Cloudstar's Journey Page 7

  Swiftstar was the first to reply. “You can’t just walk in here and demand part of our territory. We can barely feed our own Clans as it is.”

  Redstar scraped one forepaw over the hard gray stone. “The prey is running well now in greenleaf, but what’s going to happen when leaf-fall comes? ThunderClan won’t be able to spare any then.”

  “Nor will ShadowClan,” Dawnstar meowed, standing up and meeting Cloudstar’s gaze. “My Clan is bigger than any other. We need every paw step of ground to feed our own cats.”

  Cloudstar looked at the fourth leader. “Birchstar? What do you think?”

  “I’d like to help,” she mewed. “I really would. But the river is very low and it’s harder than ever to catch enough fish. Besides, SkyClan cats don’t know how to fish.”

  “Exactly,” Swiftstar added. “And only WindClan cats are fast enough to catch rabbits and birds on the moors. There’s certainly nowhere in our territory where you could make a camp. You’d soon get tired of sleeping under gorse bushes.”

  Cloudstar looked at them for a long moment. “Then what is my Clan supposed to do?”

  Every cat in the hollow was silent. Cloudstar felt his heart pounding beneath his fur. Please help us! Without StarClan, you are our only help!

  Redstar spoke first. “Leave.”

  Cloudstar blinked. What?

  “That’s right.” There was a hint of a snarl in Swiftstar’s meow. “Leave the forest and find yourselves another place, far enough away that you can’t steal our prey.”

  At the foot of the rock, Larkwing, the WindClan medicine cat, stood up. “Swiftstar,” she called, “as your medicine cat, I can tell you that StarClan won’t be pleased if the rest of us drive out SkyClan. There have always been five Clans in the forest.”

  Swiftstar looked down at her with a hint of impatience in his eyes. “Larkwing, you say you know the will of StarClan, but can you tell me why the moon is still shining? If StarClan didn’t agree that SkyClan should leave the forest, they would send clouds to cover the sky.”

  Larkwing shook her head and sat down again, looking troubled.

  Cloudstar felt a wave of panic rising in his chest. “Five Clans have lived in this forest for longer than any cat can remember,” he reminded the other leaders. “Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

  “Things change,” Redstar replied. “Is it possible that the will of StarClan has changed also? StarClan gave each Clan the skills they need to survive in their own territory. RiverClan cats swim well. ThunderClan cats are good at stalking prey in the undergrowth. SkyClan cats can leap into trees because there’s not much cover in their territory. Doesn’t this mean that each Clan couldn’t live in another Clan’s territory?”

  Molepelt, ShadowClan’s scrawny and rumpled medicine cat, tipped his head back to look directly at Cloudstar. “You keep saying that StarClan wants five Clans in the forest, but are you sure that’s true? There are four oaks here at Fourtrees. That could be a sign that there should be only four Clans.”

  “SkyClan doesn’t belong here,” hissed a WindClan silver tabby in the middle of the hollow. “Let’s drive them out now.”

  Cloudstar saw his warriors bristle and unsheathe their claws, ready to fight in spite of their hunger and exhaustion. Oh my brave Clanmates! I am so sorry it has come to this. Abandoned by StarClan, and now by the only cats who could have helped us.

  “Stop!” he called. “Warriors of SkyClan, we are not cowards, but this is a battle we cannot win. We have seen tonight what the warrior code is worth. From now on we will be alone, and we will depend on no cat but ourselves.” He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling his heart break in two. Without territory, SkyClan had no food and no shelter. Without StarClan, they had no hope. There is nothing left for us here. I am the leader who could not save his Clan.

  Cloudstar jumped down from the Great Rock and pushed through the cats until he was standing next to Birdflight. His kits mewled at her paws, staring up at him with huge, frightened eyes. They looked as fragile as hatchlings. Cloudstar met Birdflight’s gaze, and knew at once what she was going to say.

  “Cloudstar.” Birdflight’s voice trembled. “Our kits are too small to make a long journey. I’ll stay here with them, if any Clan will have us.”

  For a heartbeat Cloudstar cursed the night that StarClan had given him nine lives. If he wasn’t SkyClan’s leader, he could stay here as well, or live with Birdflight as rogues, beyond the wretched warrior code. Now his nine lives stretched ahead of him, cold and lonely and endless. Oh Birdflight. Do I have to lose you, too?

  Kestrelwing, the ThunderClan medicine cat, pushed his way between two SkyClan warriors, ignoring their snarls, and bent his head to sniff the kits. “You will all be welcome in ThunderClan.”

  Cloudstar spun around to face him. “Are you sure?” he demanded. “After what your leader said to us today?”

  Kestrelwing’s eyes darkened. “I believe my leader was wrong,” he meowed. “But he won’t condemn helpless kits to die. They will have a future in ThunderClan, and so will you, Birdflight.”

  Birdflight dipped her head. “Thank you.” She turned to Cloudstar, sorrow brimming in her green eyes. “Then this is good-bye.”

  “Birdflight, no.” Suddenly, Cloudstar couldn’t be brave any longer. “How can I leave you?”

  “You must.” Birdflight’s voice shook. “Our Clan needs you, but our kits need me just now.”

  Cloudstar bowed his head. “I’ll wait for you,” he whispered. “I’ll wait for you forever.” He pressed his muzzle against Birdflight’s side. “Stay with Kestrelwing. He’ll find warriors to help carry the kits back to ThunderClan’s camp.” To the ThunderClan medicine cat, he added, “Take care of them.”

  Kestrelwing nodded. “Of course.”

  Cloudstar nuzzled each of his kits in turn, first Gorsekit, then Spottedkit. He inhaled their sweet milky scent, knowing he would carry it with him until his last breath. He wondered if they would ever remember him. Then he looked at Birdflight, drinking in the sight of her as if it were the only thing he would see for the rest of his life. I’m so sorry.

  Birdflight gave a tiny nod, and Cloudstar knew what she was thinking. She was reminding him that he was still the leader of their Clan. Without their home, without food, without StarClan, their Clanmates depended on him alone. Cloudstar lifted his head and signaled with his tail to the rest of his Clan. “Follow me.”

  He led the way toward the slope, but before he could plunge into the bushes Redstar called from the top of the Great Rock. “May StarClan go with you!”

  Cloudstar turned and fixed a cold gaze on the ThunderClan leader. “StarClan may go where they please,” he hissed. “They have betrayed SkyClan. From this day on, I will have nothing more to do with our warrior ancestors.” He ignored the gasps of shock around him, some from his own Clan. “StarClan allowed the Twolegs to destroy our home. They look down on us now, and let the moon go on shining while you drive us out. They said there would always be five Clans in the forest, but they lied. SkyClan will never look to the stars again.”

  With a last flick of his tail he plunged into the bushes. His Clanmates poured in after him, and they were swallowed up in leafy shadows. Cloudstar had no idea where they were going, or where they would end up. At that moment, all that mattered to him had been left behind beneath the four giant oaks.

  Farewell, Birdflight, Gorsekit, Spottedkit. I will find you again one day, I promise.

  When Hollyleaf disappeared in the tunnels by the lake, ThunderClan believed she was lost to them forever. But her adventure was only beginning. Lost and lonely, Hollyleaf soon meets a mysterious cat named Fallen Leaves, who teaches her how to live in the tunnels. But Hollyleaf can’t help wondering if leaving her Clanmates was the right choice. She knows she’s a ThunderClan cat at heart, but can she ever truly go back?

  CHAPTER 1

  Thunder crashed, louder than anything Hollyleaf had heard before. There was a ripple overhead and a strange cracking s
ound. The sky is falling! And then it was all around her, sharper and harder than Hollyleaf expected, throwing her to the ground and crushing her bones. I can’t breathe! She struggled frantically, feeling her claws rip, but the sky was too heavy, too cold, and she let the endless dark sweep her away.

  Hollyleaf was standing on the edge of a cliff. Behind her, the hollow yawned like a hungry mouth. Flames, hissing and orange, filled the air with smoke and bitter ash. Hollyleaf’s littermates, Lionblaze and Jayfeather, crouched beside her; she could feel them trembling against her fur. In front of them, Ashfur stood at the end of a branch that would lead them through the fire. Squirrelflight stood next to him, fury blazing in her eyes. Hollyleaf stared at her mother, waiting for her to move Ashfur out of the way.

  “Enough, Ashfur,” Squirrelflight hissed. “Your quarrel is with me. These young cats have done nothing to hurt you. Do what you like with me, but let them out of the fire.”

  Ashfur looked at her in surprise. “You don’t understand. This is the only way to make you feel the same pain that you caused me. You tore my heart out when you chose Brambleclaw over me. Anything I did to you would never hurt as much. But your kits…If you watch them die, then you’ll know the pain I felt.”

  Squirrelflight met his gaze. “Kill them, then. You won’t hurt me that way.” She took a step away from him, then looked back over her shoulder. “If you really want to hurt me, you’ll have to find a better way than that. They are not my kits.”

  The ground lurched beneath Hollyleaf’s paws. Squirrelflight is not my mother? Hollyleaf was Clanless, codeless. She could be a rogue, even a kittypet. There was no way Hollyleaf could let Ashfur tell the four Clans about Squirrelflight’s confession. She and her littermates would be driven out! Everything they had done up till now, all their loyalty to the warrior code, would count for nothing.

  The silence was deafening, pressing more heavily on Hollyleaf’s ears than the stones that pinned her to the cold floor. Dust filled her mouth and nose, and pain stabbed through one of her legs. I’ve been buried alive! Hollyleaf thrashed and bucked against the weight of the rocks. Her head broke free with a shower of small stones. There wasn’t a sliver of light from the mouth of the tunnel. She was trapped in the dark.

  “Help! Help me! I’m stuck!”

  She stopped. Who was she calling to? She had no Clanmates now. She had left that life behind—on the other side of the rocks, as far away as if it were the moon. Her brothers and Leafpool knew that she had killed Ashfur. And now Jayfeather and Lionblaze probably thought she had died in the rockfall. Maybe it’s better that way. At least they won’t come looking for me. Hollyleaf closed her eyes again.

  Hollyleaf had followed Ashfur to the WindClan border. She had stalked him like she would a piece of prey, treading softly, claws sheathed to keep them from catching in brambles or scratching on stone. When he reached the bank of the stream, with the water foaming far below, Hollyleaf sprang on him, twisted his head to one side, sank her teeth into his fur and skin, telling herself over and over: This is the only way! Ashfur dropped to his belly and Hollyleaf jumped back as he rolled into the stream. She washed the blood from her paws, letting the cold water chill her legs, her flanks, all the way to her heart. I did it for my Clan!

  Hollyleaf forced the images from her mind with a shudder. Taking a deep breath, she wriggled her front paws free and pushed away the stones that were pressing against her chest. Then she reached out as far as she could and started to haul herself out. She hissed when one of her hind legs moved. It was so painful, her leg felt as if it might be broken. Hollyleaf pictured the well-stocked medicine den, with comfrey to mend the bone and poppy seeds to help her sleep through the worst of the discomfort. As far away as the moon, she reminded herself. Gritting her teeth, she dragged the rest of her body out of the stones. Her wounded leg bounced agonizingly onto the floor.

  “Great StarClan, that hurts!” Hollyleaf growled. Speaking aloud seemed to help, so she carried on. “I’ve been down here before. I know there are other ways out. I just need to follow this tunnel until I find a source of light. Come on, one paw in front of the other.” In spite of her fear, in spite of the pain in her leg, the memories kept flooding back….

  “I am your mother, Hollyleaf,” Leafpool had whispered. Hollyleaf shook her head. That was impossible. How could she be the daughter of a medicine cat, when medicine cats were forbidden to have kits? Worse than being a rogue or a kittypet, her own birth had broken the code of the Clans.

  Hollyleaf unsheathed her claws to give her a better grip on the stone. To her dismay, several of them had already broken off in her struggle to get out, and the tips of her pads felt wet and sticky. She smelled blood and pictured the trail she was leaving as she crawled along the tunnel. If Lionblaze and Jayfeather dug through the rockfall, they’d know she’d survived and would follow the trail to find her. Suddenly her front paws thudded into stone. She yelped with pain and swiveled sideways to follow the curve of the wall. It was so dark, she couldn’t even tell if her eyes were open. If I can just find some light. If, if, if…

  Jayfeather had figured out who their father was. “It’s Crowfeather.”

  Hollyleaf stared at him in disbelief. “But…Crowfeather’s from WindClan! I’m a ThunderClan cat!”

  “Yellowfang came to me in a dream,” Jayfeather insisted. “She told me it was time we knew the truth.”

  For Hollyleaf, there was nothing left. Half-Clan? She stood in the mouth of the tunnel and felt the scent of stone smooth her ruffled fur. She could disappear down here and emerge somewhere far from the Clans. She could begin a new life, away from all these lies and broken promises.

  Hollyleaf turned and ran into the tunnel. She heard Jayfeather calling to her—and then the thunder came, and the sky fell in, and she was swallowed up by the dizzying black.

  Hollyleaf kept going. Breathe, scrape, haul. Over and over. She longed to stop, to sleep, to wait for a StarClan warrior to come for her. But did StarClan even know she was here? Her birth had broken the warrior code. She had killed another cat. And she had given up her place in ThunderClan. No ancestors would be watching over her. Had they been watching when Hollyleaf spilled all her Clan’s secrets at the Gathering?

  “Wait!” Hollyleaf leaped to her paws. “There’s something that I have to say that all the Clans should hear.” There had been too many lies, too much damage done to the warrior code, for her to keep quiet any longer.

  The clearing was so quiet that Hollyleaf could hear a mouse scuttering among the dead leaves under the Great Oak. “You think you know me,” she began. “And my brothers, Lionblaze and Jayfeather of ThunderClan. You think you know us, but everything you have been told about us is a lie! We are not the kits of Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight.”

  “What?” Brambleclaw shot to his paws from where he sat with the other deputies among the roots of the Great Oak. “Squirrelflight, why is she talking such nonsense?”

  “I’m sorry, Brambleclaw, but it’s true. I’m not their mother, and you are not their father.”

  The Clan deputy stared at her. “Then who is?”

  Squirrelflight turned her sad green gaze on the cat she had always claimed as her daughter. “Tell them, Hollyleaf. I kept the secret for seasons; I’m not going to reveal it now.”

  “Coward!” Hollyleaf flashed at her. Her gaze swept around the clearing, seeing the eyes of every single cat trained on her. “I’m not afraid of the truth! Leafpool is our mother, and Crowfeather—yes, Crowfeather of WindClan—is our father.”

  Yowls of shock greeted her words, but Hollyleaf shouted over them. “These cats were so ashamed of us that they gave us away and lied to every single one of you to hide the fact that they had broken the warrior code. It’s all her fault.” She whipped her tail around to point at Leafpool. “How can the Clans survive when there are cowards and liars at the very heart of them?”

  Her words seemed to echo from the walls of the tunnel. Hollyleaf wished she could go back to the start of
the Gathering, take back the terrible truth she had spilled, spare her Clanmates the pain and shock she had seen in their faces. What have I done?

  The constant dark was making her eyes ache. She had been searching for a chink of light for so long that she imagined one had appeared up ahead. The faintest line of something paler than black, like the first hint of milky dawn above the trees. Hollyleaf blinked and shook her head, trying to clear her vision. But the gray stripe was still there. Maybe it was light? She limped faster, ignoring the burn in her hind leg. The light grew stronger. It was seeping from a gap in the wall: another, smaller tunnel leading off. Hollyleaf dragged herself around the corner. Was it her imagination, or could she see the walls of a cave opening out ahead? In her excitement, she tried to stand up. Her hind leg buckled beneath her and stars exploded in her head. The last thing she saw was the stone floor rushing up to meet her.

  When Leopardstar loses her ninth life, her longtime deputy, Mistyfoot, steps up to receive her new name—Mistystar—and lead her Clan through a troublesome time. But Mistystar is about to discover a shocking secret about RiverClan, and her leadership is plunged into crisis as soon as it begins.

  CHAPTER 1

  Mistyfoot stood at the edge of the rock and watched the water swirl below her paws. It was brown and thick with debris—twigs, scraps of leaf, even a knot of roots that had once held up a tree—and however hard Mistyfoot stared, she was unable to glimpse the stones on the bottom of the lake, or the distinctive flash of silver that gave away the position of a fish. She stretched down to lap at the surface with her tongue. The water tasted bitter and muddy.

  “It’s not the same, is it?” Leopardstar commented beside her. Mistyfoot raised her head and looked at her leader. Leopardstar’s golden fur looked dull and dusty in the gray dawn light, and the dark spots that had inspired her name seemed to have faded in the last moon. “I thought when the water returned that everything would be as it was before,” Leopardstar went on. She dipped her paw in the lake, staggering a little as she straightened up again, and watched the drips fall from the tips of her claws onto the stone.