Hi y'all. Chapter from Ivypool's pov because she is awesome.

OriontheGreat I have big plans for Cash and Jayjay. Fun fact, they are named after two awesome horses I used to help my neighbors with back when I lived in California.

espritduchat Hehe, some of that is actual medical knowledge and some of it, like the oak leaves stuff, is Erin Hunter's made up herbs. And yes, cats are physically capable of rolling their eyes, but just don't because that's a human thing. And btw, I really like your name- French is my favorite language.

Inkie Ermanillie Didn't have to wait too long, I hope. I already have the next few chapters planned and lined up.

MistLion Hehe, I don't think Jay really cares about the name Jayjay. In the Clans, there are plenty of similar names, but it's rarely heeded. Those 'gang cats' are definitely going to be a thing happening soon... maybe...

Ivypool waited in silence as her Clanmate huffed over another small inconsistency in the grassy hill. Briarlight was pushing herself as hard as she could go, but even with a moon of training and a quarter moon of traveling, she was still unbearably slow. However, Ivypool couldn't but help feel an immense amount of admiration for her. To go through the tribulations she had and still be able to wake up every day and pretend to be cheerful- Ivypool didn't know how she did it.

The day had been warm and cloudless but as the sun began to go down the temperature slowly dropped and the sky dulled to a pale violet. Ivypool let her gaze waver away from her friend so she could take in the scenery around them. That day's journey had included huge swaths of flat land with strange plants growing in perfect rows, a couple overflowing rivers, and a couple thunderpaths. They hadn't talked much at all as they traveled but that was mostly because Briarlight ran out of breath quickly. Now they were padding up and down wide grassy hills with grass tall enough to brush their bellies and tickle their chins. A little distance away, Ivypool could see what looked like a small forest. And beyond that, she heard the distinct sound of rumbling twoleg monsters.

They were following Jayfeather's scent but the trail was rapidly fading away with each passing day. She could barely detect it at all anymore mostly due to the heavy rainstorm from a few days ago. Fortunately the mountains were visible in the distance. Bramblestar said Jayfeather might be headed for the Tribe of Rushing Water so if the scent trail ever vanished altogether, that was was the direction they would go. I hope we don't catch up with Jayfeather too soon, though. I've never gotten to meet any of the Tribe cats and it might be cool to travel to the mountains.

"Thanks for waiting," Briarlight panted, practically crawling up the grass to flop down beside her. "I just need to take another break. Are you sure Jayfeather went this way?"

Ivypool nodded, eyes darting back to her Clanmate. "His scent is weak, but it is definitely still there. How about we rest once we hit those trees," she flicked her tail in the direction of the small forest. "The sun is about to go down so we could hunt and find some shelter there too."

"I guess I have the energy to go a little farther," Briarlight admitted, pushing herself back to her tired paws and staring back the way they had come at the shades of crimson that stretched across the skyline. "I agree, we need a place to sleep for the night. Lead the way!"

"Ok!" Ivypool turned and raced down the side of the hill and up the next. Her claws tore up the grass and dirt with every bound and it exhilarated her. Before this journey, she hadn't had the chance to really run and push herself since the battle against Tigerstar and his followers. The mock battle on WindClan had been fun but after training with Hawkfrost for so long, it seemed more like kit play-fighting than a real battle.

As she raced up the next hill, she returned to her thoughts about ThunderClan. Over the past few days, that was almost all she could think about. It felt bad disobeying Bramblestar, but this was her one chance to get out of the Clans and explore. And when she found Jayfeather and brought him back, the whole Clan would treat her and Briarlight as heroes. Besides, it wasn't fair that Dovewing had always gotten to leave on important quests while Ivypool was stuck in camp.

"Show-off!"

Ivypool skidded to a stop, kicking more grass up into the air, and turned to glance at her Clanmate who was still hobbling many fox-lengths behind. "Sorry! I just need to run!"

But Briarlight's wide blue eyes glimmered with amusement as she padded steadily after her Clanmate. "I was just kidding. Don't let me slow you down. One day I'll be so fast you'll be asking me to slow down."

Ivypool laughed loudly. "You'll have to wait a long time before then. We will probably have already found Jayfeather and brought him back to camp before you are as fit as you were before the tree fell on you."

The other she-cat suddenly looked down at her paws as if she were examining dirt between her toes. "Yeah, you're right. We'll probably be back in camp again before that happens."

Ivypool twitched an ear. Was that guilt she had heard in her Clanmates' mew or had she imagined it? Ivypool didn't pay it much attention and instead continued to race across the grass until she was beneath the shade of the trees. Her heart thumped happily as she waited for her companion to make it over, but Briarlight was still far. She let herself drift away into her own thoughts once more.

The past few days had been uneventful apart from the huge storm. Briarlight was a fine traveling partner, apart from being slow, but at least she didn't talk much. She must have been very determined to find Jayfeather if she was willing to sneak out of the camp in the middle of the night and risk getting in serious trouble. Then again, she respected Jayfeather and trusted him with her life. Her world must have been shattered when Bramblestar announced that he was no longer medicine cat of ThunderClan. I would have done the same if Dovewing tried to abandon the Clan. Ivypool's only worry was that they would never catch up to Jayfeather since they were moving so slowly, and his scent trail would fade away. They might have to rely solely on Bramblestar's word that Jayfeather was heading for the mountains.

Briarlight was slowly getting closer but she was still far away. Ivypool lay down in the grass and rolled over onto her back to look up into the dark branches above. She couldn't see them, but the pattering of tiny paws was unmistakable. If Jayfeather really had come this way, at least he was eating well- assuming he was able to catch anything. She was genuinely impressed he had made it this far on his own. She knew he had powers granted by StarClan, but he was still blind and alone. He had to be very brave, very confident, or very mouse-brained to sneak out of the camp like that.

A nearby rustling caused her ears to prick instinctively and she rolled back over onto her belly. Just a few tail-lengths away was a mouse rummaging beneath some leaves searching for seeds. She couldn't see it because it was beneath the clutter but she didn't need to. She stalked closer to the shivering mound and pounced. She straightened up with the fresh-kill clasped in her jaws. She and Briarlight hadn't gone hungry a single day since leaving the camp. The mice they ran into were slow and dopey compared to the prey she hunted in the forest.

Ivypool placed her catch behind some ferns to fetch later but first she wanted to explore deeper into the trees. Perhaps there were more signs that Jayfeather had passed this way. The rumbling of twoleg monsters drifted through the trees but they were still far enough away that she wasn't worried about one of them attacking. The ground was littered with leaves and broken twigs, knocked down be the harsh winds of the storm. She doubted any traces of the medicine cat would have survived for long, but one thing was for sure; the squirrel nibbling a cob nut ahead of her definitely wouldn't.

She raced towards the fuzzy creature, not caring if it spotted her, and gave chase as it fled into the shadow-laced trees. It was late enough that the squirrel would fade in and out of her view as it sprinted between the patches of light and darkness, but she knew she could outrun it. She had done it before in ThunderClan. Sure enough, she pinned it down after just a few heartbeats of racing through the forest and sank her teeth into its neck. She gave an excited growl as the warm taste filled her mouth, but she resisted the temptation to eat it right away. It was a warrior's courtesy to share.

A faint odor caught her attention making her drop her catch in the dirt. She recognized it immediately as Clan scent. But to her horror she quickly realized it was mixed with the acrid smell of blood and- Fox! She followed the scent over to a raggedy bramble bush sheltered beneath the leaves of a young maple and peered closer at the sharp thorns. Gray and ginger fur was caught in the prickles and dried blood was spattered across the leaves. Jayfeather was definitely here within the past few days, and it looks like he attacked by a fox! I need to show this to Briarlight.

Without a second thought, Ivypool raced back the way she had come, completely forgetting the squirrel she had just caught. She burst from the trees and thankfully, Briarlight was there to meet her. The other she-cat was panting heavilly as she lay belly-up in the grass.

"There you are, Ivypool. I was wondering-"

"You need to come see this right now," Ivypool interrupted her, hastily flicking her tail for Briarlight to follow. "Jayfeather was here and he was hurt by a fox!" She turned around and bolted back into the trees, aware of her Clanmate close behind, all tiredness forgotten. She lead the way to the bramble bush and stopped beside it. "Look! He was here and he was hurt badly!"

Briarlight raced forward and gave the bush a sniff. Her fur puffed out in fear, but after a moment it slowly fell back into place. "It's at least three days stale, but it's definitely Jayfeather's blood. If he kept losing this much, he will already be dead. But I have confidence that he escaped the fox and has healed himself. He is a fantastic medicine cat after all."

Ivypool's jaw fell open slightly as she stared at her Clanmate. How could she be so naive? Even a trained warrior wouldn't last long against a hungry fox, let alone a blind cat with no warrior training. Why did Briarlight have so much confidence in him when Jayfeather was obviously in serious trouble?

Briarlight turned to look at her, blue eyes bright and calm. "I know what you are thinking, but Jayfeather is more than just a smaller than average grumpy blind medicine cat. He's stronger and more capable than you know."

Ivypool narrowed her eyes trying to understand where her Clanmate was coming from. Jayfeather had kept the Clan safe and healthy for moons, and he had been a huge support to Briarlight herself. Was she delusional of what Jayfeather really was since she had spent so many moons looking up to him? Or was she just as worried as Ivypool was and this was her way of coping with the potential loss?

Briarlight must have seen the disbelief on Ivypool's face because she let out a small sigh. "Come on, we have to follow his trail. Dead or alive, I- the Clan needs him," she muttered stubbornly. "You are better at tracking so lead the way."

Ivypool's neck fur rose slightly. The tone in her friend's mew was tinged with disapproval as if she knew something Ivypool didn't. But Ivypool wasn't going to argue. Instead she investigated the brambles more closely. The direction the fur tufts caught in the thorns suggested Jayfeather had been running deeper into the forest when he had passed by. "Follow me."

Briarlight nodded, barely visible in the gloom cast by the trees, and followed.

The two she-cats padded along the darkening forest floor, the chirping of crickets beginning to fill the air. The medicine cat's scent was faint but after following it for a while, it disappeared altogether. Ivypool stopped, confused. How could the scent just disappear? She retraced her steps, but the scent trail seemed to taper off after a certain point. "I lost the trail," she admitted to her Clanmates who was standing behind her. "I can't scent the fox either. It's like they vanished."

Briarlight padded forward. "Let me try."

Ivypool stepped aside as the other cat's silhouette glided across the grass. If they lost the medicine cat's trail now, they would have to find shelter in the trees and try again tomorrow.

"I think he made a sharp turn towards the thunderpath," Briarlight meowed, veering away from the scent trail. "I can feel grooves in the dirt where maybe he or the fox changed direction very quickly. The soil is softer here so water must have been flowing over the grass washing away the scents."

Ivypool blinked, impressed. "You can tell all of that just by feeling the ground?"

Briarlight was already padding in the direction of the thunderpath that rumbled nearby. "Jayfeather taught me about more than just herbs," she called over her shoulder. After a few steps she purred with triumph. "The scent picks up again over here!"

Ivypool followed in silence, her lip curling in surprised amusement. She had underestimated her friend's abilities. I used to think I knew everything there was to know about being a warrior, but I'm learning things from a cat who used to have only two working legs.

The trees opened up and Ivypool squinted into the harsh light that glared at her as the thunderpath came into view. Tall straight twoleg trees topped with tiny suns were spaced along the sides of the wide black path. They were casting a bright orange light on the the huge roaring monsters as they stomped passed. The awful things made her fur stand up every time they got close but thankfully they didn't seem interested in the watching cats. I've never been this close to a monster before and neither has Briarlight. I wish we had a more experienced warrior with us.

"I think I found our fox," Briarlight murmured, standing in a pool of twoleg light a few steps away. She lifted a paw and gestured to the other side of the thunderpath.

Ivypool's eyes followed where she pointed and sure enough, there was an unmoving pile of red fur crumpled in a heap beyond the thundering monsters. The creature was clearly dead. "It must have chased Jayfeather across the thunderpath and been killed by a monster," she observed, leaning back on her hind legs to try and get a better view. Fear trickled down her spine as she realized just how big the twoleg place was. The dens towered over the thunderpath like black ominous mountains but she did her best to remain calm. "I don't see Jayfeather so he must have survived and escaped into the twoleg place."

"We'll go in tomorrow. I'd rather save crossing the thunderpath until I'm well rested," Briarlight meowed shakily, turning around and padding past Ivypool. There was a spark of relief in her eyes which could have meant she was glad the medicine cat hadn't been eaten, or that she was happy to be away from the twoleg place. "I don't know if I'm more tired or more hungry."

"I'll fetch the mouse and squirrel I caught before we go to sleep," Ivypool meowed, following her friend into the trees. Even she was starting to feel the weariness in her paws from walking all day. I don't fancy traveling through the twoleg place tomorrow, but if Jayfeather could do it, so can we. I just really hope he is safe and knows what he's doing.

Don't forget to follow and favorite if you like the story so far. I have the next few chapters already planned out(including some fight scenes I'm looking forward to writing) so stick around.