“How was I meant to know they were coming through the tunnel?” Lionpaw muttered. “I can’t see through thorns.”
“Try using your ears!” Jaypaw snapped.
They squeezed through the dirtplace tunnel, and Jaypaw felt a wave of relief to be safely out in the forest, even though the stench of dirtplace lingered in his nostrils. He led Hollypaw and Lionpaw up the slope toward the lake. There was a patch of brambles they could hide behind while they decided which way to head.
“So?” Hollypaw prompted once they’d halted behind the bush.
Jaypaw sniffed the air. He had a faint hope that he could still pick up some of Sol’s scent. After all, it hadn’t rained since his visit. But the battle had drowned the forest in unfamiliar scents. Four Clans had fought here. No trace of Sol remained.
“Dustpelt took him back to the WindClan border,” Lionpaw reminded him.
“That’s where I saw him,” Hollypaw mewed excitedly. “On the moorland.”
“He won’t be there now then,” Jaypaw mewed.
Lionpaw’s tail swished the leaves. “Why not?”
“Because he’s been there.” Jaypaw felt certain that Sol knew about all four Clans. He’d sought out Firestar on purpose.
He’d been on WindClan’s land. It made sense that he would want to make contact with the other Clans as well. Jaypaw just hoped he hadn’t gone looking for RiverClan. That was on the other side of the lake, too far to go and come back before their Clanmates noticed they were missing. “He would have gone to ShadowClan next,” he mewed firmly, though he wasn’t completely certain. He was worried that his littermates wouldn’t follow him if they thought he hadn’t a clue where he was leading them.
“How can you be sure?” Lionpaw asked.
“I just am,” Jaypaw lied.
“But we can’t go onto ShadowClan’s territory!” Hollypaw gasped.
“You did,” Jaypaw reminded her.
“That was an emergency,” Hollypaw argued. “I had to go.”
“This is an emergency too!”
“But we don’t know he’s there. Not for certain.” Hollypaw sat down. “I didn’t see any strangers in the camp when I was there.”
“Maybe he hadn’t arrived by the time the battle started,” Jaypaw mewed.
Lionpaw rubbed a paw through his whiskers. “Hollypaw’s right. We can’t risk crossing into ShadowClan territory. There’s just been a battle. They’d shred us.”
“It’s not like you to be scared,” Jaypaw taunted.
“I’m not scared for me; I’m scared for the Clan,” Lionpaw snapped.
Hollypaw let out a long breath. “He’s right,” she mewed.
“ShadowClan were our only allies. We can’t risk annoying them.”
Jaypaw flicked a paw crossly through the leaf litter. They were getting nowhere.
“Why don’t we head up through our territory?” Hollypaw suggested. “We might find some trace of Sol near the border.
If you’re right and he is trying to get to ShadowClan, he has to cross our territory to go the quickest route.”
“That makes sense,” Lionpaw agreed. “And a loner like him would have steered well clear of the battle.”
“Okay,” Jaypaw agreed. He padded out from the shelter of the bramble, and promptly tripped over a fallen twig.
“I’ll lead the way,” Lionpaw offered.
Jaypaw felt a familiar flicker of frustration, but pushed it away. This was too important. He was closer than he’d ever been to getting answers about the prophecy.
They trekked away from the lake, pushing deeper into the woodland than any of them had ever been. The forest floor became unfamiliar beneath their paws. The broad oak and beech leaves, so smooth on their pads, gave way to small, scrunched-up hazel. Jaypaw couldn’t even scent the lake anymore, and the woodland became denser. Smaller trees clustered closer, and they had to weave along a winding path.
The soft foliage of ferns and berry bushes gradually petered out, and the smell of prey became fainter. Twigs scratched their pelts.
The land was sloping steadily upward, and Jaypaw could smell mountain air drifting down through the trees.
“We’ve reached the edge of our territory!” Lionpaw announced.
Jaypaw sniffed. A few stale ThunderClan scent marks dotted the trees, and beyond them, no ThunderClan scent at all.
His heart began to pound as he followed Lionpaw across the scent line, relieved to feel Hollypaw’s pelt brushing his. It felt like stepping off the edge of the world.
Lionpaw stopped. “I can smell something.”
Jaypaw hurried to catch up and sniffed the twigs beside Lionpaw. “That’s him!” He recognized Sol’s scent straightaway. “He’s been here.” The tom’s smell was faint, worn away by the breeze, but unmistakable. Jaypaw padded forward, letting his nose lead him. Another scented twig! They had found Sol’s path.
“He was definitely heading toward ShadowClan,” Hollypaw observed.
“What if he’s crossed into their territory?” Lionpaw asked.
“Let’s deal with that if it happens,” Jaypaw urged. He couldn’t lose Sol now.
They trekked onward, following Sol’s trail as it skirted the top of ThunderClan’s border. Suddenly Jaypaw scented ShadowClan. He halted and pricked his ears. There was no sound of a patrol, no cats rustling the undergrowth.
“It’s just their scent markers,” Lionpaw reassured him.
“We’ve reached the top of ShadowClan’s border.”
Jaypaw felt a surge of triumph. He’d been right. Sol had been seeking out ShadowClan. But fear also stirred in his belly.
What if Sol’s trail veered down into ShadowClan territory?
Would Lionpaw and Hollypaw agree to cross the border with him? How would he find his way without them? He padded on, acutely aware of the ShadowClan scent line as it followed their path through the forest.
The trail drew them onward, a twig here, a leaf there, each lightly brushed by Sol’s pelt. Jaypaw felt excitement growing with each discovery until, suddenly, the scent ended. He spun around, tasting the air.
Nothing!
Lionpaw pushed on, sniffing the undergrowth. “No sign here!” he called back.
No!
Jaypaw darted forward, desperate to find another clue. He tripped on a rock sticking out of the ground. Pain seared his paw, and he licked at it furiously.
“Are you okay?” Hollypaw was beside him.
“Fine,” he replied through clenched teeth. The pain was easing. No damage.
“I guess we’ve lost him.” Hollypaw sighed.
Panic fluttered in Jaypaw’s belly. “Let’s try another direction.”
“He might have headed across the ShadowClan border,” Lionpaw mewed grimly.
“Let’s look!” Jaypaw urged.
Lionpaw stiffened. “No.”
“Wait!” Hollypaw darted away.
“Where are you going?”
She was back at his side by the time Jaypaw had finished his question.
“I’ve found a piece of fur,” she mewed. “It’s long, with a mixture of tortoiseshell and white hairs. It must be Sol’s.”
Jaypaw sniffed at the hairs she’d dropped on the ground beside him. It was Sol’s! “Where did you find it?” he demanded.
“In the grass over there,” Hollypaw mewed. “You can even see where he’s walked. The grass is crushed.”
“But the path leads away from ShadowClan’s border,” Lionpaw pointed out. “I thought you said he’d be heading for their camp.”
“I must have been wrong.” Jaypaw shrugged. He didn’t care where Sol was going. He just wanted to find him. He plunged into the grass, sniffing as he went, following the scent trail of pawprints. He let his mind reach out into the forest, hoping to pick up some sense of the stranger. But he found nothing but unknown smells and unfamiliar territory.