A/U: Wow, I'm writing a lot today. Hopefully I will have three more chapters for Brightest Star finished by the time Monday comes. Anyways, this is part of the monthly one-shot that I decided to start after writing Miracle. Anyways, this one's about well...Okay, it's a secret. You'll find out when you read it. I should warn you that this contains spoilers for SOTM if you haven't read it yet. Just thought I'd point this out.

Always Waiting

I'll wait for you, always. The words stuck within Half Moon as she watched Jay's Wing fade from the Tribe of Endless Hunting. She knew that they were never meant to be together. After he had told her everything, that was when she realized. Jay's Wing lived in a different world. A world she would never understand.

Why did you take him away? she thought as she looked at the endlessly gray sky.

Bitter memories of them together were always haunting her heart. She could remember when Jay's Wing cast his stone to leave the lake. At first she had been reluctant to leave, but only because of Broken Shadow's lost son. Now she knew that he would be lost forever within the tunnels that the Sharpclaws once used. She felt Broken Shadow's bitter resentment for leaving her son behind. Yet the former queen would never stop loving him.

Half Moon began to make her way back towards a crack in the mountains, where she spent most of her time. There was a secret entrance to the Cave of Pointed Stones. This was where she had first discovered she was the very first Stoneteller. Jay's Wing had told her all about the future of the Tribe of Rushing Water. She didn't know what to do when she first learned what she really was capable of. Than she heard the voices of ages whispering around her, telling her that they would guide her.

"You will see him again, when the time comes." Half Moon's gaze widened when she heard another voice. This voice sounded raspy, like claws scraping on stone. She looked around, until she saw the faint outline of a hairless looking cat. His amber eyes were bright as he watched her startled gaze darken. "He must fulfill his destiny before he joins you."

"You're the reason he is gone!" she hissed when she realized this must be Rock, the ancient cat who took hold of Sharpclaw ceremonies. She recognized the name that Jay's Wing had muttered in his sleep. "Why did you take him away? We could have had kits together, started a family..." Her words trailed off when he began to shake his head.

"I am sorry for the loss of your friend," he rasped. "Jay's Wing has a destiny that lies with the Clans around the lake. It is a destiny that you will never understand." The bone-like end of his tail twitched as he spoke. It sounded as though he was fighting with himself.

Half Moon looked away, feeling bitterly sorry for herself. If she hadn't become the Teller of the Pointed Stones, than none of this would have happened. The thoughts churned her belly as she pictured Jay's Wing, gazing at her warmly. She knew that she was acting like a spoiled kit. The Tribe relied on her to foretell prophecies or omens. She couldn't let her love for Jay's Wing get in the way of what was truly important.

She looked up to face Rock once more, but his image was already fading. Returning to the tunnels once more, she thought. She glanced down at the rock where he once stood. A gasp of surprise escaped from Half Moon's mouth when she saw what he had been sitting on.

A stick that was half broken covered the rock. Jay's Wing's scent writhed around it, along with the scent of Rock. Half Moon stared at it in wonder, until she heard his voice whisper in the air one last time. "I will wait for you," he whispered. "Just like you waited for me."

The white she-cat lifted her muzzle. She could almost feel their fur brushing as he left her. "Then I too will wait for you," she murmured. "I will never forget you, or what you did for my Tribe."