This was becoming a familiar sight.

Or sound, rather. Sight wasn't her gift. The endless network of noise bouncing through the world, that was her domain.

Blood roared in Dovewing's ears as she ran through the trees and the forest broke into moor. Around her, the world fell silent save the repetitive sound of pawsteps thundering against the earth. In her fearful daze, she couldn't tell if they were her own or her friends but in the end it didn't really matter. At some point, the thrum of pawsteps became so even that she couldn't tell where her paws ended and Jayfeather and Lionblaze's began. They were one.

Until they weren't.

Jayfeather skidded to a stop, sending dirt flying. His body was stiff, blind eyes wide and frantic. Lionblaze slowed to stand next to him, looking concerned. "What's wrong?"

"The tunnel entrance is here," Jayfeather said, sounding distant. Dovewing tipped her head, off put by the strangeness in his tone and manner.

Lionblaze didn't seem to notice. "So why are we standing here instead of running down there?"

"We… We can't go down there. Not without Fallen Leaves," Jayfeather spoke quietly. His mew sounded almost disconnected from his voice and Dovewing wondered how present he really was. She wasn't sure how Jayfeather's powers really worked. He could read emotions and walk the minds and dreams of others. Was his mind somewhere else right now? Was StarClan- or whoever was up there- talking to him right now? Was he padding through another cat's mind? Was he fully awake or was he moving by subconscious bodily control alone? "If Fallen Leaves isn't here and Rock's not here… It doesn't feel right."

Dovewing suddenly noticed Jayfeather was shaking and she felt a flash of concern. Was he afraid? Having an adrenaline crash? Or something else? She just knew something was wrong.

And Lionblaze didn't care. "You're being a scardy mouse, Jayfeather. Come on, snap out of it. You're the only one who knows where we're going. Pick a path. Are we going to the tunnels or not?"

Jayfeather jerked his head up as if he was returning to reality. "You're right. I'm sorry. Come on, this way. I know where we need to go."

Dovewing let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. In the distance, she could still hear the clan cats bumbling in confusion back on the island but the need to flee was still pushing her paws onward. She couldn't express how big a relief it was to get moving again. Standing still… It gave her too much time for her thoughts to fester.

They slipped into the tunnels but the walls only seemed to make an echo chamber for the storm that was her mind. The clans had turned against them not once but twice. Her friends, her kin, the cats she'd grown up with- They had betrayed her. Even cats from rival clans whom she'd never trusted but at least respected were her enemy now. Any hope she had of possibly returning home had shattered.

The only way forward was down. Down into the tunnels. These silent, silent tunnels. And then… She didn't know what came after that. The tunnels, they were her pathway freedom but she didn't know what freedom was. If a cat had no place to call home, no place to return to, where was she supposed to go?

The call of the mountains rang in his bones the moment the three surfaced but Jayfeather pushed it away. It was so similar to the allure of the tunnels only it increased tenfold the moment he stepped paw outside clan territory. He couldn't give in though. Heading up to the mountains would be a waste of time and that was something they could not afford, not to mention risky.

Oh but how he longed to. The mountains, the tunnels, they made him feel like so much more. More than a cat, more than Jayfeather-it made him feel like a cat who held the power of the stars in his paws. And it made him feel happy. It reminded him of his friends and Half Moon and the cat he once was but he'd made his choice long ago. His place was here, not with them.

"I think we can slow down a bit," Dovewing told them. Lionblaze and Jayfeather needed no explanation and slowed their sprint to a steady trot. Jayfeather suddenly became aware of how tired he was. He wasn't built for all this exercise. The pull of his muscles and lack of air in his chest grounded him, drawing his mind back to reality.

"So… um, that went well," Lionblaze said as they slowed to a near stop. His voice was toneless but his lashing tail betrayed him.

"I didn't think…" Dovewing trailed off.

"They betrayed us," Jayfeather growled, claws curling into the soft, damp earth.

"I don't think-"

"Not Hollyleaf, obviously," Jayfeather corrected. He paused, thinking back to who he'd sensed that night. It was hard not being sighted. It was near impossible to tell what was happening at a distance.

"Cinderheart too."

"I saw Tigerheart trying to talk to Ivypool before some ShadowClan cats pinned him down," Dovewing added. Her tail curled though her expression didn't change. "I think he's on our side."

"And Ivypool? Nevermind, that was a stupid question. I know the answer. I didn't need to ask."

"But everyone else," Lionblaze sighed. "Firestar was yowling at our clanmates and they didn't listen. They just kept coming after us."

"It's not important anymore," Jayfeather told him, putting his tail tip on Lionblaze's shoulder. "We gave them a chance and they betrayed us immediately. Our place isn't with them anymore."

"How?" Dovewing demanded. "The three of us, we have clan blood and-"

"Technically we all have a pretty good amount of kittypet blood."

"From Firestar who was given the prophecy to protect the clans," Dovewing contered before continuing. "Our entire purpose, prophecy or not, was always to serve ThunderClan. What are we supposed to do now?"

Dovewing sounded hopeless but for once, Jayfeather had optimism welling in his chest. It felt foreign and unusual but he couldn't help but cling to it. "We find a new clan to serve."

"The tribe?" Lionblaze guessed. "As great as it would be to have a group of cats watching our tails, I don't think the tribe-"

"Not the tribe," Jayfeather said regretfully. Jayfeather loved the tribe. It was Jay's Wing's second home, after the tunnels, but he ruled out sheltering with them for a reason. "We need to go to SkyClan."

"You keep mentioning this SkyClan," Lionblaze said, almost complaining. "Who are they?"

"And how do you know about them?" Dovewing asked. "I've never heard of any fifth clan. Well, except BloodClan but those are just nursery stories to scare kits."

"BloodClan is as real as SkyClan," Jayfeather murmured, long buried memories bleeding back into his mind. "I've seen them both in my dreams."

"Whose dreams? Yours or…"

"Firestar's." Jayfeather could feel his grip on reality slipping. His mind grew clouded and numbness spread down his limbs but his paws kept moving and his mouth kept talking. "Many moons after leading the four clans to battle against BloodClan, Firestar received a dream from StarClan telling him he had to take a journey."

"Why?" Dovewing asked but Jayfeather barely registered the question.

"The Ancients became the tribe and the tribe became the clans. Shadow, River, Wind, Thunder, and Sky clashed until peace was made and borders were settled. Originally, there were five clans in the forest."

"Five?" Lionblaze echoed, ears pricking. "What happened to SkyClan?"

"The twolegs. The twolegs kept expanding their territory and SkyClan's home was destroyed. The four clans refused to help them so they had to relocate but they couldn't continue their way of life in the gorge and they scattered until Firestar restored them."

"So there's just a fifth clan living in a gorge somewhere out there?" Lionblaze snorted with disbelief. "Okay, I'll bite. How do we get there?"

"Follow the river." He could see it in his mind, another cat's memories bleeding into his own. It was so clear yet… not. It felt like he was almost there but some invisible wall was keeping him from reaching it. He could reach it though, if he wanted. It would take some time but he knew how to get there.

"What river?" Dovewing asked. Concern was starting to bleed into her voice and in the back of his mind, Jayfeather knew it was justified but that thought barely stirred under the thick layer of fog in his head. Some conscious piece of him knew he wasn't in control but it wasn't enough to make him fight to take it back.

"We need to go to the sun-drown place," Jayfeather monotoned before a sharp pain struck his neck. He flinched and stumbled, his mind suddenly sinking back into his skull. He nearly fell over, the feeling of being in control of his body again suddenly overwhelming. What was that? It wasn't the first time that had happened. Was that going to happen every time he called upon another cat's memories? He hoped not. That was rather unpleasant.

"The sun-drown place?" Lionblaze echoed but it was more of a statement than a question. "Good. I want to have a word with a certain badger."

The sun-drown place wasn't quite what Lionblaze expected.

If anything, it was so much more.

Lionblaze had never seen so much water. If he'd thought that whole fiasco with the drought ended in him seeing an impossible amount of water, he was a mousebrain for not being able to see the world to this scale. The water touched the horizon and went beyond the edge of… Well, he wasn't sure there even was an edge. Nothing would ever seem big again now that he'd seen this.

How big was the world? Really, how big was the world? It sounded like a question a kit would ask and a warrior would laugh at. When had he outgrown his curiosity? It was a good question. Catkind really didn't know what was out there and the view made him all the more aware of the fact. The water was just as endless as the possibilities of the world.

They weren't here to gaze at the water though. They were here for a reason.

"What brings three here?" Midnight rumbled as she ambled over to the rocky perch the three cats sat at. She looked up, squinting, but made no attempt to get any closer.

"We did what you said," Lionblaze told her, taking the lead. He couldn't keep the hint of anger out of his mew. "The clans betrayed us. They didn't even attempt to listen."

"Fear and panic. Make all creatures mousehearts."

Lionblaze felt himself leaning forward. "StarClan did nothing."

Midnight blinked, as if she wasn't expecting him to say that. "What warrior want StarClan to do? Send another storm?"

Lionblaze sank his claws into the stone. "Yes! Or at least some kind of sign. Anything to get the clans to stop attacking us."

Midnight flicked an ear in disapproval. "StarClan not able to control fear and hatred. It lives too deep in clan cat's heart."

Lionblaze's ears flattened and he leaned back, a hard scowl settling onto his face as cold acceptance settled into his pelt. But it didn't seem Dovewing was ready to give up.

"Isn't there some way for StarClan to tell the clans that they're wrong?" Dovewing asked, taking a slight step forward. "I mean, we have the powers they fear to protect them. Surely they can see…"

"They're blind," Jayfeather snapped but didn't say anything more. "Even to StarClan."

"How can you say that?"

Lionblaze lashed his tail, the anger bubbling up inside him bringing a wave of clarity. "Can't you see? StarClan is powerless. The only power they ever had was belief. Without it… Jayfeather was right. They're just dead cats with stars in their fur."

Midnight bowed her head and rumbled. "Now cats with powers of stars in their paws see truth. StarClan is made of fools. Three stand strong and three stand alone."

"What about Rock?" Jayfeather demanded. "I haven't heard from him since that night."

"Stars see only so far. Travel, blind jay. Many territories, many stars, many eyes. Not all blind. They will guide you."

"What does that even mean?" Jayfeather growled in frustration, tail lashing. "You're not normally this vague."

"Trust yourself and have faith in what know and remember," Midnight told him. "Faith in self will guide cat paws in right direction."

Author's Note: You heard right. Lionblaze is losing faith and the three are going to SkyClan! As much as I love the tribe, I am very tired of writing them. I really like the tribe lore but for whatever reason, I find them very boring to write. It's kind of a pain to figure out which cats are alive and I honestly can't remember who anyone is.

I promise there is no mind control involved. I realize it may have sounded like that. I'm going for mob hysteria with the clans and I'm not really sure what was happening with Jayfeather. In my headcanon, the three lose their grip on reality when they use their powers. Lionblaze goes into a battle craze, Dovewing's loses her center as her mind focuses on whatever she's listening to, Jayfeather gets lost in his mind or someone else's mind when he's pulling on or searching through memories. Got it?

Edit 3/23/2021: Added a few paragraphs to fill the story out a big more.