Hollystar's Legacy

Part 1

Hollyleaf padded through the territory just beyond ThunderClan's borders, her thick black pelt shrouded by the cover of night. She gazed up one more time at the moon, her face bathed in silver light, before blinking and disappearing with a flick of her tail into the wide dark mouth of a tunnel.

"I'm home," she called out gently, her mew echoing off of the walls of the cave. Her companion, Fallen Leaves, stood from their shared nest with a stretch. His eyes lit up when he spotted Hollyleaf; he walked over and smiled softly.

"Welcome back," he mewed. "How was your latest voyage to ThunderClan?"

Truthfully? It was bittersweet. She'd seen her brothers, Jayfeather and Lionblaze, sharing a squirrel as the sun set. Suddenly a wave of nostalgia hit her; that used to be her. Before she ran away. Before she made so many mistakes that she had to run away, as if it was her only choice. After all, in Hollyleaf's mind, it was the only choice she could have made.

"It was fine," she replied evenly.

-- -- --

Days later, Hollyleaf was on the surface again. She still had to eat. More and more often these days, she had found herself forgetting her need to eat, or sleep, or do any of her normal cat behaviors. Her ghostly companion oftentimes had to remind her that it was time to go hunting again. So here she was - hunting. Again.

Some days, Hollyleaf wished she was a ghost too.

The ability to simply fade away... she could finally disappear completely. And yet, something itched at her mind like a prickle left in her nest: did she really want to disappear?

If Hollyleaf had the choice, she would rejoin ThunderClan again in a heartbeat.

-- -- --

"Get us out of here!" a young gray-and-white cat whispered.

"I followed the voices to get here!" her all-gray companion replied fearfully. "I... I'm not sure of the way out."

Hollyleaf sighed. Cats these days... She knew Dovewing and Ivypool were ThunderClan cats, and she had quickly figured out that they were here in the tunnels to spy on WindClan cats. Now they were about to be discovered by the WindClan patrol... unless she stepped in.

"They're coming to look for us!" Ivypool's mew was growing frantic. "Dovewing, we have to go now!"

There wasn't time to lead these cats out from the safety of the shadows the way that she had done before. Hollyleaf would have to show herself to them, to let them know that she was a cat who could be trusted. She took a deep breath.

All the moons of hiding, trying to forget she had ever belonged to a Clan, seemed to vanish in a single heartbeat. The blood of a warrior flowed through her veins. Nothing was more important than loyalty to her Clan.

She ducked into the side tunnel, speaking quickly yet softly. "Come with me," she ordered into the darkness. "Quick!"

"No way!" Ivypool hissed. "You could be with them."

"I'm not," Hollyleaf mewed, trying to keep her voice calm.

"Prove it," Dovewing challenged.

"I shouldn't have to," Hollyleaf snapped. Didn't these cats recognize ThunderClan scent when it was in front of them? "For StarClan's sake, let's go."

In the faintest gleam of starlight filtering from the river cave, Hollyleaf saw Ivypool's eyes widen as she exchanged a glance with her sister. "StarClan?" Ivypool echoed. "Then you—"

"Do you want to get out of here or not?" Hollyleaf interrupted.

"Yes, we do," Ivypool snapped back. "But how do we know you won't lead us farther in?" Hollyleaf let out a hiss of frustration. Couldn't these questions have waited? And yet perhaps it wasn't surprising that these young cats had no idea who she was. She was going to be a stranger to many of her Clanmates after being away for so long.

"Because I'm a ThunderClan cat like you," she meowed, raising her voice over the pounding of her heart. "My name is Hollyleaf."