The Forgotten Warrior

by Erin Hunter

  It can’t last, Jayfeather thought. Not in these turbulent times. But I’m glad of it now, that’s for sure.

  Chapter 25

  Gray light was seeping into the apprentices’ den when Dovewing opened her eyes. Her fur felt ruffled; cold claws probed into her nest, as if she were lying in a draft. In the days since the Gathering the weather had turned colder, and she knew leaf-fall was not far away.

  Dovewing wriggled deeper into the moss, trying to escape from the stream of chilly air. Then she realized that something else had woken her. Her senses were always turned toward WindClan, and as she concentrated she picked up a familiar voice.

  “Follow me,” Sol was meowing. “Those lazy ThunderClan mange-pelts will still be snoring in their dens.”

  The murmuring voices of many cats surrounded him, growling as they braced themselves for battle.

  Scrambling out of her den, Dovewing raced across the clearing and up the tumbled rocks. “Firestar!” she gasped, bursting into her leader’s den. “WindClan is heading for the tunnels. The attack is happening now!”

  Firestar was curled up on his bedding at the back of the den. As Dovewing spoke, he raised his head, instantly alert, and slipped out past her onto the Highledge.

  “Wake up!” he yowled. “Every cat, into the clearing! WindClan is attacking!”

  Once he had raised the alarm, he ran down the rockfall into the clearing. Dovewing paused for a moment on the Highledge before she followed him. The moon had set, but a few faint warriors of StarClan still lingered overhead. The trees above the hollow were outlined against a pale sky. Dovewing took in a deep breath of cold dawn air and bounded after her leader.

  Warriors were beginning to emerge from their den, vague and clumsy from sleep. Daisy appeared at the entrance to the nursery, then vanished straight back inside. Jayfeather poked his head out from behind the bramble screen of the medicine cat’s den, his ears pricked to hear what was going on.

  Dashing back to her own den, Dovewing met Ivypool as she staggered out into the open. Her fur was ragged and there was a pained look in her eyes.

  “Are you okay?” Dovewing asked. “Did something happen in the Dark Forest?”

  “It’s nothing to worry about,” Ivypool replied, shaking her head to clear it. “I’m a warrior there now. I have to train the others.” Her eyes were haunted and her gaze kept flicking from side to side as if she thought some cat was on her tail. “I’ll be fine,” she insisted. “I can still fight.”

  Hollyleaf followed her out of the den, looking brisk and ready for action. She ran into the middle of the clearing to join Firestar and Brambleclaw.

  “We will meet the WindClan cats in the tunnels,” Firestar announced as his Clan gathered around him. “We won’t let them set a single paw in ThunderClan territory. As far as I know,” he added, with a glance at Dovewing, “WindClan hasn’t trained to fight in the tunnels.” Dovewing gave him a quick nod. “ThunderClan will have the advantage!”

  A yowl of enthusiasm greeted the Clan leader’s words. Every cat was awake now, ready to defend their Clan. Dove-wing spotted Brightheart and Foxleap running through the new battle moves, while the two apprentices bounced up and down with excitement.

  Dovewing was still listening to the approaching WindClan warriors as they crossed the moorland and approached the border with ThunderClan. Suddenly the noise of their voices and paw steps was cut off and their images faded to nothing. Dovewing’s belly churned; she knew what that meant.

  “We must hurry!” she meowed to Firestar.

  Several other cats looked at her in surprise, not understanding the reason for her eagerness. Of course they don’t know that I can sense WindClan as far away as their own territory.

  Hollyleaf came striding over to her. “Lionblaze tells me that you can hear things,” she mewed quietly. “Far away, I mean.”

  Dovewing nodded.

  “Because of the prophecy about the Three?” Hollyleaf’s voice was strained.

  Feeling awkward, Dovewing replied, “Yes.” She could guess how difficult it must be for Hollyleaf not to have a part in the prophecy with her littermates. It can’t be easy for her to talk to me about it.

  Hollyleaf was silent for several heartbeats, then gave her ears a decisive twitch. “Well, let’s make the most of it. What are the WindClan cats doing now?”

  “They’ve entered the tunnels,” Dovewing told her. “It’s really hard to hear them underground.”

  “All the same tunnel?” Hollyleaf prompted.

  Dovewing stretched her senses to their limits and found that she could still pick up faint traces of the advancing enemy. “Yes, I think they’re all together,” she muttered, concentrating with every hair on her pelt. “Now they’re entering the cavern with the river running across it . . . now they’re entering another tunnel . . .”

  “I think I can work out where they are,” Hollyleaf hissed. “And where they’re likely to head . . .” She turned to Firestar, Brambleclaw, and Lionblaze, who had come over to listen. “We’ll split into three,” she went on. “One patrol will enter the tunnel above the camp, a second will take the tunnel near the old Twoleg nest, and a third the one by the lake. Our aim is to push the WindClan cats back into the cavern with the river, where there’ll be more room to fight.”

  Brambleclaw gave her an approving nod. He leaped up onto a boulder and began dividing the warriors up into patrols. “I’ll lead one,” he announced, gesturing with his tail, “Hollyleaf another, and Brackenfur, you take the third. Hollyleaf tells me you’re the best at underground fighting.”

  Looking pleased and a bit embarrassed, Brackenfur moved to stand with his patrol.

  “But we’re not in a patrol!” Cherrypaw objected.

  “We want to fight WindClan,” Molepaw agreed.

  “Wrong, Cherrypaw—you’re in my patrol,” Firestar told her. “We’ll stay here in the hollow to defend the elders and the nursery if WindClan manages to break through.”

  The two apprentices exchanged a glance; Dovewing could see they weren’t sure whether to be disappointed not to be fighting underground, or pleased to be chosen for a patrol by their Clan leader.

  “We can fight, too, if we have to,” Daisy meowed, padding up with Ferncloud. “We’ll guard Sorreltail and the kits.”

  “And me,” Purdy added, lumbering across from the elders’ den. “Just because I’m old, don’t mean I can’t fight. I’ve clawed more cats than you young ’uns have eaten mice. There was a time—”

  “Thanks, all of you,” Firestar meowed, cutting off Purdy before he could embark on one of his interminable stories.

  As the three tunnel patrols set off for the camp entrance, Cinderheart appeared from the medicine cat’s den. “I will fight, too,” she announced, padding over to join Hollyleaf.

  Oh, really? Dovewing thought, pricking her ears with interest.

  A few cats muttered something in response to Cinderheart’s announcement, but there was no time for questions. Hollyleaf broke into a run, taking the lead as she raced through the thorn tunnel and out into the forest.

  Dovewing and Ivypool were in Hollyleaf’s patrol, along with Cinderheart, Sandstorm, Mousewhisker, and Berrynose. Hollyleaf led them in a swift scramble up the path to the top of the hollow and up to the tunnel entrance.

  “Follow me in,” she murmured to Dovewing. “I need you to tell me what WindClan is doing. Sandstorm,” she added, raising her voice, “bring up the rear. Let me know if there’s any trouble behind.”

  “Got it,” Sandstorm responded, her pale green eyes gleaming in the strengthening dawn light.

  Dovewing took a deep breath and followed Hollyleaf into the tunnel. Instantly the sound of WindClan burst into her ears. “They’re running so fast!” she gasped.

  “Where?” Hollyleaf’s voice was terse.

  “Not here, not yet,” Dovewing whispered as she and Hollyleaf raced down the tunnel at the head of the patrol. “They’ve come up against one of the entrances Dustpelt and Bracken
fur blocked off . . . now they’re turning around . . . they’re coming this way!”

  As well as the WindClan cats, Dovewing could hear the other ThunderClan patrols as they headed down their tunnels. The whole hill was alive with scurrying creatures, like an ants’ nest. The noises were growing so loud that Dovewing could hardly distinguish one patrol from another, or work out exactly where they were.

  Then as they rounded a corner, the scent of WindClan suddenly grew stronger. Dovewing barely had time to gasp, “They’re here!” before they collided head-on with the WindClan warriors.

  WindClan had no warning at all. As they charged into the ThunderClan cats, they let out yowls of shock. For a few moments they were helpless, shoving at one another in the dark, not knowing whether to advance or retreat.

  Hollyleaf and Dovewing lashed out, raking at their unseen attackers with claws extended. At first it was easy to push the WindClan cats farther down the tunnel, but after a moment they recovered and started to push back. Dovewing screeched as unseen claws slashed at her shoulder. Forcing her way forward, she felt chest fur against her muzzle, and stretched up to sink her teeth into the cat’s throat. Her opponent reared back; there was a dull thump and a shriek, and Dovewing realized her attacker had banged their head on the tunnel roof.

  “You should have trained!” she hissed.

  “Get back!” Hollyleaf ordered. “Let fresh cats come through.”

  Remembering the battle plan Hollyleaf had worked out earlier, Dovewing flattened herself against the tunnel wall to let Cinderheart and Berrynose slip forward. She had a few moments’ respite, gasping for breath at the back of the patrol, while her Clanmates took on the WindClan warriors. Mousewhisker, Ivypool, and Sandstorm moved smoothly up to take their places, until the attackers were forced backward, toward the cavern with the river.

  At last light began to filter into the tunnel from up ahead and Dovewing managed to make out the cats in the WindClan patrol. Breezepelt was leading them, with Whiskernose, Weaselfoot, and Harespring. Heathertail and Furzepelt brought up the rear.

  The WindClan cats stumbled backward into the cavern and the ThunderClan warriors sprang out of the tunnel after them. Glancing around swiftly, Dovewing saw that they were the first to arrive; extending her senses she picked up the sounds of fighting in the other tunnels.

  The WindClan cats bunched together, panting and glaring at their rivals. Their fur was ragged and several of them showed the marks of ThunderClan claws. Dovewing guessed they had expected to emerge into ThunderClan territory and launch their attack on an unsuspecting camp.

  Then they had a nasty surprise, she thought with satisfaction.

  Hollyleaf pushed her way to the front of her patrol and faced the WindClan warriors. “End this now,” she meowed. “You cannot win.”

  “Mange-pelts!” Breezepelt snarled. “You tormented Sol!”

  “We did no such thing!” Dovewing hissed. “We invited Sol into our camp. It was your leader who wanted him chased off.”

  “And Jayfeather murdered Flametail!” Heathertail added, stepping forward to stand beside Breezepelt. Her eyes were blazing with hatred. “And you’ve been crossing our boundaries and stealing our prey!”

  “That’s right!” Whiskernose put in. “You always think you’re better than us, just because we once needed your help before the Clans came to the lake.”

  “What do you know about that?” Sandstorm challenged the young warrior. “You weren’t even kitted then!”

  Dovewing was shocked at the strength of hostility directed at them from even the youngest cats. It’s so unfair! she seethed. We can’t even defend ourselves, because they won’t listen!

  Suddenly Breezepelt let out a bloodcurdling yowl and hurled himself straight at her. Taken by surprise, Dovewing was swept off her paws and hit the ground with a thump. But before Breezepelt could pin her down, she rolled to one side and sprang to her paws again in time to catch him a sharp blow on his shoulder.

  “You’ll have to be faster than that!” she taunted him.

  With a snarl of defiance, Breezepelt launched himself at her, trying to force her back against the cavern wall. Remembering her training, Dovewing backed away, letting him think he was winning, then pushed herself off the wall and leaped over his head. The look of surprise on the WindClan cat’s face made her fur feel hot with satisfaction.

  The other cats were battling it out alongside her now, and as Dovewing landed, Cinderheart and Heathertail knocked into her as they rolled past in a screeching bundle of fur. Dovewing lost her balance and as her paws scrabbled on the cavern floor, Breezepelt was on top of her.

  “Think you’re clever?” he growled, his teeth gleaming close to her throat. “But you’re not clever enough.”

  Dovewing battered at him with her hindpaws, but she couldn’t dislodge him. She could feel his claws digging into her shoulders and blood starting to flow.

  I can’t die like this! she thought despairingly. Not under Breezepelt’s claws!

  Suddenly Breezepelt’s weight vanished. Dovewing scrambled up to see that Ivypool had sunk her teeth in his scruff and was shaking his head from side to side. After a moment she released him, and while he was still groggy, she hooked his paws out from under him and dealt him a couple of hard blows on the soft part of his belly. Breezepelt rolled away from her, struggled to his paws, and fled.

  “Thanks!” Dovewing gasped. “Ivypool, you fight really well!”

  “You’re welcome,” Ivypool mewed, before spinning around and flinging herself back into the battle.

  Dovewing realized that the sounds of fighting she had heard in the tunnel were all around her now. She didn’t need her special senses, as the other patrols were pouring into the cavern, filling it with fierce caterwauls and shrieks of pain. Everywhere Dovewing looked, she saw a mass of wailing, thrashing cats.

  “No sign of Onestar,” Ivypool panted, reappearing beside Dovewing for a brief moment as she glared around to find her next enemy.

  Dovewing nodded. “I can’t see Ashfoot either. This isn’t the whole of WindClan, just the cats Sol managed to trick.” And we outnumber them, thank StarClan! she added to herself.

  She leaped forward and let the battle sweep her away, lashing out at any cat that dared to face her. As she grew tired, she kept forgetting to keep her moves small and tight, and her paws ached from being banged against the cavern walls.

  How long can we keep this up? she wondered.

  In a tight knot of battling cats she leaped onto a brown tabby’s back. A heartbeat later she was shocked to see Dustpelt glaring up at her.

  “For StarClan’s sake, get down,” he snapped, shrugging her off. “Haven’t we got enough trouble with WindClan?”

  “Sorry,” Dovewing muttered, jumping back into the fray.

  Hollyleaf’s voice rang out above the sounds of battle. “Force them into the tunnels!”

  Dovewing did the best she could, charging into the side of Owlwhisker and shoving him toward the nearest tunnel opening. Owlwhisker pushed back, but his paws were unsteady, and after a few heartbeats he turned and limped away. Glancing around, Dovewing realized that the other WindClan cats were on the run, fleeing into the tunnels. ThunderClan warriors screeched in triumph as they gave chase.

  But then another voice was raised in a yowl. “WindClan! Stand and fight! You have no greater enemy than ThunderClan!”

  Dovewing whipped around to see Sol standing in the entrance to the biggest tunnel. Defeated cats were stumbling past him; his eyes brimmed with fury, glowing in the half-light, as he tried to stop them.

  “Traitor!” The shriek of rage came from Hollyleaf, who raced past Dovewing and flung herself at Sol. “Liar!”

  Sol turned tail and fled into the tunnel; without a heartbeat’s pause Hollyleaf hurled herself after him.

  “Hollyleaf, no!” Dovewing cried out. The black she-cat was so much smaller and lighter than Sol. “Wait!” she added. “Wait for me!”

  Forcing her tired paws to move
, she pelted across the cavern and into the tunnel. Almost at once she caught up to the two cats; Hollyleaf had trapped Sol in a side tunnel, a dead end still faintly lit by the light from the cavern.

  Dovewing could hear Sol hissing in the darkness. Both he and Hollyleaf were moving confidently, striking out at each other as they prepared to come together in a close tussle. Dovewing noticed that Sol was unwounded, his sleek fur barely ruffled, while Hollyleaf had scratches over her shoulders and down one side, and tufts of fur missing from her hindquarters.

  I don’t think Sol has been fighting at all, Dovewing thought. He’s been hiding, and letting WindClan do his dirty work!

  “Leave the Clans alone,” Hollyleaf growled. “You have hurt us enough.”

  “Never!” Sol retorted. “Not until I’ve destroyed everything the Clans stand for.” His lips peeled back in a snarl. “Many seasons ago, I knew another of your Clans, far away in a gorge. They scorned me, too; they told me I wasn’t good enough to be one of their precious warriors! So I vowed to prove to all of you that the warrior code means nothing. In the end, you will kill one another for reasons that aren’t worth so much as a mousetail.”

  “No, you’re wrong,” Hollyleaf hissed softly, crouching ready to spring. “The way of the Clans is always worth fighting for—and dying for, if necessary.”

  With a screech of fury she leaped on Sol, battering at him with all four paws. The loner fought back, trying to overwhelm her with his greater weight.

  He’s no fighter, Dovewing realized, shocked. He doesn’t have warrior skills.

  She was poised to come to Hollyleaf’s aid with teeth and claws, but quickly she realized that she wouldn’t be needed. Hollyleaf fought with swift, neat blows, remembering her own tunnel training, while Sol was soon flailing around at random shadows as Hollyleaf slid nimbly away from his blows.

  At last Hollyleaf darted in with her belly brushing the floor, and knocked Sol’s legs out from under him. As Sol fell on one side she pinned him down with one forepaw on his belly and the other across his throat. Sol looked up at her with fear and hatred in his eyes.