Jayfeather walked up the stoney mountain trail with Lionblaze at his side, guiding him to make sure he didn't stray from the path. Dovewing and Crane's Wing trailed behind them.
"This is so exciting," Crane's Wing whispered for what felt like the millionth time. Jayfeather wanted to hiss at him but he remembered the first time he'd been to the mountains and how excited he was so Crane's Wing's kit-like behavior was understandable.
"We should come by a patrol soon," Lionblaze commented. "We're in tribe territory I think."
"Intruders!" a voice yowled.
"Attack!" another shouted.
The four cats looked up. Jayfeather's ears twitched. High up on a nearby rock, a small group of cats stood. Two cats rained down on the clan cats from above, claws out.
Lionblaze and Dovewing jumped back and avoided being body slammed. Jayfeather stepped to the side, not wanting to move far in case there was a drop near that he couldn't see. Crane's Wing, who lacked any fighting training, yelped in surprise and barely managed to avoid being squashed.
"Stop!" another voice called but the two cats didn't seem to hear them. Jayfeather felt claws rake down his face. He hissed in pain and lashed out with his own paw. The blow hit but it didn't do much damage. Stupid blindness!
With a yowl, Lionblaze barreled into the cat who was attacking Jayfeather. "Get away from him!"
Crane's Wing was busy tussling with the other cat who had dropped down. Dovewing went to his side and helped him.
"Stop!" the voice said again. Four more cats dropped down. Two grabbed the scruffs of the two that had attacked.
"It's good to see you, Rain," Lionblaze greeted.
"You too, Lionblaze," she said. She nodded to the two cats who had attacked. "My apologies for our to-bes. They have never encountered cats outside of the tribe."
"Yes we have!" one of the to-bes protested. "We helped drive those rouges off the territory!" She glared at the clan cats. "Outsiders are not welcome!"
An older tom cuffed her over the ear. "These outsiders are welcome, Wind."
"Don't be so hard on her, Dark," Screech said. "You made the same mistake."
Dark gave his chest fur a few embarrassed licks. Splash purred in amusement.
"These to-bes are Branch Broken on Stones and Wind that Blows Through Bushes," Slash introduced. "Branch, Wind, these are our friends Lionblaze, Jayfeather, and Dovewing. They're clan cats. Like Stormfur."
"Clan cats?" Wind questioned. Jayfeather recognized her as the one who'd attacked him. "Clan cats are supposed to be warriors."
"These cats are no warriors," Branch agreed.
"I'm not a warrior," Jayfeather growled.
"And I'm not a clan cat," Crane's Wing said.
"And I'm blind."
"And I've never really had any training."
"Me neither."
"So, what brings you here?" Dark asked, changing the subject.
"I need to speak with the Tribe of Endless Hunting in the Cave of Pointed Stones," Jayfeather told him.
"Only Stoneteller can visit the Cave of Pointed Stones!" Branch hissed.
Rain out her tail on his shoulder. "Jayfeather can. He visited the cave before our Stoneteller did. He was the one to appoint him Stoneteller in the first place."
"How do you know that?" Jayfeather asked, surprised. I'd been so sure no one found out.
"Crag figured it out," Rain shrugged.
"How?"
Rain shrugged again.
"So you've spoken to our ancestors before?" Branch asked, losing his earlier aggression.
"He's speaks with our ancestors every half-moon," Dovewing told him. Jayfeather glared at her. He didn't want to stand here all day bragging to to-bes.
"Wow. So Jayfeather's like the Healer of your tribe? I mean, clan?"
"Clans work differently from the tribe," Dark told him. "Leadership, knowledge of herbs, and communicating with ancestors is a role split between two different cats."
"One cat does it all here?" Crane's Wing questioned. "That sounds like a lot. In my tribe, we have a head of each line, one shama, and a few cats who know about healing."
"I'm sorry, did you say your tribe?" Splash asked.
"Yeah. There are three tribes. The Tribe of Rushing Water is the first of the other two I've met. Hi. I'm from the Tribe of the Sacred Lines. It's so nice to meet you!"
"... Let's head back to the cave," Screech suggested, stunned with shock.
"Stormfur! Brook!" the two to-bes called as the group went behind the waterfall into the tribe's home. "Some clan cats from the lake are here!"
Stormfur and Brook looked up from the new-kill they were sharing. "Lionblaze! Dovewing! Jayfeather!"
"Stormfur! Brook!"
Jayfeather walked over to greet the two cats who had lived with his clan when he was an apprentice. He was happy to see them again. He liked the two of them.
"What brings you here?" Brook asked. "Is there something going on at the lake?"
"No, we just needed to come here," Lionblaze told her.
"Is Brambleclaw or Squirrelflight with you?" Stormfur asked.
"Brambleclaw is Bramblestar now," Jayfeather told him. "And Squirrelflight is his deputy. They had to stay back to lead the clan."
"Clan leader?" Brook question, impressed. Then her expression fell. "That means something happened to Firestar."
"We haven't been here since the great battle have we?" Lionblaze asked. The two tribe cats shook their heads. "Turns out that bad cats don't go to StarClan, they go to a place called the Dark Forest. The Dark Forest began training to take revenge on StarClan and the living clan cats."
"Dead cats came into this world?" Stormfur asked.
Lionblaze nodded. "Firestar died after killing Tigerstar."
Shock was mixed in with sorrow. "Is Graystripe alright? How's everyone else?"
"Graystripe is fine. He' retired a few moons after the battle. Hollyleaf, Ferncloud, and Sorrelstripe died though," Dovewing told them.
"Foxleap died afterward from injuries," Jayfeather said "Icecloud and Toadstep died from greencough a few moons later. Dustpelt got killed by badgers too."
"Spottedleaf died a second time," Lionblaze added.
"Wow guys. Way to start things off," Crane's Wing said sarcastically but his voice lacked its usual excitement due to the rough subject.
Stormfur looked sadly down at his paws. Brook rested her head on his shoulder.
"Stormfur, Brook, what's wrong?" two cats ran up to the group. It was another pair of to-bes. Lark that Sings at Dawn and Pine that Clings to Branch. Stormfur and Brook's kits.
"We just found out some friends of our's died," Stormfur murmured. He shook himself and tried to look brighter. "Lark, Pine, you remember Dovewing and Jayfeather, right?"
Pine and Lark looked at the clan cats. They yelped when they saw Jayfeather.
"It's the scary cat!" Lark exclaimed and ducked with her brother behind their parents.
Lionblaze and Crane's Wing looked confused.
"Last time clan cats came by, these two were kits," Brook explained.
"And Jayfeather scared them," Dovewing added.
Crane's Wing looked at Jayfeather in mock shock, some of his humor returning. "You go around into other cats' homes, scaring their kits? I expect better from you!"
"They were stalking me," Jayfeather said.
"No we weren't," Pine protested.
"Screech literally saw you, he told me. You deserved it."
"Who's this?" Stormfur asked looking at Crane's Wing.
"Oh hi! I'm Crane's Wing. I'm from another tribe by the way. Apparently no one knows that there are three," Crane's Wing said. "It's so nice to meet you! I've never met other tribe cats. Or even a ShadowClan cat."
"He was a RiverClan cat."
"RiverClan cat," Crane's Wing corrected.
Stormfur and Brook blinked. Pine and Lark peered out from behind their parents.
"Is Crag around?" Jayfeather asked. "I need to speak to him. You guys can keep talking but this is kind of important."
"He should be in his den," Stormfur said.
"Thanks," Jayfeather said and walked off to find the Healer.
Author's Note: The story slows down a bit around the Tribe's part unfortunately.
Reviews-
Fala- Thanks for catching that. I've written Jay's Wing and Crane's Wing so many times that I automatically write Wing a lot. I fixed it, thanks for letting me know.