I haven't been active in this fandom for a looong time, but I was idly browsing through some Word documents and found a little collection of snippets and things I wrote way back when. My notes are telling me that this is a rewrite/extension of the aftermath of that scene in The Fourth Apprentice when Poppyfrost goes running off to Moonpool for whatever reason and Breezepelt attacks her until Jayfeather steps in. I think I wrote it because I was annoyed with the complete lack of acknowledgement of Jayfeather's injuries and Breezepelt's actions, but it's been so long that I don't really remember anymore.

Sunhigh was long past by the time Jayfeather and Poppyfrost staggered back into camp. As soon as they emerged from the thorn tunnel, Jayfeather heard paw steps racing from the nursery.

"Where have you been?" Berrynose demanded, his scent sharp with anxiety. Jayfeather heard the rasp of his tongue as he licked Poppyfrost's ears. "I've been worried out of my fur!"

Poppyfrost broke into a puzzled purr. "It doesn't matter. I'm back now."

Berrynose pressed himself close to her side as he murmured, "I couldn't bear to lose you too."

"Don't worry," Poppyfrost said after a brief pause, her voice trembling slightly. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Yes, you are. You're going back to the nursery right now. I'll bring you some fresh-kill, and then you're going to rest."

Their paw steps retreated as they headed for the nursery and Berrynose guided Poppyfrost inside, still scolding her gently. Jayfeather shook his head wearily and limped to his den, too exhausted to be bothered with other cats' affairs at the moment. The gash down his side hurt terribly, and his body ached from his desperate fight with Breezepelt.

The moment he made it to his den, he collapsed to the floor in a boneless heap, too tired and achy to even drag himself to his nest. His eyes drifted shut and his mind inched toward a haze of sleep as he tried to ignore the uncomfortable stone poking into his belly and the dank chill soaking through his fur.

He was almost asleep when he became vaguely aware of Cinderheart padding into his den, smelling of gratefulness and relief.

"I just wanted to thank you for finding Poppyfrost and–" She broke off as she noticed Jayfeather sprawled across the floor. "Jayfeather!" she screeched as she rushed to his side.

The medicine cat winced, wishing she hadn't just alerted the entire camp of his predicament. "Go away," he grumbled. "I'm fine."

"You're fine? You're fine?" Cinderheart's voice rose several octaves, and Jayfeather dimly heard paw steps rushing towards his den. "What happened to you? And look! You're bleeding everywhere! Where did you get such a horrid gash? That needs to be treated right away!"

Jayfeather opened his eyes blearily, even though it did nothing to help him see the cat crouched beside him. Cinderheart was usually pretty laid back, and he wasn't sure why she seemed so hysterical at the moment.

"Honestly, Cinderheart," he said irritably, "you'd think I was dying with all the fuss you're making. I was going to take care of my injury. Later." Like after he had gotten some much needed rest. Trekking all the way to Moonpool and back while injured had left him too exhausted to care much about the gash, no matter how much it still throbbed.

"What's going on? Jayfeather? Are you alright?"

Jayfeather's ears pricked as Squirrelflight's worried voice broke in. He could scent Leafpool, Brambleclaw, and several other cats clustered at the mouth of the medicine den, including Firestar himself. He let out his breath in a huff, not wanting to appear weak before all his Clanmates.

"You're injured!" Brambleclaw exclaimed. "What happened?"

Jayfeather grunted and forced himself to his paws, staggering slightly as his exhaustion threatened to send him crashing back down. He shook his head to clear it.

"I'm fine," he repeated stubbornly. "Look, I'll go get some herbs for the wound right now, if it'll make you all leave me in peace. Don't you have better things to do than stand around gawking?"

He turned away and began limping towards the herb store on the other side of the den, but then stumbled and fell back to the ground, fresh pain flaring through his side. There was a chorus of anxious meows from the surrounding cats, and Jayfeather's ears flattened in embarrassment and irritation. If only they would leave him alone already.

"Oh no! It's all my fault!" Poppyfrost wailed. Jayfeather briefly closed his eyes, fervently wishing that she had stayed in the nursery where Berrynose wanted her. "If I hadn't been so mouse-brained and gone all the way to Moonpool, you wouldn't have had to come fetch me and Breezepelt wouldn't have attacked you! I'm so sorry!"

"Breezepelt?" Firestar asked sharply. "He attacked Jayfeather?"

"He was going to attack me first," Poppyfrost moaned, "but Jayfeather protected me."

"He attacked a medicine cat?" Berrynose asked, his voice equal parts anxious and angry. "That's against the warrior code! Has he no respect? What will we do if he starts going around attacking medicine cats?"

There was a bout of nervous muttering, but Jayfeather just snorted irritably as he tried to pull himself to his paws again.

"I doubt you'll have to worry about that," he said dryly. "His quarrel is with me, not with medicine cats in general."

He let out a frustrated hiss as dizziness engulfed him and he staggered a few paces before toppling over again.

"Just stay there," Cinderheart said soothingly as she crouched beside him once more. Thankfully, her earlier panic seemed to have evaporated. "Let's get you to your nest. You'll be more comfortable there."

Jayfeather felt fur brush against his side as another cat swept past him, and he recognized Leafpool's scent lingering in her wake. He wanted to tell his mother to get out of his den, but he was in too much pain to bother.

Instead he grudgingly allowed Cinderheart to help him up, leaning against her heavily as they slowly made their way to where he knew his nest was. His ears twitched in exasperation as he heard Poppyfrost descending into hysterics, wailing about how sorry she was to almost get Jayfeather killed.

"Honestly, can't someone take her back to the nursery?" he asked in annoyance. "And grab a poppy seed to calm her down."

He sighed in relief as he heard Berrynose guiding his mate away, and sank gratefully into his nest.

"What quarrel does Breezepelt have with you, Jayfeather?" Firestar asked quietly.

Jayfeather snorted again. "What do you think he has against me?" he queried sarcastically. Surely every cat must know of Breezepelt's distaste for his half-siblings by now.

"Ooh, I knew you should have let Berrynose claw off that mangy mouse-brain's nose back when he first started causing trouble at the lake!" Icecloud said angrily. Jayfeather heard her claws unsheathe and scrape against the hard ground.

"It wouldn't have done any good," the medicine cat retorted. "All it would have done was start more trouble with WindClan. And I can take care of myself, thanks."

"What is Icecloud talking about?" Brambleclaw asked. "What happened at the lake?"

Jayfeather briefly considered responding, but was distracted when Leafpool padded up and settled by his side. He could scent the herbs she carried in her mouth, and his tail lashed angrily as she began chewing them into a poultice.

"You aren't a medicine cat anymore," he mewed sharply, the bitterness towards his mother and mentor for abandoning him to fill the role of medicine cat alone tinging his voice. "I can do that myself."

He sensed Leafpool's hesitation and hurt, but she resolutely finished chewing the herbs and then began pressing the poultice onto the gash in his side. His fur bristled in distaste, but he was too tired to argue. Instead he rested his head on his paws and let his eyes drift closed, although he continued to listen to the conversation around him.

"We ran into a WindClan patrol when we were fetching water from the lake a little while back, shortly after the patrol went upriver to see what was stopping the water from coming," Icecloud said indignantly. "Breezepelt was stirring up trouble and when Jayfeather tried to break up the argument, that mouse-brained rabbit-chaser told him that he had no right to be a medicine cat or even live among the Clans."

Beside Jayfeather, Leafpool stiffened. Jayfeather could sense sorrow and guilt emanating from both Leafpool and Squirrelflight, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

"Breezepelt doesn't get to decide who becomes a medicine cat and who doesn't, so I don't see why his opinion matters," Jayfeather said dryly, without bothering to open his eyes. "He can say whatever he likes."

He felt a flash of surprise from the gathered cats as they turned to look at him, and he stifled a sigh. Did they really all think that he had fallen asleep in the past minute or two?

"He shouldn't be saying it though," Cinderheart mewed. "And if he's even willing to break the warrior code and attack you now, then I think it's safe to say that he's gotten out of paw."

There was a murmur of agreement from the surrounding cats, but Jayfeather just shrugged slightly. "Well, there's nothing we can do about him right now, so you might as well leave it alone."

"He's right," Firestar said reluctantly. "We have enough problems without accusing a WindClan warrior of breaking the code. And Breezepelt would surely deny his involvement. Any accusations would lead to further hostility with WindClan."

"ThunderClan is strong enough to take care of a few WindClan fleabags and protect our own," Dustpelt snarled.

Jayfeather blinked his eyes open and fixed a hard stare on where he knew the senior warrior was standing. "If any cat has the right to seek revenge for what happened today, it's me. And I already told you to leave it alone. As satisfying as it would be to claw off Breezepelt's fur, it would accomplish nothing," he hissed, pain making his voice sharp.

He winced and grunted as Leafpool prodded a particularly sore area on his side. "Now, I would appreciate it if you would all get out of my den and leave me in peace. If it's quite alright with you, I'd like to rest now and it's impossible to sleep with you all standing around prattling."

He closed his eyes and twisted slightly to turn his back towards the other cats. There came the sound of shuffling paw steps as they began to retreat from his den.

"We're sorry," Cinderheart meowed. "Get some sleep."

"And let someone know if you need anything," Squirrelflight added, anxiety prickling from her pelt.

"I hope you recover quickly," Brambleclaw added quietly.

Jayfeather breathed a sigh of relief as they exited.

"You too," he meowed coolly, cracking open one eye to look in Leafpool's direction.

His mother hesitated, and he found it hard to completely ignore the anxiety and remorse coming off her in waves. She must feel guilty that her mistake was causing him so many problems.

Good, he thought. She deserves to be unhappy for what she did.

Part of him longed to reach out to the cat who had mentored him, and he wished briefly for the support and warmth he knew she and Squirrelflight could offer him. But their betrayal was still too raw, and he couldn't quite bring himself to forgive them yet.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, sorrow tinging her voice.

She paused as if hoping he would say something, but when he didn't respond, she turned and began padding out of the den. Jayfeather could hear her drooping tail dragging along the ground in defeat, and he sighed silently.

"Bring a poppy seed for Poppyfrost. I doubt any cat bothered to listen to my instructions, and she was hysterical."

He heard her spin around to study him, but his eyes remained resolutely closed.

"Alright."

She moved back to the herb stores, and Jayfeather felt a spark of hope flare up in her heart. His words hadn't exactly been an olive branch and certainly weren't a sign of forgiveness, but maybe they were a start.