Chapter 6
Discovery
Hollyleaf narrowed her eyes as she prepared to pounce, the bushes rustled slightly and a mouse scurried into the open. She pounced and pinned the mouse down before killing it swiftly.
"Nice catch, Hollyleaf, but we are suppose to be doing the dawn patrol," Spiderleg pointed out, drily.
"But the clan needs fresh kill," Hollyleaf pointed out, "and besides, we didn't smell a whiff of trouble along the Windclan border, why do we have to go along the Shadowclan? Though I did scent Lionblaze, she added silently but decided not to tell them that.
"That doesn't mean Shadowclan aren't up to their usual tricks," Sandstorm meowed, pausing to sniff the air, "bury that mouse and we'll pick it up on the way back."
"Okay Sandstorm," Hollyleaf meowed, buried the mouse and followed Sandstorm as she led the way along the Shadowclan border. For some reason, an eerie silence had fallen over the forest and the only thing that broke it was the gentle rustle of leaves as the breeze blew against them, causing them to fall to the ground.
Spiderleg brought up the rear and Hollyleaf was surprised to find a strange look on his face, as if he was fighting with himself over something. I wonder what he's thinking so hard about, she thought to herself.
"Sandstorm," Spiderleg called, suddenly, "I'll be right back, I think I might have scented something near the twolegnest and I want to check it out."
Sandstorm narrowed her eyes, "you shouldn't go off on your own," she pointed out.
"I'll be fine, Sandstorm," Spiderleg replied and took off toward the twolegnest before Sandstorm could reply. Hollyleaf, bound by her own curiosity, started after him.
"We'll have to trust Spiderleg, Hollyleaf, we need to finish this patrol and I don't know about you but I'm getting hungry," Sandstorm meowed, stopping Hollyleaf in her tracks.
Glowering, Hollyleaf nodded and followed Sandstorm as she led the way along the Shadowclan border, pausing occasionally to sniff the air. Hollyleaf sniffed the air and could smell rain was on its way. As if on cue, a thunderclap sounded in the sky and Hollyleaf jumped.
Sandstorm purred in amusement, "a storm is coming," she meowed, "we're going to have to finish this patrol soon."
Brackenfur, who hadn't spoken since they left the camp, nodded, "alright," he meowed, "lets hope the rain will keep Shadowclan in their dens today."
"Oh, I don't think we have to worry about them," Sandstorm meowed, flinching slightly as another thunderclap sounded in the sky and Hollyleaf felt a cold drop of water hit her nose. The rain started to fall at a drizzle and Sandstorm sighed.
"Lets finish this patrol and get back to camp," she meowed and took off again.
"But what about Spiderleg?" Hollyleaf asked, hurrying to catch up with the pale ginger she cat.
"He's a grown cat, Hollyleaf, he can take care of himself," came the reply as Sandstorm paused and glanced back at her, "now, I don't know about you, but I'm not a Riverclan cat and I don't like wet feet."
******
Soon after they finished their patrol, Sandstorm led them back to camp at a fast pace. The sky was starting to cackle with lightening and it looked as if night had falling though Hollyleaf knew it was barely sunhigh. The drizzle gradually turned into a steady downpour by the time Hollyleaf followed Sandstorm back into the camp with Brackenfur bring up the rear.
"Welcome back," Firestar purred, coming over to join his mate and the rest of the patrol, "how was your patrol?"
"Good, it's all calm along the Shadowclan border," Sandstorm replied.
"Where's Spiderleg?"
"He said he wanted to check out something, he should be back by now," Sandstorm meowed, the worry clear in her voice.
Firestar nodded, "it's not safe for him to be out in this kind of storm," he meowed, "but I'm sure he's fine."
"Lets hope so," Sandstorm meowed before padding toward the fresh kill pile with Firestar at her side. Brackenfur veered off to join Sorreltail outside the warriors den and Hollyleaf glanced around. She spotted her brother sitting outside the warriors den, watching the camp.
Hollyleaf padded over to join him, "hey," she meowed.
Lionblaze looked at her, "I have to tell you something," he meowed, "lets wait till Jayfeather gets here."
"What do you want to talk about? And why were you along the Windclan border earlier?" Hollyleaf asked, narrowing her green eyes suspiciously.
Lionblaze flinched visibly, "no reason," he replied, "I-I was just hunting but I couldn't find anything and then it started to rain."
Hollyleaf nodded though her brothers words didn't convince her all that much but before she could say anything, Lionblaze suddenly disappeared and Hollyleaf found herself staring across a river.
What just happened? What am I doing here? She thought to herself.
"Come on," a voice sounded, "don't hurt the prisoner and for Starclan's sake, be quiet."
Hollyleaf widened her eyes as she recognized the voice but before she could do anything, a splash sounded and a moment later, a black and white figure stepped out onto the bank on the Thunderclan's side of the river. He was followed by a dozen or so of his warriors and Hollyleaf could only stand helplessly as Blackstar turned to his warriors.
"You all know why we are here but for Starclan's sake, stay quiet, they could probably hear you back in the mountains," Blackstar hissed.
"You have no need to worry about Thunderclan, Blackstar," a strange voice sounded, Hollyleaf did not recognize it but a moment later, a black she cat with the strangest crimson eyes padded into the open.
"Crimson," Blackstar meowed, dipping his head, "of course I don't need to worry about them. Lets get going, we have to be there when it gets darker. This rain should hide our scent and lets make this quick an easy."
"Hollyleaf! Hollyleaf!" Hollyleaf blinked her eyes and found her brother staring at her with concern in his amber gaze, "are you alright?"
Hollyleaf started to shake, for some reason, she knew what she had just seen though she could be sure, "Lionblaze," she hissed, urgently, "come with me! Please!"
Lionblaze looked confused but nodded and followed Hollyleaf as she raced across the clearing to join Firestar, who sat with Sandstorm underneath the highledge.
"Firestar!" she yowled.
Firestar looked up, his eyes were filled with confusion for a moment until he saw Hollyleaf, who was shaking with fear, "what is it?" he asked.
"Shadowclan are coming," Hollyleaf gasped out, trying to catch a hold of her breath, "Blackstar has led them across the river and this strange cat with crimson red eyes is with him. They are planning on invading the camp."
Firestar narrowed his eyes, "how do you know this?" he demanded.
"There's no time to explain," Hollyleaf said, not even thinking about what she was saying, "they are on their way now."
As if her words had called them up, a loud yowl sounded outside the entrance to the camp. "Shadowclan are invading!" Icepaw yowled, exploding into the clearing.
Firestar leaped up and looked at Hollyleaf, a strange expression crossed his face, "we'll talk about this later," he hissed and yowled, "Thunderclan! Shadowclan have invaded, get ready to fight!"
All around them, Hollyleaf saw warriors come out of the warriors den and Foxpaw appear from the apprentice den before racing over to join his sister. At that moment, the familiar black and white shape of Blackstar exploded into the clearing, followed by the crimson eyed black cat. That dream or whatever it was showed me that cat, Hollyleaf thought to herself as her clanmates leaped into battle, why would I have a vision of what was going to happen in the future?
a/n what do you think?
Blaze: I liked this chapter but what do you think?
Tigerstar: you already said that
Crimson: YAY!
Tigerstar: whats got you so happy?
Crimson: I'm in this story (does happy dance)
Blaze: yup (whispers something into Crimson's ear)
Crimson: (widens eyes) YAY EVEN MORE (dances happily again)
Tigerstar: what the heck is going on?
Blaze: you'll find out soon enough, and by the way, why are you going by Tigerstar?
Tigerstar: (looks confused)
Blaze: you were Tigerstar, then you were Tigerclaw and then you were Tigerstar again, it's confusing the readers
Tigerstar: (laughs evilly) that's why I do it. I'm so evil
Blaze: stop confusing the readers you idiot
Tigerstar: make me
Blaze: (brings out hot skillet with oven mitts) alright, I'll make you
Tigerstar: (gulps) alright, I'll stop. I'll go by Tigerstar for now on
Blaze: good, please review, next chapter as soon as I can. And I give thanks to everyone who reviewed. Do you like what I decided to give as Hollyleaf's power?
Crimson: Can anyone guess who the new strange crimson eyed cat is?
Tigerstar: Will I make an appearance in this story?
Blaze: will Tigerstar be good or evil when he makes his appearance?
Crimson: who will turn out evil among the three?
Blaze: er, sorry for all the questions, so please review and sorry for the very long authors note
