Chapter 3

Hollyleaf blinked as the shape spoke her name. In the darkness, she couldn't make out the cat's features, but she knew his voice, and her brief relief over learning she wasn't alone turned to dismay as she realized just who her new company was.

"Breezepelt," she meowed, keeping her voice steady so he didn't hear how much pain she was in. This didn't make sense- she had just seen Breezepelt at the Gathering. Why would he have left and immediately come underground? This wasn't her first time meeting him in the tunnels, of course, but she didn't think this would be a place he would come back to.

"What are you doing down here?" she asked. Great StarClan, her leg hurt. She needed to find some herbs soon or she thought she might pass out from the pain. Pushing it down, she added, "weren't you just with your Clan?"

Breezepelt gave a short, joyless laugh. She could make his face out better now, and was surprised by his expression. She had never seen a cat look so bitter, so hateful. She found herself desperately wishing her leg was well enough to run away. This was not a cat she wanted to be trapped in close quarters with.

"Yes, Hollyleaf. I was just with my Clan. I was with my Clan, and my mother, and my father. Not that you care about anyone's family but your own."

She was taken aback. Why was he so angry with her? Of course the news she had revealed would reflect poorly on Crowfeather, but Breezepelt should be thanking her for revealing the truth. Everyone should be thanking her! Did he want to live in a Clan filled with lies?

"I didn't do anything wrong," she snapped. "Your father is the one who betrayed his Clan." Our father, she reminded herself. "Crowfeather and Leafpool and Squirrelflight lied to all the Clans. Their treachery had to be exposed." It had to be. Or else what was the point of the warrior code, when cats could break it and lie about it and get away with it? And without the warrior code, what was the point of anything?

"You didn't need to involve all the Clans in ThunderClan's lies," Breezepelt snapped. "Squirrelflight lied. Leafpool lied. Besides, even if Leafpool and my father did break the warrior code, it's her fault. She's a medicine cat. She's not supposed to take a mate. And my father already has a mate. He… he loves my mother."

On that last statement, Breezepelt's voice wavered for the first time, as if he didn't quite believe what he was saying. Certainly, Hollyleaf had never seen Crowfeather and Nightcloud show each other affection, not in the way her parents did so often. Not my parents, she reminded herself. Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight.

Breezepelt collected himself to finish, "Why would he go running off with the ThunderClan medicine cat unless she forced him to? Or tricked him? It was her fault, not his."

"Why are you so upset about this?" she snarled. "Why are you so eager to excuse your father's behavior? He broke the warrior code."

"I'm not!" he yowled. The intense, burning hatred behind his eyes made her want to take a step back. He was breathing heavily, and she thought he might be about to leap at her. And with her injured leg, she wasn't sure that was a fight she could win.

"I'm not," he repeated. "This isn't about him. It's about you. You didn't think about anything other than your own pride. You didn't think about how it would affect my mother, or me, who had to learn news like that in front of all the Clans. You didn't think about how the rest of our Clan would look at us- like we had done something to be ashamed of, even though we didn't know any more than any other cat. You didn't think about how your big announcement would affect anyone other than you or your brothers, because you've never had to think about anyone other than the three of you. That must be nice, huh? Your perfect little family". He looked half-crazed by this point. There was a very unsettling darkness behind his eyes that seemed almost familiar, and with a start she realized it was the same way Lionblaze looked when he was in battle. Like the whole world had faded away and everyone in front of him was nothing but prey. And now she was that prey.

"My family isn't perfect," she snapped. "They lied to us, our whole lives."

"You should never have been born!" he exploded. "I am my father's son he was supposed to have. You were just… a mistake. A violation of the warrior code. But you didn't need to make that every other cat's problem."

"Breezepelt-" she started, wanting to make him understand why she had had no choice but to do what she did. Why staying silent would feel like a violation of everything she believed in. He had to understand. She had done the right thing!

"Don't talk to me," he spat. "Don't ever talk to me again."

And with that, he whirled and dashed off down the tunnels, back in the direction he had come from.
"Breezepelt!" she called after him desperately. She needed him to understand. She couldn't have done all this for nothing.

And in a much more practical sense, she realized with a growing sense of horror that without help, she was going to die down here. She had walked for hours and had no idea if she was any closer to an exit. With her injured leg, she couldn't move fast enough to find an exit, and she had no food or water.

"StarClan help me," she whispered desperately. And then, gathering every ounce of her strength, she plunged after Breezepelt, ignoring the biting pain in her leg. She was not going to die down here.

However, she was only able to move for a few moments before the searing pain forced her to stop. The pain pulsated from her leg in waves, traveling up her whole body. She felt light-headed- this was surely the worst pain she had ever felt. Her leg was so damaged, and she was so hungry, and so thirsty, and so tired. So, so tired…

And with that thought, her head spun, and darkness rose to greet her.

Hollyleaf was in the medicine den with a fever. Her throat was so dry she could barely breathe, and her stomach was growling. Where is Leafpool? she wondered. If I'm sick, why is she not here taking care of me? She opened her eyes, hoping to find the medicine cat nearby to help her, and found only darkness.

Suddenly, everything came back to her. The horrible discovery that Leafpool was her real mother, her announcement at the Gathering, her injury as the tunnel collapsed, and her argument with Breezepelt. She wasn't in the medicine cat den, safe and warm with Leafpool and her brother looking after her. She was all alone.

Just then, she heard pawsteps padding softly towards her. Not alone, she thought. Was Breezepelt coming back? Despite how much he clearly hated her, she did feel hopeful at the thought. She needed the chance to explain herself to him.

But the tom who slowly came into focus had a scent distinctly unlike any cat she had ever scented before. She did smell the distinct scene of fish, though. Maybe he was RiverClan? What would a RiverClan cat be doing in the tunnels between ThunderClan and WindClan? She blinked slowly, trying to make out the features of the mysterious cat, but he didn't seem to be anyone she had ever seen before.

"Hello?" she called out. The cat froze.

"Oh, I uh… I didn't realize you were awake," meowed an unfamiliar voice. "I was just bringing you something to eat." As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she realized he had dropped a small fish at his feet.

She wrinkled her nose. "I don't like fish," she meowed, immediately feeling silly as her stomach growled angrily, announcing to both her and the strange cat that it would be happy with even crow-food.

"Sometimes there's no choice down here," he told her, bringing the fish over to her. Holding her breath, she bit into the fish. Forcing down the urge to gag, she conjured up memories of the last time she had eaten fish, while being held prisoner in the RiverClan camp after she had visited her friend Willowshine to figure out what was wrong with RiverClan. If Willowshine can do this every day, I can do it now, she told herself. Willowshine was one of the strongest, smartest cats she knew. If the beautiful tabby she-cat were here, she would certainly tell her to stop whining and just eat the fish.

"See? That wasn't so bad," meowed the strange cat. She looked up to see him studying her. "I left you water too," he told her. Looking down, she saw a bundle of wet moss next to her which she hadn't noticed before. Gratefully, Hollyleaf sucked at the tendrils of moss, letting the cool water sooth her dry throat.

"Thank you," she meowed, facing the strange tom. She took a moment to get a good look at him. He was scrawny, like a WindClan cat, but his scent certainly wasn't that of any Clan she recognized. His fur was ginger-and-white patched, and his face looked young- if he was old enough to be a warrior, he was barely.

The tom was watching her, studying her face as if trying to remember her. "You're Hollypaw, right?" he asked.

She blinked. How does he know my name? she wondered. Did he hear Breezepelt say it? But no, then he would know I'm Hollyleaf now. Have I met this cat before?

"Hollyleaf, actually. How… how do you know me? We haven't met before, have we?"

The cat shook his head. "No, no. We haven't. You've never seen me before. But I've seen you. When you were here rescuing those kits."

Hollyleaf stared at him. She remembered the desperate search for the lost WindClan cats like it was yesterday. ThunderClan had been accused of stealing WindClan kits, and the two clans had been on the verge of war. Only Lionblaze's knowledge of the tunnels had led Hollyleaf and her littermates to find the missing kits, though unfortunately Heathertail had led Breezepelt down there as well. The five of them, all apprentices at the time, had had to work together to get the kits out, and when the underground river had overflowed and the tunnels had flooded, they had barely escaped with their lives. The feeling of being carried away by the rushing water, barely able to keep her head above water, still resurfaced in her dreams at least once every moon. It was the most helpless and terrified she had ever felt… until she had been caught beneath the crushing weight of rock as the tunnel collapsed, just the other day.

Now, this cat was telling her he had been there that day. How was that possible? And how had she not seen him? "Who are you?" she mewed.

The tom looked down at his feet, scuffing his paws against the stone cave floor as if putting off answering. "I'm Fallen Leaves," he meowed finally, without making eye contact.

He clearly didn't want to talk about himself, but Hollyleaf pressed on. "You don't smell like any Clan cat I've ever met," she meowed. "You're not from the Clans, right? Where do you live?"

Another long pause ensued, as if Fallen Leaves was hoping she would forget about her question or pass out again if he waited long enough.

"Once I lived in the hills above the lake, but this is my home now," Fallen Leaves mewed eventually. "That's all I'm going to say about myself," he added resolutely. Oh, I'm going to learn who he really is eventually. Unfortunately for him, I never give up until I have answers, Hollyleag thought. Even when the truth is far more painful than ignorance. But he was clearly done talking for now. She would work on gaining his trust, and eventually he would be willing to talk more about himself.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Fallen Leaves speaking again. "I noticed your leg looks to be badly hurt," he meowed. "Is there… is there anything I can bring you to help? I don't really know about medicine or anything but I know there are herbs that help with healing, right?"

Oh yes, my leg. Straining, she tried to put weight on her injured leg, hoping it somehow would've gotten better while she slept. Instead, she found she couldn't put weight on it at all. Had it gotten even worse? What if she could never walk on it again?

Hollyleaf pushed the fears from her mind. All she could do now was make sure it was treated as best as she could. She reached deep into her mind, trying to remember her brief medicine cat training. She had had trouble memorizing the herbs when she was a medicine cat apprentice, but even after her time as Leafpool's apprentice had ended, she had continued studying herbs privately, asking Leafpool or Jayfeather pr even Willowshine about their uses whenever she had the chance, just in case she ever needed to know them. She figured if she was going to be leader some day, it would be best to know basic medicine in case her medicine cat was ever incapacitated. Not that I'll ever be leader now, she realized with a pang.

She thought of the herbs Leafpool had used when her friend Cinderheart had injured her leg falling from the Sky Oak. "Definitely comfrey, if you can find it," she instructed Fallen Leaves. "It has large, long leaves, and a tangy smell. It usually grows in the woods, but if we're underneath the woods, you might be able to find some down here. Also look for rush. It's made up of tall, dark green stalks. It usually grows near water, so there could be some near the underground river? I don't know how close that is exactly."

Fallen Leaves nodded, his eyes wide as if he was frantically trying to commit her instructions to memory. She paused for a moment, to give him time to process what she had already told him.

"Anything else?" he meowed, looking like he hoped there wasn't.

"That's all for herbs," she told him. There were other herbs Leafpool had given Cinderheart for her leg, but comfrey and rush would be the most important, and they were the easiest to recognize. "Get some cobwebs too, if you can find them. They're useful for binding wounds." Fallen Leaves nodded, relieved this was something he knew how to find. "And…" she paused. When Cinderheart had been injured, she had spent weeks in Leafpool's den. Leafpool hadn't wanted her walking on her leg until it was fully healed. But Hollyleaf had learned that sometimes, when cats had a broken leg but needed to still move, the leg could be bound to a stick with cobwebs. The stick would provide stability, to allow the cat to put some weight on the injured limb even with the bone broken. Hollyleaf had never bound a limb like that before, but how hard could it be? And, if she could do it, she could find prey or an exit without lying here dependent on a stranger for weeks. "And get a stick," she finished.

"A… stick?" Fallen Leaves asked.

"Yup. One about the size of a leg," she told him. Do I need anything else? she asked herself. Leafpool always gave cats poppy seeds when they were badly injured, to help them sleep through the pain. But Hollyleaf was alone down here, and she wasn't going to eat anything that would leave her unprepared to defend herself if she had to. "That's all I need," she said finally.

"Okay!" meowed Fallen Leaves. "I'll go get those then, and I'll be back soon. I might have seen that comfrey around before, and I'll look for the…" he paused, trying to remember the name. "The rush, too!" he exclaimed, looking proud of himself. He turned, bounding off a few steps before Hollyleaf had a chance to speak.

"Fallen Leaves!" she called after him. He turned expectantly. "Thank you," she mewed. "I really don't know what I would do without you here." It pained her to admit, since she hated depending on any cat, but she was thanking StarClan for sending him. If he brought the herbs, she would be able to heal her leg. She knew it.

Fallen Leaves nodded, and ran off.

Hollyleaf didn't remember falling asleep, but eventually she awoke to the feeling of something wet and soft being placed against her face. Blinking sleep away, she saw Fallen Leaves standing over her, letting go of another clump of wet moss.

"How long has it been?" she asked blearily. It could have been one hour or a full day- she had no sense of time down here.

"Only a few hours," Fallen Leaves told her. "I was able to find everything you asked for though!" Sitting up, Hollyleaf saw him sitting proudly next to comfrey, rush, cobwebs, and a long stick. Relief washed over her. He had actually found the herbs in a place as dark as the tunnels.

"Thank you, Fallen Leaves," she meowed gratefully. Dragging herself over by her forepaws, she grabbed the comfrey, chewing it into a poultice, and wrapped the poultice and rush around her broken leg. Then, she carefully broke the stick with her teeth so it was no longer than her leg. Finally, she began slowly, carefully binding the stick to her broken leg with the cobwebs. Touching the leg at all made her clench her teeth with pain, but after a few moments, her leg was securely bound. Now for the moment of truth: Hollyleaf pushed herself to her paws, and gently put weight on her broken leg. Her splint held. Thank StarClan.

She certainly couldn't put her full weight on the broken leg, and she certainly couldn't run, but she would be able to get around like this.

She was going to be okay.

Looking over, she realized Fallen Leaves was staring at her, an expression of awe on his face. "That was amazing!" he exclaimed. "How did you learn how to do that?"

"I was a medicine cat apprentice before I started training as a warrior," she explained. Upon seeing the look of confusion on his face, she clarified, "in the Clans, medicine cats treat others' wounds. Warriors catch prey and defend the Clan."

"Oh, interesting," meowed Fallen Leaves. "Where I'm from, everyone learns a bit of medicine, so we can all help each other."

This was her chance to learn more about her mysterious new friend. "How long ago did you live there?" she asked. "I've lived by the lake my whole life, and I've never heard of any cats besides the Clans living here. But you don't look like you're that old."

Fallen Leaves flinched back at her words, as if she had struck him. "I told you I don't want to talk about myself," he hissed, looking more scared than angry. "Why can't you just listen?"

So apparently he wasn't ready to talk yet. "I'm sorry, I was just-"

"Just being nosy," he snapped. He was quivering. Whatever had happened in his past, he really didn't want to talk about it. "I need to be alone," he told her, turning away. "I'll check up on you later."

Anger swirled in her. "I don't need you checking up on me," she snapped. "I can handle myself perfectly fine from now on."

Fallen Leaves said nothing, just dashed off down the dark tunnel. She watched him go, frustrated she couldn't run after him. Maybe she shouldn't have pushed him. She couldn't really afford to lose the friendship of the only cat down here who wasn't Breezepelt. But their conversation had been going so well, it had seemed an innocent enough question to ask. Which raised the bigger question: What was Fallen Leaves hiding?

Four days or so passed without Hollyleaf seeing Fallen Leaves again, though she knew he was nearby, because fresh fish, moss, and cobwebs kept appearing next to her while she slept. Initially, the gifts had annoyed her. She didn't like him assuming she couldn't handle herself. But ultimately, though she could walk a bit now, she had caught no prey yet, and despite the fact that she could have sworn she was hearing the underground river for the past two days, she had yet to find that either.

She wanted to talk to Fallen Leaves again, to apologize for their earlier argument. Though she still believed she hadn't done anything wrong in wanting to get to know him, she was willing to swallow her pride and apologize if it meant having someone else to talk to.

She hadn't seen Breezepelt again either, though she was pretty sure he was still in the tunnels, since she continued to come across his scent. After several days alone, she would even welcome his company, as prickly as it was.

But both cats stayed out of sight, and she trudged on alone.

At the start of her fifth day alone, Hollyleaf was walking slowly through the tunnels, going over the map of the tunnels she had constructed in her mind. Some of the tunnels were so dark it was impossible to tell if she was missing branches, or just repeating the same tunnels over and over again, but some had just enough light to identify landmarks, and she wanted as much of a picture of her surroundings as was possible in a place like this. She thought of her walk as one painstakingly slow border patrol. The tunnels were her territory, and she needed to learn every inch of it.

Just then, she realized she could hear the distinct sound of rushing water. She had thought she heard water for days, but it was definitely getting louder. Picking up the pace, she limped towards the sound.

A few moments later, the tunnel widened, and she turned a corner to see a massive underground body of water. Listening closer, she realized the roaring water she had been hearing was a stream that fed into the massive, barely-moving river before her. This must be where Fallen Leaves has been catching the fish, she realized. This was perfect. It was a water source, and if she could teach herself how to fish, it would be a prey source too. If all of RiverClan can learn to fish, how hard can it be?

Staring at the river, she realized it could mean something else too. When Cinderheart had been injured, Jayfeather had secretly brought her down to the lake at night to swim with her. Though Cinderheart couldn't walk on her leg, she was able to swim with it, and the swimming had eventually strengthened it until she could walk again. When Cinderheart had told her about Jayfeather's idea, Hollyleaf had thought her brother must have bees for brains. But it had worked. Could the same method work for Hollyleaf too?

Sitting down, Hollyleaf carefully untied her leg, leaving the cobwebs and stick by the edge of the water. Gritting her teeth, she dragged her injured leg behind her until she sat at the edge of the river. She took a few more steps forward, until all four of her paws were in the water. One more step, and the water reached her belly, and Hollyleaf froze.

Having this much of her body submerged brought back all of the memories of the last time she had been in the tunnels. She had nearly drowned. Could she really bring herself to do this? To swim in the very river that had nearly killed her all those moons ago?

If I was able to get over it to help Cinderheart, you have no excuses, snapped a voice in her head that she recognized as Jayfeather's. Stop complaining and get in there.

The Jayfeather in her mind was right. It was just water- it wasn't going to hurt her. Taking a deep breath, Hollyleaf took another step forward, and plunged into the dark, cold water.