Chapter 1
By Jayspirit06
Berrynose blinked open his eyes. Light was barely filtering through the cracks in the warriors den. The sun had only just rison. For some unknown reason Berrynose felt oddly cheerful. He slowly got out of the nest he shared with Poppydawn, careful not to wake her, and left the warriors den.
It seemed like Bramblestar had just sent out the dawn patrol and was now sharing tongues with Squirrelflight at the bottom of the highrock. Berrynose sat down and started to groom himself. Suddenly a shout echoed through the camp. "WHAT IN STARCLAN'S NAME IS WRONG WITH YOU!" Berrynose jumped. The shout had startled him. "I WAS SLEEPING! WHY WOULD YOU WAKE ME UP. YOU SHOULD KNOW BEING A MEDICINE CAT IS NOT EASY!" At that Berrynose looked over at the entrance to the medicine den to see what was going on. He was right in time to see Jayfeather shoot out of it. The gray tom's fur was standing on end and his blue eyes were wide with fright. Leafpool exploded out of the den a moment later. "FINE! GET OUT AND STAY OUT!" she hissed savagely. "PERHAPS THEN I'LL FINALLY GET SOME PEACE!" Then she stalked back into her den sending off waves of anger.
"I'm sorry," Jayfeather whispered timidly.
Berrynose rushed over to Jayfeather who was crouched flat on the ground."What happened?" he asked gently. He didn't want to upset Jayfeather any further.
"I… I.. I woke up Leafpool. She told me to yesterday. I didn't mean to make her so upset." Jayfeather said shaking all over. By now Squirrelflight and Bramblestar had padded over to the two toms.
"I'll go talk to Leafpool," Sqirrleflight said nervously and then walked into the medicine den. Berrynose, Jayfeather, and Bramblestar listened intently to hear what would happen."Um… er.. Leafpool," they heard Squirrlflight say.
"WHAT NOW! I JUST FELL ASLEEP AFTER MY MOUSE BRAIN SON WOKE ME UP! WHY IN STARCLAN'S NAME CAN'T EVERY CAT JUST LEAVE ME IN PEACE?!"
Jayfeather shivered and pressed himself closer to Berrynose. "Why is she so scary?" he whimpered. Berrynose shook his head in bewilderment. He didn't know what had gotten into Leafpool.
By now, many more cats were awake. They had probably been disturbed by Leafpool's shouting. Berrynose was glad none of them came over to see what was going on. As much as he loved all of them, he thought that poor Jayfeather needed some space.
"At least I'm not the one acting like a kit," Berrynose heard Squirrleflight say to Leafpool. He thought it was a pretty bold move for the orange she cat.
"Excuse me!" Leafpool shrieked, "I am not acting like a kit!"
"You kind of are," Squirrelflight replied calmly.
"What are you going to do? Get Sandstorm?" Leafpool snapped haughtily.
"That's actually not a bad idea," Squirlflight said. Then she padded out of the den and walked towards the elder's den.
"Ahhhhhhh!" Leafpool yelled angrily.
"Don't worry Jayfeather," Berrynose said to gray tom, "Sandstorm and Squirrelflight will get this all taken care of. None of this is not your fault."
"Okay. Thank you Berrynose," Jayfeather said gratefully. "You know what? You are now my second best friend."
"Awesome. Who's your first best friend?" Berrynose asked.
"He's a creepy, naked cat who lives in these caves I found!" Jayfeather said cheerfully. Berrynose looked at him in alarm.
"Oh my….. That's.. That is.." Berrynose didn't know what to say to this. He was now extremely concerned about his friend's mental health. Berrynose looked over towards the medicine den. Lots of hissing and yowling was now coming out of it. He normally would have gone to talk to Leafpool about something like this but since she was in a bad mood he was going to have to think of someone else.
A few moments later, Sandstorm and Squirrleflight exited the medicine den. I can talk to Sandstorm, Berrynose realised. Sandstorm was always calm and extremely helpful. She would probably be able to help Jayfeather. "Wanna go talk to Sandstorm?" Berrynose asked.
"Sure," Jayfeather said. So Berrynose began guiding Jayfeather in Sandstorm's direction.
"That cat!" Sandstorm said to herself as they approached, "I have no idea what her problem is." It was only then when she spotted the two toms walking towards her. "Hello. How can I help you?" she asked.
"Jayfeather just told me something very interesting and I wanted to see what you…" He was cut short when Dustpelt ran into camp.
"Guess what everyone!" he yelled excitedly. "Our patrol met a ShadowClan patrol at the border and they asked us to escort them to our camp. I ran ahead to warn Bramblestar."
"I wonder why they want to come here?" Jayfeather asked.
"I don't know. Dustpelt seems pretty excited about whatever it is," Berrynose replied.
The ThunderClan and ShadowClan patrols entered the camp a moment later. The ShadowClan cats were carrying a ton of sticks, freshkill, and pinecones.
"What's all this?" Bramblestar asked Rowenstar who was leading the ShadowClan patrol.
"We all brought gifts for your clan," he replied. Rowanstar gestured to the other cats in his patrol with his tail.
"I see," Bramblestar replied. "What is the special occasion?"
"Today a bunch of ShadowClan cats, including myself, realised that we have never done anything to show ThunderClanhow much we appreciate them."
Somewhere in the camp a cat started laughing hysterically. Berrynose looked around trying to find out who it was. Eventually his eyes landed on Leafpool who was standing outside the medicine den. Jayfeather shrank back and maneuvered himself until Berrynose was between him and Leafpool, using him as some sort of shield.
"That is the most mouse brained thing I've heard in my entire life!" Leafpool said through yowls of laughter. "And I've heard a ton of really stupid stuff. Believe me, I'm in ThunderClan."
"That is enough from you Leafpool! They are only being friendly," Bramblestar ordered the tabby she cat. Leafpool paid no attention.
"Now that is something I'd like to see," Leafpool scoffed.
"Leafpool, go back in your den this instant," Sandstorm stiffly said to her daughter.
"What are you going to do to make me? There are no burdock roots out here for you to throw at me this time!" Leafpool spat.
"Oh really?" Sandstorm asked. Then to the astonishment of every cat she snached a stick from a ShadowClan cat and threw it at Leafpool. The stick smacked right into Leafpool's head. The impact should have knocked her out but Leafpool seemed totally fine.
"No respect!" she hissed a moment later. Then she slinked back into her den.
"Is she gone?" Jayfeather whispered from behind Berrynose.
"Ya," he whispered back.
"Thank goodness," Jayfeather sighed.
"Thank goodness and good riddance," Sandstorm spat. "I don't know what's gotten into that cat. Now, what did you want to talk to me about?"
"Oh ya," Berrynose realised that he had forgotten about what Jayfeather had told him concerning friends. He turned to Jayfether, "Could you tell Sandstorm what you told me about your best friend?"
"Sure! I just love telling other cats about personal things! My best friend is a creepy, naked cat who lives in dark tunnels!" Jayfeather said. Santdtom stared at him. Then she looked at Berrynose.
"I now understand why you wanted to talk to me about this. There is something seriously wrong with this cat."
"What?" Jayfeather asked.
"Nothing," Berrynose said quickly. "Why don't you go get a present. The ShadowClan patrol is handing them out now."
"Okay!" Jayfeather said happily. Then he bounded off, using the other clan's strong scent to find his way. Soon he reached Crowfrost and the tom kindly gave him a stick. Afterwards Jayfeather walked back over to Berrynose and Sandstorm. "This stick is great! You know, my lurking cat friend gave me a stick similar to this one once."
"I see," Sandstorm said looking at Jayfeather like he'd just turned into a badger and started singing.
"Why don't we talk about this some other time?" Berrynose asked Sandstorm. His attempt to get rid of Jayfeather hadn't worked. Sandstorm seemed more outspoken than usual today. He didn't want Jayfeather to be offended by anything she said.
"I guess," Sandstorm reluctantly said.
"Thank you," Berrynose replied, dipping his head in respect.
"Why don't we get you a present? These sticks are great!" Jayfeather told his second best friend.
"Why not," Berrynose said and then the two toms walked over to the ShadowClan cats.