“We saw Ravenpaw.”
Firestar’s eyes glowed. “How is he?”
“He’s well, but concerned for you all.” Graystripe stopped for breath before going on. “He said he’d seen you pass and that you were heading toward the setting sun. So we carried on over Highstones—” He broke off, his tail quivering.
Leafpool darted forward. “Are you okay?”
“Just tired.”
Leopardstar shouldered her way through the ThunderClan cats. A loud purr was rumbling in her throat. “It’s good to see you again, Graystripe.”
As she spoke the warriors from every Clan raised their voices.
“Welcome back, Graystripe!”
“How did he find us?”
“StarClan must have been watching over him!”
Cats from all four Clans surged around Graystripe until he was almost lost in a forest of pelts, brown, white, ginger, and tabby. Purrs blended, rumbling like thunder, louder than the sound of the wind in the branches.
Hollypaw watched in disbelief. She knew there was a truce at the Gathering, but this was not how it was supposed to be.
There were meant to be four Clans, yet the warriors were acting like they belonged to the same one. She wriggled through the crush of pelts to where Lionpaw was watching with round eyes.
“It’s not natural,” she whispered in his ear. “Graystripe is ThunderClan. Why are the other Clans making such a fuss over him?”
“I don’t know,” Lionpaw admitted. “I thought that being a warrior meant protecting your Clan. Shouldn’t the other Clans be worried that ThunderClan has an extra warrior now?”
Hazelpaw nosed in beside them. “They sound like they’re in one of Squirrelflight’s stories about how the Clans came together to make the Great Journey.”
“The Great Journey’s over,” Hollypaw pointed out.
But Hazelpaw wasn’t listening. She was gazing at Graystripe. “How did he know we were on the island?”
“Do you think StarClan guided him?” Lionpaw wondered.
“How did you know we were here?” called a sleek gray RiverClan she-cat.
Graystripe lifted his muzzle toward her. “Mistyfoot, it’s good to see you again. We met a rogue who told us there were cats living by this lake,” he explained. “When we reached the top of the ridge, the full moon was shining on the water and I could see shapes moving on the island.”
“After that, we just followed the freshest scents,” Millie explained. “They led us down to the shore and over the fallen tree.”
Hollypaw heard a stifled hiss of disgust. Blackstar was staring at Millie with open malice. The gray she-cat glanced at him, then lifted her chin and returned his stare, and, even though her tail was trembling, she held the ShadowClan
leader’s gaze until he looked away. Hollypaw was impressed.
Graystripe saw what was happening and bristled, the muscles flexing on his broad shoulders.
“Let’s not forget the truce!” Leopardstar warned.
“The truce is for
“The
A murmur rippled through the WindClan cats and spread through ShadowClan.
“Is ThunderClan going to allow another kittypet to join its ranks?” muttered a disbelieving voice.
“I have trained Millie as a warrior!” Graystripe hissed. “A kittypet would never have survived such a long journey.” His voice cracked into a cough, and Hollypaw saw that the gray warrior was trembling from his ears to the tip of his tail.
Firestar must have seen it too. He padded over to Graystripe and pressed against him. “Let us take you back to camp.”
Graystripe glanced at Millie. “Do you think you can travel a little farther tonight?”
“I’ll keep going as long as you need me to,” she assured him.
“Very well,” Firestar meowed. He looked at the other Clan leaders. “Was there any other news to be shared at the Gathering?”
“Not from RiverClan,” Leopardstar answered.
“WindClan is satisfied,” Onestar told him.
Blackstar shook his head.
“Then let us return,” Firestar called to ThunderClan, “and show Graystripe and Millie their new home.”
“Does this mean ThunderClan has two deputies now?”
Breezepaw called boldly.
Hollypaw pricked her ears and, as she did so, she noticed Ashfur lean forward, whiskers twitching.
Sandstorm stepped up to Firestar’s side. “Graystripe and Millie are tired,” she reminded him quietly. “We should get them home as soon as possible.”
“Yes.” Firestar flicked his tail toward Brambleclaw. “Lead the way,” he ordered.
Brambleclaw instantly headed away through the wood toward the fallen tree.
Sandstorm wove around Millie. “Stay close to me,” she advised. “We’ll have you in a warm, dry den before the moon is much farther across the sky.”
Millie nodded and padded, limping slightly, alongside the pale ginger she-cat. Hazelpaw hurried to join them, clearly excited to be helping guide the stranger back to camp.
Hollypaw fell in beside her brother and they trailed after the others. She was acutely aware of the other Clans watching them leave. One WindClan apprentice dipped her head to Lionpaw as they passed.
“Do you know her?” Hollypaw asked, surprised.
“That’s Heatherpaw,” Lionpaw replied. “I met her tonight.”
Hollypaw looked back over her shoulder at the WindClan apprentice. Heatherpaw was whispering in her companion’s ear, her eyes fixed firmly on Graystripe as he disappeared into the trees.
Then Hollypaw heard a voice above the murmuring of the lake.
“Surely Firestar will restore Graystripe to deputy!”
Hollypaw glared at the RiverClan warrior who had fur the color of stone.
Another voice whispered, “The vigil to Graystripe was false!”
Rage flared in Hollypaw, but not enough to sweep away the foreboding that pricked her pelt. Had Brambleclaw been made deputy
The tree-bridge loomed ahead, and she scrambled up through the dead branches to pick her way along the slippery trunk. Lionpaw waited at the other end. His eyes sparkled with excitement, and as she landed he mewed, “I hope all the Gatherings are as exciting as that one! Imagine Graystripe finding us!”
Hollypaw hurried after him, irritated. “Aren’t you worried?”
“What about?”
“About Graystripe coming back, of course!” Hollypaw flicked her tail. “How can StarClan approve of Brambleclaw being deputy when Graystripe is still alive?”
“StarClan didn’t tell us he was still alive,” Lionpaw reminded her. “If it meant so much to them, they should have sent a sign or something.”
Mousepaw slowed and fell into step beside them. “I think Brambleclaw is a great deputy, and Firestar can’t ignore that,” he mewed.
“Exactly,” Lionpaw agreed.
“But what about the warrior code?” Hollypaw protested.
“Does the code say anything about warriors coming back from the dead?” Lionpaw demanded.
Hollypaw shook her head. No cat had mentioned the warrior code at the Gathering. And yet she could not shake the feeling that some rule had been broken by appointing a new deputy when the old one wasn’t dead.
“Graystripe was deputy first,” she argued, half to herself.
