Hollyleaf, in payment for killing Ashfur outside of battle, is made deaf. It's hard to adjust to rejoining the Clan without a voice, yet a cat called Ivypool has been eager to help...
Prologue
She remembered when she could hear the birds fluttering in the sky above and the sound of her paws against the earth below. She remembered when the wind would whistle in her ears and she might be able to understand what the long-dead cat beside her was trying to say. 'Fallowleaf' was the only name he'd respond to.
Just as Hollyleaf was losing hope, he would appear and aide her. For whatever reason, Fallowleaf would never go to the surface though; she was alone up there. That was fine with her, though. The tunnels were Hollyleaf's home.
Yet, at times she wondered, what would happen if she were to return? Would her siblings welcome her? Would the leader shun her? Maybe if Hollyleaf had returned with the apprentices she saved, they would have welcomed her...
Fallowleaf seemed to be getting frustrated now, so Hollyleaf turned her attention to him. Fallowleaf gestured with his ginger nose to a shining light just a fox-length ahead... the surface...
Hollyleaf shook her head adamantly. No.
Fallowleaf repeated the gesture with his tail this time, only succeeding in making Hollyleaf shake her head much more vehemently. A rough shove to her behind made Hollyleaf fall into the light.
Hollyleaf spun herself around to the tunnels. The last glimpse she saw of Fallowleaf had him smiling with ghostly tears in his eyes as the opening collapsed in a deep rumble. Hollyleaf could see the light poking through the trees, and could smell the scent of dozens of creatures nearby.
She was now outside, unprotected, and alone.