Hollyleaf’s Story

“Of course I’m telling the truth!” Hollyleaf protested. How dare he suggest she was lying? The truth was the only thing that mattered, ever. But it didn’t feel like that when I spilled my Clan’s secrets at the Gathering.

Hollyleaf pushed the image of Squirrelflight’s horrified face out of her mind. “Can we explore now?” she asked.

Fallen Leaves traced a line in the stone dust with his paw. “You mean, you want me to show you the way out.”

“No!” Hollyleaf exclaimed. “I want you to show me around your home. Where is the cave with the river? How far do the tunnels reach?”

The ginger-and-white cat looked at her in surprise. “You really want to know? Most cats want to get straight out of here.”

There was such pain in his eyes that Hollyleaf felt a rush of sympathy. “I have nowhere else to go,” she mewed softly. “You’ve been a good friend to me, Fallen Leaves. Why would I want to leave you now?”

Fallen Leaves led Hollyleaf down a narrow tunnel on the far side of the cave, into darkness so thick that it seemed to lap at Hollyleaf’s fur like water. The floor felt smooth and cold under her paws, and she was only aware of the walls on either side when the tips of her whiskers brushed against them. At first she reacted too much and lurched into the opposite wall with a crash, but soon she learned to move her head just the tiniest amount when her whiskers tingled.

“The tunnel opens out down here,” Fallen Leaves called back over his shoulder. He must have heard her stumbling from side to side.

Hollyleaf realized she could see her companion’s outline against a paler shade of gray. The sound of water echoed down the tunnel, not exactly splashing but a soft liquid murmur that could only be the underground river. Hollyleaf broke into a trot, squeezing past Fallen Leaves and bursting into the huge cavern. It was filled with dusky light and to Hollyleaf, after being trapped in the dark for so long, it seemed as familiar and welcoming as her den in the hollow. In front of her was the river, tame and quiet between its shallow stone banks, and there was the ledge high up on the wall where Lionblaze had boasted of standing.

“Your brother and the she-cat played up there,” Fallen Leaves remarked, coming to stand alongside her.

He means Lionblaze and Heathertail. Hollyleaf felt a stir of discomfort. Was Fallen Leaves’s impression of the Clans based on cats hiding out of sight and breaking the warrior code? To change the subject, she nodded toward a tunnel on the far side of the river. “That leads to outside, doesn’t it?” It was strange to think that a short walk would take her back into the heart of ThunderClan.

“It used to,” Fallen Leaves meowed, “but it’s blocked by mud now. Do you remember that tunnel over there? That’s where you found the kits.”

Hollyleaf looked at the yawning black mouth, close to the edge of the river. She shivered as she recalled the desperate search for the lost WindClan cats, while far above them Onestar and Firestar prepared to wage war over their disappearance.

“The tunnels aren’t scary once you get used to them,” Fallen Leaves reassured her. “I’ll show you, but first you should eat.” He padded to the edge of the river and paused for a moment, his gaze fixed on the black water sliding past. Suddenly one of his front paws shot out and scooped a trembling silver fish onto the rock. It flapped madly until Fallen Leaves killed it with a single strike. “Here,” he meowed, pushing it toward Hollyleaf.

“Er, don’t you want to eat, too?” Hollyleaf suggested, hanging back from yet another fishy meal. If she’d been born in RiverClan, she would have chosen to starve by now!

Fallen Leaves shook his head. “No, this one’s for you. Eat it up; then we can explore.”

Grudgingly, Hollyleaf gulped down the fish. It didn’t taste too bad this time, and when she drank from the river, the cool, sharp tang of the water was refreshing. Fallen Leaves was waiting for her at the mouth of the darkest tunnel. He beckoned to her with his tail before trotting into the shadows. Hollyleaf followed more slowly, taking one last glance back at the half-lit cave before surrendering to the blackness.

She could hear paw steps ahead, ringing confidently on the stone. “It’ll get lighter soon,” Fallen Leaves called back to her. Hollyleaf broke into a trot, glad to get some warmth into her bones. Suddenly her nose brushed something soft, and she slowed down to avoid crashing into Fallen Leaves’s haunches. She sniffed, trying to get a fix on his scent, but all she could smell was cold, damp stone. Had Fallen Leaves been in the tunnels for so long that he’d taken on the scent of his surroundings?