So apparently Briarlight got killed off in the cannon books. Hahaha, I guess that's just one more reason for me not to read them because screw that. Also screw Alderheart, Darktail, SkyClan and most of the characters in the newest series. I am so tired of StarClan meddling with everything and not learning from their mistakes. That's why I remade this story.
WarriorsAce55 I thought I described what happened to Seedkit, but I must have accidentally deleted it. So I went back and wrote a little something for her in chapter 3. Also I did not make the cover art, that was thesaltybobcat on deviantart who I commissioned.
MistLion Thanks for the thoughtful reviews, I always enjoy reading them. And Typholius is fine- better than he's been in a long time. :)
Jayfeather lay with his chin on the cold stone floor, facing the cave entrance as he listened to the rain patter on the rocks above. Heavy clouds had rolled overhead that past night as they slept and now rivers of freezing water trickled down the sides of the mountain. Fortunately, the shape of the cave's opening didn't cause the water to flood inside. Plus, the rain would disperse the snow drifts that still remained. He had chosen to postpone his journey to the Tribe until the weather settled down. Pouring rain, billowing winds, and sheer cliffs made for a blind cat's nightmare.
He could feel a pang of hunger in his stomach but he didn't dare say anything about it. He and his traveling companions hadn't been offered any food upon arriving but they hadn't expected any. The broken cats around them could barely feed themselves. The majority of the rogues were out in the storm right now, hunting desperately for anything that hadn't found shelter from the rain. Briarlight, Jayjay, and Cash had insisted they help and were out there now. They had agreed not to eat anything they caught since the rogues needed it more. Not that they will catch anything, Jayfeather thought. The weather would have made it nearly impossible for even an expert hunter like Dovewing or Ivypool to find anything that wasn't burrowed deep in a crevice somewhere.
Ivypool. Jayfeather let out a small sigh remembering his former Clanmate's feelings of betrayal as Briarlight explained to her the truth of why she had left the camp. Ivypool was a good cat who had gone through so much torment and sacrifice over the past few seasons while she was spying on the Dark Forest. She hadn't deserved any more lies. But worrying about her wouldn't change anything. Jayfeather knew she would find her way safely home and rip apart any foolish housecat or rogue who tried to stop her. She was a ferocious warrior by her own right. She might even be back at the ThunderClan camp already, telling the Clan all about his and Briarlight's betrayal.
A rumble of thunder echoed through the sky as Jayfeather listened, masking the sound of pawsteps approaching behind him.
"Not much of a hunter?"
Jayfeather's ears flicked in the direction of the voice but he didn't stand from where he lay. It was Flora. "No cat is catching anything in that storm," he meowed knowingly.
"I expected your response to be because I'm blind," she purred with pointed amusement, but the sound seemed strained as if she hadn't purred in a long time. "I'm sure your Clan friends keep you well fed. They always take care of the weak and helpless, don't they?"
Jayfeather did his best not to take offense to the obvious insult. "Actually, I'm not a Clan cat anymore," he told her proudly. "I've left the lake and my family behind to start a new life somewhere else. And I hunt for myself fine, thanks," he added acutely.
"You left your Clan behind?" she asked with genuine surprise. "I was always under the impression that Clan life was superior to any other- since you are always going around telling other cats that their way is wrong. At least that's what it looked like the first time they invaded the mountain and fought against us."
Jayfeather chose that moment to sit upright and turn his head to face her. "Clan life is good for some things but not everything," he meowed with a steady tone. "And I'm sorry for what happened to your rogues the first time we-"
"Mountain Pack," she interrupted.
"What?"
"We aren't just 'those rogues' anymore," she informed him. "After I became our official leader, I gave us the name 'Mountain Pack.' It doesn't mean much but the Pack seem to like the name. Who knows, maybe one day we'll have a civilized community with rules and fresh-kill everywhere just like in your Clans and Tribe."
Jayfeather seized the opportunity to change the subject. "Are you saying the Tribe is eating well while your cats are starving?"
Flora let out a tired breath and sat down beside him, flopping down on the rocks like a dead squirrel being tossed onto the fresh-kill pile. Jayfeather could sense her achy and worn body and he was shocked by how drained she was. She wasn't much older than he was yet she could have passed for an elder.
"The Tribe have the better hunting grounds," she sighed flatly, dropping her jeering tone from moments before as if keeping up that act was too tiring. "And they know the land better than we do. Our hunters eat what they can and whatever is left over goes to the queens and kits. You may have noticed there are no old or sick cats living in the cave. We only have one kit left, but if the hunters starve, the kits starve anyway. Good luck trying to tell the strongest hunters they aren't allowed to eat the prey they catch."
Jayfeather felt a spark of interest. Did Flora want the Pack to become an organized group or was this just the desperation of hunger speaking? "I could help your cats become more like a Clan or Tribe if you like," he offered tentatively.
Flora suddenly stood up."Absolutely not! The rest of the Pack would cut my guts out if they heard I wanted us to be more like the Tribe. And after all these struggling moons I wouldn't blame them. We've been fighting for so long; you're lucky they even let you come to our cave alive."
Jayfeather flattened his ears. Were the Pack cats really that fierce towards trespassers? Even through her adamant words, he could sense the conflicted feelings in her mind. She was proud and protective of her cats, but at the same time, she didn't have all the answers. There was no code for the Pack, no rules, and no cat experienced with healing herbs. I should help them, but I also don't want to get killed if I say something that offends them. They don't want to be like the Clans or Tribe, but that doesn't mean they can't have a code of their own.
"The Tribe of Rushing Water is at war with us," Flora continued wearily, sitting down again. "Sometimes we attack their cave, sometimes they attack ours. The borders your Clan made when they visited are all but forgotten. Food is food no matter where in the mountain it is, and whoever eats it first lives to fight another day."
Jayfeather mulled the information over in his mind, and was saved from trying to find a response by the sound of pawsteps racing through the rain. One of the hunting patrols had returned! He stood up as the cats approached and he picked out the scent of Briarlight with them. Jayjay and Cash must have gone with a different patrol.
"Welcome back!" Flora called warmly, standing up as the cats passed.
Jayfeather wasn't surprised that no prey-scent accompanied them. As he predicted, it would have been very difficult to catch anything in a rainstorm. Or maybe they captured plenty and had simply eaten it all. He had to remind himself that these weren't Clan cats honor-bound to feed the weak.
"Anything to report?" Flora asked them as the soggy group of cats caught their breath and shook the water from their pelts.
"We ran into some Tribe cats," came a cat's voice who Jayfeather recognized as Boulder's. "But their patrol was smaller than ours so they just dropped the two mice they caught and fled without a fight."
Jayfeather knew both mice were already filling some other cats' bellies, and from the tone in Flora's voice, she did too.
"Get dry and warm," she told the returning patrol as they hurried deeper into the cave. "You're lucky to have eaten at all on such a miserable day." She didn't say another word to Jayfeather and padded behind the patrol to join them in the back.
Flora was right- it was a miserable day. But Jayfeather perked up as Briarlight padded over to him. No amount of rain could dampen her spirits.
"You didn't miss much," she panted, clearly winded from racing over the mountains with the Pack. "Apart from the mice we stole from some Tribe cats, we didn't catch anything at all."
Jayfeather flinched away as she shook her pelt and sent a barrage of tiny drops in his direction. "Did any of the Tribe cats see you? I don't want them to think the Clans have turned against them."
Briarlight sat down beside him and began to lick the remaining moisture out of her pelt. "Maybe, I'm not sure," she mewed between licks. "But every cat looks the same in the dark and soaking wet anyway. Even if they did see me, they wouldn't recognize me since I've never met the Tribe before."
She made a good point and Jayfeather relaxed slightly. He began helping dry her pelt with his tongue, enjoying the excuse to smell her familiar fur. "How did the Pack cats treat you? Flora might be alright but I'm not sure about the others."
"They were fine," Briarlight meowed simply. "The first thing they did was tell me to call them the Pack, and then they kept reminding me that if they caught anything, I wouldn't be sharing. It's as if they thought I would steal their fresh-kill and eat it all myself." She briefly pressed her muzzle affectionately into his fur. "But I told them I was only hunting for them and they stopped bothering me after a while."
"These cats don't know who to trust," Jayfeather deduced, piecing together everything he knew so far about Flora's Mountain Pack. "It's almost as if they were once betrayed by a cat they thought was an ally. It would explain why they were so hesitant in letting us come to their cave."
"That might be true," she mewed. "Or they might just be a group of starving cats who barely survived leaf-bare."
Jayfeather closed his eyes as he rhythmically licked Briarlight's pelt to the sound of her purr. His belly growled impatiently but he knew he wouldn't be eating until they left the Pack's cave. Even if the hunters brought back fresh-kill he expected the guests would be the last cats to eat. Jayjay and Cash's patrol would be returning soon and once they were all together again they could discuss their plan on what to do next. Sol was still asleep somewhere in the cave since he had refused to go out in the rain, but Jayfeather wasn't interested in what he wanted.
"Will we find the Tribe tomorrow?" Briarlight asked, echoing his thoughts.
"We'll talk about it once Jayjay and Cash get back," he assured her. "Tell me about what you saw while you were hunting. I imagine we're going to be in this cave for a while. The rain doesn't sound like it will be stopping soon."
"I wouldn't call that hunting," Briarlight laughed quietly, her tail swishing across the cave floor. "More like running through cold puddles of mud while surrounded by grumpy cats. You would have enjoyed it."
Jayfeather shook his head vigorously, imagining all that muck in his fur. "No thanks! I've been in enough water to last me a lifetime."
Briarlight's purr was warm. "But you aren't afraid of getting wet when it really matters. I've heard rumors that during the daylight Gathering on the moors, you hid in the lake so TigerClan wouldn't find you."
"Who told you that?" Jayfeather blurted, his eyes wide. But he narrowed them again. "It was Dovewing, wasn't it! That she-cat never knows when to keep her mouth closed. She found me on the shore soon after the TigerClan patrol had passed."
"So it really isn't the rain that is keeping us in this cave filled with cats who hate us," Briarlight meowed, continuing her point. "We could have left these starving cats this morning and found the Tribe, but you chose to stay anyway."
Jayfeather didn't have an immediate response. Was she mad at him for keeping them all in the cave instead of finding a better place to stay? "I'm sorry, it's just-"
"Because I think that's a good thing," she meowed, interrupting him. "You were made a medicine cat because you are fantastic at helping other cats in need. That's not a destiny StarClan gave you, that's what you created yourself. Maybe that's the purpose you were searching for when you left ThunderClan; helping other cats beyond the lake."
Jayfeather's jaw hung open, lost for words as Briarlight returned to the task of drying her pelt. He hadn't really thought about it, but maybe it really was the purpose he wanted. Helping cats in strange lands with my skills? That could be a destiny worth living, right? He would have to think more about it before he made a final decision. He licked his lips and continued to help his mate with her fur.
:3
The sound of paws thrumming on rock woke Jayfeather from his nap. He and Briarlight had dozed off while they waited for Jayjay and Cash's patrol to return and it sounded like they were finally back.
The Pack cats charged out of the rain and under the shelter of the cave. To Jayfeather's surprise, beneath the smell of very wet cats was also the feint scent of fresh-kill. Nettle was carrying a mouse with her and Jayfeather was shocked that Jayjay was also carrying a mouse.
"Why is one of the strangers carrying fresh-kill?" came Boulder's gruff voice as he approached the returning patrol. "There are too many hungry mouths in this cave for those fat strangers to be stealing our food!"
Jayfeather could smell Jayjay's fear scent as the large angry Pack cat stalked over to him. Jayfeather sat up and was about to intervene but Nettle beat him to it.
"He caught the fresh-kill himself and he says he's bringing it back to feed any cats who can't hunt," she growled at the tom, warning him to back off. "I didn't see anything wrong with him carrying his own catch. You should be congratulating him for being competent enough to catch something in this storm, and grateful that his hard work means your sister gets to eat something today. Her kit has been crying for food for two days."
Jayfeather was shocked by how fiercely Nettle defended Jayjay, who stood rooted with uncertainty as the whole cave watched.
"I- I didn't know," Boulder muttered, lowering his tone in shame. "Sorry."
"Come, Jayjay, I'll show you where the queen is sleeping," Nettle meowed gently to the younger cat.
The two cats padded deeper into the cave and Jayfeather relaxed. He was proud of Jayjay. He might be young, but his heart- and clearly his claws- were in the right place. Cash did not seem as thrilled and joined Jayfeather and Briarlight where they sat at the edge of the cave opening.
"That was not fun," Cash moaned, sitting down beside them. "The storm was the most pleasant part of all of it. Listening to these cats talk was like being back in the houseplace surrounded by Sentinel's gang all over again. None of them have any loyalty to a greater cause, it's just 'kill' and 'steal' and 'me me me.'"
Briarlight let out a tiny chirp of laughter. "My group was like that too. They are suffering and the prey is running later this season. Once newleaf brings the warmth back up the mountain they'll be fine."
"I suppose you're right," Cash sighed, his rumbling belly audible even over the pounding rain outside."My half-brother didn't seem bothered by their talk. Then again, he was too focused on the hunt to pay them much attention."
Jayfeather didn't want to say it in front of Cash in case he made him feel bad, but he was hugely impressed that Jayjay had actually caught something during a storm in a land that was new to him. Jayjay has the right idea- making friends with the Pack. We need to show them that we can be trusted.
"By the way, I think one of the Pack cats may have torn a claw when she slipped on some rocks," Cash added. "I thought you might want to use your healing skills on them or something."
Jayfeather flicked his tail over the young cats ears. "You probably know enough about herbs by now that you could help them," he pointed out.
"Maybe," Cash admitted, rolling over onto his side. "But I also didn't spend the day cooped up safe and dry while my friends exhausted themselves running around a mountain all day during a storm."
"Careful, Cash," Briarlight purred. "That kind of cheek will get you in trouble."
"No, he has a point," Jayfeather meowed, amused by the young cat's boldness. "Rest and I'll see if there's something I can do for the Pack." He gave Briarlight one more affectionate lick before turning and padding deeper into the cave. Cash really could make a fine medicine cat if he wanted to be.
As Jayfeather weaved his way between the tired cats toward the rear of the cave he began to realize that the younger cats stayed closer to the entrance while the senior cats slept near the back. It was interesting because ThundeClan was the same way. When leaf-bare came around, older warriors stayed in the middle of the den where it was warmest while the younger warriors lay closer to the den walls. Right now I just want to find a cat with a torn claw. He felt the air around him for any traces of pain and his attention focused on a small group of Pack cats huddled together. Jayjay was among them and he seemed to be having a conversation. Jayfeather padded closer.
"-my brother was killed on the coldest day of leaf-bare," whispered a young she-cat's voice. "That morning, Soot was found dead with frost hanging in his fur. He wasn't a great hunter so he had been very skinny. We don't know if it was hunger or the cold that killed him first."
"At least he died in his sleep," Jayjay murmured comfortingly, his tone suggesting he was also no stranger to loss in the family but he didn't say anything else.
Jayfeather stepped forward until he was among the group of cats. The pain in the air was coming from the young cat Jayjay was talking to. "What's your name?" Jayfeather asked her.
"What's it to you?" she tried to growl but it came out more like a gasp as the pain escaped into her words.
Jayfeather didn't have time to waste bickering with her. "I think you have a torn claw," he meowed sternly, like a queen speaking to a naughty kit. "And with so much moisture in the cave, it could easily become infected. Let me take a look."
He could sense the she-cat's surprise but she seemed to relax a bit. "My name is Asphalt," she murmured and held out her paw for him to examine. "It might be too dark in here to see, though," she told him.
Jayfeather blinked. He would have expected Flora to tell them all that he was blind, but then he remembered the Pack probably didn't have organized Clan meetings either. In the Clans, it was common knowledge so he wasn't used to explaining it. "It's alright, I'm blind," he meowed bluntly, seeing no point in avoiding the truth.
She let out a low growl. "Liar! There's no way a blind cat could travel all the way up the mountain. You would fall straight off the edge."
Jayfeather couldn't help but laugh. He was humbled that some cats still thought he was normal. "I don't need eyes to know where the mountain is," he told her. "I find my way around fine by scent, sound, and touch."
"It's true," Jayjay meowed. "He can even fight without seeing. When me and Cash first met him, he had just finished fighting a fox! And then he held off a huge swarm of rats by himself when we got trapped in an old barn."
A few of the nearby Pack cats who had been listening let out surprised gasps.
Jayfeather just rolled his eyes and gently took Asphalt's injured paw with his own. What an odd name. Sure enough, the smell of raw exposed flesh was a sure sign of a torn claw. "I want you to wash out the injury in the rain," he ordered, placing his paw across hers to tell her she could lower it again. "Then lick it clean and find a dry place to sleep in the cave. When the rain stops I'll go out and see if I can find some herbs that will ease the pain and reduce the chance of infection."
She obeyed after giving him one final curious look, and limped towards the cave entrance to wash out her injury in the rushing rain water.
Jayfeather felt warm pride rise up in his fur as he listened to the approving murmurs of the Pack cats around him. He needed to gain their trust if he wanted them to listen to his ideas.
"Why did you help her?"
He turned his head to one of the Pack cats who was huddled nearby. He could tell by her voice that she was older than most of the other cats in the cave. He dipped his head respectively. "Where I come from, a medicine cat is obliged to help others in need- whoever they might be. My name is Jayfeather and I used to be part of ThunderClan."
"You're one of the Clan cats? I thought I recognized you when you came into our cave yesterday," she meowed. "My name is Twist. I was with Flick when he first met with the Clan cats. We were your enemies then."
"You may still be my enemy," Jayfeather meowed impassively. "The Pack doesn't share ideals with the Clans or the Tribe. You take what you want and only look after yourselves. Or am I wrong about that?"
You aren't entirely wrong," came another nearby voice, also a she-cat's. "Each Pack cat is expected to care for themselves first above all other things. After seeing so many of your friends and family die, other cats' lives stop holding value."
Jayfeather turned to the new voice. "Who are you?"
"This is Petal," Jayjay blurted out before the she-cat could speak again. "She's the only queen and has the only kit in the Pack right now."
Jayfeather could smell the faint milk-scent on the queen's fur as well as the tiny body squirming at her belly. It was almost hard to believe in such a harsh land surrounded by hostility, that something so normal as a kit could exist.
"His name is Slate," Petal began. "He had a sister named Glass but-" she trailed off as her throat choked up with grief.
She didn't need to say any more. Pain and loss felt the same to every cat no matter if they were Pack, Clan, or rogue. He put his paw on her side in a comforting gesture. "Slate is in safe paws," he promised. "Me and my companions are going to stay with the Pack for a little while longer to see if there's anything we can do to help."
"Thank you," Petal breathed. Jayfeather knew she had more on her mind but it was as if she was she was too afraid to say anything else in front of the rest of the Pack. Jayjay's mouse had been the only thing she had eaten in a long time since the Pack clearly wasn't interested in feeding their queens and kits.
Jayfeather opened his mouth to congratulate Jayjay on his catch, but commotion by the cave entrance caught his attention. Somebody's paws were slapping the cave floor as they rushed over to join Flora, their breath heaving with terror.
"There's a huge patrol of Tribe cats coming!"
Gotta love that 4,300 word chapter. Been a while since one of mine breached 4k.
