Jaypaw scented the breeze, his sister Hollypaw and his brother Lionpaw, right behind him.
"I still can't believe we helped a full tribe!!" Hollypaw mewed.
Breezepaw walked up.
"Well, with me and Crowfeather, of course we defeated the intruders!!" he boasted, raising his voice in a superior tone.
"One of these days…" Lionpaw started, trailing his sentence off with a warning.
"Stop bickering!!" Tawnypelt yowled, from where she was walking with Brambleclaw, Squirrelflight, Crowfeather, and Stormfur.
Jaypaw ignored them all, padding ahead of all the cats.
"Be careful!!" his mother, Squirrelflight mewed, but he pretended not to notice. He couldn't wait to be back in the forest, with his stick. And of course, Hollypaw and Lionpaw knowing of their great destiny…
All of a sudden, he heard a warrior run ahead, a smaller cat following. It was Crowfeather and Breezepaw, chasing a rabbit.
"Great catch!!" mewed Squirrelflight.
Jaypaw sniffed the air once again.
"We're home!!" he whispered.
He itched to run ahead, to get back to his clan, but they had to say good bye to the other cats first.
"Well, we'll see each other at gatherings." Brambleclaw started, pressing his muzzle against his sister's shoulder. "Take good care of those kits."
Jaypaw, Hollypaw, and Lionpaw quickly said there goodbyes, then they followed Brambleclaw along the lakeshore. Jaypaw tensed at the water lapping at his paws. Violent memories of choking on river water, in the dark caves, still came to close for his liking. Then, across from the familiar scents of his clanmates, he scented something else. It was cat, but not one he knew.
"Where are you going??" asked Hollypaw, as he rushed into the trees ahead.
He tripped over a stick, and started to track the trail. It seemed so familiar, yet so different…
He rounded a bush, and the scent hit him. It was a kit, only a few days old, under the bush. As he picked it up, it started wailing for food.
"What's that?!" exclaimed Hollypaw, running back to Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight.
But Jaypaw walked in a different direction, back to camp. This kit needed some attention, some food, warmth, and herbs. He started to run, the kit mewing pitifully. As he got back to camp, he ran straight to the medicine cat den.
"Leafpool!! Come quick!!" he yowled, putting the kit down.
Leafpool came around the corner.
"What is it??" she asked, then saw the kit.
"Oh Starclan…" she whispered, her voice full of fear, as she looked down at the kit.
What's wrong with a kit?? Jaypaw thought. But he couldn't just ignore the worry in her voice. Something was terribly wrong.