Guys, I'm not sure exactly what the problem seems to be, but I can't read any of the most recent reviews. I got the email notifications, and I want to thank you all for reviewing! As soon as the problem is solved I will answer individually-starting with the ones from the previous chapter that I can't access online.
In other news! I have a job interview tomorrow at 11, and if things go well I may not be able to update as frequently as I'd like. Please don't let this discourage you from reading and reviewing! No matter how long it takes, I will finish this story. Thanks again for your continued support, and enjoy chapter 14!
Chapter 14
The wind whipped Hollystep's fur as she trudged across the narrow mountain ridge. Ahead of her, Brambleclaw was focusing on keeping his wide paws from slipping, and she could hear Tawnypelt muttering curses behind her.
"Surely there's a better way to get there?" Crowfeather called from behind Tawnypelt.
Hollystep had to strain to hear Talon's response. "This is the safest way. The intruders aren't accustomed to travelling the mountain paths as we do."
"Neither are we," Tawnypelt growled pointedly. Hollystep couldn't help but to agree. If the Tribe cats heard they didn't respond, and they didn't change course.
A startled yowl rose from the back of the group. Thistlepaw! Hollystep started to turn along her length to go help her friend, but she heard Brook called shakily, "Stormfur caught her." Thank StarClan… The young warrior was on edge until they finally descended to more level ground. Out of the howling wind it seemed eerily quiet.
"Hey, are you okay?" She touched her nose to Thistlepaw's ear. The WindClan apprentice was trembling.
"I'm fine," mumbled the younger she-cat. "I just slipped. Stormfur saved my life."
"Hush!" Night turned a piercing glare on them. "We're not safe here, we must travel quickly and quietly or we'll risk being seen."
Hollystep flattened her ears, ready to voice an objection when Brambleclaw lashed his tail. "They're here!"
Not a moment later, a triumphant caterwaul split the air and a patrol of scrawny rogues charged around the corner to face them. No words were exchanged; they rushed them with their teeth bared and claws unsheathed. Hollystep felt the familiar thrill of battle singe her veins. This is what we came here for! She threw herself at a white tom, raking her claws across his flank as she flitted past him. He rounded on her with a furious snarl and swiped at her muzzle. Hollystep ducked, tucking her head in, and rolled sideways beneath the attack. She sprang to her paws and barreled into his side, hoping to carry him off his paws. He staggered but didn't fall, and twisted to bite her shoulder. Pain lanced through her shoulder as his teeth sank in. She brought her paw up and batted furiously at his head until his grip slackened. She ripped herself away and lunged quickly to bury her teeth in the side of his neck. He screeched as his blood poured freely from the wound, as if he had never expected to be dealt an injury worse than one he delivered. Hollystep let him go with a snort of disgust, landing a final blow on his haunches as he ran back the way they had come.
Before she could look for another opponent, a rogue was on top of her. Hollystep was bunched her muscles to throw the attacker off, the weight was lifted. She spun to see Smokefoot with his teeth buried deep in its shoulder.
"I can fight my own battles!" She spat, lashing her tail as the rogue broke free and ran from the black ShadowClan warrior.
"Of course," Smokefoot flicked his ears and ducked to lick his chest fur, his expression unreadable.
Hollystep curled her lip and stalked away, joining Brambleclaw and Stormfur as they regrouped. "That was well fought," the big tabby was meowing. "It's a good way to show them you're ready to fight now."
"I hope you're right," Talon growled. He had fur missing from his hind leg, but it didn't seem like any cat was badly wounded.
Hollystep was getting more eager by the moment as they continued towards the Tribe's camp. She didn't slow her pace until she saw the waterfall looming ahead of them. Talon and Night were nearly running, Brook right on their tails. Hollystep hesitated as she saw the Tribe cats disappear behind the giant sheet of water. "We have to go behind that?" She spluttered incredulously.
Crowfeather rolled his eyes. "It's safe," the prickly warrior gave her a rough nudge. "You need have that bite seen to, hurry it up."
Her dark tabby fur bristled as she slunk along the path, cringed away from the spray of the waterfall. When she entered the cave, a gasp of awe slipped from her mouth. It was much larger inside the cave than she could have imagined, and more light filtered through the waterfall than she expected.
"Talon and Night are back," a cat's hoarse whisper broke the silence. More followed, and Hollystep's eyes found the dark shapes of cats slinking along the edges of the cave.
"They've brought Stormfur and Brook with them."
"And Brambleclaw!"
"Have they brought an entire Clan back?"
A dark shadow peeled away from the darkest corner of the cave. "Why have you returned?" The cat stalked forward, his legs stiff with fury. His muzzle was as white as the snow-laden clouds outside. "You left us when we needed you most."
"Stoneteller," Talon dipped his head respectfully. "We've brought help."
"They told us everything," Stormfur added, his voice a low growl.
Stoneteller's amber eyes passed over Stormfur and Brook with all of the frost of leaf-bare in them. "You are dead." He shook his head. "None of you are welcome here. You may rest here tonight, but tomorrow you must leave."
"But Stoneteller!" Night stepped forward.
The old cat bared his yellowing teeth. "Silence! When you left us to bring these traitors back you lost your right to speak as a part of the Tribe." A lash of his tail brought a pitifully skinny gray and white she-cat padded to his side. "Tend to their wounds and show them where they may sleep. Tell Crag to take them to the edge of the mountains at dawn."
"Yes, Stoneteller," the she-cat murmured. She watched through sad green eyes as the Tribe's leader turned and marched away. "Come with me," she beckoned them with a flick of her ears and led them to a far edge of the cave. "I'll be right back with herbs, go ahead and lick those wounds clean."
"We can't just leave!" Hollystep burst out as soon as the gray and white Tribe cat was out of ear-shot.
Brambleclaw sighed heavily. "I'm afraid we don't have a choice. I'm not happy about it either, but we can't argue with Stoneteller."
"Their loss," Crowfeather muttered mutinously as he set licking the scratches on his flanks.
Pangs of disappointment spiked in Hollystep's belly as she sat and started licking her paw and rubbing it across her muzzle to clean the blood from her face. Thistlepaw sat beside her and started licking the wound on her shoulder. The Tribe cat returned, followed closely by a bigger dark gray tom.
"Crag," Brambleclaw dipped his head in a friendly greeting. "It's good to see you again."
The dark-furred Tribe cat acted as if he hadn't even heard the warrior's greeting. "You can't leave," he rasped.
"That's not what Stoneteller said," Tawnypelt snorted. She turned pointedly away from the tom. "Wing, could you look at Hollystep's wound first? Then mine. One of them got their teeth into my hind leg. I don't want to get an infection on the way home."
Wing nodded and padded silently to Hollystep's side. "Crag is right," she murmured as she chewed a pile of leaves into a poultice. "You can't leave yet."
"Than what are we to do?" Stormfur sounded bewildered. "If Stoneteller doesn't want our help, then…"
"Stoneteller is a fool," Crag rasped. "He hasn't received a message from the Tribe of Endless Hunting, so he thinks we must do nothing. He'd have us starve to death before he asked for help!"
"He doesn't even bother to hide it anymore," Wing added. Hollystep winced as she rubbed the poultice into the wound. "Just yesterday he told a couple of to-bes that our ancestors have abandoned us."
"So he really has turned his back on them…" Brook whispered. Her eyes stared somberly at the wall.
"He is old," Crag defended his leader half-heartedly. "He thinks change of any sort is change that will destroy us."
Hollystep lashed her tail irritably. "That doesn't change the fact that he's told us to leave," she pointed out. "What can we do in your territory without his permission?"
Crag and Wing exchanged a dark look. "We're going to act without him."
"He won't like that a bit," Stormfur growled. "He's shown us well enough how he feels about cats who oppose him."
Wing moved to look at Tawnypelt's leg. "Yes, well," she mewed softly. "I don't want my kits to be born into a Tribe that follows a cat who has turned their back on the Tribe of Endless Hunting."
"And what will the Tribe of Endless Hunting think of cats who betray their leader?" Crowfeather observed mildly.
Brook stood. "Surely it is not the will of our ancestors for us to continue following a cat who has turned their back on them."
Silence followed her words. Hollystep flexed her claws against the cold stone, her eyes trained to Brambleclaw. What will we do?
"We came to help you," the ThunderClan deputy finally meowed slowly. "And we still want to—now more than ever now that we know what the intruders are like. What is your plan to make Stoneteller see sense?"
Again, a dark look passed between the two Tribe cats. "Tomorrow at dawn, we will call a meeting. We will ask the Tribe to vote. The options will be to follow Stoneteller and send you away that we may starve beneath a leader that has abandoned us and our ancestors, or to elect a new Healer and accept your help so that we can save our Tribe."
"And you really think they'll go for that?" Smokefoot snorted skeptically, but Crag's gaze was unwavering.
"We will know tomorrow," murmured the dark gray Tribe cat. "Rest now. If the Tribe does elect a new Healer, there will be more than enough to do."
Hollystep slept fitfully in the shallow hollow at the edge of the cave, and woke with stiff muscles from their four days of travel. She stood slowly and pushed her front paws out in a lengthy stretch.
"That wound looks better already," Thistlepaw purred.
Hollystep rolled her shoulder experimentally. "Feels better, too. Wing could make a pretty good healer. Those herbs really did the trick."
"But she's a queen," the pointed remark came from Smokefoot as he strolled towards the two she-cats.
"So what?" Hollystep's tabby fur bristled as she thought of his interference in her battle. "No one asked you, Smokefoot."
"Put your claws away," he snickered. Thistlepaw pushed herself in between them, as Hollystep let out a growl.
"Stop," she hissed, shooting them each a warning glare. "The Tribe is waking up, we can't be seen fighting amongst ourselves."
As they woke, the Clan cats gathered towards the center of the clearing, where Crag and Wing were already waiting. The Tribe started gathering more slowly, passing nervous glances through their ranks.
"Those who aren't already here, gather!" Crag called as the first beam of dawn sunlight pierced the curtain of water. The remaining Tribe cats slipped from their dens.
"What is the meaning of this?" Stoneteller shouldered his way through his cats to face Crag and Wing.
"We must speak," Crag meowed calmly. Hollystep admired his courage. By the looks of it, Stoneteller had been the Tribe's Healer for a very long time—probably since before Crag had even been kitted.
"Speak then," Stoneteller sat, disinterest filling his eyes.
Crag's gaze swept around the gathered cats before he raised his voice to address them all. "We are starving," he began, his voice deep and steady. "If we do nothing, we will die." Murmurs swept through the cave, though they told nothing of the Tribe's thoughts. What he said was obvious. "Here, we have strong cats willing to help us, but Stoneteller is trying to turn them away—just as he turned away the Tribe of Endless Hunting!"
Stoneteller's fur began bristling, but Crag swept on. "He has served us and Tribe of Endless Hunting for countless seasons, but I cannot help but to believe his judgement has faltered. We need help if we are to survive."
"He's right," a soft voice whispered. More joined in slowly.
"They dealt with the intruders that attacked them yesterday and hardly seem wounded."
"Stoneteller has given up on us!"
"And the Tribe of Endless Hunting…"
Crag raised his paw to ease their mutterings. "I propose that we vote," he announced.
"Vote on what?" Stoneteller stood at his full height, his tail lashing.
Wing met his furious gaze without blinking. "On what to do now," she answered. "We have two options: we can listen to Stoneller—send these Clan cats away and starve to death while we wait for Stoneteller to find his faith in our ancestors again—or we can elect a new Healer."
"Elect a new Healer?" Stoneteller snarled.
"Yes," Crag meowed evenly. "One that believes that the Tribe of Endless Hunting still watches over us. One," added the big cave-guard, "that will not let the Tribe die when there is something that can still be done."
Stoneteller stalked to one side of the cave. "I have not abandoned our ancestors," he growled. "They have abandoned us! Those of you who don't want these Clan cats to bring more death and suffering to our Tribe, come to this side of the cave. Those who believe what Crag says, go to the other."
Crag and Wing moved to the opposite side of the cave, followed closely by Talon and Night. Hollystep longed to join them, but she knew this was a vote for Tribe cats alone. Instead, she watched anxiously as the cats milled about in the middle of the cave. The elders joined Stoneteller almost immediately. But it seemed that's where his support ended. The queens joined Wing, and the cave-guards stayed true to Crag. The prey-hunters seemed the most divided, splitting evenly to go to opposite ends of the cave. Brook gave Stormfur a nudge, then led the way to Crag's side of the cave. When no cat was left in the middle, Hollystep was astonished to see how many had turned their backs on Stoneteller's leadership.
Would ThunderClan ever do that? An appalled voice rang in the back of her head. No, she answered silently, because Firestar would never allow us to fall so close to destruction. Neither would Brambleclaw—or me.
Stoneteller curled his lip. "Very well then," he sneered. "Follow these Clan cats to the Tribe of Endless Hunting. I'll have no part of it." With that, he slunk out of the cave, his tail lashing through the water as he fled.
Almost at once, the cave erupted into chaos. Stormfur and Brook wove through the crowd murmuring assurances, but they seemed to fall on deaf ears.
"Well are we supposed to do now?" Hollystep hissed irritably.
Crowfeather stalked forward. "Enough!" He lashed his tail as the Tribe fell silent, staring at him through wide eyes. "Is there a cat you feel would make a good Stoneteller?"
Their distressed mews turned to thoughtful murmurs as the question sank in. Finally, a ginger queen stepped forward. "I think Crag would make a good healer," she announced, her eyes seeking out the dark gray cave-guard. "He's led the cave-guards for many moons, and if it weren't for him, we would have been forced to starve under the previous Stoneteller."
Gradually, their eyes brightened. Crag watched with wonder as agreements echoed through the Tribe. No cat opposed the idea, and before long, a prey-hunter stepped forward.
"I don't think a vote is needed," he purred. "You're the only cat we can picture leading us, Crag."
The cave-guard bowed his head. "It is an honor," he rumbled. "I swear by the Tribe of Endless Hunting that I will not let you down."
Wing approached and gave him a nudge. "Go now, to the Cave of Pointed Stones. They will send you signs—I'm sure of it."
"I will," Crag agreed. He raised his voice to address his Tribe. "In the meantime, see to it that Brambleclaw and his warriors are made welcome. We will need their help to get rid of these intruders, so please do as he says until I've returned." As he turned and slipped towards the back of the cave, all of the Tribe cats turned their eyes to Brambleclaw. Despite the triumphant feeling that came with knowing they'd be able to help, the young warrior felt a stab of apprehension. Can we really save these half-starved cats?
PS: I really don't like Stoneteller, if you can't tell. I hated everything about what he did in Outcast, so... yeah. Sorry, but I think this alternative is still better than what he deserves.