Chapter Seven

Hollyleaf ran through the undergrowth, not even noticing the brambles that scratched through her greenleaf-light pelt. All she cared about was getting close enough to Bluestar and Yellowfang to destroy them. They had killed Jayfeather. None of her brothers deserved the same fate that she had faced.

She remembered the great – and not so great - times she'd had with them. They'd gone fox hunting as kits and fought off an invading ShadowClan party as apprentices.

ShadowClan – the name increased Hollyleaf's fury. Bluestar and Yellowfang were destroying the forest, one Clan at a time. She had lost count of how many ShadowClan cats had come to StarClan because of the flood. Hollyleaf was sure she had at least seen Flamepaw and Snowbird, a former ShadowClan queen. The Clans didn't deserve to suffer because of the prophecy, and Hollyleaf had always believed in doing what was right for the Clans.

* * *

Dovepaw wandered around aimlessly. She hadn't seen any cat she knew since before she came to StarClan territory. At the moment, the gray apprentice was so desperate that she'd be happy even to recognize Bluestar and Yellowfang.

Her heart sank as she realized that there was no way for her to contact Lionblaze and Ivypaw. They had only talked about getting to StarClan, not about how to get back. They had decided that they'd work it out when they got there. But they had never talked about what to do if one of them went without the others. Dovepaw shook her head, trying to chase away her doubts. She had to focus on finding Bluestar and Yellowfang, just as they had agreed on in the plan.

She was pretty sure that StarClan had no specific camp, or if they did, it was very well hidden. Random scent trails crossed and recrossed each other as cats wandered around, stalking prey, or just wandering around, like she was. The sun was high in the sky – or rather, she thought it was high in the sky, based on the shadows, because the stars were still out – by the time she came across a scent she recognized. Hollyleaf!

Hollyleaf had come this way not too long ago. She was in a hurry, because the grass was flattened where she had run over it. Anger darkened the scent. What could make Hollyleaf so angry? Dovepaw wondered. Was the black she-cat out to destroy Bluestar and Yellowfang as well? The gray apprentice put her nose to the ground and followed Hollyleaf's scent.

* * *

"Admit it, Lionblaze, we're lost," Ivypaw meowed.

"We're not lost," Lionblaze hissed, "I just don't know where we are."

Ivypaw scoffed. "Same thing. Can you pick up any scents you recognize?"

"No," Lionblaze admitted. "I don't know too many cats who came to Star-" He broke off mid word.

"What is it?" Ivypaw asked eagerly.

"I found a scent! I thought I'd never see her again…" The golden tom trailed off, lost in thought.

"Who?" the tabby apprentice demanded. "Tell me!"

"Hollyleaf!" Lionblaze meowed. "My sister!"

"You have a sister?" Ivypaw asked, confused. She hadn't known Lionblaze had any kin aside from Jayfeather.

"I had a sister," Lionblaze corrected sadly.

Ivypaw could not contain her curiosity. "What happened to her?"

Lionblaze sighed, and sat down in the long grass. "Hollyleaf believed in the warrior code," he began. "I know we all do, but she practically worshipped it. You know that Leafpool and Crowfeather are our parents, right?" He paused, waiting for Ivypaw to respond. The apprentice nodded.

"Hollyleaf couldn't stand how Leafpool had broken the warrior code, not just by falling in love with Crowfeather-"

"He's from WindClan, right?" Ivypaw interrupted.

Lionblaze sighed. "Yes, he is. Now, are you going to let me finish, or are you going to keep interrupting me?"

Ivypaw wrapped her tail around her paws. "Sorry, Lionblaze," she mewed.

"Hollyleaf couldn't stand how Leafpool had broken the warrior code," the golden tom repeated, "not just by falling in love with Crowfeather, but by falling in love, period. It's against the warrior code for medicine cats to do that.

"The code was everything she believed in. Hollyleaf thought that we need the code to live. If we don't have the warrior code, then we are nothing more than loners and rogues. And our very birth had shattered it." Lionblaze paused, taking a deep breath.

Ivypaw waited for him to resume his story. This part was obviously painful for the golden tom. She ran her tail along his flank. Lionblaze looked at her gratefully, and then continued.

"Hollyleaf killed herself," he meowed quietly. "She ran in to one of the old tunnels, and it collapsed on her."

"Oh." Ivypaw couldn't think of anything else to say. She wanted to comfort him, but plain old sorry didn't seem to be enough. She hoped that she would never have to grieve over the loss of her kin.

Lionblaze shook off the grim atmosphere. "That doesn't matter," he meowed. "She's in StarClan now. She'll have a better life here than she ever did in ThunderClan. And now we're going to see her again!" He leapt up.

"Let's find her," meowed Ivypaw eagerly.

* * *

Dovepaw had followed Hollyleaf's trail for only a few foxlengths before another scent joined the black she-cat's. Another two scents, to be exact. Ivypaw and Lionblaze! The gray apprentice raced along the trail, not even stopping to smell Hollyleaf's scent. She knew her sister's scent more than any cat's. As the tabby apprentice and the golden tom came into view up ahead, Dovepaw picked up her pace.

"Ivypaw!" she yowled. Ivypaw spun around, and then raced back towards Dovepaw.

"Dovepaw!" she meowed happily. She rubbed her muzzle up against her sister's.

Lionblaze interrupted them from farther up the trail. "Hollyleaf's about to be facing Bluestar and Yellowfang without us!" he called. "Hurry up before she does something mousebrained!"

The two apprentices raced to catch up with him. "Sorry, Lionblaze," Ivypaw meowed. She felt guilty. She had been reunited with her sister, but Lionblaze hadn't with his.

Dovepaw's neck fur bristled in surprise. "I know this place!" she meowed. "This path leads to the clearing where I saw Bluestar and Yellowfang." Angry yowls came from the trees ahead. "That's them!" she gasped.

The apprentices could only hear Lionblaze's paws thrumming the ground as he ran up ahead of them. Dovepaw and Ivypaw dashed after him. They skidded to a halt and almost ran into him where he had stopped just inside of the clearing.

"Come out, now," Yellowfang meowed in a soothing, yet malicious, tone. "I know you're there." The two apprentices stepped nervously into the clearing.

Hollyleaf and Bluestar were there too. The former ThunderClan leader had her claws at Hollyleaf's throat. Dovepaw made to run up and rescue her, but Bluestar called, "Come any closer and Hollyleaf dies!" The fur on Dovepaw's hackles rose in disbelief. Would Bluestar really murder to get what she wanted?

"There's nothing you can do!" Yellowfang cackled. "We'll just destroy the two of you" – she gestured at Lionblaze and Dovepaw – "and the other one so she can't bear witness. The Power of Three will be over!"

"That's not true!" came a new voice. A gray tabby tom launched himself into the clearing, pushing Bluestar off of Hollyleaf. He pinned her down, yowling to Lionblaze and the apprentices, "Get Yellowfang!"

Dovepaw recognized Jayfeather. Lionblaze and Ivypaw were already racing after the grizzled, gray she-cat, but she hesitated. Bluestar was trained as a warrior, and was very strong. When he lived, Jayfeather had been a medicine cat, and knew nothing of fighting. She launched herself at the former ThunderClan leader.

Bluestar writhed and twisted in every way possible, trying to throw Jayfeather and Dovepaw off of her. The weight of the two cats was too much for her to push off on her own. The blue-gray she-cat opened her mouth to call to Yellowfang, but Dovepaw planted her paw on top of it. Bluestar bit down hard on the gray apprentice's paw.

Dovepaw reared back in pain. She let out a screech. She thought that she was destined to limp for the rest of her life. But as she watched her blood trickling from her cut, the current thinned. She turned her head to look at the underside of her paw, and saw not even a scar to show where Bluestar's teeth had been. Apparently StarClan healed the wounds of any cat in their hunting grounds.

Beneath her, Bluestar had gone limp in defeat. Ivypaw and Lionblaze had Yellowfang pinned down likewise.

"You will never touch us, or any of our Clanmates, again," Dovepaw spat in Bluestar's face. "Understood?"

The former leader nodded.

"The Power of Three will not destroy the forest," meowed Jayfeather, "but will save the forest from these flea-bitten hags." Dovepaw leapt off of Bluestar and let out a yowl of triumph.

Hollyleaf padded over to her. "Well done, Dovepaw," she meowed. "You fought brilliantly. You too, brother," she added, glancing lovingly at Jayfeather. She touched her muzzle to his. "We will walk together, forever, in StarClan." Their tails twined together.

Lionblaze and Ivypaw walked over to them. "How are we going to get back?" the golden-colored tom asked.

"There is a portal that StarClan cats use to get into your world," Hollyleaf meowed, "but we emerge in spirit form. We are not truly there. I don't know how it would work for live cats, and there would be no way for you to get back."

Jayfeather looked interested. "Bring us to the portal," he mewed. "I have an idea."

* * *

"That's ridiculous, Jayfeather!" Ivypaw meowed when he told them his idea. The five cats were standing in front of a pond roughly the size of the Moonpool. The surface of the water was transparent, but instead of looking down at the bottom of the pool, they saw ThunderClan territory below them.

"You guys are sisters," Jayfeather mewed, indicating Ivypaw and Dovepaw. "Two parts of a whole. Who says you both can't be part of the Power together?"

Dovepaw was nodding. "It makes sense," she mewed. "My power gets us to StarClan, and so you could get us back!"

"You are all mousebrained," Ivypaw muttered. She meowed more loudly, "Okay, since it's the only way we can think of to get back, we'll try it."

The tabby apprentice grimaced, thinking of what would come next. "I obviously can't carry you," she meowed, looking at Lionblaze and Dovepaw, "so you'll have to hold on to my tail. Gently, please," she added as Lionblaze made to bite down on the end of it. "It's the only tail I've got."

Dovepaw gripped the end of Lionblaze's tail gently in her teeth. "I think it will put less strain on you if you don't have us both hanging on to you," she meowed through the golden fur.

Ivypaw smiled at her sister.

The three cats stood tersely at the edge of the pool. All were opposed to getting their fur wet.

Hollyleaf laughed. "You won't get wet, I promise."

Ivypaw braced herself. "Okay, here goes nothing," she meowed. And with that, she leapt into the pool.

But they didn't land in the pool. Ivypaw had squeezed her eyes shut for the journey, and when she opened them, they were in ThunderClan territory, just outside of the dirtplace tunnel.

"We're home!" Dovepaw cheered.

Yes, Jayfeather thought, high above them in the stars. The Three have come home.

* * *

A/N: And that's the end of it! I hope all you great reviewers enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please let me know what you think of the ending! Who knows, maybe someday I'll write a sequel.