Okay, so here's where things start to get good X3
!!SPOILER ALERT!! There is a spoiler for the Dark River in this chapter, so I'd suggest not reading it if you haven't read the second book of Power of Three!!
Chapter Twelve
Meanwhile…
Hollypaw looked around the WindClan camp, and her belly growled with hunger. The WindClan cats didn't feed them much—only one scrawny mouse a day. She glanced over at Lionpaw, who was prodding the ground with her claws unsheathed. He looked restless. Earlier that day, Heatherpaw had passed by him when no one was looking. She had whispered something in his ear, but Hollypaw didn't hear what it was. She knew that it must have been something that they weren't suppose to do, because a rebellious glint sparkled in Lionpaw's eyes.
Owlwhisker a few tail-lengths away from the apprentices, and kept a watchful eye on them. Lionpaw continued to paw the ground, and Owlwhisker must have noticed his strange behavior, because he pointed it out.
"Something wrong, Lionpaw?" he hissed. Lionpaw immediately froze and locked his gaze with the tabby tom's.
"No," Lionpaw meowed, wiggling his tail. "Excuse me; may I please go make dirt?" He continued to wiggle his tail, and looked up at the warrior with wide eyes.
"Fine," he muttered.
"Thank you!" Lionpaw meowed gratefully, and he dashed off to the dirtplace. Hollypaw's gaze followed him, as she laid her head on her paws. Then, she saw Lionpaw motion with one paw to her for her to come. Hollypaw panicked, and glanced at Owlwhisker, who was looking around—but not at Lionpaw. Relieved, Hollypaw spoke up.
"May I please go, too?" she asked, thumping her hind leg on the ground softly, as to not wake up the other cats.
"Okay, but be quick," Owlwhisker told her. "Otherwise, you won't eat tomorrow." With a short gulp, Hollypaw went off in the direction her brother had just gone. She reached the dirtplace and padded inside.
"What?" she whispered. Then she saw another cat in the shadows. "Heatherpaw?" she meowed, shocked.
"She's going to help us get out of here," Lionpaw told his sister.
"Are you sure this isn't a trap?" Hollypaw hissed, eyeing the light brown she-cat.
"She knows we're innocent," Lionpaw meowed. "She's going to help us."
"Yea," Heatherpaw purred. Suspicion claws at Hollypaw's belly, but she pushed it aside.
"Okay," she meowed. "How?"
"Remember those tunnels?" Heatherpaw asked.
"Uh huh." She remembered the tunnels that connected WindClan and ThunderClan.
"Well, I can get you back to ThunderClan by using them," Heatherpaw mewed.
"What if we get caught? The whole Clan knows about them now!" Lionpaw slapped a paw over Hollypaw's mouth.
"Don't be so loud," he warned. Hollypaw mouthed the word 'sorry', and Heatherpaw continued.
"No, we won't," she meowed. "My Clan has pretty much forgotten about them by now." She let out a purr. "Now, let's go." Heatherpaw wiggled through a few brambles that blocked the dirtplace from the forest, and disappeared behind them. Feeling as if something bad would happen, Hollypaw had no choice but to go on after her. Lionpaw was the last to emerge, and he almost got caught.
"This way," Heatherpaw whispered, leading them down a semi-steep slope. The two apprentices followed close behind in the darkness, not wanting to loose her. "We're almost there." Heatherpaw led them down one last slope, and then they all saw a small hole in the ground.
"So that's where it leads to," Lionpaw meowed. Heatherpaw nodded.
"C'mon," she whispered, and she stood near the entrance. Lionpaw and Hollypaw slipped in, and then Heatherpaw did also. She pushed her way past them, almost crushing Hollypaw against the wall, and then told them to follow her. Within a few minutes, they were almost there. Then Heatherpaw stopped dead, leaving Lionpaw and Hollypaw to smash into her.
"Ow!" Hollypaw hissed. "What did you do that for?"
"I completely forgot!" Heatherpaw wailed. "This way was blocked with boulders!" Hollypaw's heart pounded. "We have to go back, and fast!"
"But we've already been gone for so long," Lionpaw meowed.
"It's worth a shot," Hollypaw told him, and the three cats dashed off up the tunnel. Before they reached where they had come in, the strong scent of WindClan cats came to Hollypaw's nose. Heatherpaw went out of the hole first, and she gasped, causing Hollypaw and Lionpaw to freeze with terror. What had she seen?
"Heatherpaw!" a voice said. "What are you doing here?" It was Crowfeather.
"I…" Heatherpaw didn't finish, and was cut off by another cat.
"I smell ThunderClan," Owlwhisker snarled. Hollypaw's heart thudded against her chest, and she began to shake slightly. What were these cats going to do to them?
"What were you up to, Heatherpaw?" her mentor growled to her. Then, shouldering her way past her, he peeked into the tunnel. His eyes got round and he bared his teeth.
"You were helping them escape!" he yowled. Lionpaw and Hollypaw crept out, knowing that there was nothing to hide now. As soon as they emerged from the tunnel, Hollypaw saw Crowfeather unsheathe his claws. He and Owlwhisker were with another cat, Tornear.
"I thought you knew better, you traitor," Crowfeather sneered to his apprentice, and he slashed her across the face. She fell to the ground, whimpering.
"Th-they were innocent," she sobbed, not getting up. Hollypaw's eyes filled with tears. She couldn't help but feel bad for the young she-cat. And why weren't Owlwhisker and Tornear saying anything? It was all her fault that all of this was happening.
"Come with us," the dark warrior demanded, causing Hollypaw to shrink back in fear. "And you," he meowed to Heatherpaw, "get up and be strong." Heatherpaw rose to her paws, blinking back tears, and blood rolled down her cheek from a gash on her face, very close to her eye. The group of cats made their way back to the WindClan camp, and when they got there, many cats were peaking their heads out from their dens or coming out into the main clearing. Onestar was waiting in the middle of the clearing with Ashfoot by his side.
"You tried to escape?" he roared, ignoring all else. Hollypaw began to shake uncontrollably, and felt as if her jaws were glued together. "Answer me when I'm speaking to you!"
"Yes," Lionpaw meowed bravely. "We thought we were in the right by doing so, I'm sorry."
"And what do you have to say for yourself?" Onestar growled to Hollypaw, who looked up from the ground, her eyes wide as an owl's. She kept silent.
"It wasn't her fault," Lionpaw said, jumping to his sister's defense. "I dragged her into the idea, so don't blame her." Onestar narrowed his eyes, and then turned his attention to Heatherpaw.
"What is she doing with you?" Onestar asked, addressing Crowfeather.
"She helped them escape," Crowfeather replied, his fur bristling with rage. "She's a traitor!"
"I should banish you from WindClan for that!" Onestar howled, and Heatherpaw's tail began to tremble. "You know that that's against the Warrior Code! And… what happened to your face?" He grimaced when he saw the nasty cut on the she-cats face.
"Crow… Crowfeather scratched me," Heatherpaw meowed, fightened.
"Crowfeather!" Onestar rounded on the gray warrior. "How dare you attack a helpless apprentice?" Heatherpaw looked down, and blood dripped onto the ground. "Go let Barkface attend to your wound, I'll deal with you later." Heatherpaw walked slowly over to the medicine cat den, letting her tail drag behind her.
"As for you two," Onestar growled. "WindClan will no longer stand for this! We must take action!" Yowls of agreement arose from the surrounding cats, and a tear dropped to the ground from Hollypaw's eye. This was all her fault—and now look what she had done. Lionpaw stepped closer to his sister, and Hollypaw began to feel dizzy. Before she knew it, her whole world went black, and she fainted.