Chapter 3
Firestar stepped out onto the Highledge, "All cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath the Highledge for a clan meeting!" His yowl rang out as cats began to emerge from their dens.
Leafpool saw that most of her clanmates were staring at her and Littlecloud suspiciously. 'Will they ever trust me again?' Leafpool wondered. Firestar watched as all the clan took their place before speaking, "This morning Leafpool brought Littlecloud to my den. She said she had found him at the border and he needed to ask me a favor. Littlecloud is too weak to take on another apprentice since Flametail has drowned, so he has asked Leafpool if she could go to Shadowclan and train the next apprentice."
As soon as he was the done, the clan broke out in angry yowls. Most of them shouting that Leafpool would give away the clans' secret, that she couldn't be trusted. Leafpool sunk down low on her spot of the Highledge, before she spotted Squirrelflight pushing her way through the crowd of angry cats.
Her sister's ginger fur was bristling and her green eyes were like fire "Stop this!" She yowled. "Leafpool's suffered enough! I know she lied to you and I have to, but she did it for a reason. She knew that she could never be a mother to her kits and she didn't want them to feel lower or useless to their clanmates. She protected them from their clanmates. You can't tell me that you would treat them like any other warrior if you knew their mother was Leafpool and their father was Crowfeather. Look at them now, even if they had known they would've still put their clan first before anything!" she yowled.
By now the clan had quieted down, they knew Squirrelflight was right. "Now if chooses to go, then I support her decision, and if any cat as a reason why you don't want her to go then answer now!" Squirrelflight called out.
Leafpool climbed down from the Highledge and came over to Squirrelflight. "Thank you." She whispered loud enough for only Squirrelflight to hear. Squirrelflight flicked her ear with her long tail in response.
Littlecloud slowly made his way down the ledged and over to Leafpool. "Are we ready to leave?" he rasped. "Not before you two eat and Jayfeather gives Littlecloud some herbs for his cough." Firestar said making his way over to them. Leafpool nodded in agreement before leading Littlecloud over to the fresh-kill pile.
"You're really going to let that traitor leave our sight?" Brambleclaw said coming over, his claws digging into the ground. Squirrelflight looked at him angrily before her gaze turned to sorrow. "It's her choice Brambleclaw." Firestar said calmly as he watched Squirrelflight quickly rush over to her sister.
Leafpool noticed Brambleclaw watching her sister with a little regret in his otherwise angry eyes before he went away to discuss the evening patrol with Sandstorm. She turned her attention back to her sister as she dug into the thrush she picked out.
Littlecloud had already finished his mouse and was now talking to Jayfeather about what herbs he needed. Getting up, she made her way over to the two cats. "Okay, I'm ready to go." She declared happily.
Jayfeather eyed her warily with those faded blue eyes. Though he was blind, he always seemed to 'see' more then any cat. Littlecloud nodded his goodbye and headed towards the entrance. Squirrelflight came up to Leafpool "well I guess this is goodbye." She sail licking her sister's ear. "At least until Littleclouod is well enough to continue the new apprentice's training." She said following Squirrelflight to the entrance.
The two sisters said goodbye as Leafpool disappeared out the thorn entrance with Littlecloud behind her. Once they were out in the forest Leafpool took the lead back to the Shadowclan border.
The looming pines were soon ahead of them as they approached the scent marker. When they crossed the boundary, Littlecloud went in front of her. Once under the pines Leafpool realized that it was certainly darker, the needles on the branches blocking out any unwanted sunlight. Surprisingly Leafpool liked it, for the first time she felt like she was away from her hurtful clanmates. The pines sheltered her and she was happy to start anew.
Listening closely, this forest also had different noises. Sure, there was mice scurrying and bird singing but now there were also frogs croaking. Her paws sunk into the marshy ground and there was little undergrowth. 'No wonder they use the darkness to their ability, there's no undergrowth to hide in at all.' She thought.
Soon Littlecloud stopped her, pointing with his tail to a huge patch of brambles. Leafpool peaked forward a little to see a dip in the ground behind the bramble. "That's where our camp is." The light brown tabby said. Leafpool was impressed 'it's kind of like our camp in the hollow; you can't notice it unless you fall in it.'
With the brambles there, they created an impenetrable barrier and unless you looked closely, you couldn't see where the camp was at all.
"I'll go in first, I need to tell Blackstar about my idea and about you helping." Littlecloud said leading her around the barrier to the entrance. 'Tell?' Leafpool thought 'he hasn't told Blackstar what he was doing?' Now Leafpool was nervous. What if Blackstar didn't want her help? What if this clan treated her just like Thunderclan did?
