Hollyleaf's Story/Chapter 3

==Chapter description==
:Hollyleaf is walking across the cave and heads back to Fallen Leaves, showing him that her leg is fine. During the time she had spent down there, Hollyleaf felt as if many seasons had passed since she started exercising. However, Fallen Leaves assured her that the moon wasn't full yet. He had told her to exercise in the cavern and the tom would leave her for most of the day and all night. As he comes up to her, he is dubious about her leg not hurting anymore. Hollyleaf protests that she's feeling better and thinks back to the Gathering when she revealed the secret of her heritage. Pushing the memories away, the black cat wonders if they could explore the caves. Fallen Leaves thinks she wants to get out, but she tells him she wants to see around his home. The ginger-and-white tom is surprised by this, and states that most cats want to get out of here as soon as possible. Seeing the pain in his eyes, Hollyleaf says he has been a good friend to her and she wouldn't leave him now as she had nowhere else to go.
:The two cats head down a tunnel in darkness, with Hollyleaf learning if she moved too much, she would crash into the walls. She instead uses her whiskers to guide herself in the shadows. Fallen Leaves tells Hollyleaf the tunnel they're using opens out and she could see the loner's image ahead of her. Recognizing the sound of the underground river, Hollyleaf trots into the cave. They recognize the ledge where Lionblaze and the the she-cat used to play. He points out the mouth of the tunnel she and her brothers went down to search for the lost kits and informs her the tunnels aren't as scary once she got to know them. Fallen Leaves catches a fish for her and they eat it before going down the darkest tunnel. After a while, the orange-and-white tom asks if she wants to go faster and Hollyleaf replies yes. During the race, the two friends burst into a cave filled with sunlight. She inquires where they were in relation to outside and Fallen Leaves tells her they were underneath the other side of the hills. He then states they should head back to her nest and they race back into the tunnel.
:The tom pulls ahead and Hollyleaf trips over a stone in her path. She sets off again, but she loses him in the dark. She thinks she could hear his pawsteps, which turn out to be her own steps. The black cat starts to panic and hits her head on rock and thinks the walls are shrinking around her. Fallen Leaves comes back for her and asks if she were okay. The she-cat bursts out saying she didn't know where he was and how she thought she had lost him. Fallen Leaves promises her she would never be lost and takes her back to the nest. He guides the limping black cat through the cave and after she lies down in her nest, he gives her poppy seeds. After he turns to leave, Hollyleaf calls out to him and asks if he wanted to stay with her for tonight. He hesitates, then concedes and stays with her. She starts to fall asleep from the effects of the medicine. As the former ThunderClan cat lies against him, she feels no warmth from him and wonders if being underground had chilled him to the bone.
==Characters==
===Major===
===Mentioned===
==Notes and references==
fr:L'Histoire de Feuille de Houx/Chapitre 3
Category:Chapter subpages
Category:Hollyleaf's Story
Category:Novellas