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"You tore my heart out when you chose Brambleclaw over me. Anything I did to you would never hurt as much. But your kits...if you watch them die, then you'll know the pain I felt."
Below contains in-depth information for chapter twenty-two of Long Shadows. If you are looking for a shorter summary of the entire book, please check the main article.
Hollyleaf is on a hunting patrol with Ashfur, and senses an oncoming storm. She has a feeling there are secrets hidden within the Clans, and recalls the Gathering two nights prior. Blackstar said nothing about Sol, and Brambleclaw temporarily took Firestar's place without explaining why the Clanleader could not attend. She sees Lionblaze escorting Rosekit and Honeyfern out of the abandoned Twoleg nest, and he announces that only Millie and Briarkit have yet to recover. Firestar has decided to stay with the sickcats until they are all well. Hollyleaf comments about how lucky it was that Jayfeather found catmint, and Lionblaze's evasiveness confirms her suspicions that her brothers are hiding something from her. Ashfur calls Hollyleaf before she can press Lionblaze further and scolds her for dawdling.
As the patrol returns to camp, it begins to rain heavily, and lightning strikes nearby. Hollyleaf is frozen in fear, watching her Clanmates dash about, until a tree at the edge of camp catches fire and a flaming branch falls beside her. She jumps away and runs into Thornclaw, who yowls a warning to the Clan. Firestar rushes into camp and tells everyone to evacuate and take shelter at the abandoned Twoleg nest. The kits, apprentices, and elders are all guided to the camp entrance while Hollyleaf searches for her brothers and Squirrelflight. She finds Leafpool and Jayfeather in the medicine cat den trying to salvage herbs. Leafpool rushes out of camp, and Hollyleaf has Jayfeather bite onto her tail so she can guide him. They meet up with Lionblaze, and it seems that everyone else has already escaped. Lightning strikes the camp entrance, trapping the siblings inside.
Squirrelflight calls out and guides them to a rocky wall at the side of the hollow, where crumbled stone and bits of foliage provide footholds to climb up the cliff. She climbs first, guiding Jayfeather behind her. Hollyleaf goes next, followed by Lionblaze, and they all make it to the top, though the climb is difficult in the dark and pouring rain. Jayfeather is especially exhausted, collapsing on the ground and snarling as Hollyleaf and Lionblaze try to help him to his paws. Squirrelflight warns them the rock at the edge of the cliff is crumbling and begins to walk away through the bushes, but another lightning strike catches the brush on fire and cuts the siblings off. Hollyleaf begins to panic, but Lionblaze remains calm, and she is thankful for his support. He calls out for Squirrelflight's help, and she tries to drag a heavy branch into the fire for them to walk across. She is exhausted by her injury, and Lionblaze seems ready to try to leap across the flames to help her, but Hollyleaf stops him.
Ashfur emerges through the smoke, and Squirrelflight asks for his help. He shoves the branch through the wall of fire, providing a bridge to safety, but Hollyleaf is unsettled by the look in his eyes. He stands at one end of the bridge, and Squirrelflight tells him to move, but he just states that Brambleclaw isn't here to protect his kits now. Lionblaze questions what Ashfur has done to his father, but Ashfur tells them he has no quarrel with Brambleclaw. Squirrelflight confronts him, demanding he let go of his grudge against Brambleclaw, but Ashfur says furiously that it's Squirrelflight he resents and not her mate. Hollyleaf takes a frightened step backwards and nearly topples off the cliff, but Lionblaze grabs her and pulls her back up. Squirrelflight is surprised Ashfur still holds a grudge against her, and Ashfur begins to rant at her as he blocks her from reaching the branch.
Ashfur reveals he lead Firestar into Hawkfrost's fox trap in an attempt to hurt Squirrelflight by killing her father. Hollyleaf and Lionblaze are shocked, and Lionblaze prepares to leap over the fire and fight Ashfur, but Hollyleaf dissuades him. Ashfur threatens Squirrelflight's kits, and she stands up to him with her bravest posture, though she is exhausted and still recovering from her wound. She tells him he can exact his revenge on her however he wants, but to leave her kits out of it. Ashfur insists the only way for her to feel the pain her rejection caused him would be to watch her kits die. Squirrelflight then tells him she can kill them, but he won't hurt her that way, for they are not her kits.
