Journey to find Sol

The Journey to Find Sol takes place in Sunrise, when ThunderClan sends a patrol to find Sol, after Ashfur to known to be murdered and Sol is reported to be in the area a few days before Ashfur’s death.

Premise
To ThunderClan, Ashfur was mysteriously killed by a cat, and searching for an answer, they make theories but when Ashfoot reveals she saw near where Ashfur was found dead, Firestar sends a patrol to get Sol and calm his rioting Clan.

Overview
The patrol first heads to the sun-drown-place as Sol previously met Midnight there to find neither of them are there. The patrol moves on to the Twolegplace, where they meet a group of loners led by Jingo. The cats have sheltered Sol once, who manipulated them to do he wants too, and they drove him out moons ago but one of them has heard Sol is with Purdy, a friend of the Clan cats so the patrol find Purdy’s home where they find Sol and Purdy. They invite Purdy to come to ThunderClan and become an elder, and take the cats back to the Clan.

Before the Journey

 * Lionblaze and Hollyleaf were young warriors and Jayfeather was just made a full medicine cat when a fire hits ThunderClan territory, and the three cats find themselves trapped. The only way to safety is by fallen branch, but Ashfur blocks the way. The three’s mother, Squirrelflight, was there, and to save their lives, she revealed she is not their mother. Stunned, Ashfur moves away, but Lionblaze, Hollyleaf and Jayfeather heard every word and confront Squirrelflight when they reach safety. But Squirrelflight doesn’t tell.


 * Ashfur threatens he will reveal everything at a Gathering, and at the night of the Gathering, Ashfur is found dead at the lake, on WindClan territory. Shocked, ThunderClan looks to WindClan as the killer, but when WindClan deputy, Ashfoot reveals she saw Sol around the place Ashfur was killed, the Clan immediately shifts their suspicions to Sol, so Firestar sends a patrol to retrieve Sol and bring him back to the lake.

The Journey Begins

 * Brambleclaw stops at the Horseplace and tells Hazeltail there is someone he wants her to meet. Smoky and Floss come out and Brambleclaw explains that Smoky is her father. Hazeltail takes a liking to her father and tells him all about Clan life. Hollyleaf sees them two and wonders if her father still loves her like that, whoever her father is. Smoky seems a little sad that Daisy, Hazeltail’s mother isn’t living with him anymore, and becomes scared for Hazeltail when he hears of Sol. Hazeltail promises that they will come back after finding Sol, and the cats depart the Horseplace.


 * Hazeltail, Lionblaze and Hollyleaf become scared of the horses and run onto the Thunderpath, nearly are killed by the monster. After Brambleclaw scolds at them, they cross the Thunderpath safely. When they find a way through, Hazeltail scratches her nose on a bramble, and Hollyleaf tells her to stick her nose in the snow for the pain, and it works. They find another Thunderpath and Brambleclaw gives the signal to get across, but Hazeltail panics and stops in the middle of the Thunderpath with a monster about to crush her.


 * Brambleclaw rescues Hazeltail just in time, and though both were nearly killed, all cats make it across safely. The next day, the cats reach the sun-drown-place. They reach Midnight’s den, but she is not there and her scent is stale. They turn around to go back, but Birchfall is knocked into the water by a wave, and Brambleclaw and Brackenfur go after the young warrior. Lionblaze and Hazeltail find a bush and break off a branch and use it to safely fish their Clanmates from the water. Brambleclaw nearly drowns, but all cats make it out safely.

In the Twolegplace

 * The patrol goes by the Twolegplace and encounters a cat that flees despite their friendly approach. The cat states that what he said, and look what happened. The cats think that the ‘he’ means Sol. Hollyleaf soon tries to drink from a frozen puddle, but her tongue becomes stuck. Brambleclaw helps to free her by telling her to breath hard on the ice. Hollyleaf does this and frees herself. Brambleclaw remarks that just like her mother, Squirrelflight always getting stuck in things, causing Hollyleaf to think that she is not her mother.


 * Five dogs then show up and chase the cats. Two more soon join them. The dogs manage to corner them and are going for the kill when Lionblaze turns to fight them and charges at the dogs. Suddenly a silver boulder (trash can) topples over and a silver disc (the lid) rolls into the pack of dogs, distracting them from their prey. A she-cat is then seen tipping over another boulder and helping the Clan cats escape.


 * The she-cat introduces herself as Jingo and takes the cats to an abandoned Twoleg den. She introduces Hussar, Speckle and her four kits, Fritz (the cat they met before), Jet, Merry and Chirp. Jingo and the others tell about Sol and the dogs, and Birchfall tells their side of the story. Chirp tells they heard that Sol is back, and living with a cat named Purdy, a cat whom the Clans know. Speckle is the only one that likes Sol, although her kits aren’t Sol’s, she wishes they are. With help from Jingo, the cats depart from the Twoleg nest and go search for Sol. They eventually end up at Purdy’s den, and Sol is there.

Bringing Sol Back

 * It is revealed Sol has indeed been living there with Purdy. Sol figures why the cats are there, stating that they wouldn’t come all that way to thank them. A cat has died. The cats stay at the Twoleg nest for one night. They leave with Sol the next day and Brambleclaw insists Purdy joins ThunderClan as an elder, and Purdy agrees. Brackenfur saves Purdy life from a monster, but Purdy thinks the monster would never have hit him. The cats soon reach the Horseplace, and Smoky and Floss are nowhere in sight, so they continue to ThunderClan.

After the Journey

 * The whole Clan is tense over Sol, and Graystripe advises Firestar to do the trial immediately. When accused of murder, Sol tells Firestar to think about what he is saying, the truth will be known when it is time; neither confessing nor denying. Firestar tries in vain, but gets nothing out of Sol. ThunderClan holds Sol for a while, but Lionblaze lets Sol free and eventually, Sol returns again. In the end, Hollyleaf, Lionblaze and Jayfeather find out who their real parents are, and the true killer is eventually revealed to ThunderClan.

Sol
After Ashfoot tells ThunderClan that she saw Sol around the area where Ashfur was killed, Firestar sends out a patrol to find Sol. Sol is found with Purdy, and the group stays for the night before bringing Sol back. The group also finds that Sol has left a mark on the cats, with the group led by Jingo. Sol doesn’t confess or deny, and is eventually rescued by Lionblaze.

Brambleclaw
With previous experience with journeying since he made the journey to Midnight and the journey to the Lake Territories, Brambleclaw was an obvious choice for leader of the patrol. He showed Hazeltail her father and bravely jumped into the water at the sun-drown-place to save his Clanmate. He and the others eventually find Sol with Purdy, a friend who helped Brambleclaw with the journey to Midnight. Brambleclaw lead the cats back and resumed his role as deputy.

Hollyleaf
After learning that Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw aren’t her real parents, she was just as distraught as her brothers, and after hearing Ashfur would tell the Clans at a Gathering, she killed Sol, but kept this a secret, even going with the cats to find Sol and accuse him of murder. She used her training from long ago as a medicine cat apprentice to help the patrol, and brought Sol back to the Clan.

Lionblaze
Lionblaze knew that Sol wasn’t the killer, but went anyway with the patrol. He grew over-confident with his powers from the prophecy, but was saved from revealing this secret. Lionblaze released Sol after the patrol brought him back as an agreement to teach about using their powers, but in the end, turned their backs on Sol for good.

Hazeltail
Hazeltail got to meet her father at the Horseplace and took a liking to him. She was nervous during the experience, but sympathetic the loner group when she heard of what Sol did to them. She returned back to ThunderClan with a great new story to tell.

Brackenfur
An older warrior, Brackenfur took part in the Great Journey, and had experience journeying before. Brackenfur bravely jumped into the water at sun-drown-place to save Birchfall, and when he and the patrol were taking back Sol and Purdy to ThunderClan, Brackenfur saves Purdy from a monster but just as he does, Purdy says the monster wouldn’t have hit him.

Birchfall
Birchfall Great Journey, when he was only a kit, and with lack of experience, he falls into the water at sun-drown-place, prompting Brambleclaw and Brackenfur to jump in after him. Birchfall also took in the role of telling the loner group led by Jingo about their side of the story on Sol, prompting their cooperation and help with finding Sol.

Map
Links to external sites:
 * Official Map (hosted on warriorcats.com)
 * Official Map (hosted on mywarriorcats.com)

Trivia

 * The patrol takes 4 days to find Sol and the journey overall takes 6 days.