He nudged Hollypaw. “Well?”
“H-he’s tall,” she mewed distractedly. “Taller than Firestar.
His head narrows toward his chin, and his ears are large and wide spaced. His fur is longer than ours—dark brown and white with splashes of bright tortoiseshell—and his tail…”
Her mew trailed away. “I’ve seen him before! It’s the lion.”
Jaypaw stiffened in alarm. “What?”
Her voice dropped even more. “On the moor, with the sun rising behind him. He looked like a lion.”
Jaypaw wanted to know everything, but Firestar was padding toward the stranger. The air in the hollow crackled with tension.
“Thornclaw.” Firestar’s voice was sharp as he addressed the senior warrior. “Why have you brought this cat here, into our camp?”
“I-I…” Thornclaw seemed lost for words, and Jaypaw sensed confusion clouding the warrior’s thoughts. He was no longer sure why he had led a perfect stranger to the heart of ThunderClan territory. It had just seemed like the right thing to do.
“Firestar.” Unexpectedly, the stranger broke in. “I am honored to meet you. I have long looked forward to seeing ThunderClan.” His mew was deep but his tone light, as though promising honesty.
“How does he know us?” Spiderleg hissed.
“Where’s he from?” Leafpool breathed.
“You’ve looked forward to seeing ThunderClan?” Disbelief edged Firestar’s meow as he echoed the stranger’s words.
“What do you want with us?”
“What do we want with him?” Mousefur growled. “Send him away!”
“I want nothing from you.” The stranger’s mew echoed around the hollow.
Wariness flashed from Firestar. “Then why are you here?”
“I came because it was time.”
“Time for what?” Spiderleg called.
“Time to come,” the stranger replied. Jaypaw shivered. How did this cat make such simple words sound so powerful?
Firestar shifted his paws.
“He’s talking nonsense,” Mousefur muttered. “Tell him to leave.”
“But he just got here!” Toadkit skipped excitedly across the clearing. “Who are you?” he asked, stopping in front of the stranger.
A purr of amusement rumbled in the stranger’s throat. “I am Sol.”
Brambleclaw padded quickly forward. “You and Rosekit should be resting in the nursery,” he told Toadkit. “You couldn’t have gotten much sleep last night.”
“There was trouble?” Sol meowed.
“No.” The ThunderClan deputy followed Rosekit and Toadkit as they padded, grumbling, to their den. He waited while they scrambled inside, then called to Thornclaw, “Where did you find this stranger?”
“On the WindClan border,” Thornclaw explained. “He wasn’t stealing prey, or even trying to cross into our territory.
He was just… waiting.”
“I was waiting for a patrol,” Sol told them.
How does a loner know about borders and patrols?
“Why?” Firestar sounded baffled.
“So that they could escort me here.”
Jaypaw focused on Sol, groping for a reason why he had come. But he still couldn’t make any sense of the glittering shoal of thoughts.
His Clanmates seemed to have been lulled into a bewildered, ruff led silence.
When no one spoke, Sol meowed again. “I have intruded.”
The tip of his tail brushed the earth. “I thought that ThunderClan above all would welcome me.” His attention fixed on Firestar like a shaft of light. “You like to help cats less fortunate, don’t you?”
Firestar bristled. “We don’t turn away cats who are in need,” he meowed carefully. “But you say you need nothing.”
“You want me to go,” Sol concluded. But he made no move to leave. Instead, he sniffed as though tasting the air for more information. “May I meet your Clan first? I have traveled far, and alone, and I would be grateful to brush pelts with other cats for a few moments.”
“Very well.” Firestar padded across the clearing. “This is Brambleclaw, my deputy.” His tail swished the air. “And that is Leafpool, our medicine cat.”
“So you are the medicine cat.” Sol sounded pleased.
“Y-yes,” Leafpool meowed, shifting her paws.
“This is Thornclaw, Graystripe, Sandstorm, and Dustpelt,” Firestar meowed quickly.
“And I’m Icepaw!” The young apprentice bounded forward. “And that’s my brother, Foxpaw.”
“Ah, ’paws,” Sol meowed thoughtfully. “You are learning to be warriors, yes?”
“That’s right,” Brambleclaw answered for her. “In fact, they should be training now.” He addressed the apprentices.
“Shouldn’t your mentors have you out in the forest?”
Whitewing darted forward. “Yes, come on, Icepaw, let’s go do some battle training. Foxpaw, you can train with us until Squirrelflight gets back from hunting.”
“Can’t we stay here?” Foxpaw whined. But Whitewing was already shooing them out of the camp.
With a squeak, Rosekit and Toadkit tumbled out of the nursery.
“I thought I told you—” Brambleclaw began, then stopped as Daisy followed them out, scolding.
“I told you, Millie’s kits are too young to play! Even if you were just tickling them with a feather!” The queen’s angry mew trailed off abruptly. She must have spotted Sol.
“Away with you!” she whispered to her babies, her mew brittle with embarrassment. She hurried Rosekit and Toadkit toward the apprentice den. “Play over here, and don’t make any noise. Firestar is busy.”
“She isn’t Clanborn, is she?” Sol commented.
Spiderleg growled. “She’s part of ThunderClan now!”
“Of course,” Sol meowed smoothly.
Spiderleg shuffled his paws. “I meant she’s one of us, that’s all.”
Jaypaw smelled fresh prey as the barrier rustled. Squirrelflight and Sandstorm were returning from their hunt. They slowed when they spotted Sol, surprise pulsing from them.
“More prey?” Sol queried as they dropped their catch self-consciously on the fresh-kill pile. “Do you ever run out?”
Brambleclaw crossed the clearing to join Squirrelflight.
Jaypaw didn’t catch what he whispered in his mate’s ear before turning back to Sol. “Prey is scarce in leaf-bare, but we survive,” he meowed.
“I can see,” Sol meowed approvingly.
“Perhaps we can offer you a meal before you continue your journey,” Firestar offered.
Sol sat down. “I catch my own prey.”
“Can’t he take a hint?” Hollypaw whispered.
Jaypaw felt Sol’s gaze hot on his pelt.
“You have blind cats in the Clan?”
Leafpool stepped in front of Jaypaw. “Jaypaw’s my apprentice,” she meowed protectively.
“Two medicine cats,” Sol observed. “Even better. I have something to share that I think a medicine cat will appreciate more than a warrior.”
“So you have come for a reason!” Firestar challenged.
“I am just passing through,” Sol meowed lightly. “But while I’m here I may as well share.” He paused. “Would you rather I left immediately?”
“No!” Leafpool darted forward. “Let him share what he knows with me,” she begged to Firestar.
“It is not for all ears,” Sol warned.
“We can go into the forest,” Leafpool suggested.
She feels his power too! Why else would she be so eager to share with him?