Skyclan returns

Chapter 5

Hollywing was already awake and in the center of the clearing because of her silent vigil when Firestar called out that ShadowClan had crossed the border. She was already running through the thorn tunnel with Lionclaw in front of her and Honeyear behind her, with Dustpelt, who had been on the patrol and spotted the ShadowClan invaders, leading the way. She heard other warriors pounding out of camp behind her as she sped through the forest.

Hollywing started to hear yowling and hissing up ahead as the group got nearer and nearer to the ShadowClan border. She burst right into the middle of the fight, accidentally bowling over into a ShadowClan cat that had almost attacked Cloudtail from behind. Cloudtail turned around and quickly clawed at the cat's flanks until the cat went back into ShadowClan territory screeching. Cloudtail glanced gratefully at Hollywing before flying at another cat.

Hollywing launched at black tom and bit into his back leg. He whirled around a swiped a claw at Hollywing, but she ducked and swung her nose under the tom's forepaws, causing him to lose his balance and topple over. She held him down with her forepaws and scrabbled with unsheathed claws at his underbelly until he screeched. She let him go and watched as he ran across the border.

A brown she-cat jumped on Hollywing from behind and pinned her down to the ground. Then the wait was suddenly lifted from her and she spun around to see Cloudtail sending the she-cat off with a fierce bite. "Now we're even," Cloudtail gasped before diving back into the thick of battle.

Hollywing glanced around and saw Birchfall trying to fight off a tom and a she-cat at once. She tore through the throng of cats and jumped onto the tom's back, hoping to pin him down, but he was too large. He rolled over onto his back, crushing Hollywing. She pushed up with her hind claws, but he wouldn't budge. Birchfall was fighting the she-cat, unable to help Hollywing without turning his back on the enemy.

Honeyear launched out of thin air onto the tom, scratching wildly at it. The tom jumped off of Hollywing and scratched around blindly, slashing Hollywing's side so deeply that she gasped and nicking Honeyear's ear as she ducked just in time to avoid a ferocious blow. Together, Hollywing and Honeyear fought the tom off into his own territory at the same time Birchfall's opponent fled. "Retreat!" Rowanclaw screeched, and the ShadowClan cats slinked back into their territory.

"You were great, Honeyear," Birchfall mewed warmly, gazing at Honeyear with such affection that Hollywing could feel her heart breaking in two. Birchfall didn't love her after all; he loved Honeyear. Honeyear didn't even seem to notice the look; she was too busy watching Berrynose lovingly.

Hollywing felt dizzy all of a sudden, and she tried to stay on four feet, but the world seemed to be spinning and her side seared with pain; she could feel blood coming freely out of it, sticking to her fur in clumps. She heard Lionclaw's, Birchfall's, and Honeyear's voices, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. Hollywing just barely had time to recognize Mousewhisker's fear scent before she slipped into blackness.

Hollywing woke up in a forest with towering trees with thick undergrowth and she could hear the sound of running water somewhere nearby. She slowly stood up and walked towards the sound, looking left and right, but not recognizing anything. It wasn't until she reached a running stream from which the noises were coming from that she realized she wasn't in ThunderClan territory anymore.

A cat with stars in its fur was standing by the stream, and it smelled of strong herbs. She looked at Hollywing with friendly eyes and spoke in a kind voice. "Welcome, Hollywing, to the hunting grounds of StarClan," the she-cat meowed.

Hollywing's eyes widened and she started to back away. "I'm not dead, am I?" she squeaked.

"Of course not," the she-cat purred. "You still have a lot you must accomplish before your time comes. My name is Spottedleaf; I was ThunderClan's medicine cat when Firestar first joined the Clan."

"If I didn't die, then why am I here?" Hollywing asked curiously, coming forward again.

"You must know that Birchfall is not the one that cares for you as a mate should," Spottedleaf meowed.

"I know that now," Hollywing sighed, hanging her head. "He loves Honeyear, but she loves Berrynose, so I can't even be happy for him."

"You have a good heart," Spottedleaf continued. "Any cat would be grateful to have you for a friend or a mate. You need to look closer at the cats around you to realize who it is that truly cares for you and always will."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" Hollywing asked, puzzled.

"You just need a small push in the right direction to find happiness," Spottedleaf told her. "StarClan are always watching out for you. Oh, and Jaysight, you can some out now."

Hollywing turned a startled face to Jaysight, who had just stepped out from behind a clump of horsetail. "I guess I've been caught twice now," Jaysight mused, coming towards Spottedleaf and Hollywing. "I must be getting worse at this."

"Jaysight, what are you doing here?" Hollywing gasped.

"Jaysight, haven't I told you a million times to stop entering others' dreams?" Spottedleaf asked sternly.

"Yes," Jaysight replied nonchalantly.

"When are you going to listen?" Spottedleaf asked, and then sighed. "You need to learn to stop. "If you could take Hollywing back, I'd be much obliged." Spottedleaf disappeared and only Jaysight and Hollywing were left.

"What's going on?" Hollywing asked, thoroughly confused.

"I can go into other cats' dreams and Spottedleaf keeps telling me not to," Jaysight replied casually.

"What happened after the battle?" Hollywing asked.

"You blacked out because you lost so much blood from a wound in your side," Jaysight replied, and Hollywing could just barely recognize a hint of relief. "Mousewhisker and Lionclaw carried you back to the medicine den and Leafpool gave you some herbs."

"That's why you entered my dream!" Hollywing realized out loud. "You wanted to make sure I was okay."

Jaysight's fur prickled defensively, but then he let it lie flat again. "You're right," Jaysight agreed. "I was worried about your wound. Now I'm curious as to what Spottedleaf was talking about. I heard you saying that Birchfall likes Honeyear, but I wonder who she was talking about when she said there was another cat that cares for you a lot."

"I don't know," Hollywing replied, shaking her head in confusion. "Can we get out of here? It's so…" Hollywing didn't know how to describe the small spot. At first she had found it peaceful and safe, but once she had remembered that Birchfall didn't love her, it had all turned dark and gloomy.

Jaysight nodded his head and headed for the clump of horsetail, with Hollywing right behind him. As soon as Hollywing touched the horsetail, she blinked, and when she opened her eyes again, she was in ThunderClan's medicine den. Jaysight was just waking up beside her and Mousewhisker was sleeping on her other side.

Hollywing was shocked that Mousewhisker was there, but she was glad of his warmth and the feeling of their pelts brushing. She looked down at her side and saw that her wound had been cleaned and cobwebs were pressed into it.

"How are you feeling?" Leafpool asked from the back of the den, where she was sorting through her herbs.

"Much better," Hollywing murmured. "Thank you."

"Jaysight, I'm going to go out and gather some horsetail," Leafpool mewed, standing up and heading to the entrance of the medicine den. "Stay here in case someone needs you."

The mention of horsetail brought back the memory of Hollywing's dream. She looked down at Mousewhisker, still sleeping peacefully by her side, ever faithful and loyal, and wondered if that was who Spottedleaf had been talking about. Lionclaw came into the medicine den, bearing a few scratches, but otherwise unharmed.

"How are you?" Lionclaw asked Hollywing.

"Much better," Hollywing replied. "How'd the battle go? I heard Rowanclaw call a retreat, but what happened after that?"

"After that we headed back to camp," Lionclaw answered with a shrug. "Firestar just sent out a patrol along the ShadowClan border to make sure things are really over. You, Hazeltail, and Thornclaw were the only ones with serious injuries. Hazeltail was clawed really hard right over her left eye and Thornclaw had a bad bite to the neck. They're out getting some fresh-kill right now. Would you like to go and get some?"

"That would be great," Hollywing replied, realizing how hungry she was. She looked down at Mousewhisker again before turning back to Lionclaw. "I'll meet you there." Lionclaw shrugged again and left the den.

Hollywing gently tapped Mousewhisker's should with her tail, and he slowly woke up, blinking his eyes owlishly. "I'm going to get some fresh-kill, would you like to come with me?" Hollywing asked him quietly.

Mousewhisker quickly stood up. "I'd love to come with you," he replied readily, his eyes glowing with warmth. Hollywing smiled as she left the medicine den and entered the busy clearing. She was surprised that it was already near sunset; had she slept the entire day away?

As soon as Hollywing reached the bottom of the quarry, Harekit bounded over to her, eyes filled with concern. "Hollywing, are you okay?" the small asked worriedly.

"Yes," Hollywing replied. "What have you been doing today?" Hollywing asked to change the subject. She was already tired of every cat asking her how she was, and she was sure to get that question from every other one of her Clanmates; at least Jaysight and Mousewhisker hadn't asked her how she was.

"I was playing with Rosekit, Toadkit, and Molekit, and we were pretending that Rosekit and Toadkit were invading ShadowClan cats and Molekit and I had to chase them off," Harekit answered proudly.

"Good for you," Hollywing meowed fondly. "You'll be a great warrior one day."

Harekit's tail drooped noticeably. "Toadkit and Rosekit are going to become apprentices soon and leave the nursery," she mewed sadly. "Then it'll be really lonely."

"You'll join them soon enough," Hollywing assured her.

"Okay," Harekit replied, not really believing Hollywing's words. She trundled off to play with the other kits, and Hollywing and Mousewhisker continued on to the fresh-kill pile.

"Thanks for waiting," Hollywing thanked Mousewhisker.

"Why are thanking me?" Mousewhisker asked. "I think it's really nice that you've become friends with Harekit. She isn't the most confident of kits."

"What do you mean?" Hollywing asked, surprised. Harekit had always been so fun and outgoing whenever she was around. What about when I'm not around? Hollywing thought.

"Harekit's fine whenever you're around, but when you aren't, she becomes kind of quiet around everyone, except the other kits, Millie and Daisy," Mousewhisker replied, almost as if he had read her mind.

Hollywing picked out a mouse from the pile and Mousewhisker chose a vole. They walked through the crowd of busy cats, larger than usual because of the SkyClan cats, and headed to a relatively quiet spot near a boulder.

"I didn't know that about Harekit," Hollywing confessed as she started to eat. "I thought she was always a rambunctious little kit."

Mousewhisker was about to reply when Firestar's call sliced through the air. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather for a Clan meeting!" Hollywing and Mousewhisker hurriedly finished their meal and headed over to the joining masses of cats ringed around Firestar, with Leafstar at his side.

"It's time two of our kits became apprentices," Firestar meowed loudly enough for all to hear. "Rosekit, Toadkit, come here please." Rosekit and Toadkit tried to walk over, but they both started to run until Daisy gently flicked their ears with her tail as they passed her. Firestar quickly scanned the crowd of cats until the one he found the one he was looking for. "Brightheart, you are ready for another apprentice. You will be mentor to Rosepaw."

Brightheart excitedly moved through the cats until she was by Firestar and the others. "Brightheart, you have much determination and spirit," Firestar continued. "Do your best to pass these qualities on to Rosepaw." Rosepaw and Brightheart touched noses and withdrew back into the crowd.

"Sorreltail, you are ready for an apprentice," Firestar mewed. "You will be mentor to Toadpaw." Sorreltail came forth and touched noses with Toadpaw, and both SkyClan and ThunderClan congratulated the two new apprentices and their mentors. Hollywing and Mousewhisker sat back down in their previous spot in front of Firestar once they had also congratulated them.

"You all did well defending our territory from ShadowClan today," Firestar called, and many cats yowled for their victory. "We will ask ShadowClan why they were trying to invade at the Gathering. I want all of the patrols going that way to be careful, but don't intentionally start a fight."

Then Leafstar stepped up at a nod from Firestar. "SkyClan, there has been a sign from StarClan that our old home was to be destroyed and that there is a place for us here, by the lake, with the other four Clans," Leafstar told them. "We would not be directly by the lake, but close enough. There is a space of land behind ShadowClan and RiverClan territory that neither Clan wants, and we shall settle there once this has been approved by the other Clans at the next Gathering."

The cats all started speaking at once, speculating about what the land was like and if they could really settle there. Firestar and Leafstar made no move to stop them; they went over to the fresh-kill pile, picked something each, and returned to Firestar's den.

Hollywing led Mousewhisker back to where they had been before the Clan meeting, and they both laid down in the tall grass, looking up at Silverpelt, which was just beginning to show in the sky. The noise slowly receded as cats went to their dens, left for a patrol, or did a final task before they too went to sleep.

Hollywing was immensely happy, but she didn't know why; only moments ago, she had been devastated by the thought that Birchfall didn't love her. Now she was content to lie in the grass with Mousewhisker at her side, their pelts touching. She slowly drifted off into a deep slumber, exhausted by the day's activity.