This chapter's not very long, only 2,000+ words, but whatever. :D It's a Hollyleaf chapter, now that she has "embraced" the position or whatever the heck I said last chapter. Enjoy!
A stiff breeze ruffled Hollyleaf's pelt as she stood on the Highledge. The stone was satisfyingly cold beneath her paws. Even though leaf-bare was receding quickly now, the smooth ledge retained it's icy coldness. I want ThunderClan to stay like the Highledge, she mused. Keeping hold of the warrior code even if everything else changes.
Impressed at her own analogy, she watched as Lionblaze padded to the fresh-kill pile with a squirrel in his jaws. She narrowed her eyes speculatively as she watched her brother. He had been so… difficult at the Gathering. If an enemy warrior saw a ThunderClan cat arguing with the deputy, they might think the Clan was weak with no respect.
They must respect me, Hollyleaf growled to herself. If there isn't any respect, then there's no Clan. Tipping her ears back, she could hear Firestar's gentle snores as he caught up with his rest. He had been trusting her more and more each sunrise, allowing her to take care of the Clan while he kept his strength up. Hollyleaf was happy that he trusted her so much. The Clan had slowly come around to the idea of her being the deputy.
With a little amusement, she thought back to a quarter moon ago; she had told Cloudtail to go reset the ShadowClan border scent-marks. The white tom had argued with her.
"We need to be watching WindClan," he had said angrily, "not ShadowClan!"
She respected Cloudtail; after all, he was one of her warriors now, but his debating felt like her fur was being rubbed the wrong way. She had retained her calm when she replied, "I think ShadowClan will try to take advantage of us because of the issue with WindClan. If you want, after you set those marker you can go set WindClan's."
Cloudtail had let out a grudging mew and took off, Birchfall and Rosepaw on his paws.
Pulling out of the memory, Hollyleaf watched as the breeze tugged at the trees at the lip of the hollow. A small rock tumbled down the face of the sheer cliff, landing with a small crack behind the nursery. Dread filled her at the thought of one of the larger boulders following the stone's example.
She turned to survey the camp. Spiderleg and Sorreltail were chatting by the half-rock and Hazeltail and Poppyfrost were laying in a patch of sunlight. Hollyleaf felt a spark of anger at their lax attitudes. They should be out hunting or patrolling, she thought, not laying in the sun.
Before Hollyleaf could act, Thornclaw padded into the clearing, three mice dangling from his jaws. Pretending to ignore her, he proceeded to drop his catch on the fresh-kill pile. The spark in Hollyleaf's belly blew into a storm of anger. She would not allow the tabby to disrespect her this way. She leapt down from the Highledge, landing agilely on all four paws.
She stalked over to Thornclaw. "Hello," she mewed coolly. "Nice catch."
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Thanks," he growled before turning around.
She stifled a hiss of irritation. Dealing with this warrior was like dealing with an extra-grouchy Jayfeather who had been poked awake in the middle of the night. "Wait!"
He half-turned back, his amber eyes harsh. "What, Hollyleaf?"
"I was wondering if you could help me."
His eyes widened in disbelief. "What?"
She flicked her tail towards the top of the hollow. "I saw a rock fall off the edge. If it were any bigger, it could cause some damage." She tried not to sound too worried about it, even though it felt like her insides were squirming; a falling rock could easily crush a cat. Giving Thornclaw an easy task might build up his trust for her again.
He looked wary, as if she might be tricking him. "Fine," he finally agreed. "Who do you want me to get to help?"
"I'll help you."
Thornclaw let out a derisive snort. "You?" he asked incredulously. "No offence, deputy, but I'd rather pick my own cats to help."
Hollyleaf stood her ground. "No. This is what we're going to do." She pulled back her lips slightly, barely exposing her sharp teeth. "Now."
The tabby warrior sighed dramatically, but followed after Hollyleaf as she lead the way to the top of the hollow.
Once they were there, Hollyleaf mewed, "You go on that side." She flicked her tail to the farthest end. "I'll start here. We'll work towards the middle; it's the highest."
Thornclaw nodded, and bounded off. Hollyleaf called, "Make sure you pull the rocks away. Don't push them into the clearing!" Thornclaw gave to indication that he heard her.
Turning away with disgust, Hollyleaf hooked a stone with her forepaw, carefully dragging it away from the edge. It was difficult work; some stones were no bigger than one of her paws while others were easily the size of an apprentice. At the thought, she glanced down into the clearing below to look for the distinctive black-and-white pelt of her own apprentice. Toadpaw was play fighting with Brairkit, the little she-cat holding her own despite his larger size. Lionblaze was sitting near the playing cats, watching Briarkit with appreciative eyes.
That made Hollyleaf wonder. He must want her as an apprentice! she thought. Bumblekit leapt on top of the fight, his little gray paws battering at Toadpaw. Briarkit redoubled her grip on Hollyleaf's apprentice, yowling with happiness in her tiny voice. Only Blossomkit sat apart, her white-and-tortoiseshell pelt half-blending into the shadows of the half-rock.
Hollyleaf stifled a purr at her poor apprentice; Toadpaw's apprenticeship was coming along nicely. Daisy's son might not be the biggest cat in the Clan, but he had plenty of potential.
A large stone was next, bigger than all the others that she had moved so far. She attempted to hook her paw around it like she had before, but the rock refused to budge. She snagged her claws into a crack in the side and yanked. A chunk of rock flew from her claws, smacking her solidly on the muzzle.
She let out a hiss of pain as her eyes watered. She heard a snicker coming across on the breeze and whipped around. Hissing in pain and embarrassment, she turned away from Thornclaw's gleaming amber eyes and faced the rock again.
"You are going to move," she hissed. She got on the other side of the boulder, precariously close to the edge. She shoved her shoulder into the side of the stone, pushing so hard her hind paws scrabbled in the dust, scattering pebbles that cascaded down into the hollow.
Curious looks greeted her when she looked down. With a pang of dread, Hollyleaf realized that even Brambleclaw, who had been napping in the sunlight outside the medicine cat den, lifted his head to watch. She couldn't give up now; the entire Clan was waiting to see how she would do. This was just another challenge, she told herself.
She gripped the boulder again, her claws pinching together in the crack, and pulled. The rock showed a profound lack of motion. She pulled again, her embarrassment growing when she realized her claws were stuck. She yanked her paw back, hissing in pain. Her paw had grown numb; she could barely feel it as she tugged. Giving up on freeing her paw, she changed her angle to better move the rock.
Gasping from the weight of it, she grabbed the rock with both front paws and heaved backwards. The stone moved slightly, a small grinding noise raising with a cloud of dust. It's so dug in, it wouldn't have fallen anyway, she grumbled internally. But she could not back down now. The gazes of the Clan pricked at her pelt, driving her to prove herself.
She drove her shoulder into the rock again, but as she did, her hind paws slid out from underneath her, carried away by a flat stone. She yowled out loud, unable to hold it back. Her claws were stuck fast as the rock began to tip forwards, heading towards the edge of the hollow. Fear clutched her heart, sending a wave of cold terror through her veins.
The rock picked up speed, sliding and skidding. "Help!" she cried. "Help me!"
The boulder teetered on the edge of the hollow. Hollyleaf, still attached to the rock, tugged backwards as hard as she could. She could feel her muscles starting to seize up. She couldn't believe it; the boulder had gone from completely stationary to about to fall into the hollow all in a span of a few heartbeats.
She tried one last time to free her paw. As she yanked it again, the stone slid off the edge and into the hollow, dragging her with it.
Teeth firmly latched into her scruff, keeping her suspended in mid-air. The rock fell past her, ripping the claws out of her paw. Hollyleaf screeched in pain as her paw bled. She writhed in the air, forgetting about her and her rescuer's vulnerable position.
Scent wafted over her. Hollyleaf's eyes opened wide in disbelief as she recognized Thornclaw.
"Hold still," he mumbled through a mouthful of fur. "Mousebrain!"
She bit her tongue to keep back an angry protest. Thornclaw gave a huge heave, his neck muscles straining under Hollyleaf's dead weight. Hollyleaf saw Mousewhisker and Lionblaze run out of the camp entrance, pelting full out for the top of the hollow.
Thornclaw yanked Hollyleaf's scruff so hard it rattled her teeth. She felt more relieved than she ever had in her life as her pelt scratched against the rough stone of the hollow.
Unceremoniously, the tabby warrior dumped her body on the ground, then turned away to pant.
"That… t-that was stupid!" he spat between gasps.
Hollyleaf's heart pounded. "Yeah," she mewed shakily. She looked up at him. "Thanks."
Thornclaw looked embarrassed; he didn't meet her gaze. "No problem."
Hollyleaf opened her mouth to say more, but Lionblaze burst in, Mousewhisker hard on his paws.
"Hollyleaf!" Lionblaze's mew was full of relief. "Your okay!"
"Not completely," she responded wearily. She held up her paw, which was dripping blood.
Lionblaze flinched at the sight. "Well… claws will grow back." He looked into her eyes. "What were you thinking!"
Hollyleaf was too exhausted by terror to be angry with him. "The rocks," she muttered with a sweep of her tail. "They were about to fall into the camp."
"And now, there's definitely one in the clearing." Thornclaw's voice was sarcastic. He flicked his tail. "There goes the half-rock."
Hollyleaf slowly sat up, every muscle in her body shrieking in protest. She moved slowly to the edge and looked over.
Embarrassment and shame flooded over her as she looked at the damage. The half-rock was now the quarter-rock, she thought sadly. The big rock had landed directly on top of the smaller rock, crushing it into bits, the largest of which was the size of a cat. The big rock itself was now crushing the side of the nursery, pressing through the side of the thorns and branches; Millie's astonished face peering out of the new hole.
Only the kits seemed happy with the rock's new placement. With happy squeals, they began to clamber all over it. Blossomkit, who had been standing next to the half-rock before the boulder fell, raced across to press herself into Graystripe's side. The gray warrior seemed to stunned to do anything more than flick his tail over his daughter's back.
Hollyleaf pulled her face back over the side; she had seen Firestar coming, and knew that she was in big trouble. The throbbing pain in her paw was overlooked as she imagined Firestar's wrath. She gave a deep sigh, and padded back down the edge of the hollow, unwilling, or possibly unable, to face her latest failure.
Aw... poor Hollyleaf. Thornclaw hates her still, although I must admit I don't really like her either. :D Mousewhisker also made an appearence here, even though he had no lines. The Erins overlook some cats alot so I'll be featuring a minor character every chapter! Yay for forgotten cats!
Also, Fwirl and I are co-authoring a fic. It's called "The Darkness Before Dawn" under the pen name Fwirl Before The Storm. Check it out! ^.^
Shadow