Lionblaze brushed the tip of his tail on Jayfeather's shoulders softly, subtly, but to his brother, most definitely noticeably. Then Dovepaw blinked knowingly and turned her head swiftly to the left. Her whiskers scraping the gray tabby's flank. Jayfeather immediately veered sharply to the left, missing the bramble bush that could have easily sent a cat tripping. He had done it with such confident steps that Lionblaze had a hard time believing that his brother was blind.
Ahead of them, Firestar led the way, and although at the moment he faced straight forward, the golden tabby had saw the leader glance back a couple times.
Lionblaze felt unease stirring his stomach. It was cold and heavy, and was traveling up to his throat. Although he was the one who had proposed the idea of joining the old ThunderClan, the idea still sat strangely on his heart-as if his heart was telling him it was an awful idea. But at this point, what choice did he have? What choice did they all have?
The golden tabby narrowed his eyes and with a firm and powerful mental push of his mind, shoved his doubts aside. He had other matters to focus on at the moment. Like getting Jayfeather to the camp- correction, the old camp, without tripping over the thick undergrowth and snow. It wasn't a hard job, Firestar's vibrant and fiery pelt stuck out easily amongst the leafless trees, and was easy to follow. Lionblaze would tap Jayfeather's shoulder to tell him something was ahead, softly, or a bit strongly to tell him how large that something was. Dovepaw would brush her whiskers left or right, telling the blind tabby which way to turn to avoid the something ahead. How fast or how slow the apprentice turned told Jayfeather how much distance he should put while turning.
Together they worked in perfect unison, there had been no tripping. Maybe a bit of stumbling as his brother tried to get used to and understand the way they were guiding him, but no tripping.
"We're almost there." Firestar called, turning his head slightly to stare at the trio with his emerald eyes sharp and observant. Almost like a hawk. "Can you scent anything?"
At once, Dovepaw stood straighter, her cerulean eyes flashing, and Lionblaze immediately knew she had got her powers back fully. The look in her eyes said more than any words. The pale gray apprentice parted her mouth slightly to taste the air, her dark pink tongue standing out from the gray white hues around her. "Many cats, Firestar." She said, her eyes narrowed in concentration. Lionblaze could tell how his apprentice was trying extremely hard to say what she scented, and not saw. "And the scent of prey and herbs."
Lionblaze stiffened, and the ginger leader froze. Jayfeather, standing between Lionblaze and his apprentice, gave a small sigh.
"You could scent the smell of herbs and prey…"Firestar began slowly, "All the way from here..?"
The confident demeanor Dovepaw held shrank away instantly, like mist evaporating under the bright sun. "No…" She meowed in a small voice, her cerulean gaze dropping to her paws.
Jayfeather grit his teeth, and shot a withering glare at Dovepaw, his eyes sharp and piercing, like a pair of claws. Of looks could kill, Lionblaze doubted there would be much left of his apprentice, other than a smoking pile of ashes. "Forgive her Firestar." The gray tabby turned to face the ginger tom, his icy gaze returning to normal, "She has a tendency to try to impress other cats with things she doesn't scent." Jayfeather lashed his tail on the last word, emphasizing it.
The golden tabby turned slightly to see Dovepaw, her ears were drooping slightly, her eyes pools of frustration. He felt a flash of sympathy for her. It couldn't have been easy for her. Jayfeather and he were full grown toms, but Dovepaw was just an apprentice far from home. She must have just wanted to make a good impression on the leader and accidentally said what she saw.
"I see." Firestar nodded in acknowledgement, but Lionblaze could see the tip of his tail twitching thoughtfully and in an almost unsettled way. Like an anxious ginger snake slithering on the snow.
Without another word, Firestar turned and headed into the bracken. Heavy silence reigned between the three. "Sorry…" Dovepaw muttered, her gaze still on her paws.
"We can't go back to change that now," Lionblaze meowed, trying his best to comfort her, "come on, let's go..." he directed his gaze to where Firestar had gone, and was relieved to see the tip of a flame-colored tail still visible. The snow crunched loudly under his paws as they continued their walk. Softly he touched the tip of his tail on Jayfeather's shoulder.
Dovepaw twisted around a bit, this time swerving her head to the right. She looked relived to have something to do again.
Jayfeather turned right, and Lionblaze saw the messy clump of bracken brush his brother's ankle as they continued walking.
In a little while, Lionblaze scented an overpowering scent of ThunderClan, they were here. He felt fear tightening his throat. He was so close, yet, so far away from his home. He could scent many individual scents, but none that were familiar to him. Other than the general scent of ThunderClan, there was nothing he recognized.
Firestar turned and gave a brief nod to the trio, before disappearing into ThunderClan camp, through the gorse tunnel. They were here. "It's too late to be regretting this now." Jayfeather grunted, having sensed his brother's fear. The gray tabby stared at Lionblaze, his eyes narrowed into sharp slits. "And at this point we don't really have a choice."
The larger tom nodded, steeling himself. "Okay." He breathed in deeply, trying to take courage from those blunt words. "We can do this."
"I thought you were supposed to the brave one!" Dovepaw meowed, her eyes round, sparkling with surprise. Lionblaze wondered where she got her energy, just a couple heart beats ago the pale gray she-cat had been staring at her paws, her eyes dark and gloomy.
"Battles and time traveling are two different things." He meowed, defending himself.
"How about instead of talking about it, we actually go inside now." Jayfeather's voice cut sharply through the air, like fangs would through flesh.
Lionblaze squared his shoulders, and padded into the gorse tunnel. With his brother and apprentice following just a couple tails behind him. His heart began beating so rapidly that he thought it would burst for sure.
The sight of the old ThunderClan greeted him. A feeling of strangeness washed over him like a powerful wave. It was a sandy ravine, with a large rock sitting near the back on the camp. Highrock he realized immediately. Near him, he saw cats turning, to them, their eyes narrowed in hostility, a small dusky brown she-cat hissed at them. That's Mousefur! Lionblaze found himself unable stop staring. She looks so young!
Forcing his gaze away, the golden tabby spotted a dark gray she-cat walking out of a den made in the cracks of a large rock. She had familiar eyes, the color of a warm Greenleaf sky, and familiar, smooth triangular face, and soft pelt. Cinderheart! He almost cried out. Lionblaze bit his tongue so hard he drew blood. Only then did he notice the dark-gray she-cat was limping, rather than just walking. He stared, with his amber eyes widening, as he noticed that her hind leg was terribly twisted and injured, way beyond healing. He felt an awful, terrible, and throbbing grief for the cat that looked so much like his Cinderheart.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath the Highrock for a meeting."
Lionblaze turned around just in time to spot Firestar climb smoothly up the Highrock, his fur glowing a brilliant orange even in the weak sunlight. He shuffled around anxiously as cats of all shapes and colors began filling the clearing, he recognized some of them. A young Brambleclaw-or was it Bramblepaw? Sat with his tail curled neatly around his paws. A white tom, with a thick pelt, walked past Lionblaze, bumping his shoulder on purpose and pausing to glare at him with narrowed blue eyes filled with hostility. That's Cloudtail!
Murmuring rippled through the crowd as they noticed three unfamiliar cats seated in their camp. A dark gray tabby growled at them.
Dovepaw shuffled closer, to Lionblaze, her gaze revealing that she was frightened with the cats staring at them, and although Lionblaze was a bit alarmed himself, he curled his tail around his apprentice in a comforting gesture. Next to her, Jayfeather sat with his head held high, seemingly unbothered by the amount of cats staring at him.
It seemed that everything was going to change from here.
Anndd that's all there is to this chapter. What do you think?