"W-what?" Half Moon stuttered. Her green eyes stared at the grey tom standing before him. He looked just like Jay's Wing but he wasn't. Jaypaw?

"I know, I know. It's hard to believe but I'm telling the truth," the tom pleaded. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. I think I'm from the future and my soul is just inhabiting Jay's Wing's body. I hated my life back home and coming here… I was selfish. Jay's Wing has such an amazing life, I wanted it for myself. I wanted it all. Being a sharpclaw, living in a tribe, having friends, having kin, having you. Half Moon, I love you. I really do."

Half Moon blinked. "I… I love you too. But you're not Jay's Wing."

Jaypaw hung his head. "You're right. I'm not. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you who I really am. I just…"

Half Moon touched her nose to his shoulder and purred soothingly. "Sit. Clam down. Talk with me. And let me get that blood off you. Why are you always waking up covered in blood? Where'd does even come from? You don't have any wounds this time..."

Jaypaw let out a long breath. "I've been having dreams."

"Dreams?"

"Yeah. I dream of a cat called Ink. He's… Well, I'm not supposed to tell you about the trial but he's the proctor of the Third Day. The trial has three parts and a proctor for each one but cats rarely live past the first," Jaypaw explained, breathing rapid. Half Moon began grooming him. "Jay's Wing made it to the last day. Fallen Leaves made it to the second. The third proctor, Ink, he had the power to control lost spirits. Fallen Leaves is a lost spirit but he's free of Ink's control for some reason."

"Fallen Leaves is still down there?"

Jaypaw nodded. "Yeah. He's sad. And lonely. When he saw Jay's Wing… he was so happy. He wanted him to stay with him but accidentally ended up tearing his soul or something and he ended up switching with me."

Half Moon nodded absently, focused on the grooming. She trusted Jaypaw would tell her everything on his own.

"Where I'm from, there are four warrior clans. ThunderClan, RiverClan, ShadowClan, and WindClan. We live here, by the lake. We get along for the most part usually but we fight sometimes. Our clans are made up of warriors. A warrior's job is to protect their clan by fighting for it and feeding it."

"Sounds noble," Half Moon murmured. "Sometimes I wish our tribe was like that. Cared for each other, I mean."

"Yeah. It's nice I suppose. Ever since I was a kit, all I wanted was to be a warrior and protect my clan," Jaypaw went on. "I did, I really did. But I was born blind."

"Blind?" Everything was starting to make sense.

Jaypaw nodded. "Everyone treated me differently but I never thought anything could stop me. Then I heard my parents talking about teaching me how to navigate the forest with a guide. And I heard some warriors talking about sending me to the elders' den early while my brother and sister became apprentices. And then I was assigned Brightheart, a one-eyed warrior, as my mentor and it didn't go so well. StarClan came to me and told me I had to be a medicine cat, a healer. I didn't want to but I had to so I did."

"And I'm guessing you didn't like it?"

Jaypaw snorted. "That doesn't even begin to cover it. I hated it. I had to sleep away from my siblings and I never had a chance to befriend the other apprentices. I had to sleep all alone in a stuffy medicine den with my mentor who was nice at first but then we started fighting. It was okay at first but towards the end, I started hating it. I… this is kind of embarrassing but I found this stick. It had these scratches on it and if I listened closely, I could hear it whispering."

"What did it say?"

"It… Now that I think of it, it talked about sharpclaws and softpaws and tunnels," Jaypaw told her slowly. "And then one day, it went missing and I felt something pulling me to the tunnels. I found my stick but the tunnel started shaking and caving in. It collapsed and I got hit in the head with a rock. When I woke up, I still in the tunnels but when I came out, I saw you."

Half Moon nodded, processing everything Jaypaw had told her. "I'm sorry."

"You shouldn't be. Nothing I said had anything to do with you."

"But you don't belong here. You wanted to stay because of me," she protested. She nuzzled his shoulder and he pressed his head against hers. "You need to go back."

"I know," Jaypaw sighed. "Dove's Wing… on her trial, she found Fallen Leaves. He told her how to bring me back. I just… I didn't want to go."

"But something's changed?" It was more of a statement than a question.

Jaypaw stepped away from her and nodded. He pawed his blood stained pelt. "Ever wonder where I get these?"

Half Moon gave him a deadpan look. I ask him about that all the time.

Jaypaw chuckled. "Right. So I wanted to be a sharpclaw, right? But I have zero training and it's kind of weird moving around without having to be so cautious all the time. I started having these dreams, I told you that. Ink, he came to me and trained me. It was hard and scary but I got better so I kept going back. But then the First and Second proctors showed up and Ink started fighting with them."

Jaypaw shuffled his paws and looked down. "Last night, Ink said he had to step up my training. He has powers, I told you he can control lost spirits. He had them chase me. He said I could only defeat them by using my powers."

"Your powers?"

Jaypaw nodded. "There's a prophecy about me and my siblings. It says we have the Power of the Stars in our paws. And I do, I've got powers, but I lost them when I came back here. I didn't really care, I'd trade power for happiness any day. I figured Jay's Wing was in my place with my powers, he could fulfill whatever my destiny was or whatever. Anyway, point is, I don't have powers here but Ink seemed to think I did. I couldn't do anything against those ghosts so I ran back towards him and I saw him fighting Avian and Jackal."

"Who?"

"The other two proctors. They're siblings. The clearing… it was filled with blood. I just got so scared. All that red… Ink has red eyes, they scare me. And then there was red everywhere and three siblings with powers were fighting each other… I just thought of me and my siblings and I thought all that red was going to kill me."

Half Moon wrapped her tail around his. "It's okay now. You said Dove's Wing and Fallen Leaves can bring you back. Just go with them and it'll all be fine."

Jaypaw nodded hesitantly. His blue eyes met hers. They shined with fear. "I know. But I'm selfish. I don't want to leave you. Or Dove's Wing. Or Fish Leap. Or anyone. I want to see my clan again, I think, but I don't want to leave my tribe."

"We'll always be your tribe," Half Moon told him, "but you're not our Jay and Jay's Wing isn't your clan's medicine cat. You both have a place to be and you need to return there."

Jaypaw nodded slowly. "Yeah… Yeah. You're right. I'll go tell Dove's Wing I'll go with her."

He moved to leave but Half Moon stopped him. "Not right now. It's the middle of the night. Come on, spend the night with me. I'll protect you from any bad dreams."

When Dove's Wing woke, the headed over to Jaypaw's den and saw an empty nest. Worry rose in her chest. Did he run away?

"Dove's Wing."

Dove's Wing whipped around and saw Jaypaw standing behind her. She let out a breath as she relaxed. "Don't scare me like that."

Jaypaw ignored her. "I'll go with you."

Dove's Wing blinked. "What?"

"I said I'll go with you," Jaypaw repeated. "I'll go back to my clan."

"Really?"

Jaypaw huffed. "I said I'd go three times. What else do you want?"

"Sorry," Dove's Wing apologized. "You just seemed to set on staying."

"Well, things change," Jaypaw grunted. "When do we go?"

"Soon," Dove's Wing promised. "Get ready to see your clan again, Jaypaw."

"Yeah," Jaypaw said, turning away. "Sure."

Jay's Wing grit his teeth as he forced his legs forward. His hind legs were dragging stiffly behind him. His chest and forelegs burned with effort as he tried to stand properly but try as he might, he just couldn't walk normally.

"Maybe we should take a break," Hollypaw suggested. Jay's Wing twitched his ears, pinpointing her location beside him, and turned to give her a blind stare. He sensed her flinch. "I can understand you wanting to get better but it won't do you any good if you hurt yourself too much to make it to the tunnels when it's time."

Jay's Wing sighed and stopped walking. Lionpaw moved to his side, ready to help him if he stumbled but Jay's Wing stiffly managed to sit down on his own.

"I thought I was doing alright but walking in the forest is so hard," Jay's Wing complained. "There's so much… stuff everywhere. And I can't even see it."

"That's what we're here for," Lionpaw told him. "We're your eyes and ears so you can try and get over your injuries."

"My ears are fine," Jay's Wing grumbled. "And it's not my fault Jaypaw's stupid eyes can't see anything."

Lionpaw snorted. "He's had to deal with it his whole life so quit complaining."

"Yeah well I know what it's like to see things," Jay's Wing pointed out, "and Jaypaw doesn't so there's this whole transition and it's really hard. I dare you to spend a quarter moon with your eyes closed. Then you can tell me to quit complaining."

Lionpaw opened his mouth to respond but Hollypaw interrupted. "If you're in Jaypaw's body, does that mean Jaypaw's in your body?"

"I assume so, yeah."

"Then does that mean he can see?"

"If he has his eyes open, yeah."

"Jaypaw can see?" Lionpaw questioned.

Jay's Wing tilted his head and looked at him. They're only realizing this now? "Yeah…"

"StarClan," Hollypaw whispered. "Jaypaw can see."

Jay's Wing flicked his tail. "It's really not that crazy."

"Jaypaw's always been blind. It's always stopped him from doing what he wanted to do," Hollypaw told him.

"And?"

"What if… What if it's better if he stays in your body?" Hollypaw asked.

Shock struck Jay's Wing but it soon melted into anger. His eyes narrowed and he rose to his paws, ignoring the pain from his earlier injuries shooting down his back. "What do you mean it's better if Jaypaw stays in my body?"

"He could have the life he's always wanted," Lionpaw realized aloud.

Jay's Wing's paw was in the air in a flash and raked down both of their cheeks. He felt Hollypaw's blood seep between his claws and Lionpaw's powers save him from injury. Jay's Wing glared and hissed. "What about me? He's living my life! He has no right to it!"

"Jaypaw didn't deserve to be born blind!" Hollypaw argued. She swiped her tongue over her paw and wiped away the blood leaking from the scratch on her face. "You don't deserve to be able to see anymore than him!"

"Neither do you!" Jay's Wing hissed, getting in her face. "But he's living my life! He's with my friends, my kin, and my tribe and leeching off my victory in the Rite of Passage! It's mine!"

"How selfish can you be?" Hollypaw asked, sounding shocked.

"Me? Selfish? He's the one stealing everything from me!" Jay's Wing snarled. He felt an angry heat forming in his belly. "Leafpool said my own sister didn't even know who he really was for moons. She's my sister, not his. He's got his own sister, he doesn't need mine. And he's been lying to my best friend and my love. I was the one who he befriended and she fell in love with and he's… he's… taking advantage of their bonds with me. If that's not selfish, I don't know what is!"

Jay's Wing's breathing was rough, chest heaving, as he stood hunched and glaring at Jaypaw's siblings. He swung his head, blind gaze raking over them harsher than any cats' claws. His blood boiled with an anger that he hadn't been aware of festering under his skin for moons since arriving in this strange time and clan.

"I'll admit Jaypaw's life is rough and I never experienced something like it before but that doesn't mean he gets a pass. When I got here, I was on the Third Day of the sharpclaw trial. I came so close to dying so hard but I worked so freaking hard to survive," Jay's Wing went on. "And now, rather than enjoying my life as a sharpclaw in my tribe, I'm here in this stupid place with you instead of my friends and kin and Jaypaw's reaping all the benefits of all I sacrificed and fought through."

Lionpaw lowered his head, eyes flashing guiltily. Jay's Wing couldn't see it of course but he felt the spike of emotion using Jaypaw's powers, powers he wished he didn't have.

"I'm sorry," Hollypaw murmured, "but he's our brother. I know it's wrong but I can't help for just wanting what's best for him."

Jay's Wing sighed and let himself relax. He sat back on his haunches. "I guess I can understand it. Still doesn't mean I'm alright with it. I'm going back to my tribe whether you two help me or not."

"Of course we'll keep helping you," Lionpaw said. "We still want to see our brother again and we want you to see your sister again."

"Good," Jay's Wing said. "Then help me stand up. I think my hips locked."

"Jaypaw."

Jaypaw woke from a dreamless sleep to the sound of his name. He looked up and saw Dove's Wing standing at the entrance of his den.

"It's time to go."

Jaypaw sighed and lifted himself out of his nest. Dove's Wing slid a rabbit forward with her paw. Jaypaw looked at it then up at her.

She shrugged. "It's still early. I thought we should eat before leaving."

"But I haven't hunted," Jaypaw frowned.

She purred and settled down next to the rabbit. "Share, mouse brain."

Jaypaw curled his tail and lay down across from her. He let her have the first bite before digging in himself.

"Jay's Wing, wake up."

Jay's Wing was awake in an instant. "Is it time?"

Leafpool nodded. Jay's Wing smelled mouse in the air and a moment later she put a mouse down in front of him. "Eat. You need your strength. It's not far but you're still having some problems moving."

"Thanks Leafpool," Jay's Wing said before biting into the mouse's flank and enjoying the warm flavor flood his mouth. With Jaypaw's powers, he became aware of a warm happiness washing off the ThunderClan medicine cat.

Jaypaw and Dove's Wing came to a stop in front of the tunnel entrance but not the dead ended one the tribe lived in. This was the Rite of Passage. Jaypaw had come here before, when Dove's Wing went on her trial and when he came to this time. A nervous feeling spread up from his paws to his belly and up his neck, seizing his whole body.

Jaypaw turned away from the tunnel and stared into the forest knowing this would be the last time he'd see trees until he joined StarClan in the Silverpelt. I don't want to go yet…

He felt a tail tip on his shoulder. He turned and his blue eyes met Dove's Wing's own blue eyes. Her eyes shone like a river in the dawn light. "Are you ready?"

"No," Jaypaw said truthfully, "but I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

"Then let's go before anyone notices we're gone," Dove's Wing said. Jaypaw nodded slowly and padded into the tunnel. The moment darkness filled his vision, he froze. I don't want to go back. Not yet.

"Jaypaw," a voice said but it wasn't Dove's Wing's.

"Fallen Leaves," Dove's Wing murmured.

"Jaypaw. Dove's Wing."

Jaypaw didn't see anything but Dove's Wing went further into the underground. "Fallen Leaves."

"You came back!" a voice purred. Jaypaw saw a transparent pelt standing out against the earth. "I was worried you wouldn't come."

"Of course we did," Dove's Wing said. "We're your friends. Well, I am at least. And Jay's Wing is too. He'll be here soon too and when Half Moon and Fish Leap have their trials, you'll see them too."

The ghost smiled sadly. "I know. It's so lonely down here… I can't help but feeling a little hopeless sometimes. I guess that's what made me… y'know, accidentally steal your brother's soul but I'll make everything okay again. I promise I will."

Dove's Wing nodded comfortingly. "You will. I know you will."

Fallen Leaves let out a long sigh and glanced between the two. "Are you ready?"

Jaypaw swallowed. He didn't want to go yet. He could see here. He was a sharpclaw, a warrior. But because of what? I'm living someone else's life… and the only reason I'm any good at hunting or fighting is because of Ink. Ink… I don't want to see him again. This is the only hope I have of that.

Fallen Leaves and Dove's Wing were watching him. Slowly, Jaypaw nodded and Dove's Wing let out a breath.

"Lay down," Fallen Leaves commanded. "I'll do the rest."

Jaypaw did as he was told and settled down on the dirt floor. Dove's Wing did the same beside him. Fallen Leaves stood over him and Jaypaw couldn't help feeling a little scared. He'd only seen spirits once before and they were trying to kill him. But Half Moon, Fish Leap, and Dove's Wing had told him about Fallen Leaves and he found himself trusting the steady green gaze looking down on him.

Fallen Leaves closed his eyes and lowered his muzzle, pressing it against Jaypaw's forehead. Jaypaw closed his own eyes and felt a fog enter his mind and a moment later, he felt something ripping from his body. His eyes snapped open then rolled back as he tried his hardest not to yowl his lungs out. It hurts…

And then his vision was flooded with bright colors that he'd never seen before and the sharp, tearing pain turned into a smooth feeling of something slipping from his mind and merging with whatever lay beyond. Lionpaw... Hollypaw... Leafpool... I'm coming home.