It had been just over a quarter moon since Hollyleaf had started swimming, and her leg was worlds better. She was able to walk on it, though it did hurt when she tried to run, and she didn't dare use it too much for fear of re-breaking it. She had been afraid when she first entered the water, but soon swimming began to feel like second nature. She had always loved learning new skills, and despite the initial discomfort, swimming was no exception.

Even more exciting was fishing. It had taken her an entire day before she had managed to catch her first fish. Despite her skills as a hunter in the forest, fishing initially seemed like something entirely different. There were no bushes to hide in, no moving creature to stalk, and nothing to pounce on. But like hunting, fishing required patience, waiting for the right moment to strike, and then one quick attack to kill the prey, and after a full day of trying and failing, she was able to catch her first fish. It had tasted as delicious as the first squirrel she had ever caught by herself.

I can't wait to show Willowshine what I've learned, she had thought eagerly, before the realization had hit that she would never see Willowshine, or any of her other friends, again. She couldn't return to the Clans even if she knew how. By this point, Leafpool would have told the rest of the Clan how she had killed Ashfur. Maybe Leafpool had been willing to keep her secret once, but after what she had done, there was no way Leafpool still felt any loyalty to her. And once ThunderClan knew she had killed Ashfur, they would never let her return. No, she was much safer in the tunnels. This was a better place for her, anyway. Someone like her didn't deserve to be a part of a Clan.

She did wonder sometimes about the prophecy, however. Her brothers both clearly had powers from StarClan, but she had never figured out what hers was. How was she supposed to fulfill the prophecy now?

She tried not to dwell too much on such thoughts. If StarClan needed her for the prophecy, she reasoned, they would appear to her in a dream and tell her. Until that time, she would remain in the tunnels where she belonged.

One day, after her first quarter moon of swimming and fishing, she looked up from her fresh catch and smelled a strange but familiar scent.

"Fallen Leaves?" she called out after a moment of hesitation. She heard pawsteps moving towards her, though she couldn't see him yet. "Is that you? I'm sorry for asking you questions before- I would love to be your friend, if you want. I won't ask you anything else about your past."

A shape emerged from the darkness, and she was greeted by Fallen Leaves' smiling face.

"Hey, Hollyleaf," he greeted her. "Sorry I was gone for so long. I was going to keep bringing you fish, but… well, you seemed to be doing fine without me."

"I taught myself to fish!" she declared proudly. "It was tricky at first, but I feel like I've really got it now."

"That's amazing," he purred. "Fishing is hard. It took me moons to really master it when I first got here." Hollyleaf opened her mouth to ask how long ago that was, but thought better of it.

"I'm glad you're back," she told him. "I may be able to feed myself now, but I have been lonely. I miss living with a Clan," she admitted.

"Well, I can't be here all the time, but I would be happy to be your friend when I am here. I've never met another cat who's stayed in the tunnels as long as you before, and now there are two of you!" She must have reacted visually to his last statement, because he added, "Oh, you did know about the other cat, right?"

"Yes," she meowed. "Breezepelt, I'm assuming."

Fallen Leaves nodded. "Yeah, I recognized him as Breezepaw but I guess if you have a new name he must have one too. He was down here with you when you saved those kits, right? Is he your brother? You look so alike."

"Oh, no he's not," she meowed quickly. Then she thought for a moment longer. "Well, I guess he is. My half-brother. It's complicated." Fallen Leaves blinked at her. Hollyleaf sighed. "Lionblaze and Jayfeather, or Lionpaw and Jaypaw when you saw them last, are my littermates. But we've recently learned Breezepelt is our half-brother. Same father, different mothers. I guess I've never really thought we look alike before." We both look like Crowfeather, she realized. Our father.

"Ah. I see," meowed Fallen Leaves. "That all sounds very complicated."

"It is," sighed Hollyleaf. You have no idea, she thought. "Anyway, the fifth cat was Heathertail, and she was a… friend of my brother's. Now I think she might be Breezepelt's mate."

"Breezepelt has a mate?" exclaimed Fallen Leaves, looking shocked. "Does he have kits?"

"No, it seemed pretty new," replied Hollyleaf. "I'm not even really sure if they are mates, but it looked like they were."

"Wow. That's surprising. Well, if he's your kin, I don't want to say anything bad about him… I mean, I'm sure he's under a lot of stress right now, maybe he's usually nicer…" stammered Fallen Leaves.

"We're not close," she told him. "Talk as badly about him as you want."

"Oh, okay good," meowed Fallen Leaves. "Well in that case, I think he's quite rude. He's been wandering around down here for days now. He seems hopelessly lost, and I don't think he's caught any prey yet. I think he found a dead fox tod and he's just been eating it for days, but he really shouldn't be doing that. It's not safe to eat carrion. Anyway, I tried to offer him a fish, but he snarled at me and told me to get away from him. He thought I wanted to steal his dead fox, which of course I didn't. I tried to explain, but he lunged to attack me and I had no choice but to run. I did leave the fish though, so hopefully he ate it."

Oh, Breezepelt, thought Hollyleaf. She couldn't help but feel bad for him. It seemed like he was starving, and scared. But that didn't mean he should chase off the one cat who was trying to help him. Breezepelt didn't seem like he was very good at being kind to other cats.

"How long ago was that?" she asked. "Is he… still here?"

"That was maybe four days ago? I haven't tried to speak to him since, but he's still alive. I was going to offer to show him the way out, since he doesn't seem to be able to find it himself, but it doesn't seem like he's going to listen to me," meowed Fallen Leaves.

"The way out?" Hollyleaf replied, surprised. If he knows the way out, why is he living down here? she wondered, but didn't ask.

"Yes," he meowed. "I can show you too. And then maybe you can show him, if he'll actually listen to you."

"No!" she exclaimed. Fallen Leaves cocked his head quizzically. "I'm sorry. No, I don't want to leave. I can never, ever go back to the surface." As much as I miss the green trees, soft grass, warm sun, blue skies… But no. I killed Ashfur. I can never go back, she reminded herself.

Fallen Leave shrugged. "Okay then. You don't have to leave. But you should maybe find Breezepelt. He hasn't figured out how to fish yet, and he's not going to listen to me if I tell him where to find them. I'm not sure he's going to survive much longer if no one helps him."

Hollyleaf sighed. "I'm not sure he'll listen to me either. He's kind of angry with me," she admitted. "I did something that upset him, and I'm not sure he'll ever forgive me."

"Well, maybe he'll forgive you if you bring him fish," meowed Fallen Leaves. "Or at least he'll have something to eat." She knew he was right. However much she may dislike Breezepelt, she didn't want him to starve to death. She dreaded talking to him again, though. He had been so angry the last time they had spoken, and she knew he would still be furious, even if she came bringing him food. She didn't know if he would even accept the prey she brought- if she was as angry with someone as he was with her, she wouldn't accept gifts from them unless she was on the brink of death. But if he was really doing as badly as Fallen Leaves had said, he might have no choice but to let her help him. And then, maybe he'll let Fallen Leaves show him the way out and I'll be rid of him forever, she thought. That was certainly an outcome that would benefit everyone.

"Okay," she meowed. "Let's go find Breezepelt."

"I can't go with you," Fallen Leaves told her.

"You can't?" she asked. "Why?"

"Like I said, I can't be with you all the time," he meowed. "I have… other places I need to be. But you've got this! Go talk to him. I'm sure you can make him listen." Hollyleaf was bursting with questions, namely as to where else Fallen Leaves could possibly need to be, but she held her tongue. If she asked, he would just disappear again and then she would have lost her only friend. So she just nodded.

"Okay," she told him. "Well, I… hope I'll see you again soon then."

Fallen Leaves smiled. "You will. I promise." With that, he turned and walked back the way he came.

"Okay," Hollyleaf muttered to herself, picking up the two fish she had caught that morning. "Time to go feed my half-brother."