A/N: Hi guys! If you have read this before, and you scroll down the page…go on, scroll down!…you'll be wondering what happened. I rewrote a lot of this chapter, that's what happened. I don't own Warriors. That honor goes to Erin Hunter! (If I did own Warriors, then Hollyleaf would have had a power.)
Enjoy!
The Adventures of the Acorn
Allegiances
Leader~Bramblestar- dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes
Deputy~Squirrelflight- dark ginger she-cat with green eyes, one white paw
APPRENTICE, SEEDPAW
Medicine Cat~Leafpool-light brown tabby she cat with white chest and paws, amber eyes
APPRENTICE: Jayfeather- gray tabby tom with blind blue eyes
Warriors (toms and she-cats without kits)
Spiderleg-long-limbed black tom with brown underbelly, flecks of gray on his muzzle, amber eyes
Brackenfur-golden brown tabby tom
Cloudtail-long haired white tom with blue eyes
Thornclaw-golden brown tabby tom
Birchfall-light brown tabby tom
Whitewing-white she-cat with green eyes
Berrynose-cream-colored tom
Hazeltail-small gray-and-white she-cat
Mousewhisker-gray-and-white tom
Lionblaze-golden tabby tom with amber eyes
Foxleap-reddish tabby tom
APPRENTICE, CHERRYPAW
Icecloud-white she-cat
Toadstep-black-and-white tom
APPRENTICE, LILYPAW
Rosepetal-dark cream she-cat
APPRENTICE, MOLEPAW
Brairlight-dark brown she-cat
Blossomfall-trotoiseshell and white she-cat
Bumblestripe-very pale gray tom with black stripes
Dovewing-pale gray she-cat with blue eyes
Ivypool-silver-and-white she-cat with dark blue eyes
Apprentices(more than six moons old, in training to become warriors)
Lilypaw-dark tabby she-cat with white patches
Seedpaw-very pale ginger she-cat
Molepaw-brown-and-cream tom
Cherrypaw-ginger she cat
Queens(she-cats expecting or nursing kits)
Daisy- cream long-furred she-cat from the horseplace
Brightheart-white she-cat with ginger patches (mother to Cloudtail's kits: Amberkit, a pale gray she-kit with a white muzzle, paws, and right ear, with amber eyes, Snowkit, a white tom with amber eyes, and Dewkit, a gray tom with amber eyes)
Cinderheart-gray tabby she-cat, expecting Lionblaze's kits.
Elders (former warriors and queens, now retired)
Dustpelt-dark brown tabby tom
Sandstorm-pale ginger she-cat with green eyes
Graystripe-long haired gray tom
Millie-striped gray tabby she-cat with blue eyes
Purdy-plump tabby former loner with a gray muzzle
Prologue:
Somewhere, there is a lake. It can be stormy-gray, blue as the sky, or almost gone. If it is blue as the sky, then you know that there is going to be good weather soon. This is one of those days.
You are relaxing by the lake. The sun is heading toward the west, and even though there is snow on the ground, it is not that cold.
Then, you spot a skinny black cat, who is staring in the direction of the oak woods, and is almost hidden by some long grass on the moor. Thankfully, it hasn't crossed your path.
As you slowly back away from the cat – one can't be too careful – you spot another cat, sitting by the entrance of the barn, near you. The cat is not black like the first, but gray and white.
The cat looks at you.
You stare back.
After a moment or so, the gray-and-white cat turns around and goes through a small hole, at the edge of the barn door. You relax and look out over the lake, unaware that somewhere else, in a stone hollow something important is happening.
A queen is kitting.
"Hurry up! Get the herbs, get out, and get over here!"
Jayfeather sighed. The cat who was yelling at him was not Yellowfang, but rather Cinderheart, who can be surprisingly loud when she is in a bad mood, or, if she is kitting.
Grabbing his needed herbs, Jayfeather headed to the nursery, and shivered in the chilly air. He never liked this cold, snowy season, even though he and his littermates had been born in leaf-bare. And now Cinderheart's kits are going to be born in leaf-bare, too, Jayfeather thought.
Pausing for a heartbeat, just outside the nursery, Jayfeather wondered if he should ask Leafpool for help. Even though she had come back to being a medicine cat, Leafpool was a bit tense about actually doing what medicine cats did. If he needed her, Leafpool could still help. But would the other cats be alright with his decision?
So what if they get annoyed with Leafpool helping out. She's the medicine cat, for StarClan's sake! I'll call her if I need her.
His decision made, Jayfeather thrusted his way through the small hole in the bramble wall into the nursery. Bairlight, his assistant, was already there, with a strong stick and a moss ball with water. She had insisted on staying there at sunhigh, and had succeeded in getting to the nursery, thanks to her forepaws.
Daisy, he could tell, was crouched near Cinderheart, licking her ears. "Ugh…it hurts," Cinderheart muttered from her nest.
"Oh, Cinderheart, queens have been doing this for seasons upon seasons. Your kits will be worth some pain." Brightheart, a ginger-and-white she-cat, meowed.
"That's what they all say," Cinderheart muttered.
Brightheart's three-moon old kits – Amberkit, Snowkit, and Dewkit – were peeping out of their nest. Amberkit was happy. New kits to play with! She hoped that one of them would be a she-kit. Her brothers were fun, but sometimes, she wished for a she-kit around her age. Dewkit was wondering if their new denmates would like them. He hoped so. Snowkit felt slightly worried. Would their soon-to-be denmates like them? Would they be okay?
StarCan, please let something good happen, all three kits thought, each in their own way.
Jayfeather looked in the direction of Brightheart's kits. "It'll be okay, little ones. Cinderheart will be fine, her kits will be fine, you'll be fine."
"You forgot your brother," Cinderheart panted to him.
"He'll be fine too," Jayfeather meowed, trying to sound confident. He was, after all, talking about his brother.
"Cinderheart! Are you alright? Did the kits come yet? Do you need me to get anything?" came a loud, worried voice from outside the den.
Oh, StarClan. If Berrynose is the most annoying cat in the Clan, then Lionblaze could be second or third – at least, when his mate is giving birth.
Jayfeather stuck his head outside the nursery, for a moment, and heard Lionblaze pacing.
"Cinderheart's fine," he mewed quietly to his brother. Raising his voice a bit, he called out, "Berrynose?"
Instead of Berrynose's slightly annoying mew, Bramblestar's scent wafted over. He had, apparently, been talking to Squirrelflight near Highledge.
"Do you need anything, Jayfeather?"
Jayfeather paused. "Well…" He leaned over to where Bramblestar's scent was strongest. "I need some cat to distract Lionblaze from his mate giving birth."
"Oh." Not the greatest reply, but it was something. "Sure, but Jayfeather, why me?" Bramblestar asked.
"Berrynose isn't here, and you were our father." Or at least, you acted like one.
He could tell that Bramblestar had nodded. "All right. Good luck, Jayfeather."
And with that, Jayfeather went back inside the nursery to deal with a queen kitting, while Bramblestar started to pace beside his former son.
"Ow!" Cinderheart screeched in pain.
"It's okay, Cinderheart. It was only your kits getting ready to be born," Poppyfrost meowed. The tortoiseshell warrior had insisted on being with her sister, and so Jayfeather had sent Brightheart and her kits outside. It had been halfway to sunset then. When the moon rose, if Cinderheart still hadn't given birth, Jayfeather decided he would send some cat to fetch Leafpool.
"Poppyfrost?" Cinderheart meowed nervously.
"Yes?" Poppyfrost nudged the wet moss a bit closer. Cinderheat gave it a few licks. "If something happens to me, can you…"
Poppyfrost shook her head. "Don't say that, Cinderheart. Nothing, you hear me, nothing will happen to you or your kits."
"Of course not," Jayfeather meowed. "Look, Cinderheart," he told the gray tabby queen. "If you were in any danger, I would have Lionblaze in here in a flash." Jayfeather would think about those words again later than night, and indeed, about six moons later. But he didn't know that yet.
Cinderheart gave out another groan of pain. It was nearing sunset, and she still hadn't given birth. "Why does it hurt so much?"
"Because you're kitting," Poppyfrost responded calmly from her place at her sister's side.
"I know that- Agh!"
Cinderheart yelped as she felt the kit move once more. She strained, and heard Jayfeather meow something, but nothing happened. No kit appeared.
"Did it take this long with you?" she asked Poppyfrost, panting.
Pausing to nudge the stick closer, Poppyfrost meowed, "About as long, don't you remember?"
"Of course I remember!" Cinderheart meowed sharply, which turned into a yowl of pain, which turned into a quiet murmur, as she had finally brought her one and only kit to meet the world.
"Here," Jayfeather meowed to a drowsy Cinderheart. Poppyfrost and Cinderheart had licked the new kit's fur the wrong way to warm it up, and Jayfeather had decided to give the new queen some herbs.
"Borage leaves. They'll help your milk come," he meowed.
"Thanks, Jayfeather," meowed Cinderheart, then licked up the leaves, and made a face. "Blegh. These taste awful. Can Lionblaze come in now?"
Lionblaze, of course, had heard his mate's pained yowl. He had tried to go to her, but Bramblestar had calmed him down, and even though Lionblaze had been told that his mate and kit were all right, but needed a bit of rest, he still paced.
Jayfeather nodded. "Sure. I just wanted to give you a little bit of time, it being your first kitting and all."
Daisy padded outside, her purrs resounding through the cold air to tell Lionblaze, and Bramblestar, if he wanted to, that he could come in the nursery. A few heartbeats later, Lionblaze raced in and gazed at his new family. Bramblestar was much slower.
Lionblaze sat down beside his mate and his tiny daughter and started to purr.
"Cinderheart...you did it! We have a kit."
Cinderheart gazed up at her mate, and then back down at her kit, and murmured, "What do you what to name her?"
The newly born kit was a light brown tabby, with fluffy golden ear tips and tail tip, and dark gray paws.
"Nutkit?"
"Hmm..." Cinderheart shook her head. "No, the name is fine, but it should be not just Nutkit. Some other nut, maybe..."
Lionblaze stared down at his kit, and memories started trickling in.
..."Then we could pelt Blackfoot with acorns, and he'd think they came from StarClan."
"That's stupid!" Dawnpaw exclaimed, leaping on her brother...
"Just as Brambleclaw did," Firestar murmured, "when he raised you as he own son." Catching his breath, Lionblaze felt a hot core of rage beginning to grow in his belly, as if he had swallowed a burning acorn. Why is Firestar bringing that up again now? I don't want to talk about it!
Shaking the memories back into their corner of his head, Lionblaze spoke.
"We could call her Acornkit."
"Yes! That's it," Cinderheart mewed happily. "That's a good name."
"Yes," Lionblaze meowed, trying to forget about Flametail's idea of bringing ShadowClan back to StarClan, and his talk with Firestar. "It is."
Jayfeather, having watched the exchange between his brother and Cinderheart, settled down in his nest, pleased with himself. He had helped Cinderheart give birth to Acornkit, his niece, and Leafpool, who had been collecting herbs, had been surprised and pleased when she heard that there was a new kit in the Clan.
"I'm sorry that I wasn't here to help, but I'm glad that you managed all right," she had told him after had finished telling her what had happened in the nursery while she was gone, outside their den.
"I'm just glad that you got some more herbs. We were running low on marigold," was all he had to say. But Leafpool wasn't done.
Leafpool's tail swished the air as she sat down by the den entrance. "Jayfeather, we need to talk."
Jayfeather felt slightly puzzled. What was there to talk about? They didn't have as many herbs, but it was leafbare. Of course they didn't have many herbs. Leafpool must have had StarClan with her when she found that marigold…
"Will you listen to me?" Leafpool suddenly snapped.
"Sorry," Jayfeather mumbled. "Okay, I'll listen." He felt a flash of resentment when he realized that Leafpool still could boss him around, even after all this time.
"Good," Leafpool meowed. "I need to talk to you about the newest member of ThunderClan."
"Acornkit," he meowed.
"Lionblaze and Cinderheart named her that?" Leafpool meowed. Jayfeather could only sense happiness in her mother's mew. "That's good, that they named her right away."
"Unlike me," Jayfeather muttered. "You named me when I was five days old."
"I wanted to see what color your eyes were," Leafpool meowed.
"Excuses," he meowed, trying to push down a spark of anger.
"Squirrelflight named you first, not me. And how did you know I waited until you were five days old?" Leafpool asked.
"I…I just knew," Jayfeather meowed, feeling suddenly uncomfortable.
"Jayfeather," Leafpool meowed, sounding busy once more. "Do you think Acornkit will be alright?"
"If she stays healthy, then yes."
"I don't mean leafbare," Leafpool responded, her mew dropping lower. "I mean Breezepelt."
Jayfeather felt a surge of dislike at his half-brother's name. "He's gone. He left, so why would he come back?"
"I don't know, but I just have this feeling, and I've had it ever since you told me that Cinderheart was expecting kits."
"But why?" Jayfeather demanded. "How would he know about Acornkit?"
"The Dark Forest might tell him." Leafpool's mew was just above a whisper.
Jayfeather snorted at his mother's dramatic ways. "The Dark Forest was beaten, remember? Besides, why would they check up on the Clans, even if they could?"
Leafpool did not answer.
"Leafpool?" Jayfeather meowed, feeling a bit worried. After all, she had been trudging out in the snow almost half the day, looking for herbs. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine."
"Why do you think Acornkit would be in danger from Breezepelt?" Jayfeather asked. He couldn't help but feel a bit worried. Yes, Breezepelt was gone, but yet…Leafpool's suspison made him want to be sure if his newborn kin would be alright.
Jayfeather could tell that Leafpool was looking at him directly, and his mother's mew was steady as she said "Revenge."
Revenge? Jayfeather thought as he drifted off to sleep. Why revenge, of all things?
He woke up in StarClan, Jayfeather knew. For one thing, he could smell the cats long gone.
For another, he could see Yellowfang right in front of him, matted gray pelt and all.
"What did you call me here for?" Jayfeather asked her, blinking at the light seemingly coming from everywhere. "We defeated the Dark Forest, the Clans are…well, mostly at peace, and the prophecy has been fulfilled."
Yellowfang simply gazed at him. "Which one?" she rasped. "There is another prophecy coming, Jayfeather, and it needs to happen. I know that you are happy that you have finally fulfilled the 'kin of Firestar's kin' prophecy," she added, raising a paw at Jayfeather's sigh. "StarClan is glad too. But this is your kin I'm talking about."
"My kin?" Jayfeather asked.
"Yes. Your younger kin," Yellowfang grumbled.
"Dovewing and Ivypool?" The gray tabby medicine cat questioned.
"No, you mouse-brain!"
Jayfeather searched his thoughts. If it's not Dovewing and Ivypool, then who is it? The kits?
"Jayfeather, I have an answer for you, but you need to listen closely," Yellowfang whispered, dropping her mew.
"An answer?"
Yellowfang just glared at him.
"Sorry. I'm tired after helping Cinderheart. Now, can you please hurry up?" Jayfeather grumbled.
Yellowfang was silent for a moment, then spoke.
"The remnant of the blaze and the cinder will flash here and there, helping her Clanmates without fear. The three closest in age will help her to fly from the breeze that blows in the night."
"Yellowfang," Jayfeather meowed, sitting bolt upright. "You don't mean – You can't–"
"I do mean whatever you're thinking," Yellowfang snapped with a dismissive flick of her tail. "It's not that hard."
Jayfeather was silent for several moments, dealing with this new information, thoughts chasing around his head like squirrels. If Yellowfang is right, if I am right, then what does this mean for ThunderClan? Another prophecy, and at least one of the cats involved will have powers? What will my Clan think, so soon after the Great Battle?
What will the cats in the prophecy think? I'm not part of this, for once, but I might need to tell them. They will have to know eventually…
Jayfeather, at last, asked one more question. "Yellowfang, was Leafpool right, about Breezepelt coming back?"
Yellowfang sighed. "There are some things StarClan cannot tell you, Jayfeather. I'll admit that I'm sorry–"
Jayfeather snorted. Yellowfang, sorry? It sounded as preposterous as flying hedgehogs.
Yellowfang continued. "I'm sorry, but ThunderClan – and you – will have to wait for moons to pass before you know whether or not Breezepelt will get revenge."
Jayfeather's eyes snapped open to darkness. He was blind, again.
Sighing, he wrapped his tail tighter around himself before closing his eyes once more. Yellowfang's words echoed in his head.
ThunderClan will have to wait for moons to pass before you know…
If you want to be like that, fine, he thought. But I'm going to help make sure the Clans will be safe.