Onestar gaped at Nightcloud and Breezepelt. Nightcloud's ears were pressed down on her forehead. She was hissing and Breezepelt looked scared, too.

"Of course I'm positive. My son and I will leave the clan. We will become rogues! We will never return! I HATE YOU CROWFEATHER! I WILL ALWAYS HATE YOU UNTIL MY DEATH!" Nightcloud ran out of the camp. Breezepelt looked around and followed his mother.

Jayfeather fell into the ancient paw prints, etched into the stone path leading up to the Moonpool. At the Moonpool, Jayfeather circled it, looking deep into the heart of the water. Then he lay down and touched his nose to the water.

Images flashed through his mind. Fire. Famine. Death. Blood. He felt the emotions of countless cats. Then he saw a cat, which he had hoped that he would never see again: Sol. He was leading a large group of cats towards the lake. An elderly cat was leaning on a dark ginger tom. Then he saw the old, white cat standing before him again.

You must help them. They will need you more than ever. They must begin to believe in StarClan once again. I was wrong. Do them that favor. Then the voice was gone and Jayfeather awoke at the Moonpool. It was almost sunset. Jayfeather got up and stretched. He started the walk back to camp.

At the camp, Jayfeather grabbed a shrew from the top of the fresh-kill pile. It was soggy, but Jayfeather couldn't afford to be picky, leaf-bare was a very merciless season, and they would need all of the fresh-kill they could acquire. He padded back to his den. Briarlight was waiting for him.

"Hey, Jayfeather, we're running low on catmint, should I collect some more?" Briarlight looked expectantly at him.

"We're running low on catmint? Seedkit already has a cough and with leaf-bare closing in on us, it could turn to greencough! You should have already collected some while I was gone. Get some and give a dose to Seedkit!" Jayfeather snapped.

Briarlight was taken aback by his anger. She had only been his apprentice since this morning. She didn't think she was expected to know and do all of it so soon. She walked out to get a piece of fresh-kill. When she returned she found Jayfeather searching among his bedding for something. She noticed a tuft of black fur settled near her nest. She hooked it with a claw and waved it in front of Jayfeather's face. He sneezed and thanked her. Then he squeezed into the storage cleft. Briarlight watched him disappear into the small hole and then went to collect some catmint.

Jayfeather looked around the cleft. He felt guilty for snapping at Briarlight, but there were a lot of things zipping through his thoughts. He looked down at the piece of fur. Hollyleaf! He felt like yowling her name up to StarClan. He felt like a wave of despair was washing over him. He felt very depressed when Hollyleaf disappeared into the tunnels, but this was for real. She was truly dead and he felt utterly hopeless. He looked around the storage cleft one last time and then he collapsed onto the floor.

Jayfeather only awakened when he heard a commotion inside the camp. He heard Dustpelt hissing and spitting and Cloudtail was yowling. He looked around, still blind. This was real. His first thought was that Sol had brought SkyClan already.

"Crowfeather?"

Jayfeather was instantly awake. As soon as he heard his real father's name he immediately ran out into the camp. Crowfeather was alone. He looked upset.

"Nightcloud and Breezepelt are rogues now and I have nothing else in WindClan, except for my mom, but they don't expect her to live after the battle. May I please join ThunderClan with my former mate and three kits?" Crowfeather pleaded.

Bramblestar looked him over. He looked like he doubted Crowfeather. Then he spoke:

"You may join ThunderClan."

Crowfeather's eyes brightened and Dustpelt hissed. Cloudtail turned his back to Crowfeather and stalked back to the warriors den. The rest of the clan had mixed feelings. Arguments began among the cats and Jayfeather's blind gaze flowed over the clan and happenings.

"Silence!" Bramblestar yowled. "He will be allowed to join! On one condition: that he do apprentice duties for all of leaf-bare. Then you will be accepted into our clan fully."

"Yes and make him sleep in the apprentices' den and make him train all over again." Thornclaw yowled.

Most of the clan seemed to approve that decision and Bramblestar added that Crowfeather would have to train in the way of ThunderClan after leaf-bare. After the decision, the cats disbanded into their own private groups. Jayfeather felt a light breeze flow through his fur and he turned back towards his den. He looked up at the stars for just a moment and thought he saw a face. Then he closed his eyes and slept.

Nightcloud stared down on the ThunderClan camp. She saw exactly what just happened and it infuriated her. She felt her blood boil over and she yowled up to StarClan. It was a battle cry and she hurled herself from her point down to the camp below. Breezepelt followed her and she went directly to the apprentices' den and started attacking whatever she saw and she felt her claw rip fur. She clawed in that direction and was almost immediately welcomed with a series of blows to her flank.

"I've been waiting for you, Nightcloud!" Dovewing hissed.

Nightcloud started to back out of the den when Breezepelt rammed into her rear, and she was squashed against the wall of the den. The wall split apart and Nightcloud was pressed against the ground as the cats ran over her. As soon as she got the chance she got up and ran out of the camp. Breezepelt escaped and followed her.

"And don't ever come back!" Ivypool hissed. She had her ears flattened against her head. Spitting, she stalked up to Brambletar's den and called him. He was already awake and he was looking around in alarm when she came in.

"What happened, Ivypool?" he asked her, warily.

"Nightcloud and Breezepelt attacked. They ran away. They shouldn't bother us for a while, but I'm thinking that you should keep a look out for her and her son. We don't want them to bother us anymore." Ivypool reported.

"Okay, we'll send out extra patrols to keep an eye out. Thank you. And goodnight." Bramblestar dismissed Ivypool and she went back to her den, except for the fact that it wasn't a den. They would fix it in the morning.

"Goodnight."

-END OF CHAPTER TWO-