"Jaypaw?" The boy lifted his head, sightless blue eyes gazing at his mother.
"Yes Squirrelflight?" Jaypaw replied, resting his chin on his arms. It was a warm afternoon in the Thunderclan household, and the blind healer in training was snoozing over a table in a direct patch of sunlight.
"Firestar and Leafpool want you to go to the gathering tonight." Squirrelflight pulled up a chair and sat next to her son, her tail flicking against his.
"Alright," Jaypaw sighed, whisking his tail away from Squirrelflight. Why couldn't she just leave him alone? He could manage himself at gatherings, though why the clans insisted on playing nice on night a month when they all hated each other was beyond him.
"Are you ok?" Squirrelflight asked him, affectionately stroking his just-above-the-shoulder-length grey hair. It matched the color of the short grey tabby fur that covered his body, like all the other clan cats.
"I'm fine," Jaypaw hissed, jerking his head away from his overprotective mother. "Just let me sleep for a while, alright? I'm fine." His cat ears flicked back and he faced away from Squirrelflight, clearly ignoring her. He heard he sigh, then stand up.
"I'll send Lionpaw to wake you later, ok?" Jaypaw didn't answer.
Squirrelflight sighed again, and then all Jaypaw could hear were her footsteps trailing off into some other corner of the large house.
Jaypaw closed his unseeing eyes and quietly slipping into a place where no one bothered him. Here, he could see, he could fight, and he could be everything he'd ever wanted. Here, in his dreams, he could be a warrior.
(* X *)
Hours later Jaypaw was awakened by his brother. Lionpaw had rough hands from fighting and he currently reeked of sweat form training.
"Hey, Jaypaw! It's time for the gathering," his brother told Jaypaw as he shook the blind medicinal apprentice awake.
"I'm awake," Jaypaw blinked blearily, his temporary sight robbed from him with reality.
"Good, because Firestar's ready to go and if we're late, he'll have both of our hides."
Jaypaw stood, stretched, and followed his brother outside to the porch where the warriors who would go to the gathering were waiting.
"Is Hollypaw going?" Jaypaw asked Lionpaw, his ears perking up to catch the snatched of conversation going on around him.
"No, she's stuck at home. She forgot to wash the elder's sheets so Firestar said she had to stay here and take care of them.
Jaypaw felt a twinge of sympathy for Hollypaw; the elders were even more demanding than normal if you forgot to wash their sheets when told to.
"Everyone here?" Firestar asked, and Jaypaw could hear the creaking of the old wooden boards where their leader shifted his wait. Firestar was nervous, although Jaypaw couldn't place why. Thunderclan's leader's emotions were too jumbled for Jaypaw to sort through. After a general assent following Firestar's words, the small band of people started their journey to the island where the gatherings were held every month at midnight. Jaypaw fell into step behind his mentor, Leafpool, and his father and the clan's deputy, Brambleclaw. Normally he'd eavesdrop on their conversation in case they were talking about him, but today all his senses were pinpointed on Firestar, trying to figure out what was bothering his leader.
Jaypaw caught a few words that sounded like 'Blackstar', 'Shadowclan', and 'crossing our borders…' before they reached the island. To get to the actual gathering, you had to cross a fallen log. Jaypaw would never admit it out loud, but he hated crossing onto the island. The trunk was slippery and the first time he'd crossed he'd almost fallen. Jaypaw suspected that the water below the log was very, very cold.
Lionpaw crossed before Jaypaw, and gave his brother's shoulder a reassuring squeeze before half scrabbling half leaping over to the island. Jaypaw took a deep breath, and then darted after him. His stomach dipped when his foot slipped. Jay felt himself loose his grip, but just before he could plummet into the cold water below, two arms and a pair of teeth had him by the arms and tee shirt. Jaypaw was then unceremoniously pulled onto the island and out of the stream of cat-people heading for the heart of the island.
"Watch your step," Jaypaw's rescuer spat, releasing him.
"I would if I could," Jaypaw shot back, a snarl on his lips.
"What are-"
"I'm blind, mousebrain!" Jaypaw hissed in annoyance, turning his back on whoever had just rescued him. The healer's apprentice stalked away, using his nose to guide him in the direction of everyone else.
"Hey- Wait!" Jaypaw's savior called, racing up behind him and catching his arm. Jay pulled his arm out of the other boy's grasp, wiping around.
"WHAT?" Jaypaw demanded, glaring in the direction of his rescuer's voice.
"'Hi, thanks for saving me. My name is whatever, it's nice to meet you.' No problem, just be more careful next time! My name's Breezepaw, I'm an apprentice from Windclan."
Jaypaw stiffened, debating whether to tell this apprentice to shove it. He sighed, relenting. "Thanks for not letting me drown. I'm Jaypaw, healer apprentice from Thunderclan."
Breezepaw let out a snicker and released Jaypaw's arm. "Jaypaw? Like after the bird?"
"At least I'm not named after the weather."
Breezepaw snickered again, and started walking towards the gathering and clan members at the center of the island. "Well, birdboy, we might as well head over to the gathering before it starts."
Jaypaw trotted after him, using his ears to follow Breezepaw.
"So, is this your first gathering?" The Windclan neko asked, completely at ease.
"No." Jay was still sulking from his almost encounter with the freezing lake water.
"Cheer up." Breeze sniffed, elbowing Jay in the ribs. The healer apprentice winced.
"Why should I?" They were merging with the crowd now. Jaypaw could feel the stares already.
"Because you're with me!" Jay could almost feel the other boy smirking. He couldn't help but laugh at himself, and Breeze put an arm around is shoulders like they were old friends.
The stares from the other clans were burning into Jay's skin, or was that just his blush? Jaypaw could feel a strange emotion emanating from this strange Windclan apprentice, but he didn't have time to decipher it.
"Clans!" Blackstar, the leader of Shadowclan, called the gathering to order. Breeze removed his hand, and Jaypaw prepared himself for a long, boring gathering.
(*X *)
"Well, see you." Jaypaw has the uneasy feeling that Breezepaw is staring directly into his eyes.
"Y-Yeah, see ya." Jaypaw averts his eyes, hoping that they aren't staring at Breezepaw anymore. For what feels like the millionth time, Jay curses his lack of sight. He feels himself frown.
"What's wrong?" Jaypaw had thought that Breezepaw had turned to leave, but it was obvious that he was still being looked at.
"Nothing." Jay shrugged the other boy's concerns away, turning abruptly and using his ears to navigate through the crowd.
"Bye Jaypaw!" Breeze calls, and the Thunderclan neko had to fight a smile, trudging away quietly. He quickly fell into step beside Lionpaw while his older brother chatted amiably to Heatherpaw, a Windclan girl.
"Bye Lionpaw!" She called, running to catch up with her clan. A definite sense of attraction hit Jaypaw like a punch in the face when he accidently brushed up against his brother. Jay smirked. It was obvious Lionpaw had a thing for Heatherpaw. A vague sense of recognition filled Jaypaw, and with an unpleasant plunge of his stomach, he realized what the emotion he'd gotten from Breezepaw had been. But he shook it off with a shake of the head and increased pace.
The Windclan boy couldn't possibly be attracted to him.
(* X *)
"So, you enjoyed the gathering?" Heatherpaw chirped, finally catching up with Breezepaw. The dark haired boy rolled his eyes.
"It was fine. It looked like you were trying to seduce that orange haired kid. I felt bad for him." Breeze glared at the annoying apprentice.
"I was not!" Heatherpaw huffed, pretending to be offended.
"You were."
"Well, you were trying to seduce that blind kid, so you shouldn't be lecturing me!" The girl pointed out, crossing her arms and smirking at him. Breezepaw debated whether or not to protest.
"At least mine was actually cute." Breeze shouldered his way past the girl with the shocked expression, a triumphant grin on his face.
(* X *)
"Breezepaw!" His mother shrieked the moment the Windclan members arrived back at their house. Breezepaw winced, trotting through the hallways and into the basement where the women slept. Nightcloud was there, a livid expression turning her usual sweet appearance into a mask of rage.
"What?" Breeze asked, kicking at the wall to avoid having to look at her.
"Where is your father? He promised he'd eat with me tonight!" Nightcloud raged, grabbing Breezepaw by the shoulders and shaking him. The dark haired boy snarled, pushing his mother away.
"I don't know!" He stumbled backwards, hitting his head against the stone wall.
"Liar!" Nightcloud screamed, pulling her hand back to strike him.
"Nightcloud!" Breezepaw's father, Crowfeather, grabbed her arm, preventing her from hitting their son. A look of confusion passed over her face before she recognized who was at her side.
"Crow!" She gasped, embracing him. Crowfeather looked like he either wanted to vomit or cry. He shot a look of apology at Breezepaw, who met his gaze with cold hatred.
The young boy steadied himself against the wall, stalking out of the basement. No one would meet his eyes as he ran through the clan's house to his room near the top. It was closet sized; only fitting a mattress. His mother hated the upper levels of the house, so Breezepaw was safe up here, on the third and tallest story.
It was no secret to Windclan that she hit him. No one had ever tried to stop it, except Crowfeather. Breezepaw hated them both. It was Crowfeather's fault she was always angry, because he didn't love her. It was Crowfeather's fault that she hit his son.
Breezepaw curled up on his mattress, biting his lip angrily. No matter what, he would not cry.