Hey guys! It's been a long time I know, but I think this and the next chapter will be interesting. Okay, just saying? I HATE 8th grade. Have a good day you all. Thanks for reading! I've literally been finishing this up for like, 2 hours. Bleh. But I hope you enjoy this chapter!
The 5 cats walked into the clearing, bundles of herbs held securely in their mouths. Jayfeather felt his shoulders droop in relief at the sight of camp.
"Hey Jayfeather!" Brightheart called from across the clearing with Foxleap and Cloudtail by her side. Jayfeather nodded to her and continued into camp. "Come on, let's put these in my den."
He mewed over his shoulder around the mouthful of herbs. He heard the paw steps of four cats trotting along behind him on the way to the medicine den. Jayfeather pushed through the entrance of the den and stopped short as the scent of blood and fox filled his nose.
Ivypool was sitting expectantly in the middle of the den, obviously waiting for his return. Jayfeather set down his herbs and muttered something in annoyance before turning around sharply to usher the cats back out of the den.
Tom and Harry obviously smelled something, as their noses were twitching wrinkling in disgust. "Okay," he mewed.
"I have an injured cat in my den and I need you all out so I can treat her." He nosed the cats backwards until they were a few tail lengths away from the den.
"Who is it?" Harry asked, concern evident in his voice. "It's not you, so it's not your problem. I'll take these in." He growled and bent to pick up the herbs. Tom and Harry shared a wide eyed glance and then turned to go find their friends.
Dovewing and Lionblaze moved closer to him. "It's Ivypool, isn't it?" Dovewing asked in a small voice. Jayfeather nodded and looked up at the two cats. "Now, if any cat asks, Ivypool got into a fight with a fox. She took the liberty of walking around in a fox den before she came back to camp."
Lionblaze and Dovewing mewed in agreement and left to pick from the fresh kill pile. "Jayfeather!" Briarlight meowed and hauled herself over to him from where she had been sitting with Rosepetal by the warriors den.
"Do you need help with that?" She asked, indicating the piles of herbs with a flick of her tail. Jayfeather shrugged and nodded to the burdock.
"You can take those and the yarrow, I'll take the catmint. We might just make it through leafbare with all of the catmint we've collected. Oh, Ivypool is in the den. She decided taking on a fox on her own was a good idea. I'll take care of it."
He picked up the catmint and walked to the den. A muffled noise showed that Briarlight had heard him. Jayfeather pushed his way into the den and spared Ivypool a brief glance.
Somehow, during hunting, she had opened up the wounds sustained in fighting in the Dark Forest. Jayfeather sighed and deposited the bundle of catmint near the back of the herb store. "Organize those herbs if you wouldn't mind."
He meowed to Briarlight, who was squeezing herself past him. She spat out the herbs next to the catmint and turned to Jayfeather.
"I'm not your apprentice you know." She snapped, but Jayfeather could detect the glimmer of amusement in her voice. Jayfeather grunted something along the lines of 'you act like one' and focused his attention back to his patient.
"I told you to be careful." He growled softly, nosing at Ivypool's fur to find the full extent of the damage. Ivypool shrugged, causing her to wince and for Jayfeather to hiss sharply at the sudden movement. "I would be appreciative if you didn't move!"
He meowed sharply. Ivypool sighed and resumed her position. "Sorry Mr. Grumpy Whiskers, what's up with you today? Oh right, you're always like this." She mewed at him sarcastically. Jayfeather had to strongly resist the urge to swat her over the ears and just curled his claws into the ground instead.
"I'll go get some marigold." He walked back to the herb store where Briarlight was already pulling out the plant. "Figured you might need this," she mumbled around the herbs.
"Foxes can put up quite a fight." Jayfeather nodded approvingly and took the herbs from her. "Now," He said to Ivypool as he sat in front of her. "This might sting a little."
Jayfeather took the marigold in his mouth and chewed it to a pulp, and then trickled the juice over Ivypool's wounds.
She hissed softly as the herb made its way into her wounds, and then Jayfeather sensed her shoulders relax when the healing agent came into play. She sighed him relief and rose to her paws.
"Thanks Jayfeather." Ivypool meowed, dipping her head to him. Jayfeather nodded back. "Now, just be careful with any battle training you might do." He murmured softly into her ear as she passed him.
Ivypool acknowledged his comment with a flick of her tail and she strode out of the den. Jayfeather stretched, and then padded out of the den in search of fresh kill. His nose twitched as he padded over to the pile, picking up the scent of the strangers.
They were huddled in a group, whispering quietly to each other as he approached. He sensed Chakotay's ear tip twitch as Jayfeather came into earshot.
He murmured something to the others and they turned to face Jayfeather, their conversation ceased. Jayfeather's tail flicked from side to side in frustration and he veered to pick up a vole from the top of the fresh kill pile.
He paused in selecting something for Briarlight, her tastes had been varying recently. "Briarlight," he called over his shoulder. "I'm getting fresh kill for you, what do you want?" "Oh, I'll get it. I was coming out anyway."
He heard her mew back. Jayfeather shrugged and settles back on his haunches to eat the vole. As he crunched into it, the flavors sang across his tongue and he realized he hadn't eaten since before sunhigh.
He turned his head as he heard Briarlight dragging herself across the clearing. Jayfeather caught a surprised meow from Kathryn as Briarlight heaved herself beside Jayfeather.
"Oh! You can't…" Kathryn's voice trailed off as she took in the limp half of Briarlight's form. "Walk?" Briarlight finished for her, unfazed by the question.
"No, see that fallen beech over there?" Briarlight pointed to the fallen tree with the tip of her tail. "I got trapped under it while I was still an apprentice like them." Briarlight nodded to Molepaw and Cherrypaw and took a bite of the rabbit she had collected.
"Oh! That reminds me! Brightheart and I were going to show them some fighting techniques that we learned with our 'disabilities.' See you all later!" Briarlight meowed cheerfully, finishing up her rabbit and heading over to where Brightheart was sitting with Cloudtail.
"Don't hurt yourself Briarlight!" Jayfeather called after her. "I won't!" He heard her mew with a purr of amusement. Jayfeather shook his head and finished the rest of his vole with a few famished bites. "Well, she certainly seems like a lively young cat."
Jayfeather heard Kathryn's voice. He 'looked' at her and shrugged. "I've had her doing exercises since she has been able. She could probably climb on top of the beech by now with just her forelegs."
He caught the wave of shock coming off her as she took this in. Jayfeather rose to his paws.
"You better ask Brambleclaw about nests for you and your cats. The warrior's den is a little crowded, so unless you'd like to sleep like Windclan out in the open, I'd suggest you make a nest in the apprentice den. Brambleclaw is the tabby over there. Just ask him about sleeping arrangements. I'd do it soon, it will be nighttime soon."
Jayfeather dipped his head to the cats and retreated to his den. Jayfeather sighed and curled up in his nest.
He closed his eyes and draped his tail over his nose, trying to fall into sleep. But he just couldn't seem to be able to make himself comfortable.
Jayfeather stood up and nosed around in his nest, straightening up with a thorn in his mouth. He spat out the thorn the side of the den and lay back down. No, that wasn't it, he thought in annoyance, he shifted in his nest and tried to settle down.
When he thought about the day's events, he felt tiredness finally sweep over him. He relaxed his muscles and slid into sleep.
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When Jayfeather woke, he wasn't blind, and he was in a semi-familiar forest. He smelled fresh, clean air, and heard the sounds of birds chirping in the trees. He got to his paws and started slowly moving forward.
As he was walking, he picked up a dank, musky scent that he quickly identified as snake. His gaze darted around wildly for the source, wondering what could make that much of a smell, when he saw a pile of large rocks clustered together in a clearing.
Jayfeather quickly backed away from the pile and then it clicked. He was in the old forest, but he couldn't pick up any cat scent in the surrounding him… or at all for that matter.
His paws fell into a well-trodden path and he assumed this was the trail to the camp. As Jayfeather walked towards the camp, he began to reflect that it was strange that he hadn't seen a young Mousefur or Sandstorm running past him.
After a while of walking, he became aware of another set of paw steps crunching on leaves. Jayfeather quickly launched himself up a nearby tree, just as Chakotay walked into the small clearing Jayfeather had been standing in moments ago.
Jayfeather didn't know he had been walking in Chakotay's dream, but he must have at some point. Then, Jayfeather realized something.
This couldn't be Chakotay's dream, he had never seen the old forest. He almost fell out of the tree in shock. Chakotay was walking in his dream!
Making up his mind, Jayfeather crouched on his branch until Chakotay was almost directly underneath him.
Then, Jayfeather gracefully jumped from the tree and landed a tail-length in front of him. Chakotay jumped back in surprise and lashed out his paw with a hiss.
When it landed, Jayfeather felt a flush of pain spread across his muzzle. Jayfeather gave a small yelp of pain, and then glared at the dark tabby that sort of resembled like Brambleclaw.
When he looked closer, Jayfeather could see an odd marking on the left side of his head. Jayfeather narrowed his eyes at Chakotay and took a small step forward.
Chakotay backed up, but then tilted his head to one side. "You're Jayfeather, aren't you? I saw you earlier in front of that den with Tom and Harry."
Jayfeather nodded, but didn't say anything else. "What are doing in my dream?" By the look on Chakotay's face, Jayfeather could tell that Chakotay thought Jayfeather was a figment of his imagination. "What are you doing in mine?" Jayfeather countered, and then lashed out a paw and caught Chakotay on the flank. He hissed in pain, then his eyes widened in realization
"This is the old forest, where the Clans used to live. You've never seen it before, and- it's just a scratch get over it." Chakotay glanced up from where he was parting the fur on his flank to view the wound.
He straightened and got a better look of the forest, then looked at Jayfeather with suspicion. "You acted like you could see what I was doing, and you're blind." Jayfeather shrugged.
"I can see in my dreams. But I'll ask you again, how can you of all cats walk in dreams?" Jayfeather truly was curious about this, as he was sure Chakotay wasn't actually a cat.
Chakotay took a deep breath and explained to Jayfeather that he was spiritual and he believed that minds could be linked and everything else. After he had finished his story, Jayfeather nodded.
"And I know you're not Starclan, by the way." Chakotay sighed and looked at the ground.
"I can explain-"
"There's no need to. My friend Dovewing overheard you behind the nursery." Jayfeather explained to him. Chakotay looked at him quizzically.
"But we were out of earshot of any cat." Jayfeather stayed silent for a few heartbeats, and then beckoned to Chakotay with a flick of his head.
"Follow me." He meowed and chose a direction at random, and started walking into dreamland…
Haha. Small cliffy. But REALLY THOUGH! I'm tired. This is a longer one for you guys. I honestly don't know when I'll get the next one out but I hope it will be soon. Have a great day!
Question Time! And this one is about a band that I listened to while writing this.
What is Pentatonix?
A cover band
A Cappella band
Awesome
All of the above
