Skyclan returns

Chapter 2

"Leafstar of SkyClan?" Hollywing asked. "It sounds like the name of a leader that would lead one of our Clans."

"Didn't you hear?" Lionclaw mewed. "Poppyflower said it was SkyClan. That means it is a Clan!"

Anxious and curious murmurs spread through the Clan like wildfire after hearing Lionclaw's statement. Sandstorm hurried over to Firestar and they shared a secret look. "Calm down!" Firestar called to all of the cats. "Sandstorm and I know these cats; they are friends. They used to live in the forest with the other four Clans, but Twolegs destroyed their territory and the other Clans forced them to leave. I was called by StarClan to go and rebuild this Clan, and Sandstorm came with me. We were successful, but their territory is nowhere near here. Poppyflower, take Sandstorm and me to Leafstar; Sorreltail, Thornclaw, stay here at camp and rest."

"Firestar, may I come with you?" Hollywing asked eagerly.

Firestar hesitated, but only for a moment. "Yes, Hollywing you may come." Other cats called out their pleas to accompany them, everyone curious about the new Clan. Firestar waved his tail for silence. "Four of us will be enough, thank you." Firestar searched the crowd until he spotted Brambleclaw. "Brambleclaw, organize the evening patrol around ShadowClan's border while I'm away."

Brambleclaw nodded his head and started searching for cats for the patrol. Poppyflower ran back through the thorn tunnel with Firestar, Sandstorm, and Hollywing right on her paws. She weaved through trees and undergrowth with practiced ease, and Hollywing realized they were heading to the WindClan border.

Hollywing opened her mouth and a flood of new scents filled her senses. It was like an entire Clan was up ahead. Did that mean that SkyClan wanted to live by the lake with the other Clans? Hollywing couldn't imagine any Clan giving up even a pawstep of their territory without a fight.

Poppyflower walked out of the trees and Hollywing saw that there were about fifteen cats on the stream bank that was the border between WindClan and ThunderClan. They were almost totally silent, which was strange for so many cats being in new territory. Then a brown-and-cream tabby she-cat with amber eyes stepped out of the crowd and headed towards Firestar.

"Leafstar," Firestar greeted her. "I hope all is well with SkyClan?"

Leafstar sighed. "Firestar, all is not well, and I will not pretend it is," she murmured so that only Firestar, Sandstorm, and Hollywing could hear; Poppyflower had gone to talk with some of the strangers.

"What's wrong?" Sandstorm asked, worry and concern laced in her voice.

"Echosong was sent a sign from StarClan that we were to find you and the other Clans," Leafstar mewed.

"Why?" Firestar asked, startled. "There was nothing wrong with your old home, well not counting the rats of course, and you know the Clans won't agree to another Clan coming to live by the lake."

"I know," Leafstar sighed. "But we couldn't simply ignore a sign from StarClan. There must've been a reason we were sent here."

"Do you think that StarClan wants all of the Clans to be together again for some reason?" Hollywing mewed when she felt that no one was about to speak. Leafstar looked at Hollywing as if just noticing her.

"Perhaps," Leafstar murmured.

"Leafstar, this is Hollywing," Firestar mewed, introducing the two. "She was just made a warrior before we were told that you were here. Hollywing, this is Leafstar, the leader of SkyClan."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Leafstar," Hollywing murmured, dipping her head respectfully.

Leafstar stared hard at Hollywing, as if suddenly remembering something she had previously forgotten. "The pleasure is all mine, Hollywing," Leafstar finally said, also bowing her head respectfully. Hollywing was taken aback; that was a gesture for someone older and wiser than you, not for a leader to a newly made warrior.

Firestar and Sandstorm were also a little shocked, but Firestar mewed, "What would you like us to do, Leafstar? We cannot offer you and your Clan a permanent place in our camp, but you can stay with us until we figure out what's to be done."

"Thank you Firestar," Leafstar mewed, waving her tail and signaling for her Clan to follow her. They bunched up in one small group behind Leafstar, who gestured for Firestar to take the lead. Poppyflower was still talking with the Clan, asking where they came from, who they were, and how they liked ThunderClan territory so far.

"Hollywing, do you have two brothers?" Leafstar asked Hollywing, who was walking next to her.

"Yes, I do," Hollywing replied, once again surprised. How much did this cat know about her? "How'd you know?" Leafstar closed her eyes, but continued to walk by Hollywing.

Hollywing thought she wasn't going to respond, when Leafstar suddenly mewed, "StarClan have told me a lot about you. You and your brothers have the power of the stars in your paws." By now Leafstar was talking in hushed tones so that only Hollywing could hear her.

"You know about the prophecy?" Hollywing whispered. Leafstar nodded, but they didn't have a chance to talk anymore because Poppyflower was running towards them.

"Excuse me, Leafstar?" Poppyflower mewed. Leafstar nodded her head for her to continue. "What was your old territory like?" Hollywing pricked her ears; she wanted to hear about SkyClan almost as much as Poppyflower.

"It was in a gorge," Leafstar mewed. "The dens were all caves in the rock wall, and there was the Rockpile where we had Clan meetings. Every night of the full moon, we would go to a rock ledge that jutted out over the gorge, we called it Skyrock, for the Gathering."

"Who's your medicine cat and deputy?" Hollywing asked.

"Echosong is our medicine cat and Moonpaw is her apprentice," Leafstar replied. "Our deputy is Sharpclaw, that dark ginger tom over there." Leafstar flicked her tail to a cat who looked very powerful and was at the rear of the group, helping along a light gray she-cat. "He's helping Robinwing, our only queen; they're mates."

Firestar dropped back and joined Leafstar, Hollywing, and Poppyflower, leaving Sandstorm to lead the way back to camp. "Leafstar, I've searched all of SkyClan, but I can't find Patchfoot; where is he?" Firestar asked, still craning his neck to look around the Clan.

Leafstar's eyes misted over as she murmured, "Patchfoot has gone to join the ranks of StarClan. He died like a true warrior, trying to protect two of our kits." It didn't look as if Leafstar wanted to continue the conversation, so Firestar joined Sandstorm up front again, also with misted eyes.

"It looks like you've got a lot of Clanmates," Hollywing quickly mewed, trying to change the subject. "How many of you are there?"

"There are seventeen SkyClan cats," Leafstar replied. "Our deputy, Sharpclaw, our medicine cat, Echosong, our queen, Robinwing, our two elders, Clovertail and Petalnose, our four apprentices, seven warriors, and myself."

"You've got a large Clan," Poppyflower mewed, clearly awed.

"How many cats do you have in your Clan?" Leafstar retorted playfully.

Poppyflower tried to do a count, speaking out loud. "Well there's Firestar, Sandstorm, Hollywing and her two brothers, me, Honeyear, Berrynose, err let's see, Whitewing, Mousefur, Longtail and…oh yeah, Birchfall!" Hollywing's heart skipped a beat as the light brown tabby's name was mentioned.

"There are thirty six cats in our Clan," Hollywing mewed.

"And you call my Clan big when we're not even half you number," Leafstar mewed teasingly.

"I guess I never realized how many cats were in our Clan, I guess," Poppyflower replied. "How did you know how many cats were in our Clan Hollywing?"

"What?" Hollywing asked. "Oh, I don't know, I just, kind of, knew, I guess." Leafstar gave her an odd stare again, then shook her head, as if to clear it.

"You'd make a fine leader of your Clan," Leafstar murmured. "Not that I'd wish death or harm to Firestar or his deputy."

"I don't think I'll ever become ThunderClan's leader," Hollywing sighed. "There are too many things that wouldn't allow it. I was just made a warrior, Firestar has so many lives left, and Brambleclaw is deputy, so he'd definitely take over from Firestar, and like you, I don't want anything happening to either of them. Brambleclaw is my father and Firestar is my grandfather."

"I'm not saying it would have to be right now, although you do sound like you want to be leader right now," Leafstar mewed. "There's nothing wrong with that either; everyone's a little ambitious, it just depends how you handle it."

"I would never do anything to hurt my Clanmates," Hollywing replied firmly. "No matter how much I want to become leader of my Clan, I'll never hurt my Clan to do it."

Leafstar smiled. "Spoken like a true leader," Leafstar purred. Poppyflower had long since left to go and assist Robinwing and Sharpclaw, who had fallen behind, and Hollywing was glad she had left; she didn't want anyone else to hear what she and Leafstar were talking about.

Hollywing caught sight of the camp entrance up ahead. "That's our camp entrance," Hollywing told Leafstar. "You'll like our Clan, they're really nice, but sometimes they can be a little too curious for their own good, I have to admit. Our camp is in a hollow, so at night when everyone's sleeping, you can hear the wind above you. It's really peaceful and soothing."

Firestar went through the tunnel first, followed by Sandstorm, and then it was Hollywing's turn. She had imagined that every cat would be milling about in the clearing, trying to find out about the new Clan, but when she entered the camp, it was practically empty compared to the normal Clan bustle. Millie was sharing tongues with Graystripe while Harekit and Molekit play fought, along with Rosekit and Toadkit. Mousefur was sunning herself on a rock, and Jaypaw was eating a mouse by himself on the half rock. Cloudtail, Cinderpaw, Honeyear, and Spiderleg were expanding the warrior's den, and Thornclaw was patching a hole in the elders' den.

Brambleclaw came bounding out of the warriors' den, where he had been helping to enlarge the den from the inside, towards Firestar. "Firestar, I sent Brightheart, Lionclaw, Whitewing, and Icepaw on the evening patrol along the ShadowClan border," Brambleclaw reported. "I sent two hunting patrols out so we'd have enough fresh-kill for everyone; Dustpelt, Ashfur, and Mousewhisker are in the first one and Berrynose, Hazeltail, Squirrelflight, and Foxpaw make up the second. While you were gone, the remaining cats –" he flicked his tail to the cats working on the warriors' den "– decided to expand the warriors' den."

"Good job Brambleclaw," Firestar mewed. "I want you to accompany Leafpool to my den." Brambleclaw nodded and ran off to the medicine den. Firestar turned to SkyClan, who were still filing into the camp. By now, most of the remaining ThunderClan cats were looking at the newcomers curiously.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather for a Clan meeting!" Firestar called. The Clan abandoned their work and gathered around SkyClan, Hollywing, Firestar, Sandstorm, and Poppyflower. "StarClan sent a sign to SkyClan's medicine cat that they were to come and find the four Clans," Firestar started right away. "They don't know why they were asked to come here because there is nothing wrong with their territory, I assure you. They will stay here until we have figured out what we are to do."

"Shouldn't you wait to tell the entire Clan this at the same time to see if there are objections," Mousefur rasped.

"It's not a choice of ours to make; it is StarClan's will that SkyClan is here, and I will hear no objections unless they do you harm," Firestar replied firmly, leaving no one in any doubt that SkyClan was staying.

"Where will they sleep?" Birchfall asked, but his question was just that, with no scorn or objection in it. Hollywing jumped; she hadn't noticed Birchfall until he had spoken right behind her. Her heart fluttered slightly in her chest, but she managed to calm it down; she had to focus on what was happening.

"The warriors shall sleep in the warriors' den, the apprentices in the apprentices' den, the elders in the elders' den, the queens in the nursery, the medicine cats in the medicine den, and Leafstar in my den," Firestar mewed, coming up with an easy solution.

"There might not be enough room in the warriors' den," Cloudtail pointed out. "It was almost too small to fit three new warriors; that's why we're enlarging it. It would take a long time to make it big enough to accommodate SkyClan's warriors, and once they leave, the warriors' den would be too big."

"Then perhaps a few warriors wouldn't mind sleeping out in the open air until SkyClan leaves," Firestar meowed. No cat made a move to give up their warm nest in the warriors' den.

"I wouldn't mind giving up my nest," Hollywing volunteered. "Especially since I don't have one in the warriors' den yet." Firestar nodded gratefully to her.

"I'll sleep outside too," Birchfall quickly added.

"Well I won't," Spiderleg muttered clearly. "I'm not a WindClan cat."

"Instead of sleeping outside, if there's room in any of the other dens, maybe we could sleep in there," Hollywing suggested.

"A good idea, Hollywing," Firestar agreed. "There might be room in the elders' den or the apprentices' den."

Nothing was spoken for awhile, and Hollywing was just beginning to think that the meeting was over when Leafstar stepped forward. She looked at Firestar, and he nodded. "All of SkyClan thanks you for your hospitality, and we will help you in any way that we can. You need only ask us for help." Leafstar stepped back, having said all she intended to say.

"Brambleclaw, Leafpool, Leafstar, Echosong, and Sharpclaw, if you would be so kind as to follow me, we have some things that must be discussed," Firestar mewed, and the meeting ended. The chosen cats followed Firestar to his den, and ThunderClan went back to what they were doing before the meeting had started.

Hollywing looked at the nervous and uncertain SkyClan cats. She located Robinwing and walked up to her. "You must be Robinwing, SkyClan's queen," Hollywing mewed warmly. "I'm Hollywing; I'll take you to our nursery so you can meet the other queens if you want."

Robinwing looked startled to be addressed, but relieved for the help. "Thank you very much," Robinwing replied gratefully.

Following Hollywing's lead, Birchfall walked up to a tortoiseshell she-cat and a black tom. "My name's Birchfall," Birchfall started, introducing himself. "Would you like me to show you around camp?"

"It'd be a pleasure," the tortoiseshell she-cat replied. "My name's Cherrytail and this is Bouncepebble. Would you mind if I invited Rockfall?"

"Go right ahead," Birchfall told her.

Cinderpaw bounded up to a small group of young cats, obviously apprentices. "I'm Cinderpaw!" she announced excitedly. "I can take you to the apprentices' den so you can pick out your nests." Three of the apprentices followed Cinderpaw to the apprentices' den, but one stayed behind. "Aren't you coming?" Cinderpaw called.

"I'm a medicine cat, I think I'll be sleeping in the medicine den," the apprentice replied.

"Okay then," Cinderpaw mewed, and headed on her way again. Gradually the SkyClan and ThunderClan cats began to talk with each other and become comfortable, each telling the other about life in their territories.

Hollywing and Robinwing were just outside of the nursery, and Robinwing was getting on well with Daisy, who was talking with them. Hollywing excused herself from the two queens and went over to the fresh-kill pile. She took the thrush she had caught earlier that day and a squirrel, and headed over to where the Mousefur, Longtail, Petalnose, and Clovertail were sitting by a large rock. She dropped the food and was about to leave when Mousefur stopped her.

"You don't have to bring us fresh-kill anymore, that's an apprentice's job; you're a warrior now," Mousefur mewed.

Hollywing didn't know how to respond, but luckily she didn't have to because of Birchfall. "Hollywing!" Birchfall mewed, walking up to her. "Would you like to eat with me?"

"Of course," Hollywing replied, and for the first time in a long time, she didn't feel nervous about being around Birchfall. They headed to the fresh-kill pile and each selected a mouse. Hollywing ate quickly, feeling suddenly very hungry. Birchfall watched her with amusement.

"You're really different from the other cats," Birchfall mewed after a while.

"Really? How so?" Hollywing asked.

"When no one else would give up their place in the warriors' den, you did; when no one made a move to make SkyClan feel comfortable and welcome here, you did," Birchfall replied.

"You did all of that too," Hollywing mewed.

"Only because you did it first," Birchfall admitted. "I probably wouldn't have if you hadn't." Hollywing felt a burst of pleasure that she had inspired Birchfall, but she felt even happier that he was being so honest with her.

"I think this is the best day of my life," Hollywing murmured.

"Because you were made a full warrior today?" Birchfall asked.

"That and because I know I've got a great friend in you," Hollywing replied.

"I feel the same about you," Birchfall meowed.

"Thanks Birchfall," Hollywing mewed, standing up. "I think I'm going to find a place to sleep, but I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay," Birchfall replied.

Hollywing walked away, her heart lighter than a feather and her feet as springy as heather.