Forest of Secrets/Chapter 2

==Chapter description==
:Fireheart can hear dogs barking and remembers that Barley told him that the Twolegs let the dogs off their chains at night. He hopes that he and Graystripe can find Ravenpaw before they are spotted. Graystripe asks Fireheart if he can smell anything and Fireheart scents the air, picking up on a faint trace of Ravenpaw's scent. They follow the scent to a gap at the bottom of a barn door and Fireheart quietly calls out Ravenpaw's name. When there is no reply he calls out again, slightly louder. Ravenpaw recognizes Fireheart's voice, and replies to him from inside. Fireheart enters into the barn through the gap. He notes that Ravenpaw looks better then the last time Fireheart had seen him and thinks about how bad he and Graystripe must look in comparison. Ravenpaw comes over and touches noses with him, and tells him how great it is to see him. Graystripe makes his way into the barn, and mews to Ravenpaw that it's good to see him too. Ravenpaw asks if they got WindClan back to their camp safely and Fireheart begins to reply, telling him they had, before a new cat cuts him off.
:The new cat asks what is going on and Fireheart, perceiving them as a threat, spins around. He realizes that it's Barley and calms down, greeting him warmly. He tells Barley that they needed to speak to Ravenpaw and Barley says that it must be important to bring them across the moor. Fireheart responds that it is and tells Ravenpaw that there's no time to waste. Ravenpaw, confused, tells them that they can talk as much as they want and Barley says he'll leave them alone and if they wish they can hunt, then he leaves. Fireheart and Graystripe are excited at the prospect of hunting and Ravenpaw tells them to eat first and talk to him afterwards.
:As soon as they are done hunting, they settle down in the hay next to Ravenpaw and he begins to tell his story. Halfway through the tale, Ravenpaw is heard saying that he saw Tigerclaw kill Redtail. Ravenpaw insists wholeheartedly that he was there and saw Tigerclaw. The three cats are in the hayloft now, since hunting had not taken long. To the hungry ThunderClan cats, the barn had seemed overflowing with mice. Fireheart want to sleep, but shakes off his tiredness and tells Ravenpaw to tell him everything he knows. Ravenpaw's eyes darken, and his confidence seems to ebb. Ravenpaw begins by telling that he was wounded in the shoulder, and Redtail had told him to hide until it was safe to get away. He continues by saying he was about to make a run for it, when Redtail attacked a RiverClan cat. Ravenpaw says he thinks it was Stonefur. To him, it looked like Redtail had Stonefur pinned and was about to sink his claws in for some serious injury.
:Graystripe asks why he didn't, and Ravenpaw replies that Oakheart came out of nowhere and dragged Redtail off Stonefur, and Stonefur ran away. Redtail challenged Oakheart, asking if RiverClan warriors couldn't fight their own battles. It was brave of Redtail to do this since Oakheart was twice his size. To this, Oakheart replied that no ThunderClan cat would ever harm that warrior. Graystripe questions this, but Ravenpaw is positive he had heard him right. Fireheart asks what was so special about Stonefur, and Ravenpaw shrugs and says he doesn't know. Graystripe asks what happens next, and Ravenpaw says that Oakheart bowled over Redtail, and notes that they were under a rocky overhang. Ravenpaw couldn't see it, but he heard snarling. Then, Ravenpaw said he heard a rumbling sound, and the rock collapsed on top of them. Oakheart yowled, and Ravenpaw saw his tail sticking out from under the rocks.
:Ravenpaw recalls that he heard Tigerclaw tell him to go back to camp. He had started back to camp, but then realized he had no idea if Redtail was okay after the rockfall, so he crept back past all the fleeing RiverClan warriors to see Redtail charging out of the dust without a scratch on him. Ravenpaw tells Fireheart that Redtail charged straight into Tigerclaw, who was waiting in the shadows. Tigerclaw grabbed Redtail and pinned him. Redtail struggled, but couldn't break free. Tigerclaw sunk his teeth into Redtail's throat, and it was over.
:Fireheart then realizes that no cat killed Oakheart, and that it was an accident. Graystripe is still wondering if this proves anything, but Fireheart says it does because if the rockfall story can be proven, it proves Tigerclaw was lying about killing Oakheart in revenge for Redtail's death. Graystripe points out that Ravenpaw made it sound like Redtail killed Oakheart, endangering the former deputy's honor. Fireheart realizes that was why Bluestar wouldn't believe them. Fireheart asks if there is anything else he can tell them, and Ravenpaw shakes his head.
:Fireheart and Graystripe leave the barn with Ravenpaw's good wishes. He ponders over all of the information they have learned, as the moon is setting. Fireheart mentions the RiverClan cats would know how Oakheart died, and Graystripe agrees to ask Silverstream about the matter. The ThunderClan cats run into a WindClan patrol consisting of Tornear, Deadfoot, and Runningpaw. Fireheart lies to them, saying they had scented some ShadowClan cats on their territory, as an excuse. Graystripe quickly put in that it was stale and no big deal, so they wouldn't question them further. Deadfall and the other WindClan cats wish them good luck and are on their way.
:The pair head back to camp, with nothing to offer for the fresh-kill pile. Tigerclaw glares at them from the center of camp and asks where they've been, and why it took them so long to get back from the Gathering.
==Characters==
===Major===
===Minor===
===Mentioned===
==Notes and references==
de:Geheimnis des Waldes/Kapitel 2es:El bosque de los secretos/Capítulo 2fr:Les mystères de la forêt/Chapitre 2
Category:Forest of Secrets
Category:Chapter subpages
Category:The Prophecies Begin arc