Breaking the Code
- Chapter 1: New Kits -
The sun was setting on the horizon over the Lake Territories. The sky, lit with a bright orange tint, was clear, except for a few thin clouds that drifted by. It had been approximately three moons after The Great Battle and the fiasco with the Dark Forest cats. After the war, tensions among the Clans were at an all-time low. That was to be expected, after all, following a pan-Clan effort to battle against the Dark Forest, and with the advocacy for rapid redevelopment to return to the normal way of Clan life. This peace would not, and could not, last forever. Nevertheless, for the time being, it persisted.
Down in the ThunderClan camp within the medicine cat's den, Jayfeather was busying himself with the organization of his medicinal herbs. Having finally taken care of all injuries and finished sending other Clans extra supplies when prompted, he had the opportunity to restore his den to maximum cleanliness and efficiency. Indeed, it's the classic "a place for everything and everything in its place" mentality. He had begun to work from the mid-afternoon that same day, and continued working until the sky had begun to turn dark blue. He stepped back, proud of himself for all his hard work.
"Finally finished," said Jayfeather. "How does it look, Briarlight?"
"It looks great, Jayfeather!" she replied, "Maybe now I can stretch my legs out without you complaining that I might be trampling some of your herbs."
"Hilarious," he remarked sarcastically. He got up and thought for a moment, then he turned to Briarlight and asked, "Could you check on how many borage leaves we have? Dovewing's and Cinderheart's kits should be born soon."
Briarlight shuffled herself from the den entrance, where she had lied down, over to Jayfeather. She took a quick scan of their stock.
"There's a decent amount left, but you might run out soon."
The gray medicine cat nodded in acknowledgement. He stood around for a brief moment before padding to the den entrance.
"I'll go get myself something to eat," he declared before stepping out of the den.
The activity in the camp had begun to die down for the day, as most of the members returned to their dens. Several were enjoying a final meal before heading to sleep, while others were preparing for the night watch. Stars had begun to appear in the sky, and the bright shine of the pure white half moon became increasingly prevalent as the sky transitioned from dark blue to purple to black.
Jayfeather picked up a mouse from the fresh-kill pile, and then turned to head back to the medicine cat's den. On his way back, he stopped by the nursery and poked his head inside. Dovewing and Cinderheart were lying in their nests, both of who had been pregnant with kits for the past moon. He put his mouse down and sat.
He greeted the two queens, "Good evening, you two. Is everything okay?"
Dovewing responded first, "Everything's fine, Jayfeather."
"Couldn't be better," Cinderheart added. She shuffled in her nest. "Although, I do wonder when my kits will arrive."
Dovewing smiled. "You've been wondering that every night, Cinderheart." She added sarcastically, "Can't you wait for just a single night without asking?"
The gray she-cat nudged Dovewing in retaliation. "Hey, having kits isn't some daily activity! I bet you can't wait for your kits, too!"
Jayfeather stood up again. "I'll leave you to this. Just shout if you need anything." He proceeded to pick up his mouse and exit the den.
He heard Cinderheart begin to purr and speak again. "I hope my kits grow to be fine warriors like Lionblaze…" Her voice faded as Jayfeather walked across the camp back to his own den.
When he entered the medicine cat's den again, he saw Bramblestar lying next to Briarlight. The two looked up at Jayfeather as he walked in.
"Hello, Jayfeather," he said. "I just wanted to talk to you about something."
The gray tom sat down and began to eat his mouse. "Sure, go ahead."
Bramblestar moved his tail around with periodic motions as he began to say, "I was wondering if you would be alright with picking an apprentice when Dovewing's or Cinderheart's kits are born and reach six moons of age. You and Leafpool won't be alive forever, you know."
"That doesn't mean I'm that old," Jayfeather scoffed. "Leafpool and I are doing just fine right now."
"Alright, alright, I get it. At least think about it for now, alright?" the leader replied. He stood up and walked towards the den entrance. "Good night, you two. Jayfeather, have a safe trip to the Moonpool." He exited the den.
Apprentices. Meh. Jayfeather thought to himself. Most of them are annoying. Why bother to have one in the first place?
He was about to finish his mouse when he heard Dovewing yowling from the nursery. His ears perked up towards the noise. What was that?
Just then, Bumblestripe came crashing through the den entrance with a look of panic on his face.
Jayfeather looked at him skeptically. "What's wrong?"
"It's Dovewing!" Bumblestripe exclaimed, "I think her kits are coming!"
The medicine cat stood up and the two ran towards the nursery. About time those kits were born.
Dovewing was curled up in her nest feeling immense pain. Lionblaze was sitting next to her trying to comfort her. He looked up as Bumblestripe and Jayfeather entered the nursery.
"Thank StarClan you're here!" Lionblaze looked down at Dovewing again. "She was fine just a few moments ago, and now this!"
"Help!" she yelped desperately, "Th-the kits, they're coming—" She was broken off by a jolt of pain.
Jayfeather quickly rushed to her side. "Lie down straight, and calm your breathing." She did as she was instructed to, and the medicine cat felt around her body. "It's the kits. Bumblestripe, go fetch a stick."
"On it," he replied. He ran out in search for a stick.
Jayfeather then turned to Lionblaze and said firmly, "When the first kit comes, I want you to lick it the wrong way. Don't ask; it's for safety reasons. You got it?"
"I got it." Lionblaze watched and waited for the first kit.
Dovewing let out a screech of pain. "The first kit— it's here!" Instinctively, she tried to push. A small head appeared, but its body did not.
Jayfeather pressed gently on Dovewing's flank. "Push harder, it's almost there!"
She replied, "I'm trying!" She gave one more strong effort as the kit was born and tumbled onto the soft moss in the nest. Following directions, Lionblaze began to lick the kit the wrong way. It was a predominately-light blue-gray female kit with a white belly. She coughed and curled up while Lionblaze kept licking.
Bumblestripe then returned with a stick. He put it down in front of Dovewing. "Alright, now what?"
"Dovewing," Jayfeather began, "Bite down on this stick while the next kit comes to try to ease the pain a little. Bumblestripe, I want you to do what Lionblaze is doing right now and lick the kit the wrong way when the next kit is born, alright?"
The couple nodded in acknowledgement. Bumblestripe walked over to Lionblaze and waited for the next kit.
Dovewing bit down on the stick while letting out a groan. "Another kit—" She pushed and kept pushing with all her might. Slowly, another kit appeared from within.
Bumblestripe spoke, "Just a little more, Dovewing! The kit is almost here!" He watched as the last kit slid out and tumbled onto the mossy nest. Bumblestripe began to lick it immediately, and the kit coughed and came alive. It was a light gray female kit.
Dovewing let go of the stick and her breathing became calm. "There… that feels like all of them." She turned around and began to lick the light blue-gray kit; the kit huddled closer to her and mewed. "She's so adorable," Dovewing remarked.
Cinderheart looked at the two kits and smiled, "Congratulations, Dovewing! You're a proud mother of two."
"Thank you," she replied warmly. Dovewing curled herself around her new kits to keep them warm.
Now that that's over with… Jayfeather thought. He spoke, "I'll leave now. I have to get to the Moonpool tonight."
He got up to leave but was startled when Cinderheart suddenly cried out. Cinderheart, too? He rushed to her side, "Your kits, too?"
Cinderheart could only nod. She reached for the stick and bit down on it as her body rippled. Lionblaze rushed over to her side. She pushed hard, and after a few moments, a male kit tumbled out into the nest. Lionblaze licked the kit, and it coughed. It was brown.
She pushed again while biting down harder on the stick. Little by little, a second kit's head pushed out.
"A bit more, Cinderheart," Jayfeather said. He monitored Cinderheart as she pushed again.
With one final effort, the second kit tumbled down onto the nest as the biting force from the gray queen split the stick. Jayfeather hesitated from licking the kit at first, but began to lick it anyway, seeing that everyone else present was preoccupied with something else. The kit was purely white and female. It coughed and huddled under the warmth of Jayfeather's tongue.
Once Cinderheart recovered, she took over licking the kit. The kit mewed and curled up. Lionblaze brought the brown kit to Cinderheart's side and placed him down to embrace the warmth from his mother.
"You got what you wished for," Dovewing remarked. "Two lovely kits after a moon of talking nonstop about them."
"Yeah," Cinderheart replied. "I hope they grow to become the strongest warriors in the Clan." She paused for a moment. "So how should we name them?"
The brown kit rolled over and bumped into a branch lying next to the nest. It felt around the tip of it curiously. Lionblaze picked him up and put him down closer to Cinderheart again.
"I think he just named himself. This will be Branchkit," said Lionblaze.
The blue-gray kit found an herb on the floor. She ate it and made somewhat of a grimace.
Dovewing spoke, "Looks like she ate something bitter. Poor thing." She licked the kit's forehead. "Bitterkit, maybe?"
Bumblestripe picked up the light gray kit. "She looks like mist. I want to name her Mistkit."
Cinderheart turned to face her other kit. "What about my white kit?"
Everyone pondered for a moment. Jayfeather thought, so it's a white kit, huh? What else is completely white…?
Then an idea struck him. He began to talk and said, "What about Halfkit?"
Cinderheart nodded, catching on immediately. "After the half moon tonight, right?" She licked the kit. "I like it. It's a nice way to remember how beautiful the moon is." She paused for a moment. "And hopefully it'll mean that she grows to be a beautiful warrior."
Lionblaze looked around the nursery. "So it's settled, then?" The others nodded in agreement. He continued, "Branchkit, Halfkit, Bitterkit, and Mistkit; our newest additions to ThunderClan!"
Jayfeather stood up and headed to the nursery entrance. "Congratulations on your kits, everyone." He took a step out and called backwards behind him, "Tell me if you need anything when I return."
He departed from the nursery and the ThunderClan camp to travel to the Moonpool. He spent the journey thinking about the newborn kits as the half moon and stars shined brilliantly above his head in the night sky.
- Author's Notes -
People are making remarks that Jayfeather don't know what colors are because he's blind. On the surface, this sounds true; however, I want to make you aware of three concepts:
Firstly, Jayfeather is not blind during his dreams. We can assume he has full color vision (full to the extent of cats can see) during these dreams, exposing him to what colors are.
Secondly, it can be inferred that Jayfeather could have learned what colors were based on context of other character. Colors are adjectives, and a blind character could hear the sentence structure of other characters, and learn adjectives such as "blue", "white", "gray", and other words (that we understand as colors) were used to describe something. From there, it would not be too difficult to compare two objects by color by noting how two objects are described. For example, it would be feasible to think that he was told what color the moon is at some point and was able to connect that with Cinderheart saying, "What about my white kit?" because both the moon and Halfkit are described as "white." (I purposefully made her include the color white in that dialogue for this exact reason.)
Thirdly, this story is not told solely in the first person perspective. All the adjectives are provided for the reader from an omniscient point of view, not from a first person point of view of Jayfeather. After all, he's blind. He wouldn't be able to see the sunset, the clouds, the moon, etc. on a regular basis.
