, he saw that she had begun to look small and uncomfortable, as if the force of her accusation was ebbing like floodwaters after the rain is over.

While Firestar still waited, as if he were hoping that Blackstar would speak, Tigerheart rose to his paws from the clearing below.

“I believe what my sister says,” he announced. “Jayfeather murdered our littermate, and he must be punished.”

Beside Lionblaze, Dovewing drew in her breath in a gasp of horror.

“I will punish no cat for a crime that cannot be proved,” Firestar answered coldly.

“It’s not a case of not being proved,” Dovewing hissed. “Jayfeather didn’t do it!”

“But it’s hard to ignore the accusation,” Onestar meowed in response to Firestar. To do the WindClan leader justice, Lionblaze thought, he sounded reluctant, as if his respect for Jayfeather as a medicine cat outweighed his hostility toward ThunderClan. “Firestar, perhaps you should suspend Jayfeather from medicine cat duties until he has proven his innocence.”

Mistystar dipped her head in agreement. “That would be sensible. With StarClan’s help, it might not take long.”

Lionblaze noticed that the other medicine cats had suddenly started to talk among themselves, their heads close together as quick meows passed from one to another. Then Littlecloud, the ShadowClan medicine cat, rose to his paws.

“We agree to this, too,” he announced, his voice regretful as he looked at Jayfeather. “Without determining the truth, this accusation could poison the Clans for seasons, like an infected wound.”

“Then how do you propose finding out what happened?” Brambleclaw challenged him. “It’s impossible, unless Flame-tail returns to tell us himself. Have any of you seen him in dreams?”

The medicine cats conferred together quickly, then Littlecloud shook his head.

“I’ve seen Flametail,” Ivypool confessed, leaning closer to Dovewing to murmur into her ear. Lionblaze could just pick up her quiet words. “But he’s in StarClan, not the Dark Forest.”

“Did you ask him if Jayfeather killed him?” Dovewing whispered back.

“No!” Ivypool’s eyes stretched wide in astonishment. “Why would I ask him a thing like that?”

All the other medicine cats turned toward Jayfeather; Lionblaze could see that his brother was trying not to flinch. Though Jayfeather couldn’t see them, he would be able to feel the force of their attention, all focused on him.

“Surrendering your duties is the only honorable thing to do,” Littlecloud meowed. He sounded helpless; Dovewing guessed that he was torn between his dismay at the accusation and the horror he felt that it might be true.

Jayfeather’s head jerked up. “But we walk alone now, don’t we?” His voice was clear and steady. “I know you’ve all had visits from your ancestors, telling you that each Clan must look to its own future. You have no right to tell me what to do! I shall remain as ThunderClan’s medicine cat!”

There were gasps from the clearing as Jayfeather defied his fellow medicine cats. Dawnpelt looked furious. Her jaws were open to protest when lightning crackled down from the sky, splitting the night. Its pale light outlined the pine trees and the bushes that surrounded the clearing, and rimmed the leaves of the great oak with a line of silver.

Lionblaze shuddered as the lightning was followed by a massive crash of thunder, so loud that it sounded as if the ground beneath his pads were cracking apart. A sharp wind rose, thrashing through the leaves and flattening the cats’ fur to their sides. Clouds blotted out the moon.

In the darkness one of the cats wailed, “StarClan is angry!”

Then rain poured out of the sky, an icy curtain sweeping across the clearing. Lionblaze’s fur was soaked within the first heartbeats. The cats let out wails of shock and terror as they began to flee for cover.

From the Great Oak Lionblaze heard Firestar’s voice ring out. “Home, quickly!”

The Gathering broke up in chaos as cats fled through the bushes, heading for the tree-bridge. Lionblaze sprang across the clearing, making for the spot where he had last seen his brother.

“Jayfeather!” he yowled. “Over here!”

To his relief lightning flashed out again; by its light he spotted Jayfeather struggling toward him around a knot of terrified WindClan cats. He looked skinnier than ever, his tabby fur plastered to his body.

“Let’s get out of here,” Lionblaze muttered, thrusting through the crowd of cats to his brother’s side.

As they turned toward the bushes Dawnpelt bounded past them, halting for a heartbeat to hiss at Jayfeather. “This is not over!”

Trying to force a way out of the clearing, Lionblaze realized that the cats had divided along battle lines as suddenly as the lightning had struck. Clan snarled at Clan, their claws extended and their lips drawn back to reveal sharp teeth. Their leaders yowled for control, but between fear and anger their warriors ignored them.

Lionblaze halted for a heartbeat to look up at the veiled moon. Great StarClan! The Clans are turning on one another, just when we need to stand side by side against a greater enemy than anything we have ever faced before!