Title: Complexitites

Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors, although I wish that I did so I could just write it my way, but whatever. No time for rants right now. =)

Rated: T, just in case but I doubt it…

Jayfeather stalked forward into the undergrowth. His pelt felt soggy and weighted down by the light rain that had begun falling when he started to collect herbs. He didn't want to do it, but Leafpool had insisted he go.

"StarClan, do you want me to catch a cold? I may be a medicine cat, but Runningnose, if you can hear me, I don't want to become like you." He tilted his head up to look at the sky, but he still couldn't see a thing. No flash of light came to him so he could see the gray colors that were floating in the sky. He could just feel the cool droplets on his face.

"Talking to yourself?" He heard Hollyleafs' inquisitive meow behind him.

"As if you didn't?" He shot back, wishing he could glare at her to show his annoyance. "No, I'm just annoyed by StarClan for making it rain when I have to go collect herb."

Hollyleafs' pelt quivered with frustration. "Since when did I talk to myself?" She questioned him, her tail flicking.

"Whenever you hunted. You talked so loud, it's no wonder the prey ran away." He hissed at her. This wasn't the right time to argue with him. He was trying to smell for catmint.

"You followed me?" Hollyleafs' pelt bristled now. "Just because you have good ears didn't mean you had to listen to what I say."

"As if I couldn't already hear it in your head." Jayfeather muttered under his breath. And this was true; he could hear and "see" all the cats' thoughts. He thought it was weird, but he did have the power of the stars in his paw, so…Or did he? He was so unsure of everything right now. Were they still part of the prophecy even though Hollyleaf had died? Nothing made any sense to him.

As if she could hear his frustration, a hiss of annoyance was the only response he received. Then, she turned around and dashed into the stars. Jayfeather let out a sigh. He missed her so much.

"Stupid sister." He loved her, but how could she just leave them like that? What was the Clan going to do now? Leafpool had left him by himself, Firestar wasn't talking to anyone, and the other cats wouldn't even come to get help because he was half-Clan.

Again, he let out an annoyed sigh and went back to searching for herbs.

As he returned back to camp with a mouthful of herbs, he heard something moving in the trees. Very light paw steps disrupted the usual silence that the forest held. He tried to scent for who it was, but he couldn't detect who it was. Then again, he probably could, but he herbs were filling his nose with many other scents.

He continued padding towards the camp, curious to know who was following him.

He heard a noise to his left, probably 100 yards away. Great, just what I need. Another cat who needs help. He figured it would be Icepaw or Foxpaw, climbing a tree and they'd fallen. "If you can hear me, you're stupid for trying that!" He meowed, echoing through the cathedral of trees that surrounded the area.

No response.

"You stupid furballs, stop…"

He was cut off at what he found. He couldn't see who it was, but he smelled a strong scent of RiverClan. Willowshine.

A soft mew was coming from the direction of the scent. He ran towards it, trying to think why she would be here.

Her Clan's been invaded and she's come to seek refuge with ThunderClan. But why wouldn't she go to one of the neighboring Clans? She could just go right over the border into ShadowClan or WindClan. It wasn't likely that both Clans had attacked, so that theory didn't make sense.

There was a sickness in RiverClan and she needed herbs. But wouldn't Mothwing have come as well? Apprentices hardly ever travel over borders alone. Well, most apprentices. He thought of his littermates.

So what could it be? Badger attack? Two-legs? Food? It made no sense for the stupid she-cat to be in ThunderClan territory.

"Jaypaw?" She meowed towards his direction. "Are you there?"

"Of course I'm here, you stupid mousebrain. It's Jayfeather, remember?" He didn't have time to take care of another cat.

"Well, could you help me?" She hissed, back in traditional form.

"What did you do?" He asked as he stood at a distance.

"I grew wings and I flew into the sky. I hit a bird and then fell and landed here." The dryness was like a claw in his pelt. "I fell out of a tree, dimwit."

"What were you doing in a tree if you can't climb?" He shot back.

"I can climb, I just lost my footing and fell." She lifted up her paw. "It's sprained."

"How would you know?" He hissed as he made his way down to where she was sitting.

"I'm a medicine cat apprentice…with a real name." Her emotions were mixed; pride, annoyance, guilt, fear, and pain.

"Not a very good one from a cat who doesn't believe in StarClan is what I'd say." He meowed under his breath.

"It's not my fault she doesn't believe in them. Besides, my name is very good and creative." He could picture her holding her head up just a little higher at the thought that her name wasn't that great.

Truly, he did like her name. He thought it fit her very appropriately. She did shine somewhat.

"Yes, and foxes are nice and kind creatures." He hissed back.

"Would you mind fixing my paw? It's kind of hurting here." She meowed, giving up. Jayfeather sighed and sniffed it.

"Good job on knocking it out of place." He raised his eyebrows that she couldn't have seen the difference between the two herself. "Hold on."

He pulled on it and heard a yelp from the young she-cat as he popped it back into place. "There you go. Good as new." He felt irritated that she couldn't have figured it out herself.

"Er…thanks." She muttered her thank you under her breath as she stood up. "It feels much better."

"Well, since it wasn't sprained, it was pretty easy to fix." He felt pride swell up in his chest as he talked to her.

She just snickered at his comment as she started to walk up the hill.

"Wait. You have to tell me why you're in my territory." He felt himself bar his teeth, as if just seeing her for the first time.

"You need to tell me why you found me so quickly." He could picture her smiling at him, as she had caught him on a difficult question.

"I… well I heard you." He meowed, trying to make his voice sound confident. He knew she wouldn't believe that he could hear that far away. But then, how did he know where she was and that she was in trouble? This question posed a problem that he couldn't find a solution to.

"You couldn't have! I was so far away, there was no way you could have seen, er, heard me." She shook her head. "No, there has to be something else. You have to explain."

He wanted to, but he didn't even understand it. "I don't know. I just knew you were in trouble and smelled you from over here…"

He felt the disbelief in her gaze burning his pelt. He couldn't answer her question, though.

"Anyway, why were you here in the first place?" He meowed, trying to change the subject.

"I came to…well, I…um, it's kind of complex…I…" He felt the shift in her moods. She felt confused and didn't know the answer to the question posed at her.

"Well…?" He meowed, very curious now.

"I…um, well, I…had a vision." She meowed, curling her tail around her as a security mechanism, Jayfeather guessed. "You know, a type of prophecy."

"Did you tell Mothwing?" He asked, although he figured she wouldn't believe the she-cat even if she had.

"No. I figured she wouldn't care. And I knew Barkface wouldn't be able to understand it. He sees the same, narrow way as the rest of us. But you…" Willowshine came over and sat closer to Jayfeather. His pelt was completely soaked from standing in this same spot for the entire time. "You see different than the others. You have a different perspective." She sniffed the air at the same time. "And, well, frankly, you stink. What have you been doing, rolling in mousedung? Great StarClan, what is wrong with you?" She asked.

"What was the stupid prophecy?" Jayfeather hissed, annoyed that he'd even started this conversation. Willowshine padded up he hill, away from him.

"Should I tell him? Let me think about it…" She felt very excited all of a sudden. "Tell you what, Jayfeather. I'll tell you about the vision…if you'll have a contest with me."

"What, a 'how-dumb-can-you-get' type of contest?" He asked, the sarcasm dripping from his lips. "I'm sure you'll excel at that."

She ignored his comment. "An agility contest. We'll climb trees, run, and swim."

He hissed at the thought of swimming. He despised the idea, especially after the tunnels. It was true he had taught Cinderheart how to swim, but he didn't like it. "Swim?"

"What, are you scared you won't 'excel' at that?" She meowed tauntingly.

"No, I just am not as mousebrained as RiverClan to go get soaking wet and risk drowning." He shot back.

"Whatever." She laughed a shimmering laugh and then jumped onto a tree. "You ready to compete or are you too scared?"

"Just don't cry when you lose." He meowed back, gripping the tree. His claws felt sturdy. I hope Leafpool doesn't hate me for this. Oh well, she can collect herbs in this weather if I die.

"Ready…set…go!" The two cats began climbing as fast as they could.

Jayfeather couldn't see where his paws were, but he could see in his head a tree. He saw two cats climbing, one sprinting, the other struggling to keep up.

Hurry up, you stupid furball! You can go faster than that! Faster! Move your paws! It's not even that big of a tree. You can beat that stupid RiverClan cat! Kill her if you have to.

He heard this echo in his head. He thought it was the voice of Lionblaze. It sounded identical to him. But Lionblaze wouldn't have been pushing his this hard. He would have been supporting him.

Brambleclaw! His father would want him to win, but not with that kind of burning desire to win.

Kill her if you have to.

Brambleclaw wouldn't say that. There was only cat that he knew who would say that. Or, maybe he didn't know him, but he knew enough about him to know it was Tigerstar.

Suddenly, a muscular tabby tom entered his vision. "Greetings, Jayfeather. I see you are in competition." Jayfeather managed to nod. "You do realize you have to win, correct?" Tigerstar asked in a rough, power-hungry voice that said if he didn't, he would kill him.

"Why?" He asked.

"'Why?' Are you completely mousebrained? She is a RiverClan cat. She can't be trusted. The only cats you can trust are those in your Clan. Sometimes, not even those." He let out a hiss. "You must win." He repeated.

Jayfeather nodded. Then, he was back with the wind in his fur. He could feel that he was very high off the ground. He heard his name being called.

"Jayfeather! Jayfeather! Jayfeather!" He looked down, but realized that he couldn't see a thing anyway. "Watch out!" He felt a nudge from a paw in his side.

"Watch it! You almost knocked me off!" He hissed at Willowshine.

"You just about fell off because you weren't paying attention. What, were you daydreaming?"

He shook his head, for he feared if he spoke his voice would give away that he was lying.

"You won, you dimwit. You reached the branch that was the checkpoint." She hissed at him. "You can be so mousebrained sometimes. Now, lets get down."

She started going down the tree, guiding him with her tail.