Skyclan returns

Chapter 15

A strong wind whipped through the ThunderClan camp, bringing with it the strong scent of rain. Dark clouds billowed ominously overhead, occasionally blotting out the sun and casting shadows over everything, distant thunder already sounding in the background. Though it was nearly noon, you couldn't tell it by how deserted the camp was and the lack of activity didn't help. Only a few cats loitered around the quarry, getting fresh-kill or taking care of other menial tasks.

Hollywing sat on the half rock, which gave a good view of the surrounding camp, empty though it was, deciding who to send out on the next border patrol. Even though it was about to storm, Firestar had told her to send out a patrol so that the other Clans wouldn't have a chance to try and attack without warning. Hollywing's thoughts briefly flashed back to the night before, when Jaysight had returned from the Moonpool. He had looked excited, but when she asked him what had happened, he merely shook his head and padded on to the medicine den, saying he was tired. She was slightly irritated by his apparent lack of confidence in her and resolved that she'd find out what he was hiding, no matter what. But first for the patrol…

Lionclaw trotted by the half rock, heading to the warriors' den to find shelter from the inevitable rain. Hollywing wondered if he knew what was going on with Jayfeather, and realized that she and her brothers weren't as close as they use to be. It must be because we've all chosen different paths, Hollywing thought sadly. Maybe we should do something together again; it'll be like old times.

"Lionclaw!" Hollywing called right before the golden tabby slipped into the den. He stopped and looked around to see who had called him, and ran back over to the half rock when his eyes alighted on his sister.

"What is it Hollywing?" Lionclaw asked, jumping onto the rock to sit beside her. "You're going to get soaked if you stay out here much longer."

"I know," Hollywing replied. "I have to pick the next patrol. I decided that you, Harepaw, Cloudtail, and I would be good; will you come? I know how much you hate the rain," she added with a purr.

"Of course I'll come," Lionclaw replied, sounding indignant. "And I do not hate the rain."

"Relax, mousebrain, I was only kidding," Hollywing mewed with amusement, flicking her tail over his shoulder. "Come on, you get Cloudtail and I'll go find Harepaw." Lionclaw nodded and they both jumped down from the half rock, Lionclaw heading back in the direction of the warriors' den and Hollywing on her way to the appentices' den.

"Harepaw, we're going on a patrol," she called, sticking her head just inside the den. "Come on lazy paws, time to go!"

"Five more minutes," Harepaw grumbled, looking up groggily from her nest. "It's about to rain."

"The faster we go out, the sooner we can come back and avoid the rain," Hollywing retorted. "Lionclaw and Cloudtail are waiting for us."

"Okay, okay," Harepaw conceded, shaking her pelt to relieve it of any scraps of moss that had been caught there. She came out of the den just as Hollywing spotted Lionclaw and Cloudtail heading over to the entrance. Hollywing hardly paused to nod to them before bolting out of the thorn tunnel and racing out through the forest towards the WindClan border, Harepaw on her paws.

"What do you scent, Harepaw?" Hollywing prompted when they were near the border. Harepaw opened her jaws and inhaled deeply.

"I just smell the usual WindClan cats, but the scent is kind of stale," Harepaw answered.

"Good," Hollywing praised her. "We'll continue along the border for now, so keep your guard up." Harepaw nodded determinedly and went on ahead with Cloudtail. Lionblaze was about to follow, but Hollywing nodded at him and flicked her tail back over her should a little bit. Taking the hint, he slowed down and kept pace with her until they were a few fox lengths from Harepaw and Cloudtail.

"What is it?" Lionclaw whispered.

"Do you think Jaysight was acting a little odd last night?" Hollywing asked. "He seemed excited, but he wouldn't tell me anything when I asked him about it. Have you talked to him?"

Lionclaw shook his head. "Not at all," he replied. "We could go and ask him what he's up to later if you want."

Hollywing sighed impatiently. "If he wouldn't tell me last night, why would he tell me today?"

"I'm just trying to help," Lionclaw defended.

"I know, I'm sorry," Hollywing apologized. "I just wish Jaysight would talk to us. We always used to tell each other everything." With a pang of guilt, Hollywing realized that she hadn't spoken to her brothers about any of her worries or about what Leafstar had talked to her about.

"Let him come to us on his own," Lionclaw suggested. "He'll tell us when he's good and ready, and not a moment before."

"I guess you're right," Hollywing agreed reluctantly.

Lionclaw nudged her playfully. "Come on, let's finish up this patrol before it starts raining." He raced ahead to catch up with the others, Hollywing hard on his paws. Cloudtail and Harepaw had stopped to put fresh markers on the border with WindClan, and turned around when they heard the two siblings coming up behind them.

"We'll follow the border a bit longer, then turn and head back," Hollywing instructed. She took the lead as they headed down the stream, along the way to the Moonpool. Suddenly Hollywing wondered if it was a message from StarClan that had Jaysight so worried. But if that was true, he probably wouldn't hesitate to tell her. It had to be something personal, in which case, following Lionclaw's advice would be the best thing to do.

Hollywing sighed internally; her brother could be so complicated sometimes. Still, he was Jaysight, and she'd always look out for him. She stopped and scented the air, not really expecting to smell anything. So of course she tensed as soon as a horrible odor reached her nose. "Cloudtail, what's that smell?" she asked, deceptively calm.

Cloudtail looked at her, then smelled the air. Hollywing had an ominous feeling in the pit of her stomach even before Cloudtail's fur started bristling and he crouched down in an attack position. "Badgers," he hissed. "The scent is fresh, too."

Hollywing's pelt prickled with anxiety. She had never before seen a live badger, but she'd heard the stories, and she had scented a stale smell of it once or twice before. "What should we do?" Hollywing asked the senior warrior. She didn't have any experience with badgers to know how to handle them, so even though she was deputy, she was going to give command to Cloudtail.

Cloudtail took the meaning, and started laying out his plan immediately. "I think we should keep going until we have a better idea of where its den is," he explained. "If it gets too dangerous, we'll head back at full speed. Once the scent gets much stronger, we'll know where it is, and then we can turn back to warn Firestar, but we won't go all the way to its den. That's too risky with an apprentice and two warriors that are inexperienced in dealing with them."

"Shouldn't one of us go back to tell Firestar about this now?" Hollywing asked, glancing at Harepaw. She would never forgive herself if anything happened to her apprentice.

"If the badger is away from its den and out in the forest, the cat that goes back to camp could easily be injured or killed by it," Cloudtail replied, shaking his head. "We'll stick together. Remember, stay as quiet as possible; we don't want to give the badger any warning of our approach."

Hollywing, Lionclaw, and Harepaw nodded, then fell into step behind Cloudtail, who was the best tracker out of the four of them. Hollywing's fur wouldn't lie flat, and her breath felt stuck in her throat she was so nervous. Her paws seemed heavy with dread, but she tried to make her steps light to make less sounds when she stepped on the undergrowth. She glanced back at Harepaw, who looked even more nervous than her.

"It'll be alright, Harepaw," Hollywing murmured as softly as she could. "We're only scouting, I don't think we'll actually meet any badgers. Harepaw nodded to show she had heard, but her muscles were still tense, and her ears kept flicking at every sound in the forest. Hollywing looked forward again and took a deep breath, then nearly gagged on the strong stench of badger.

"Are we near the den?" Hollywing whispered to Cloudtail, her mew hardly louder than a breeze on the moor.

"Yes," Cloudtail replied, just as softly. He motioned with his tail to an old tree up ahead, a hole dug near the roots of it to form a sort of cavern. "That's it." No one hardly ever went this deep into ThunderClan territory, and Hollywing was uncomfortable knowing that the badger might have been here for a long time.

"Let's head back to camp and tell Firestar about this," Hollywing suggested. Cloudtail nodded his assent, and the four slowly crept out of the undergrowth they were hiding in. When they were far enough away from the badger den, Hollywing took the lead at a fast trot, heading towards the ThunderClan camp.

Without warning, a snapping sound rang out from behind her, and she whipped around, her fur bristling, to see a large creature standing over near one of the trees. It had stepped on a fallen branch and snapped it in half, which had resulted in the sound Hollywing had just her. The creature itself was easily ten times the size of a cat, and smelled absolutely awful. Its dark, scraggy fur was sticking up at odd angles, a white stripe going down its muzzle. The thing that stuck out the most about it, however, was its small, round little eyes that held no emotion.

Hollywing was frozen by anxiety; she didn't know what to do. She looked to Cloudtail, who had crouched down and was hissing softly. Lionclaw looked about as dumbstruck as Hollywing felt, and Harepaw was trying to act brave, but failing. Hollywing moved in front of her apprentice protectively and watched the badger for a moment.

"What do we do?" Hollywing murmured to Cloudtail, who had come over to stand next to her with Lionclaw.

"It doesn't seem to be in an aggressive state, but you never know with badgers," Cloudtail replied. "Maybe we should –" The badger suddenly leapt forward at them, and the group of cats scattered. Hollywing felt one of the badger's lethal claws whistle by her ear, just barely missing it. When she turned around, she saw that Cloudtail had jumped on its back and was raking his hindclaws down the unprotected spot.

Lionclaw dashed in front of the badger and swiped at its giant paws while it was distracted by Cloudtail, then sped away as it turned its attention on him. Hollywing bolted towards its other side and ran right into it to try and make it unbalanced. The badger let out an enormous growl of frustration as it tried to attack her, but Lionclaw came in from the other side and Cloudtail was still hanging on its back.

Hollywing felt blood pound in her ears as she relentlessly attacked the large creature, her eyes red with the haze of battle. At one time, the badger nearly stepped on her, and she only managed to escape when Cloudtail bit at the animal's ear, pulling it back and causing the badger to roar in pain.

After a few more rounds of swiping and dodging, the badger finally shook Cloudtail off and slowly retreated back into the forest. "Should we chase it?" Lionclaw panted.

Cloudtail shook his head wearily. "No, we're too tired and there may be more of them," he answered. "We need to head back to camp and tell Firestar about this."

"All right, let's go then," Hollywing mewed, starting to run back to camp. She glanced back at the patrol to assess for injuries; Cloudtail had a torn ear, Lionclaw a shallow cut along his side, and Harepaw had avoided the fighting and was unhurt. Mostly, they were just tired.

Hollywing burst into camp to the surprise of all of the cats in the immediate area. "Where's Firestar?" she gasped, out of breath. Wordlessly, Sandstorm trotted over to her and flicked her tail at the Highledge, where Firestar was making his way down the tumbled rocks.

"What's wrong?" Firestar asked Hollywing calmly. Quickly, she told him about the badger and where they had found its den. The ThunderClan leader's pelt bristled slightly, but that was the only indication that he wasn't as placid as he looked. "Sandstorm, gather a patrol together and head back to where the badger was last seen. I want you to chase it out of our territory, but don't take unnecessary risks."

Sandstorm nodded and ran off to the warriors' den. A few moments later she came back out with Brackenfur, Cinderoak, Thornclaw, and Poppyfrost. "Firestar, I can go too," Hollywing told him once she had caught her breath. "You might need someone to take the patrol there, too."

"Hollywing, you have done enough for now," Firestar mewed, turning his attention back to her and her patrol. "Go rest for now." Hollywing opened her mouth to object, but a stern look from her leader made her think better of it, so she turned and went to the medicine den to see Jaysight.

Pushing aside the brambles, Hollywing went inside. A strong scent of herbs and leaves hung in the air, and Hollywing could see Jaysight near the back of the den. He was huddled over a small pile of leaves, counting them to himself; Leafpool wasn't inside.

"Jaysight, what are you doing?" Hollywing asked curiously, padding over to him. He must not have sensed her being there until she spoke, because he nearly jumped right out of his fur in surprise.

"None of your business," Jaysight retorted.

"I'm just curious," Hollywing replied, hurt.

Jaysight glanced at her as if he could actually see her standing there, then dropped his voice to a confidential whisper. "Go get Lionblaze and bring him back here. Then I'll tell you what I'm going to do." Hollywing nodded, happy that her brother trusted her with his secrets again, and left the den to find Lionblaze.

She came back moments later with her brother, and they sat in front of Jaysight, waiting for an explanation. Jaysight just sat silently for a moment before finally speaking. "RiverClan isn't doing well, so I'm going to go over there and give them herbs," he said casually. "Leafpool doesn't know though; I'm going to go alone."

Before Hollywing could even respond, Lionclaw announced, "I'm going with you."

"I am too," she decided after a look at her brothers. She could tell they weren't going to back down, so she might as well go with them to make sure they didn't get in trouble. Besides, it was in the warrior code to help a Clan that was in need, right?

Jaysight and Lionclaw stared at her in surprise, well, not Jaysight so much, but it felt like he was. "Hollywing, you're the deputy, you can't just do something reckless like this," Lionclaw finally objected.

"If you two are going, then I'm going too," Hollywing asserted. "And that's that."

"We'll leave tonight," Jaysight mewed before Lionclaw could object again. "Meet me at the entrance to the dirt place. We have to sneak out and sneak back in before anyone notices we're missing…"