Chapter Fourteen

"We must get ready for battle!" Onestar yowled over the cats. Hollypaw's heart continued to thud against her chest, and she could feel Lionpaw tense beside her. Hollypaw knew what she must do—she must warn her Clan. But how?

The whole of WindClan were cheering now, and many of them began to strengthen themselves. Onestar dashed off into the warriors den, probably to pick out who would go. Hollypaw glanced around, catching Crowfeather glaring at her through narrowed eyes. Flicking Lionpaw with her tail tip, she then bared her teeth at the dark gray warrior across the clearing. Saying a silent prayer to StarClan, she made a run for it. Everyone was distracted, so she managed to get to the edge of the camp until Crowfeather let out a furious howl and pelted after her.

"What are you doing?" She heard her brother call after her, but she didn't stop, because then Crwofeather's paws thumping against the ground drowned out the noise. Running as fast as her paws could take her, Hollypaw pelted off in the direction of ThunderClan. She knew that Crowfeather was hard on her heels, and tried to go faster.

Soon, the river same into view. She gained as much speed as she could before trying to make the jump. She soared over it, and landed on the other side, but then her hind paws slipped out from underneath her. She clawed at the river bank, but it was no use—she plunged into the deep water. Choking and gasping for air, she tried to keep her head above the surface. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Crowfeather sitting near the banks with his eyes half closed and his mouth curved in a wicked smirk.

"Help!" she wailed, hoping that maybe Crowfeather might come to his senses, but he didn't. He still sat and watched. As hard as she could, Hollypaw grabbed onto the opposite side of the river, and hauled herself out, dripping with water. Crowfeather, still on the WindClan side, opened his eyes as wide as an owl's and then back up, about to attempt the leap as well. Not seeing if he would make it, Hollypaw gathered all of her remaining strength and dashed off once more to ThunderClan. She heard a splash behind her, and hoping that Crowfeather had fallen in, Hollypaw continued on.

Halfway there, she smelled the strong scent of cats. Not daring to stop, she went forward. Then, out of no where, a cat walked out of the bushes, and she knocked into it with full force, sending them both flying in opposite directions. Fur bristling, Hollypaw got to her paws, seeing who she had just crashed with. Her heart soared when she saw her shaken brother, Jaypaw. He looked angry, and hissed at her.

"What did you—" Then, as if noticing who she was, he let out a cry of happiness. "Hollypaw!" He went to touch noses with her, but she stopped him.

"Not much time… Crowfeather… WindClan… battle!" She yowled. Leafpool stepped out of the bush from behind Jaypaw, and then so did Cinderpaw. Cinderpaw opened her eyes wide and asked Hollypaw:

"They're going to attack aren't they?"

"How do you know?" Hollypaw meowed, out of breath. Cinderpaw didn't answer but then shook from ear to tail.

"What are you running from?" Leafpool asked.

"Crowfeather!" At the name, Leafpool tensed. Hollypaw ignored it though and went on. "I escaped from WindClan to warn the Clan of a battle! We don't have much time! Her words came out in a jumble, but luckily, Leafpool seemed to understand.

"Jaypaw, go and warn ThunderClan," Leafpool ordered, and Jaypaw pelted away. "Cinderpaw, go with him." Cinderpaw ran in the direction Jaypaw had gone. "And Hollypaw, stay by my side." Hollypaw nodded, just as a figure came crashing through the underbrush. He was growling and dripping wet—Crowfeather.

"You aren't going to get away," he spat at Hollypaw, but then saw Leafpool and stopped. Leafpool locked his gaze for a few moments, and his expression softened. Wondering what was going on, Hollypaw waited. As long as they could stall for time, anything would have to do.

"I love you, Crowfeather," Leafpool purred, and she stepped closer to him. Hollypaw's ears burned. What?!

"Leafpool…," Crowfeather began, but she shushed him with her paw. She twined her tail with his and purred loudly. Crowfeather seemed to drink in her warm scent and began to purr as well. Hollypaw thought she shouldn't be seeing this, but when Brambleclaw came barging through the bushed, everything was clear to her.

Leafpool bit down hard on his shoulder and kicked out her leg to trip him. The dark gray warrior fell to the ground with a howl and looked up at Leafpool.

"You thought I still loved you?" she sighed. "Well you're wrong." She went in to slash at him while he was down, but then Brambleclaw stepped in.

"Leafpool," he meowed. "It'll only make things worse." Leafpool lowered her paw, and Brambleclaw rounded on Crowfeather. "Go! Now! You're on ThunderClan territory." With hurt glittering in his eyes, the dark gray warrior got to his paws. His fur was ruffled, and he looked taken aback by what Leafpool had done. He turned around, keeping his back to Brambleclaw, and then darted off in the direction of WindClan, not looking back once.

"We have to hurry!" Hollypaw cried out, as soon as he was out of view.

"I know," Brambleclaw hissed to his daughter. "Come, now!" He looked over his shoulder, and several cats padded out from behind the bush—Graystripe, Squirrelflight, Sandstorm, Spiderleg, Brook, Stormfur, Millie, and Brackenfur. Brambleclaw flicked his tail at all of them and they continued on in the same direction as Crowfeather had been going. As they walked on, Hollypaw smelled WindClan scent—but they were no where near the border.

"Dad," she whispered. "I smell WindClan." Her father tensed, and her heart thumped against her chest with fright. Suddenly, a yowl could be heard in the distance. Crashing through the forest came a worried white warrior—Cloudtail. He was panting heavily, making his pelt heave with every breath.

"WindClan are attacking our camp!" he howled.