I stared in amazement. Graystripe? But he's dead! Firestar told me they sat vigil for him! "But he's dead!" Hollypaw hissed. "I know!" I replied, leaping up on a rock beside Crowfeather. "I thougt Graystripe was dead!" I grunted. Crowfeather nodded, narrowing his eyes. "It's pretty suspicious to me. What is ThunderClan hiding?" I blinked. "Hiding? Nothing! I'm being serious! Firestar and lots of others all sat vigil for him!" He looked at me, then gave me a nod. "I should be right to trust you."
A gray tom with a stripe of darker fur along his spine stood in front of the bracken. His pelt clung to bone and wasted muscle, the fur matted and dull. His left ear was torn, and there were whiskers missing from his scratched and filthy muzzle. Beside him shivered a light gray tabby she-cat. Her short fur stuck out in clumps, and her tail hung limp and bedraggled. But Graystripe's dead! Breezepaw wriggled underneath Crowfeather and growled. "He's dead. Why is he here?" Crowfeather cuffed his ear with his paw. "Shut up! I'm trying to see Firestar." Hollypaw run up behind me and squeezed in beside Breezepaw and I. "You're alive!" Firestar burst out from between Onestar and Tornear. He faced Graystripe round-eyed, his fur on end. Graystripe stared back. His companion flattened her ears and lifted her front paw defensively. She was trembling, her eyes bright with fear as she tried to look at all the cats at once.
"Easy now, Millie," Graystripe cautioned. Firestar stretched his muzzle forward, sniffing tentatively, as though he could hardly believe what he saw. "The Twolegs didn't kill you. . . ." He lifted his face to the moon. "Thank StarClan," he whispered. Startled mews erupted among the watching cats.
"Graystripe's come back!"
"He must have escaped from the Twolegs!"
"How did he survive?"
"What about Brambleclaw?"
What about Brambleclaw? Hollypaw's thought sliced through my brain. That was true. Very true What about Brambleclaw? Firestar had held a vigil for Graystripe as he would for any dead Clanmate, and made Brambleclaw his deputy instead. But Graystripe was alive, and now he had come back. . . . The ThunderClan deputy was staring at Graystripe. "I can hardly believe that you found us." His voice was filled with admiration, but his gaze glittered uneasily as he stepped forward and brushed muzzles with the gray warrior. He looks disturbed. I hope he wont hurt Graystripe now that he's come back. Crowfeather, Breezepaw, Hollypaw and I jumped off the rock and sat down. Firestar flicked his tail. "Where did they take you?" Graystripe didn't answer. He was staring at Firestar. "So you didn't wait for me." Pain flashed in Firestar's eyes. "I couldn't."
Graystripe dipped his head. "You could not risk the Clan by keeping them in the forest." Firestar leaned forward. "If it had been only my life at stake"—he glanced around the Clans, then lowered his voice—"I would have waited." A purr of compassion and amusement built up in my throat. If I were Firestar, I'd probably do the same. I felt a rustling behind me, and looked over my shoulder. The other ThunderClan warriors were pushing their way forward to greet their old denmate. "Graystripe!" Dustpelt dashed over. "You're alive!" Berrypaw, Hazelpaw, Ashfur, and Spiderleg crowded excitedly around, sniffing his fur, poking him with their muzzles. Graystripe flinched away. "Give him some space," Leafpool warned. "He's exhausted."
"But he's a legend!" Hazelpaw complained as Leafpool shooed her and the others away with her tail. I laughed. Squirrelflight was staring at Graystripe's companion. "Who are you?"
"This is Millie," Graystripe meowed. "I met her in Twolegplace." Squirrelflight gasped. "A kittypet made the journey with you?"
"I couldn't have managed it alone," Graystripe meowed. Brambleclaw narrowed his eyes. "Did you follow our trail?" I frowned. Stop being so defensive! "No," Graystripe told him. "We found our own way."
