“I knew we couldn’t trust Sol,” Jayfeather hissed. “Where is he now?”
“Not here.” Firestar sounded grave.
Jayfeather snorted. “What a surprise!”
“Firestar, should we attack WindClan?” Ivypool asked.
“That’s not a good idea,” Firestar responded; Jayfeather could feel his anxiety rising. “Onestar is already looking for any sign of hostility, so we’ll have to wait for him to make the first move. But we’ll be ready,” he added. “I’ll order extra patrols, and every cat must be ready for battle at a moment’s notice.”
Jayfeather heard Lionblaze working his claws into the earth of the camp floor. “It’s not that simple,” he meowed. “WindClan will attack through the tunnels, like they did before. ThunderClan cats have no experience in fighting underground, and that means we’ll have to wait until the attackers are right in the heart of our territory.”
“We have the advantage in forests,” Firestar reminded him. “Whatever the risk, we will have to bring the battle to us.”
For the rest of the night Jayfeather slept uneasily, shifting about in his nest, the darkness broken by flashing images of places he didn’t recognize: a rocky slope; a pool by the gnarled roots of an oak; a wide river glittering in starshine. The sound of a cat brushing past the bramble screen brought him back to full wakefulness. He recognized Hollyleaf’s scent, carried on a damp dawn breeze.
“Hi.” Briarlight greeted her confidently. “I’m Briarlight; I’m Jayfeather’s assistant. I’ll wake him for you.”
Jayfeather heard the sound of Briarlight dragging herself out of her nest, followed by a surprised meow from Hollyleaf. “Oh, you can’t…”
“Walk?” Briarlight finished for her. “Not really. But that doesn’t mean I can’t be useful.”
“N-no, I guess not,” Hollyleaf mewed.
Jayfeather rose to his paws and padded into the middle of the den. But when he stood facing his sister, his mouth went dry. He had no idea what to say to her.
“I’m back,” Hollyleaf mewed after a long silence.
“Yes.” Jayfeather had to force out the word.
“Can we go for a walk?” Hollyleaf suggested. “Lionblaze, too? There’s… there’s a lot I need to tell you.”
Clouds covered the sky as Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Hollyleaf headed out into the forest. The air carried the scent of rain and a chilly breeze blew into their faces. But Jayfeather felt ruffled by more than just the wind. None of the three spoke until they emerged from the trees onto the grassy slope that led down to the lake and sat in the shelter of an elder bush. Then Hollyleaf took a deep breath.
“Thank you,” she mewed. “I guess you didn’t tell Firestar what… what I did.”
“There was no point,” Lionblaze replied. “It was much easier for every cat to think it was a rogue who killed Ashfur.”
Jayfeather couldn’t entirely agree, but he said nothing, keeping his face turned toward the lapping of waves on the shore.
“Didn’t any cat think it was odd?” Hollyleaf asked. “The timing, I mean?”
“I don’t think any cat stopped to wonder about it,” Jayfeather grunted. “There was a lot of other stuff going on, if you remember.”
“Yes, of course.” Hollyleaf’s voice was meek. “What about now? Will you tell Firestar the truth?”
“Why would we?” Lionblaze burst out. Jayfeather could imagine his brother’s golden neck fur bristling.
“Because I got away,” Hollyleaf pointed out.
“But you didn’t really,” Lionblaze meowed. “You exiled yourself from the Clan; that’s quite a punishment.”
Something about his brother’s words made Jayfeather’s pain well up and spill over like rain overflowing the edges of a leaf. “No!” he hissed. “You let us think that you were dead! How could you do that?”
For a few heartbeats Hollyleaf was silent. “I had no choice,” she murmured at last. “You were better off without me.”
“That wasn’t your decision to make,” Jayfeather told her. “And you were wrong. You’re our littermate. Nothing you could do will ever change that.”
Hollyleaf sighed. “But I’m not one of the prophecy, am I? Does that mean I’ve ruined everything? That the prophecy won’t come true?”
Jayfeather felt Lionblaze look sharply at him. He took a deep breath. “There is a third cat. You met her last night. She’s Dovewing, Whitewing’s daughter.”
Hollyleaf let out a puff of breath. “Well… maybe it wasn’t a coincidence that I met her in the tunnels last night. What… what can she do?”
“Her senses are very sharp,” Lionblaze explained. “I mean, really. She knows what’s going on in the other territories… and even farther away. A few seasons ago, when the lake dried up, she knew it was some animals called beavers who had built a dam way upstream.”
Hollyleaf made a small noise that sounded as if she was impressed. But Jayfeather picked up feelings of grief and envy, too… not a bitter jealousy that would make her Dovewing’s enemy, but a deep regret that she was excluded from something that her littermates shared.
If only Hollyleaf had been part of the prophecy, he thought. She would have taken her place in it so seriously… maybe it would have stopped her from doing what she did.
The words of the latest prophecy came back to Jayfeather’s mind. Three will become four… He wondered if Hollyleaf could be the fourth cat, even if she hadn’t been part of the original prophecy. But sensing the trouble in his sister’s mind, he decided not to say anything yet. I’ll discuss it with Lionblaze first.
“Are you going to stay?” Lionblaze asked Hollyleaf.
“I think so,” she replied. “For a while, at least. After all, you’ve got a problem with Sol. If… if I can help you, then I will.”
“Isn’t it great that Hollyleaf came back?” Briarlight purred as soon as Jayfeather pushed past the bramble screen into his den. “Why did she stay away for so long?”
“Maybe you should ask her,” Jayfeather grunted. “Meanwhile, you can sort out those borage leaves and take some to Sorreltail to help her milk come.”
“Okay.” Briarlight didn’t sound offended, just a bit mystified that Jayfeather didn’t want to answer.
“And after that, do your exercises,” Jayfeather went on. “I’ll be away until tomorrow. I’m going to the Moonpool.”
Until he spoke, Jayfeather hadn’t been aware that he had made the decision. But when he left the camp, after a quick word with Brambleclaw to tell him where he was going, he felt a burden lifting from his shoulders. It was good to be alone with his thoughts. His fears about the Dark Forest had receded into the background. Sol was their biggest threat.
And Hollyleaf has come back. That could change everything.
The air was growing cooler as Jayfeather slid through the bushes that ringed the Moonpool and padded down the spiral path. Though he couldn’t see, he knew that darkness was falling. His paws slipped easily into the prints left by the ancient cats, and grief welled in his heart.
Half Moon…
Jayfeather pushed away the thought of the cat he had loved, the cat who had been dead for seasons upon seasons. He crouched at the water’s edge and touched his nose to the surface of the pool.
After a little while the splashing of the waterfall faded and Jayfeather slept. He opened his eyes on sunlight, and rose to his paws to find himself in a clearing in StarClan territory. The grass was long and lush, and the trees that surrounded him were weighed down with damp green leaves. He let out a sigh of relief when he realized that Yellowfang wasn’t waiting for him.
But there was no sign of the cat he wanted to see, either. Choosing a direction at random, Jayfeather set out. His ears were pricked and he glanced rapidly from side to side as he headed into the trees, passing through glades and leaping over small streams. The air was fresh and clear, loaded with prey-scent, and a warm breeze ruffled Jayfeather’s fur. But his errand was too urgent for him to stop and hunt, or bask in the sun.