Lionblaze lay in the center of camp beside Cinderheart. He was sharing a rabbit with his mate. Her swollen flank pressed against his side.
I can't wait to be a father. I'm so glad we're finally having kits. It feels like we've loved each other for so long.
"I'm stuffed," Cinderheart announced and pushed the rest of the rabbit towards Lionblaze with her paw.
"You sure?" he asked. He knew queens had to eat, he was surprised she didn't eat the whole thing herself.
"I had a mouse earlier," she nodded.
"I'll see if the elders want this then," Lionblaze had one last bite and got to his paws. He glanced over to the elder's den and saw Dovewing lying beside Graystripe, Sandstorm, and Purdy. Purdy was deep into a story. Graystripe and Sandstorm were asleep but Dovewing looked genuinely interested. The remains of a squirrel and a vole surrounded them. "Or maybe not. I'll take this to Daisy then."
"I'll do it," Cinderheart offered and rose. "I should get used to being round her."
"Alright," Lionblaze licked her ear and watched her pad off towards the nursery with the rabbit in her jaws. He looked around the camp to see if anything interesting was happening. On the other side of camp, Leafpool and Jayfeather were bickering about something while Briarlight watched. Nothing out of the ordinary. Squirrelflight was showing Stormpaw a battlemove that required rearing back. Stormpaw was on his hindquarters and slashing his forepaws with surprising skill. Cherryfall and Molewhisker were sharing tongues with Millie.
Seeing that nothing interesting was going on, Lionblaze settled down for a nap but before he could close his eyes, Squirrelflight looked over at him. She said something to Stormpaw then ran over to him.
"Are you up for sunhigh patrol?" she asked. Lionblaze glanced up at the sky and realized it was later than he thought.
"Sure," he shrugged.
"Good," Squirrelflight nodded. "Dovewing caught a strange scent on patrol, I told her I'd give her a patrol to check it out."
"A fox? A badger?" Lionblaze questioned.
"No, just a cat," Squirrelflight told him. "A loner probably, maybe a lost kittypet. It smelled like he'd been there for a while, I'm sure it's nothing but it's better safe than sorry."
Lionblaze nodded. "Who should we take?"
"Let Dovewing decide, its her patrol," Squirrelflight told him. "You don't need a very big patrol though, it just smelled like one cat."
"It's better safe than sorry," Lionblaze repeated her words.
Squirrelflight nodded. "Wake Dovewing up before sunhigh to choose her cats."
As Squirrelflight walked back over to Stormpaw, Lionblaze looked over to see that Dovewing and Purdy had fallen asleep in the sun beside Sandstorm and Graystripe. Lionblaze's eyes glinted in amusement.
Seeing as he had nothing better to do until sunhgih, Lionblaze padded over to the elder's den and jabbed at Dovewing with a paw. She awakened with a yelp.
"Ivypool, what're you- oh hey Lionblaze," she greeted as she looked up.
"Squirrelflight says I'm on your patrol," Lionblaze told her. She looked confused for a moment then remembered.
"Right! Thanks for waking me up. Who are we taking?"
"Whoever you want," Lionblaze told her. "Maybe one or two more cats."
She nodded. "How about Ivypool and Snowpaw?"
"They're out training by Ancient Oak," Lionblaze told her.
"Oh. Who hasn't been on patrol today?" she asked.
"Well, me obviously," Lionblaze said and looked around. "Thornclaw, Millie, Cherryfall… um, Cloudtail, Brightheart, Molewhisker, Whitewing…"
"How about Brightheart and Thornclaw?" she suggested.
"Sure," he shrugged passively. "I'll ask Thornclaw, you get Brightheart."
She nodded and the two split. Lionblaze walked over to where Thornclaw and Blossomfall were sharing tongues. They looked up from their conversation as Lionblaze approached.
"Thornclaw, you, me, Dovewing, and Brightheart are going on patrol," Lionblaze told him.
"Alright," Thornclaw gave Blossomfall one last glance before getting up. "What are we doing?"
"Squirrelflight told me Dovewing scented a cat by the border," Lionblaze explained. "She said it might be a loner or a lost kittypet."
"It wasn't kittypet," Blossomfall piped up. "I was on the same patrol. It didn't have the smell of twoleg or clan cat."
"Oh. Do you want to come?" Lionblaze asked.
Blossomfall shook her head. "I'm fine staying here."
Lionblaze and Thornclaw said goodbye and met up with Dovewing and Brightheart.
"So where's this cat supposed to be?" Brightheart asked.
"Around the border by the Moonpool," Dovewing told her. She looked at her patrol. "Everyone ready?"
"Yeah, I'm itching to claw something," Thornclaw flexed his claws.
"I see all these moons of peace isn't treating someone well," Brightheart commented. Thornclaw shot her a look but didn't say anything and the patrol headed out.
"Why does Squirrelflight want us to even look for this cat?" Brightheart asked as the patrol sniffed around the border. "It's probably just some cat passing through, its not unheard of."
Lionblaze shrugged. "She told me it was better safe than sorry."
"And it's not like we have anything better to do," Thornclaw added. His fur pricked. "I think I got the scent."
Dovewing padded over to sniff it. "That's it."
Lionblaze and Brightheart joined them. Lionblaze followed the trail a bit. "This smells fresh. I think that cat's been hanging around here."
"No, he was here then left and came back again," Thornclaw said. The more experienced warrior inhaled deeply. "A few times I think."
"Maybe it's just some kittypet interested in clan life," Brightheart suggested.
"Yeah, a kittypet is interested in the cats who eat foxes and line their nests with the fur of their enemies," Dovewing said sarcastically.
"Bramblestar says we really gotta stop those rumors." Thornclaw sighed. "When we met Stormpaw, he seriously thought I was going to eat him."
"Really?" Dovewing purred in amusement.
"Yeah, he was such a scardy-"
"Focus," Lionblaze reminded. Dovewing flashed a somewhat guilty look. It's like she forgot she's leading this patrol. "Dovewing, should we report back to Squirrelflight or keep looking around?"
"Let's keep looking," Dovewing decided. "We may as well, we might find something more than fresh scents. Everyone spread out a bit."
Lionblaze walked away from the rest of the patrol and sniffed around. He looked across the border and was tempted to take a sniff around on WindClan's side of the border but he remembered how hostile they'd been lately and decided against it.
Instead, he ventured to where the borders split around neutral territory. The scent grew stronger. Lionblaze was about to call to his clanmates when he heard the rustle of bushes and saw the flash of a silver pelt.
"Jayfeather?" Lionblaze questioned. It was his brother. What was he doing out here? The Moonpool was not far, maybe he was visiting StarClan. But it's sunhigh and I just saw him at camp…
The cat looked up at the sound of Lionblaze's voice and looked at Lionblaze with sharp grey eyes.
"You're not Jayfeather." Lionblaze said stupidly.
"Hello," the cat said cheerfully. "I'm Crane's Wing."
Lionblaze heard his patrol pad up behind him.
"What's Jayfeather doing out here?" Thornclaw asked. Crane's Wing stared at him in slight confusion. Thornclaw's eyes widened in surprise at the cat's sighted gaze then relaxed after a moment. "Nevermind."
"Hello, I'm Crane's Wing," Crane's Wing repeated at the presence of more cats. He looked around at them. He flinched winced slightly when he saw Brightheart's mangled face but didn't say anything. "Is this group cat territory?"
"If you mean clan cat territory, yes." Lionblaze answered then glanced back at Dovewing. I should let her talk to him, it's her patrol.
"We're ThunderClan cats, over there is WindClan," Dovewing told him. "Loners aren't welcome on clan territory, you'll have to leave."
"Oh, I'm not a loner," Crane's Wing told her then paused. "Or I suppose I am but hopefully not for long."
"Do you want to join the clans?" Thornclaw questioned. "Because I don't think you'll be welcomed."
Crane's Wing shook his head. "No, I'm looking for a cat. His name is Jay's Wing, he lives in a clan now I think."
"You mean Jayfeather?" Lionblaze asked.
Crane's Wing shook his head again. "Jay's Wing."
"He must mean Jayfeather," Brightheart said to the patrol. "There are only so many cats named Jay."
"Why would a loner be looking for him?" Thornclaw asked.
"Medicine cat stuff?" Lionblaze guessed. "We should bring him back to camp."
Lionblaze nodded then turned to Raven's Wing. "What do you want with Jayfeather?"
"I am Jay's Wing's kin," Crane's Wing said.
"I'm Jayfeather's brother." Lionblaze told him as the patrol began to head deeper into ThunderClan territory.
Crane's Wing looked confused. "I was told nothing of a brother."
"Who told you what?" Dovewing asked.
"My cats have passed story of the great Jay's Wing for generations," Crane's Wing's eyes gleamed with excitement. "Then they told us we had to find him. His blood runs strongest in me and my closest kin. That's why I was chosen for this journey."
The patrol exchanged confused glances.
"What are you meowing about?" Brightheart said after a moment.
"I think he had bees in his brain," Thornclaw stated.
"Maybe Jayfeather should look over him when we get back to camp," Lionblaze agreed.
Author's Note: And the mysterious cat arrives. Not much waiting. What in the name of StarClan could he be taking about? And why does he look just like the cat he's looking for?