Next week is going to be bussyyy ;-;
I feel bad knowing that it's been a year, and I still haven't done anything with An Angel Lost in Time. I'm going to work on it promise! Just not now...
Glad that I wasn't the only one who didn't have Firestar-possesses-Rootspring on their bingo cards and lost their mind over it. I've seen some funny stuff popping up over the whole thing.
Reviews are super appreciated!
The bitter cold of leaf-bare had finally given way to a much balmy beginning of new-leaf. Flowers were budding, some in bloom, prey could be heard scampering among the undergrowth, and the forest finally seemed to be healing after the disastrous fire that had blazed through it moons before. A breeze blew through the forest, carrying not a harsh cold, but a cool breeze that gently swayed the trees.
For Jayfeather, it was the perfect time to see if his herbs had grown back, hopefully stronger than before. It had been a difficult leaf-bare that could have quickly spiraled out of control if Firestar hadn't brought back herbs and prey from wherever he kept forcing himself to fly off to. Thankfully, the dragon was more motivated these days, as his mysterious exhaustion had melted with the snow of leaf-bare.
He sniffed his catmint patch by the abandoned twoleg nest, letting out a grunt of satisfaction as he felt new buds hitting his nose.
"Everything seems to be growing back nicely," Lionblaze commented beside him. The golden tom had seen an opportunity to spend time with his brother, even if it meant that he would have to go about the territory in search of herbs- the majority of which couldn't be harvested at this time anyway. A warmer breeze blew by them, and he savored the feeling as it brushed through his fur.
"Thank Starclan for small mercies," Jayfeather mumbled. He plucked out a couple of shoots of grass that shouldn't have been growing in the catmint, before taking a few leaves that were already fully grown. Thankfully there wouldn't be much need for them since the worst of leaf-bare was over, taking the threat of greencough with it. "Alright, we're done here. Let's go see if that juniper bush grew back..."
They walked in relative, content silence, just enjoying the scents of new-leaf and the fact that they weren't freezing to death.
"Something on your mind?" Jayfeather suddenly asked, feeling waves of sudden annoyance and curiosity coming from Lionblaze.
His brother blinked. "How did you know?" Then his eyes widened a little. "Oh right, you still have your powers," he murmured.
"Of course," Jayfeather sniffed. "And I can feel something bothering you. So what is it? I don't want to have to feel that for the rest of the walk home," he grumbled.
Lionblaze wasn't bothered by the fact that Jayfeather could so easily slip into his mind. "You think Starclan forgot to take our powers away after the battle?" he purred amused.
"I'd like to think that you would be lost without them," Jayfeather meowed, feeling embarrassment coming off Lionblaze in waves. Yes, his mouse-brain of a brother would have more than likely tried to fight everyone and everything in order to prove that he was still one of the strongest warriors by the lake. "But yes, they probably forgot considering they were too focused on what was going on with Firestar," he muttered. In fact, he hadn't heard from their ancestors in moons, not since the battle. Even at the half-moon meetings, he hadn't a single Starclan cat greet him.
Not even Yellowfang showed up to yell at him anymore. And he hadn't bothered to use his powers to forcibly connect to Starclan during the day, because he himself had been busy; with Briarlight's exercises, making sure his stores were stocked up as much as they could in leaf-bare, making sure Foxleap's wounds hadn't gotten infected and working with the tom's own exercises, making sure cats weren't getting sick...
He had been busy. But he was curious to know as to what Starclan was up to.
Lionblaze's emotions shifted again at Firestar's mention. "What's bothering you now?"
Lionblaze flicked his ear, his pace a little more subdued. "Did we ever figure out that prophecy? The one about the King's flame being unleashed?"
Jayfeather snorted, confusing his brother. "Of course we figured it out. It was pretty obvious what it was talking about once the events came to pass," he said. "The withering leaf was Leafpool," he murmured softly. Their walk slowed, almost stopping completely as they both took a moment to think about their fallen mother. Grief overtook them for a moment, and Lionblaze stopped beside his brother to brush his fur against Jayfeather's pelt in a show of comfort.
"We never did get a chance to really make it up to her, for you know-" Lionblaze fumbled with his words.
"For giving her the cold shoulder?" Jayfeather muttered. They hadn't any time to spend with her, let alone give her a proper apology. Especially Hollyleaf. Between Leafpool spending most of her time with Firestar, the clan collectively wondering how to step around the then dragon-cat, and Hollyleaf eventually going on the quest to find and retrieve Firestar, none of them had the time to spend worrying about their parentage or broken codes. Now they would never get the chance to make it up to their mother, until they joined Starclan that is.
"Her death was what unleashed the 'flame' I suppose; Firestar's transformation into a dragon," he mumbled bitterly. "If I saw my kin get violently slaughtered in front of me, I'd probably have unleashed some kind of hidden power myself," Jayfeather mused. Lionblaze said nothing, claws digging into the ground.
Finally he sighed. "Come on, the sooner we see how the herbs are doing, the better. The juniper bush should be around here somewhere..."
They continued their trek and eventually found the juniper.
"It's in remarkably good condition," Jayfeather muttered to himself, sniffing the plant. He could feel the berries under his nose, little bulbs among the leaves.
Lionblaze looked up, observing his surroundings, as if he found the trees suddenly interesting. "Have the trees always been that high, or is it just me?"
Jayfeather wordlessly looked up from the juniper bush, sightless eyes boring into Lionblaze's head. He was giving him the look again, silently asking Lionblaze how a blind cat would notice what something looked like.
"Seriously, I don't remember the trees being this tall. The branches look like their compacted or something," Lionblaze noted, acting as if his brother's gaze wasn't burning a hole in the back of his head.
Jayfeather bristled. "For the last time, I can't see anything. How would I know?" he grumbled. "Come on, I got to check on the marigold next," he said, turning around and padding off. Lionblaze stalled for a bit, frowning at the trees before turning to follow Jayfeather.
"You can go and complain to Hollyleaf about the trees later when we get back to camp," Jayfeather growled in annoyance, sensing Lionblaze was about to ramble on about the trees again. Lionblaze clicked his mouth shut at Jayfeather's words. "For the last time, I can't see anything!" He couldn't scent anything different about the territory, other than the fact that the burnt smell of charred wood and grass had finally faded as the forest recovered.
He also wasn't going to pretend that he knew where every branch was and from what height.
Jayfeather stopped in his tracks as an aching familiar scent wafted through the trees and gently caressed his nose and senses. He opened his mouth to taste the air further, confirming what he already knew.
"Leafpool?"
Lionblaze stopped behind him, giving him a confused look, before opening his mouth to taste the air as well. His eyes widened as he also picked up on his late mother's scent.
They both took off as they followed the scent trail, paws kicking up strands of dead grass. Jayfeather noted that his mother's scent was leading them deep into Thunderclan territory. After a while, Leafpool's scent disappeared as the wind blew behind them.
"Mouse-dung!" Lionblaze hissed. "Lost it!"
As his brother was venting his frustration, Jayfeather cautiously stepped a few tail-lengths forward, wondering what Leafpool had been trying to tell them; or trying to show them. His paws hit new, freshly grown grass. He let out a hiss of frustration as he felt along what felt like a clearing.
Lionblaze, hearing his brother's irritation, leaped forward in order to help his brother, but stopped to gaze at the giant clearing in front of him. He swallowed. "I know our territory like the back of my paw, but I don't remember ever seeing this big a clearing before in my life," he meowed uncertainly.
It was huge, the trees towering above them as they spiraled upwards to form a partial roof. The center of the clearing was lit up by sunlight, the rest of it cast into darkness by the density of the trees around them. The canopy didn't reach all the way to form a complete covering, the branches stopping at the center to allow a giant hole to let the sunlight in.
"Why would Leafpool led us here?" Lionblaze murmured in confusion.
"Describe it to me," Jayfeather all but ordered.
He ignored Jayfeather's snappy attitude, knowing that the medicine cat was annoyed that he needed a bit more time to navigate the new area. "It's big. There's a giant hole at the top too that's lighting up the middle of the clearing," he offered.
Jayfeather stiffened. "Big enough for a dragon?"
Lionblaze blinked, eyes analyzing the clearing. The hole was big enough for Firestar to fly right in and land easily, and the trees were tall enough so that they wouldn't cause him any discomfort. He realized that his earlier intuition about the trees being taller and bigger was right. "Big enough for a dragon," he agreed.
Jayfeather grumbled. "No way that this has been here the entire time we've been at this lake and no one happened to notice." He turned around and padded back into the trees. "Come on, we'll forget about the herbs this time around. We need to tell Bramblestar about this."
'Is Starclan finally making themselves useful?' Jayfeather wondered. No doubt Firestar would be happy to find a place close by that would actually fit him properly.
Short chapter today. But Lion and Jay find the clearing for Firestar!
Yeaahhh bet you thought I forgot about the prophecy, didn't you? I mean, the thing came and went, so there's no point in angsting about it. It was pretty obvious what the prophecy was referring to. And if you didn't know... uh sorry bout that? It was my first time making a prophecy, sue me.
Tell me how I did.