A day had passed since Nightsong, Stoneclaw and Jaggedshadow had begun their quest. The sun was setting and they were settling down to sleep. They had found shelter in the branches of an ash tree, which was not the least bit odd to Jaggedshadow, as he had spent many a night perched among pine branches. Nightsong and Stoneclaw however, did not seem to be all that comfortable with this arrangement.
Nightsong, Jaggedshadow and Stoneclaw had left the NightClan camp in the middle of the night without telling any cat. They had not asked for permission. Nightsong had insisted that they leave in that manner, and, when pressed, he (of course) rightly told Jaggedshadow and Stoneclaw that Othtor's authority was superior to Cedartail's.
Before beginning their quest, the three had spent the night in Azlune and Æri's territory. In fact, Jaggedshadow and Stoneclaw had shared the den with the wolves. Nightsong had chosen to share the tree den with Riverpelt, her seven kits, and Dawn.
Jaggedshadow closed his eyes. It had been a long day, and the fact that he was still recovering from having poisoned himself didn't make it any easier. He was glad to sleep.
"Well . . ." a smooth, powerful feminine voice said, trailing as it came closer to him. "Aren't you a difficult young warrior to get a hold of?"
Jaggedshadow shook his head as he opened his eyes. He was dreaming.
Around him was a cave. He lay on a rough, broad flat piece of rock that jutted into the vast chimney-like shaft. The rock extended into a small cove in the shaft wall.
A blue-eyed light grey she-cat towered before Jaggedshadow. Her huge form shimmered faintly in the dim light of the cave. Iridescent black wings hugged her sides, covering the top and sides of her torso. They shone in the dim light, appearing like the night sky just before dusk.
Jaggedshadow stood. "I suppose so. Who are you?"
"The name's Clouded Sky." She stepped closer to Jaggedshadow. "I believe you know my brother."
"Who?"
"His name is Plague. I've been looking for him."
"He is within my vessel," Jaggedshadow said, "he is my guide. I can bring him to meet you."
"Good. Where and when will you meet us?"
"Dusk at the Watcher's Tree. I can meet you there in six days"
"That is a good place," Clouded Sky said. "but I'm afraid that we won't be able to meet you there."
"Where will we meet, then?"
"At the Sunstone at Midnight. We can meet you there the following day."
"How will I recognize you?"
"My po- guardian," she corrected herself "-is a white-furred she-wolf. Her name is Alba."
"How big is she?"
"Remember your brother?" She asked. "Alba is almost as tall as him, but a fair bit more. . . lithe."
"Which brother?" if she is talking about Nightsong, then she must be mistaken. I know of few cats who are smaller than him.
"The wolf." Clouded Sky sighed. "It seems as if you aren't listening to me."
Jaggedshadow stiffened, trying not to hiss, growl or scream at Clouded Sky. "Æri?" How was I supposed to figure out who you were talking about‽ You gave me two hints about who you were talking about! And they were both based on their size! Nothing else!
"So that is the fellow's name. Interesting. I must go. There are things I must attend to."
Jaggedshadow opened his eyes, this time to the ash tree. Dawn –The celestial event that occurs when the geometric center of the Sun's disk is roughly 6 degrees below the Earth's horizon, not the elderly she-fox of the same name– was fast approaching and Stoneclaw and Nightsong began to stir.
Hours later, under a blue, cloudless sky, Jaggedshadow surprised the others by catching a thrush, a hare, and three wood mice, all within the span of an hour. His paws and legs ached afterward, and he was tired, but all that effort had been worth it, as his companions' praise emboldened him.
Jaggedshadow dug his claws into the ground as he puffed his chest fur out and lifted his chin to point at the sky. New energy surged in Jaggedshadow, warming him and giving him new strength.
After the party had eaten and had rested, they resumed their quest. This time, instead of walking, they ran.
Jaggedshadow's legs and paws ached, but he could not stop. They had a quest to fulfill. Besides, he was the strongest of the trio. He could not look weak in front of his younger brother, or his uncle and former mentor. Therefore he persisted.
Thick grey clouds blanketed the sky when the trio awoke the next morning. They marched for most of the day, until they came upon a mountainside that was surrounded by a double row of gargantuan pine trees. The trio marched through the pines.
"Halt!" a voice growled, surprising Jaggedshadow, who leaped back, tail bristling.
Parts of what had been a boulder floated apart, connected by an intense blue light. The rocks rearranged themselves into the form of a cat.
Smooth black claws grew quickly from the stone cat's massive paws. The stone cat dug them into the ground. They towered over Jaggedshadow, their cold countenance illuminated by the fierce blue light. "State your names, allegiances, and intentions."
Upon hearing the words of the colossus, a fire of rage ignited within Jaggedshadow's heart. He charged them. Before he reached them, he received a painful blow to his underside.
Jaggedshadow fell to the ground. Before he could stand, the megalith was already on top of him.
Jaggedshadow had lost the fight.
He had lost it before he started it.
That fact was glaring now that Jaggedshadow lay pinned to the ground. He bled from a big gash in his side. The stone cat pressed their foreleg against Jaggedshadow's throat, choking him.
"Do you concede?"
Jaggedshadow nodded, his choked voice uttering the words: "I surrender."
The stone warrior stood. They walked away. They returned with three large clumps of moss.
Jaggedshadow looked up. To his surprise, the shadowy stone cat had no aire of triumph about them as he pressed a wad of moss against his wound. Their gaze betrayed no mockery, only gentle curiosity, and understanding. Jaggedshadow pricked his ears as the stone cat stood. A sparrow took flight. Jaggedshadow strained his ears. A faint, almost silent rumbling emanated from the stone warrior. Neither Stoneclaw nor Nightsong seemed to notice it.
"Are you purring for me?" Jaggedshadow asked the stone warrior.
"No." They turned and walked away. They stopped, swiveling their head to look upon Jaggedshadow. "You heard my true voice?"
"I-I guess." Both times the stone warrior had spoken, Their crystalline voice rang in Jaggedshadow's mind. The second time they had not spoken aloud.
Nightsong stepped toward the stone cat. "I am Nightsong, son of Icefang. My companions are: Stoneclaw, son of Leopardpelt, and my brother, Jaggedshadow. We are NightClan cats and are on a quest to the lake territories of ShadowClan, WindClan, ThunderClan, and RiverClan."
"Follow me. We have much to discuss. Our healers will take care of your Clanmate."
Jaggedshadow watched Nightsong and Stoneclaw follow the stone sentinel-cat, whose body was black with white stripe-like swirls, to a hollow that was beneath a cliff face. As they entered the hollow, a few cats stepped into the clearing as if summoned by the newcomers' mere presence.
"What is your name?" Jaggedshadow asked the stone warrior when they returned. The hollow was still in sight. He was close enough to see his companions talk with their hosts.
The megalith sat, turning to Jaggedshadow. "It is Pond Song."
"That's a beautiful name." A pleasant voice said.
Jaggedshadow sat up, turning toward the source of the comment. "Stormwind?" What are you doing here?
"I followed you three." Stormwind said, as if answering his unspoken question. "When I saw you leave camp, I thought you were up to no good. I'm glad I was wrong." she glanced at the gash in his side. "Almost wrong."
Jaggedshadow shook his head. "What can I say?" –He flicked his ear– "I am a troublemaker."
"Stop fidgeting. I am trying to keep you from bleeding to death," a new voice chided Jaggedshadow.
Jaggedshadow lay back down. A pair of paws were pressing something against his side. He bent his head to look over his shoulder. Pond Song and a she-cat pressed wads of moss against his wound. They were stopping the bleeding. Jaggedshadow laid his head back on the moist soil. He closed his eyes.
Jaggedshadow blinked his eyes open. He hadn't intended to fall asleep. Light streamed into the small cave, shining on the walls. He turned his head to gaze at his side. Cobwebs that were soaked in dried blood covered his torso, pressing his fur flat. As the cave came fully into focus, several bundles of dried herbs that lay in small rectangular spaces that were evenly spaced throughout the cave wall came into view.
Jaggedshadow sat up. As he stood to leave the cave, he fell. Landing on his side, he hissed in pain.
His ribs still hurt.
Jaggedshadow struggled to his paws, ignoring the sharp pain . He took a step out of the cave. Before he could survey his surroundings, Pond Song leaped in front of him, blocking his path.
"Going somewhere?"
Jaggedshadow sat. "I need water, I need prey, and I need to go make dirt."
Pond Song flicked their long stony tail. The stones that it was made of hinged beside each other, articulating like the steel plates of a knight's suit of armor. "Follow me."
Jaggedshadow stood, following Pond Song. With each movement came a protest of pain from his vessel. Even though Pond Song merely walked, Jaggedshadow had to run to match his pace.
Despite Pond Song's daunting size, and their calm face that was near-expressionless, Jaggedshadow found them to be as natural and as cat-like as he was. Their movements, although proportionally massive compared to Jaggedshadow's, were fluid and deliberate, graceful even.
Pond Song lead Jaggedshadow to a massive octagonal stone tunnel that appeared to have been carved into the rock face.
Pond Song stopped before the tunnel mouth. They lifted their chin slightly. Their light shone, it's brightness rivaling the ambient glow of the midday sun. "Behold my greatest work."
Jaggedshadow stepped back, gazing into the tunnel. He could not see it's end. "You did that?" He looked at Pond Song. Pond Song's tail was raised, its tip curved. Their head was lifted and their light was the brightest thing Jaggedshadow had seen. It was blinding. Jaggedshadow closed his eyes, partly reopening them with sit-pupils. That intense glow was Pond Song's way of smiling, Jaggedshadow realized, as their stony vessel had no mouth or jaws with which to use.
"Yes I did. It took me two decades."
"What is a decade?"
"It is a period of time that lasts ten years."
"What is a year?"
"It is a period of time that lasts four seasons."
Jaggedshadow nodded. Thank you for explaining that to me, he thought at Pond Song.
"You are welcome. I have guarded my Tribe for generations. I am Othtor Rushing Thunder's granddaughter."
After they travelled the tunnel, they stopped in an open piece of flatland.
As soon as Jaggedshadow finished, he pawed earth into the hole. He padded up to the boulder that was Pond Song. "I am done." When will I heal? I want to leave this wasteland.
Pond Song reconstructed theirself. "Don't you know how to conceal your thoughts?"
"No?"
"You do not need to speak to me with your tongue. Use the voice of your soul. As long as you direct thoughts to me, I can hear them. That is why it is important to have mastery of one's self: there are cats who can hear the thoughts of others. I will teach you while you heal."
Jaggedshadow nodded. "How did-" he began, stopping when he remembered Pond Song's words. "How did you become stone, and why?" Jaggedshadow had been wondering this since he met Pond Song.
"A rockfall killed my flesh vessel, but I was not done helping my Tribe. I had been chosen by Othtor Rushing Thunder when I was only a kit. He gave me dominion over stone; I can shape it to my will. Anyways, after the rockfall destroyed my vessel, I bonded my soul to the rocks that make up the vessel you see before you. "
"Can you leave your vessel?"
"Yes I can," she told Jaggedshadow. "but I will not. I cannot sustain myself outside of my vessel. I would have to become a spirit leech. I will not do that."
Jaggedshadow nodded. Spirit leeches, also known as drainers, were spirits that suffered from a lack of stability in the world of the living. This required them to sustain their existence in the world of the living by stealing life energy from other animals, often taking their sustenance from the living of their type. They were often wraths, spirits that were bound to the world of the living by a grudge.
The opposite of a wrath was an aetherious. They were cats who had made peace with those they had known and the life they had led. Most cats in StarClan, The Tribe of Endless Hunting, and Caelum were aetherii. Contrary to what many cats believed, not all aetherii were what one would consider to be good. Aetherii were often allowed a certain amount of sins they could commit that was proportional to the good they had done.
Somewhere between these two extremes were residents. They were spirits who remained among the living because of some reason, often a sense of duty to their living comrades. They were often stable enough to exist in the world of the living, but those that weren't either became spirit guardians or spirit leeches.
Jaggedshadow sat. It wasn't that he was weak, just that his vessel was healing from his fight. All the same, he felt weak. He purred, trying to relieve his pain.
Pond Song halted beside him. "How is your pain?"
Jaggedshadow gritted his teeth. "I will manage."
"I have spoken with your comrades. They have decided to stay with us for three days to allow you to heal."
"That's nonsense." Jaggedshadow pulled himself to his feet. "They should leave me behind. I do not matter to their quest."
"No." Nightsong stopped in front of Jaggedshadow. "You do matter to my quest. Othtor chose you and Stoneclaw to accompany me."
Jaggedshadow lifted his head. "Why did Othtor choose me? You two have great diplomacy and Stoneclaw is an experienced warrior."
Nightsong sat. He flicked his ear. "It is not for us to question Othtor's summons. He has our best interest at heart."
Jaggedshadow flicked his ear. Irritation pricked his skin, making his hackles rise. Although he admired his brother's unwavering faith in Othtor and Caelum in general, that didn't mean that he—Jaggedshadow—was not often annoyed by it. "Are you sure about that?"
"Yes."
"Then we shall agree to disagree."
"Why are you in such an agreeable mood?"
"I'm not. I just don't have the time or patience to argue with you." Well not the patience anyway, Jaggedshadow thought.
"you have the time," Nightsong reminded him.
"I know." Jaggedshadow stood.
As he walked with Pond Song to the healer den, Jaggedshadow couldn't help but resent her. She had embarrassed him by defeating him soundly with such grace and ease that he found it hard to believe.
For a moment, Jaggedshadow considered avenging his defeat. He shook his head as if clearing away those fanciful thoughts.
He would never defeat Pond Song.
Even disregarding Pond Song's superior size, flint-sharp claws, superior strength, and indestructible vessel, she had shown herself to be quick and intelligent.
Jaggedshadow lay in the Tribe's medicine den. His stiff, blood crusted bandages had been changed. He did not know when he had lost consciousness, nor did he know why.
The grey cave walls reflected erant beams of sunlight, scattering light across the cave. From the muffled distant rumbling, Jaggedshadow knew that Pond Song was near. He dragged himself to his paws, his limbs shaking from the effort it took just to stand. He needed food.
The sounds of an awakening camp rustled in Jaggedshadow's ears, awaking in his mind images of his kithood. His ribs throbbed, drawing him back to the present. He lurched forward as he walked out of the medicine den.
