Welcome to chapter 1.

The joke of the week is: What do you call a pile of kittens? A meowntain!

"Wait up, Jayfeather! What's so important that you couldn't show me at camp?"

"It's not in the camp!" Jayfeather called back cheerfully, his confident paws weaving him between the old oak trunks with ease. He had traveled this part of the forest many times so he didn't need to see to know where every single tree and bramble thicket grew. "Just a little bit farther!"

"If you say so. Hey, this path is leading us towards the ShadowClan border!"

It was sun-high and Jayfeather reveled in the warm new-leaf air as it whisked past his whiskers and ruffled his neck-fur. Only a couple small mounds of snow were left, he could feel the cold radiating from them as he raced by. But they were few and far between. The past leaf-fall had been fierce and cold and he couldn't be happier now that it was over. One of the queens, Sorreltail had died from a strand of greencough that wouldn't respond to his herbs and one of her kits, Seedkit had been killed when a snow-laden branch had fallen through the top of the nursery. Lilykit had been devastated losing her mother and sister in the same moon, but the Clan had made it through- even Briarlight by some miracle.

"If it's medicine cat stuff, why would you show me of all cats?" Lionblaze called from somewhere behind him, interrupting his thoughts. His call was getting closer as he caught up with the smaller cat. "I'm starting to think there isn't anything out here at all and you are just messing around."

"No, there definitely is something here that you need to see. It's just past these ferns." His brother's heavy pawsteps were still a good dozen fox-lengths behind him so he quickly prepared his trap. This part of the forest was shaded by the tall pines so much less of the snow had melted away. The land was slick and cold muddy puddles gathered in the curves of the ground. Before Lionblaze could spot where he went, Jayfeather skidded to a halt and plunged into a nearby holly bush.

"Jayfeather, where did you go?"

Lionblaze's mew grew louder as he rapidly drew nearer and Jayfeather held his breath until the unsuspecting tom was just a tail-length away from his hiding place.

"If this is just another one of your-"

Jayfeather sprung, exploding out of the bush and slammed into his brother as he flew past. Lionblaze yelped as the force knocked him off balance and he careened sideways through the ferns and there was a loud sploosh as the warrior plummeted into the big slushy puddle just a few pawsteps away.

Jayfeather scrambled to his paws, ears pricked eagerly, and followed his brother through the ferns to the edge of the wet patch.

"Jayfeather, y-y- you rat! It's freezing in here and you got me covered in mud!"

A loud purr of laughter escaped Jayfeather's lips and his tail curled in delight as the big warrior swore and thrashed as he struggled to free himself.

"You planned this all along, didn't you!"

"It was entirely premeditated," Jayfeather chuckled. He hissed as droplets of mud and ice peppered his pelt and he scurried out of the way as Lionblaze pulled himself onto dry ground. He knew he shouldn't be proud about what he had done, but then why did it feel so good?

"This will take all day to lick out, and you- You!"

"Eep!" Jayfeather yelped as Lionblaze turned on him. His paws slipped on the wet ground in his haste as he scurried out of reach of his brother's paw. Kicking up mud, he fled back the way he had come. "Take it easy Lionblaze it was only a joke!"

"I know it was a joke," Lionblaze growled evilly, giving chase. "I'm just returning the favor!"

Jayfeather ran as fast as his paws would take him, the warrior's breath hot on his tail. He was already tired from the run here, and his paws seemed to trip over everything as he cut through the forest. He made sharp turns and dived through the bushes in an attempt to shake off his attacker, but Lionblaze pursued relentlessly.

"What's the matter, brother?" came the warrior's mew from just a few steps behind. He was gaining on the medicine cat fast. "Afraid of a little joke?"

Just as Jayfeather's forepaws touched down in the training hollow, a hefty paw slapped his hind paws off course and he lost his balance. He flew through the air and crashed into the sand with a grunt. He fell over himself in a tangle of legs and tail and rolled to a stop.

Lionblaze was on top of him in a heartbeat, grasping him with his powerful paws. Jayfeather squirmed and thrashed but he felt like a tiny mouse in the talons of an owl. Lionblaze had him pinned with both paws on his chest. "Any last words, medicine cat, before you get a taste of your own medicine?"

Jayfeather thought fast. "Yes I do: Careful where you put those big paws of yours!" He craned his neck and nipped at one of the burly paws that was pressing him into the sand.

"Ouch!"

Lionblaze recoiled and Jayfeather lunged upwards with all his strength. He balanced on his hind paws and swiped, paws sheathed, in is brother's direction. He was pleased when his paws met the side of Lionblaze's head with a decent amount of force behind them. It felt good to be able to play with his brother again and not be worry about the Dark Forest getting in the way anymore. "Cower in fear, for you have challenged the mightiest medicine cat in all the Clans!"

But Lionblaze only purred in amusement. "Oh, but haven't you heard? I am the mightiest warrior in all the Clans." He stood up and matched Jayfeather's attack paw-to-paw, pushing the medicine cat backwards towards the bushes growing at the edge of the clearing. "No medicine cat can beat me!"

Jayfeather flailed wildly but it was no use as his brother overpowered him and shoved him back down into the sand. He was too exhausted to fight back and gave up.

"It was a glorious fight," Lionblaze cheered in exaggerated triumph. "But in the end, you got what was coming to you." He stooped down and gave the medicine cat a huge wet lick on the cheek.

"Ew, Lionblaze, that's gross, don't-"

Lionblaze licked him again, his rough tongue scraping against Jayfeather's muzzle as the smaller cat struggled to free himself from his grip. "Say you surrender, Jayfeather!"

"I surrender, I surrend-" Lionblaze's tongue caught him behind the ear and he yelped.

"I can't hear you, Jayfeather, say it louder!"

"I surrender! Get off of me you big lump!"

Lionblaze purred and stepped away, letting the medicine heave himself out of the sand. "I hope you have learned your lesson about shoving cats into snow-puddles."

Jayfeather snorted, swiping his paw over his muzzle to wash away some of the wet. "Next time, it will be even worse than a snow-puddle," he warned mischievously. "It will be the lake!"

Lionblaze flicked him on the shoulder with his tail. "Bring it on!"

The two brothers panted for a few moments in the sun, enjoying the warmth and letting their sodden paws dry. Jayfeather caught his breath and began to wash the mud and sand out of his pelt. He could remember playing like this when he was still a kit, but after he had discovered the prophecy that included him and his littermates, everything had changed. "I wish Hollyleaf were with us," he mewed distantly, remembering his sister's enthusiasm and confidence. She had always known the best games to play in the nursery and always pushed herself to be the best warrior she could be. As they grew up, she became more passionate about the Warrior Code than either of her brothers, and if things had been different, she might have even become leader of ThunderClan one day.

"I miss her too," Lionblaze sighed, flopping down in the sand with a thump. "We did everything together and I still think about her and all the mouse-brained trouble we got into when we were young. Do you remember the time when we almost drowned in that underground tunnel when it flooded?"

"I do." Jayfeather remembered it well and he suppressed a shiver as he recalled their near-death experience when all three of them along with some young cats from WindClan had nearly drowned after the tunnels filled with water after a rainstorm. It was into those very tunnels Hollyleaf had fled after discovering her real parents weren't Bramblestar and Squirrelflight. "I would do anything to go back and time and stop her from leaving us."

"I would fight every Dark Forest cat all at once if it meant I could have saved her," Lionblaze growled. "I could have stopped Hawkfrost from murdering her."

"We both did everything we could, and she knows that as she watches over us from StarClan." Jayfeather sat there with his brother, listening to the new-leaf birds as they fluttered between the branches above his head. He wished every day could be like this, but he knew eventually hardship would come again as it always did.

"Thanks for the morning run, but I have to be getting back to camp." Lionblaze stood up, the sand shifting beneath his paws. "For the first time ever, Squirrelflight is putting Leafpool in charge of a border patrol and I want to be there to see it. But this was fun and I hope we can do it again sometime."

"Yeah, me too," Jayfeather sighed, his attention still fixed on a songbird chirping on a branch above him. "And I hope Leafpool's patrol goes over well. I have something to do in my herb garden but I'll see you later back at camp."

"Do you want me to send you an apprentice to help?"

Jayfeather shook his head. "No thanks, I should be able to manage it myself."

"Okay then. I'll see you later!"

His brother's pawsteps thrummed away into the forest and Jayfeather took a moment to gather his thoughts as he lay back down in the sand. Ever since the battle with the Dark Forest, he couldn't help but feel a little underwhelmed being just a medicine cat again. He hadn't thought about it before, but the prophecy had meant so much to him- much more than he realized. What was he supposed to do now that his great destiny was completed?

He lifted himself to his paws and shook the sand from his pelt once more. He knew there was something missing in his life but he couldn't see how he could fill the hole. Should he talk it over with Lionblaze or Leafpool? He shook his head. He didn't want them to think he needed to have his paw held. He was old and wise enough to figure it out on his own. With another sigh, he began his march towards the abandoned twoleg nest.


:3


The evening chill was seeping into the air around him so it was just about time to head back to camp. Jayfeather was pleased that even through the harsh leaf-bare, his precious herbs were starting to regrow nicely. The frost had killed his supply of marigold but he knew he could find some more growing by the river. "At least I can always trust the tansy and sorrel to survive," he muttered to himself as he picked the dead leaves away and tossed them into a pile. "The stuff grows so fast around here that I find myself cutting it out more than I'm planting it back in."

Thinking about herbs reminded him that Mothwing, the previous RiverClan medicine cat had been one of the cats to die in the battle with the Dark Forest cats. In her final moments, she had believed in StarClan; he knew this because he had seen her among his starry ancestors when he visited the Moonpool. Jayfeather had never been overly fond of the RiverClan cat himsel but she was still a fellow medicine cat and would be missed for her wisdom.

He suddenly lowered himself into a hunter's crouch. The unmistakable scurrying of a mouse had caught his attention and he quickly located the creature nibbling near his young borage that was just starting to bud. He stalked slowly forward, feeling with his whiskers any leaves or twigs that might give him away, and once he was within range, he leapt. He pinned down the unsuspecting mouse by the tail as it tried to flee before delivering a death blow. He straightened up with the kill dangling from his jaws.

"That was a nice catch. A bit sloppy, but not bad for a blind medicine cat."

He jumped in surprise, dropping his kill. He recognized the newcomer and his heart soared when he realized who it was. "Hollyleaf! What are you doing here?" His sister's warm purr filled his ears and an image opened up in front of his eyes of a black-furred she-cat staring fondly at him with luminous green eyes.

"It's good to see you, brother," she meowed happily, laying her tail on his shoulder in a gesture of compassion. "You look well."

"Get on with it. I know you didn't fly down from StarClan just to tell me I look well," he joked, nudging his muzzle into her fur and breathing in the familiar scent."Does StarClan have some great prophecy they wish to burden me with again?"

Hollyleaf chuckled in amusement. "Is it so unacceptable for me to just want to visit my brother?"

He gave her a knowing look. "All those old badgers in StarClan have rubbed off on you. You're starting to act as if us living cats are mouse-brained fools ready to believe everything you say. Every cat knows StarClan only appear to pass on some mysterious ominous prophecy and then disappear into the sky again." He licked one paw and drew it quickly over his ears. "I've been dealing with StarClan all my life- I know."

Hollyleaf rolled her eyes. "Actually no, StarClan doesn't have some great prophecy for you this time. I just know something is troubling you and it is my duty as your sister before anything else to look after you." Her tone became suddenly serious. "So what's been troubling you?"

Jayfeather looked into one of her eyes and then the other. As a young cat, he had never been able to see his own sister's face, but now it was as familiar to him as his own voice. He closed his eyes and willed the words to come out. "What am I supposed to do now? As much as I like to poke fun at StarClan's prophecies, I can't help but miss them. Now the Three have to live the rest of their lives knowing their greatest moments are behind them. The prophecy made it seem like it was our destiny to defeat the Dark Forest, but it never said what we were supposed to do afterwards."

Hollyleaf blinked, and for a short moment, a flicker of hurt lit in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, realizing what he had said. "I know you always wanted to be one of the Three. I wanted you to be a part of it, too. It's selfish of me to feel this way."

But Hollyleaf shook her head. "I'm not upset about that anymore. It was never my destiny to be one of the Three or even the Four. StarClan had different plans for me and I'm okay with that. Right now, I'm here for you- and don't you dare try to flip this around and make me look like the cat that is troubled. Jayfeather, you have always been destined to do great things, and that doesn't end just because of some silly prophecy. But you can't rely on StarClan to tell you what to do. If you want to travel down another path, let your heart be your guide and never sway from what you believe to be right."

"Thanks, Leafpool. Spoken like a true wise cat."

Hollyleaf gave him an affectionate prod with her paw, ignoring the sarcasm in his meow. "There's more to life than just what us dead cats tell you. Life is a wonderful journey but sometimes you have to wander off the beaten path to appreciate it fully."