Hollyleaf's Story

This is kind of my version of what happened to Hollyleaf, Lionblaze and Jayfeather's sister, after she vanished into the tunnels at the end of Warriors: Power of Three: Sunrise, and how she kind of found a new place. This is only the first few chapters. No copyright intended. Allegiances at the end. ERIN HUNTER OWNS THE WARRIORS SERIES. I DO NOT.

PROLOUGE

Hollyleaf dashed into the tunnels, ignoring the cries of her brothers behind her. I believed Squirrelflight was our mother! I believed her, and now look where it got me! Leafpool and Squirrelflight are the worst cats that ever lived! They broke the warrior code! Hollyleaf ran madly through the tunnels, ignoring the rockfall behind her. Let them think I’m dead! I don’t care! And I don’t care what happens to the three, because our birth destroyed the warrior code!

“Hollyleaf,” a gentle voice spoke in the black she-cat’s ear. Hollyleaf stopped running and swung her head around in a wide arc, searching for the owner of the voice. “Hollyleaf,” it said again. “Do not look for me; I am Honeyleaf, the ancient SkyClan deputy.”

“SkyClan?” Hollyleaf said. “Yes,” Honeyleaf replied. “The fifth clan. SkyClan was lost long before you were born, before Mousefur was born. Cats usually only know about it after they come to StarClan, but you, Firestar, Sandstorm, Graystripe, and Cinderpelt know about it.”

“Why—why do I know about it?” Hollyleaf whispered.

“It is your destiny,” answered the voice. “I must go now, to Leafstar, but I will always walk in your dreams, little one. But remember: Follow the river that leads over the moors.”

“Honeyleaf!” Hollyleaf wailed. “What’s that supposed to mean? And who’s Leafstar?” There was no answer. Hollyleaf felt her jaws stretch wide in a yawn. She would think about strange prophecies tomorrow; now, it was time sleep. She would’ve liked some soft moss, like her nest in the ThunderClan warriors’ den, but in the underground cave, there was nothing, except a few scratchy leaves. The black she-cat felt as if she could sleep for a full moon. Now, there were no other cats to lie to, just herself and the hard earth. Hollyleaf unsheathed her claws and scraped herself a hole in the dirt.

It would have to do for tonight. She was too tired to go any farther. Settling down in her scrape, she saw a toad, not many fox-lengths away. In a few, swift bounds, she had the lumpy thing pierced on her claw. She hadn’t had any fresh-kill since before the Gathering that night, and now, it was nearing sunrise. Besides, if ShadowClan could eat frogs, she could, too. At least it would keep her alive until she was out of this place. She ate the frog in a few, hungry bites. It tasted like crow-food, but it was enough to satisfy the hunger in her belly. As she settled down in her nest, Hollyleaf hoped she could get out of this place before she went completely mad. 

CHAPTER 1

         Hollyleaf licked one forepaw. She had been living in the tunnels for a moon now, but she knew she had to leave soon, and find SkyClan before Honeyleaf prophesized that she would have to get there before the next day. She lifted her head and sniffed the air. Mostly cat-scent, coming from herself, but she could smell traces of fresh air, not coming off of her own pelt. Walking towards it, she came to a river and stopped dead. She knew the way out from here! She and her brothers had been sent into the tunnels when they were apprentices to rescue three WindClan kits. She waded through the river, the water cooling her belly fur. Once she was across, her belly fluttered with excitement. She could see light! Racing towards it, she squeezed through the exit. Scenting the air, she recognized Breezepelt’s and Heathertail’s scents, along with Rippletail and her father, Crowfeather.

         Snorting, she sniffed again, and found the river that led upwards, the border marker between WindClan and ThunderClan. Keeping to the ThunderClan side, she continued upwards. Steering herself around patches of heather and gorse, she remembered how pleased she’d been the night after her warrior ceremony. She followed the river for a moon, and after two days without sleeping, and finally decided to rest when she reached the mouth of a gorge. Here, soft sand provided a nest. It now had been two moons since she’d left ThunderClan. Certain nights, Honeyleaf had walked in her dreams and offered her advice. Other nights were spent dreaming of foxes and badgers coming to get her. That night, Honeyleaf mewed, “Go to SkyClan soon. Hurry, or SkyClan will die! Otherwise, SkyClan will be lost!”

 “Honeyleaf!” Hollyleaf had called after the ancient deputy. “Honeyleaf, come back!” The SkyClan cat didn’t answer, only walked away and faded into the shadows. The next morning, Hollyleaf walked towards the mouth of the gorge. She walked till sunhigh. Then, she stopped dead. Cats moved around a clearing, stocking a fresh-kill pile and ordering patrols. This must be it! This must be SkyClan! Padding forward, she asked, “Who’s the leader of this Clan? I need to talk to her. Tell her my name is Hollyleaf of ThunderClan.”

A broad-shouldered cat stepped forward. “You know Firestar?” he meowed.

“Yes,” Hollyleaf hissed. “I know Firestar and Sandstorm, and their lying, fox-hearted kits, Squirrelflight and Leafpool!”

“Who are you?” a beautiful tabby she-cat had stepped forward. “And why do you call Firestar and Sandstorm’s kits lying and fox-hearted?”

“Leafpool is the ThunderClan medicine cat. But she gave birth to Lionblaze, Jayfeather, and me. Then, she lied and gave us to Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw to raise.” The tabby dipped her head.

“Hollyleaf, you say? I am Leafstar, leader of SkyClan. This is Sharpclaw, my deputy,” she rested her tail-tip on the broad-shouldered tom’s flank. “And Echosong, my medicine cat,” she swiveled her ears to point at a silver she-cat. “These are my queens, Clovertail and Fallowfern. And these are my warriors, Cherrytail, Sparrowpelt, Bouncefire, Tinycloud, Rockshade, Waspwhisker, Nettlesplash, Rabbitleap, Creekfeather, Plumwillow, Patchfoot, Petalnose, Shrewtooth, Sagepelt, Mintwhisker, and Eggfur. These are the elders, Lichenfur, and Tanglepelt. StarClan promised us the best leaf of holly. I’m guessing you, Hollyleaf are our leaf of holly. We’ll accept you into our clan, if you wish.”

Hollyleaf hesitated. Her paws scuffed the dry dirt. “I—I’m not sure if I want to join your clan yet. Can I stay here, though?”

“Of course,” Leafstar purred. “StarClan did promise us the best leaf of holly.”

         Hollyleaf narrowed her green eyes. Is she only interested in the prophecy mentioning a leaf of holly? If StarClan had not given her a prophecy, would she still have accepted me into her clan so easily? She noticed other cats with narrowed eyes and furious gazes, Sharpclaw among them.

“Why accept her into the clan so easily?” A cream tom had slid out of the crowd. “Some of us weren’t accepted until after we had proved ourselves worthy, or after we had been watched. Hollyleaf just strolls right into our camp and you introduce all of us, and ask her if she wants to join the clan.”

“Eggfur is right,” meowed Sharpclaw. “You had me watch Eggfur before you let him join the clan.” Hollyleaf thought she saw a flicker of doubt in the SkyClan leader’s amber eyes, but before she could be sure of it, it vanished.

“Sharpclaw, Eggfur,” she meowed confidently. “Meet me in my den after this meeting.”

“Yes, Leafstar,” Sharpclaw and Eggfur muttered. “Hollyleaf, Petalnose and Fallowfern will help you find a nest in the warriors’ den.”

“Thank you, Leafstar, for all your kindness,” Hollyleaf meowed. “Even if I don’t join SkyClan, I will always remember you.”

“Thank you, Hollyleaf.” Suddenly, there was a shower of stones from the cliff.

“The daylight warriors are here!” yowled Nettlesplash.  Hollyleaf turned in confusion to Clovertail. “The daylight warriors?”

“Warriors who live with their Twoleg owners at night and are warriors in the day,” Clovertail explained. Hollyleaf’s jaw dropped. “B—But that goes against the warrior code!”

“Does it?” Clovertail looked surprised.

“Firestar was a kittypet and wanted to be a warrior, but Bluestar, the leader of ThunderClan, forced him to choose one. She said he couldn’t live with a paw in both worlds.” Hollyleaf’s chest burst with pride. She’d heard the story from Mousefur and Longtail when she was a kit. But my kit hood was filled with lies.

         “Come on, Hollyleaf!” mewed Petalnose. “I’ll find you a nest. Then you can come on patrol with me and Waspwhisker.”

“Sure, Petalnose,” Hollyleaf replied. “How’s it like being just SkyClan, all by yourselves?”

“I don’t really know,” replied Petalnose cautiously. “I’ve never lived like you do, in four clans.”

“What do you do for Gatherings?” Hollyleaf inquired.

“We go up onto the Skyrock and tell StarClan stuff, and discuss things in the clan.” Petalnose said vaguely. “The whole clan goes.”

“In the forest, Firestar selects a patrol of cats, and we go to the Island and meet the three other clans,” Hollyleaf said. “Then we discuss stuff with the rest of the clans. In the old forest, we used to have Fourtrees, but when the Twolegs took over the forest, they destroyed it. I’ve never gotten to see it. Squirrelflight and Ferncloud told me.”

“The old forest?” Petalnose tipped her head to one side.

“The place where the clans used to live,” Hollyleaf explained. “Like I said, Twolegs took over the forest, and now we live by the lake.”

“And all the four clans worked together?” Petalnose asked in awe.

“Yep,” replied Hollyleaf. By now, they had reached the base of the cliff. Petalnose jumped onto a ledge jutting out of the cliff-face. Hollyleaf gasped.

“Where are the dens?” she yowled.

“Above you,” Fallowfern replied. “The ancient SkyClan’s special ability was to jump from tree to tree. That’s why they were called SkyClan.”

“Sandstorm can leap really far,” Hollyleaf boasted.

“SkyClan cats can jump even farther.” Fallowfern jumped up onto the second ledge.

“Whoa,” Hollyleaf breathed. “Even Sandstorm and Lionblaze can’t jump that far.” And Lionblaze is part of the prophecy.

“Try it,” Petalnose called. Hollyleaf took a deep breath, bunched her muscles, and jumped. She squeezed her eyes shut, preparing herself to fall. Instead, Hollyleaf was surprised to find hard rock under her paws. Fallowfern stood next to her. “You must have SkyClan blood,” she meowed. In a few, swift movements, Petalnose was beside her. Fallowfern led Hollyleaf to a cave. Inside were scrapes, lots of them, all filled with moss. Petalnose led her to one close to the ledge.

“This one is yours,” she meowed. The black she-cat stooped to sniff the moss. Another cat-scent lingered in it, moons old.

“Is this some cat’s nest?” asked Hollyleaf.

“Nope,” replied Petalnose. “Though it used to be Rainfur’s, my mate’s.”

“What happened to him?” Hollyleaf asked kindly.

“He was killed in a battle with these rats that wanted to kill us,” Fallowfern replied, while Petalnose curled up in a nest far back in the den. Hollyleaf turned to Fallowfern.

“I—I’m sorry!” she mewed. “I didn’t mean to make Petalnose so upset!”

“It’s not your fault,” Fallowfern meowed softly. “She does this any time any cat asks her what happened to Rainfur.”

“Oh… thanks.”

“Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather under the rockpile for a clan meeting!” Leafstar’s yowl echoed through the sandy cliffs. Hollyleaf jumped out of the warriors’ den, praying she would land softly. She felt the jarring impact of soil under her paws, and stumbled. Fallowfern and Petalnose leaped down gracefully beside her.

“What’s the rockpile?” Hollyleaf mewed to Fallowfern.

“That,” Fallowfern nodded her head towards the big pile of rocks under a cliff. Leafstar was climbing up the back.

“Shinepaw, Beechpaw, Honeypaw, step forward.” The apprentices padded to the foot of the rockpile. Leafstar jumped down and began, “You have trained for many moons. Now, we accept you as full members of SkyClan. Do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect this clan with your life?”

“I do,” Honeypaw said.

“I do,” Shinepaw replied, a quaver in her voice.

“I-I do.” That was Beechpaw. The three she-cat’s tails were twitching with excitement. Hollyleaf remembered her own warrior ceremony. She, Lionblaze, and Cinderheart had been so happy! “Then I name you Honeystorm, Shineheart, and Beechfur. We now accept you as full warriors of SkyClan.” She rested her muzzle on their heads and they licked her shoulder in reply.

“Honeystorm! Shineheart! Beechfur!” Billystorm was the first to take up the call. Leafstar followed, her eyes shining with pride for her kits. Sharpclaw roughly joined in.
"And I have one more warrior to make," Leafstar yowled. The clan fell silent. "Hollyleaf, step forward." Hollyleaf's fur prickled. She was really believed to be the chosen cat. 
"Hollyleaf, you ran away from a distant clan, and found SkyClan. You know the warrior code and we accept you as a full warrior of SkyClan."
"Hollyleaf! Hollyleaf!" Honeystorm, Shineheart and Beechfur took up the call, and the rest of the clan slowly joined in.

That night, Hollyleaf settled down contentedly in her new nest in the SkyClan warriors' den. Leafstar had officially made her a warrior of SkyClan. But was she really the promised leaf of holly? Which prophecy was she part of?


Chapter 2


Hollyleaf woke the next morning feeling contented. She curled her claws into the soft moss Fallowfern had helped her fetch from the Shining Cave last night.  She couldn't feel the throng of cats pressing around her; only damp morning air whooshing through the cave.  Scrambling to her paws she saw Bouncefire and Tinycloud, tired out from last night's moonhigh patrol.  She stalked silently out of the cave and scrambled clumsily down the rocky cliff. Sharpclaw stood on the Rockpile, ordering the patrols. 
"Hollyleaf, Shrewtooth and Honeystorm will hunt. Cherrytail and Rockshade, patrol the Twolegplace border. Shineheart and Beechfur, you patrol the gorge border." 
Hollyleaf trotted up to Shrewtooth. "Hi," she mewed. "You're the senior warrior, so I guess you'll be leading this patrol."
"Of course," Shrewtooth mewed. Beechfur, standing nearby, purred. 

ALLEGIANCES

SKYCLAN

LEADER Leafstar

DEPUTY Sharpclaw

MEDICINE CAT Echosong

APPRENTICE FRECKLEWISH

WARRIORS  

Sparrowpelt

APPRENTICE FISHPAW

Bouncefire

APPRENTICE THORNPAW

Tinycloud

APPRENTICE SHINEPAW

Rockshade

Waspwhisker

Nettlesplash

APPRENTICE BEECHPAW

Rabbitleap

Creekfeather

Plumwillow

Patchfoot

APPRENTICE HONEYPAW

Petalnose

Shrewtooth

Sagepelt

Mintwhisker

Eggfur

DAYLIGHT WARRIORS

Ebonyclaw

Billystorm

Harveymoon

APPRENTICES

Fishpaw

Thornpaw

Shinepaw

Beechpaw

Honeypaw

QUEENS

Clovertail (mother to Patchfoot’s kits: Silverkit and Longkit)

Fallowfern (expecting Waspwhisker’s kits)

Cherrytail (mother to Bouncefire’s kits: Barkkit and Spottedkit)

ELDERS

Lichenfur

Tanglepelt

THUNDERCLAN

LEADER Firestar

DEPUTY Brambleclaw

MEDICINE CAT Leafpool

APPRENTICE JAYFEATHER

WARRIORS

Graystripe

Dustpelt

Sandstorm

Lionblaze

Cinderheart

Poppyfrost

Sorreltail

Birchfall

Brackenfur

Spiderleg

Icecloud

Foxleap

QUEENS

Ferncloud (mother to Dustpelt’s kits)

Daisy (mother to Spiderleg’s kits)

Millie (mother to Graystripe’s kits)

Whitewing (expecting Birchfall’s kits)

ELDERS

Mousefur

Longtail

Purdy