When Bramblestar returned to camp with Dovewing, Lionblaze, Squirrelflight, Jayfeather, Leafpool, Ivypool, Whitewing, and Birchfall, he immediately was greeted by his clanmates. Crane's Wing, Brackenfur, Cinderheart, and Briarlight stood in front of the rest.
"Lionblaze!" Cinderheart gasped and rushed up to her mate, her swollen belly swinging as she did so. Bramblestar hadn't allowed her to go to the WindClan camp when Leaftail's patrol had come to the ThunderClan camp to inform them of the Three's whereabouts and she was deeply worried about Lionblaze. The two pressed against each other in greeting.
"Jayfeather!" Briarlight dragged himself up to the blind tom. They didn't greet each other anything like the way Lionblaze and Cinderheart did but they still seemed happy to see each other. Bramblestar was glad. Jayfeather was always the most antisocial of his adopted kits. He'd never really noticed how close Jayfeather and Briarlight were. He should've realized. Jayfeather was alone in the medicine den for a long time after Leafpool was stripped of her duties, Briarlight had been his only denmate. He was glad the tom had found a friend.
Bumblestripe went up to Dovewing but he looked a lot more into the greeting than Dovewing was. They hadn't been mates in moons but it was clear Bumblestripe still had affections for her though he was trying to play it off as friendly concern.
Brackenfur padded up to Bramblestar. He'd left him in charge with Bramblestar and Squirrelflight away. "Are they alright?"
"Yeah," Bramblestar said. His searched for something to say. He'd been so worried that he had a hard time remembering what Jayfeather had said happened to them. "They got trapped in the tunnels."
"What were they doing in the tunnels?"
Bramblestar shrugged despite knowing the answer. Jayfeather seemed to think that there was some kind of secondary Moonpool-like place down there. Bramblestar wasn't about to accuse his medicine cat of being wrong or lying but he didn't totally believe all that Jayfeather had been telling him lately. StarClan's lack of power, ancient ancestors, reincarnations, it didn't sound like Jayfeather had bees in his brain but something was definitely off.
Crane's Wing was talking with Lionblaze and Jayfeather. Bramblestar made eye contact with him. "You and I need to talk."
"Why?" Lionblaze asked. "Did he do something wrong?"
"He told Leafpool and Briarlight that Jayfeather had left at dawn to gather herbs then that Lionblaze wanted to show him something. He told Cinderheart that Lionblaze was on dawn patrol and sunhigh patrol on the same day. He told Ivypool that Dovewing had gone hunting with Bumblestripe and told Bumblestripe that she'd gone hunting with Ivypool. He told Squirrelflight that Lionblaze was gathering herbs with Jayfeather and that Dovewing was sick in the dirtplace each time she asked," Bramblestar said hardly. "And that was just on the first day. No cat suspected anything until Leaftail showed up. He knew where you were and he lied."
"For the record, I didn't know where they were or that they almost died," Crane's Wing said. "I just knew that Jayfeather was going to the Moonpool and that Lionblaze and Dovewing went with him, I swear. I said I'd cover for them until they got back and when they didn't…"
"We're still talking," Bramblestar said beckoning Crane's Wing with his tail. He looked to the Three. "Get some rest."
Crane's Wing looked significantly less excited to be in the leader's den than he had been the first time he'd been there.
Good. At least he knows he did something wrong.
"Before you say anything just know that I didn't-"
Bramblestar silenced him with a flick of his tail.
"You're a visitor of my clan," Bramblestar started. "I don't know how visitors behave where you come from but here they are respectful, they pull their own weight, and they certainly do not lie."
"Visitors are supposed to do that where I come from too," Crane's Wing said solemnly.
"Then why did you lie?"
Crane's Wing looked at his paws and sighed. "Jayfeather needed to go to the Moonpool with Lionblaze and Dovewing. I'm not a clan cat, I have no business there, so I offered to stay behind in case anyone looked for them. I didn't want to lie but they didn't want any cat to know where they were going."
Bramblestar didn't move. "Why should I believe you?"
Crane's Wing looked up with surprise.
"You lied before, you are good at it, I'll give you that. How do I know you're not lying now?"
Crane's Wing looked bewildered. "I don't know. How are you supposed to prove you're not lying?"
Mouse dung. I don't even know the answer to that.
"Tell me why you lied."
"Because I said I would."
"And why did you?"
"Because they're the reborn forms of ancient cats that my cats have honored for generations," Crane's Wing said. "I came here because I needed to find Jay's Wing. My whole life I have spent hearing stories of him and memorizing each word, praying to him, giving thanks to him, and honoring him. I traveled for seasons to find Jayfeather. He has been my life. I feel... I feel like I should do everything I can for them."
This was news to Bramblestar. He'd never really had a conversation with Crane's Wing since he arrived. He didn't know much about this cat or his ways. "Why did you come here?"
"Solar Sigil received a sign that Jay's Wing had returned," Crane's Wing said. "I was chosen to search for him."
"Who is Solar Sigil?"
"My tribe's shama."
"Sorry, did you say tribe?"
"The Tribe of Sacred Lines," Crane's Wing nodded. Bramblestar shook his head clear. There were multiple clans, why wouldn't there be multiple tribes? Except the Tribe of Rushing Water doesn't know about any other tribes.
"Why were you chosen?" Bramblestar asked.
"I don't know," Crane's Wing said. He looked down at his paws. To Bramblestar's surprise, he looked sad. "I'm not that special. I mean, the cat who came had to be of Jay's Wing's blood obviously but all the other cats in my line seem so much better suited for the job. I'm not that amazing a hunting or fighting or healing or reading signs, I'm just a normal cat who happens to be a distant relative of a great cat that everyone respects."
Bramblestar felt bad. He understood how Crane's Wing felt. He'd been chosen for a prophecy by StarClan when he was a young warrior. He didn't know why. On his journey to the sundrown place, he'd often wondered why Firestar or Graystripe or Dustpelt or Thornclaw or any other cat wasn't chosen. He didn't feel particularly special.
"I'm sure there was a reason," Bramblestar said comfortingly. "You just haven't realized it yet. But you made it here, didn't you? You found Jayfeather."
"And somehow I've become better friends with the descendant of Lion's Roar," Crane's Wing said.
"Jayfeather and Lionblaze are their own cats, they're not defined by who they may or may not have been in a past life. Some cats just work with some better than others, you and Lionblaze are good friends. Surely you can't look down upon that."
Crane's Wing's expression lightened. He suddenly purred in amusement.
"What?"
"My best friend is from Lion's Roar's line," Crane's Wing purred. "He'd be so jealous that I met Lion's Roar and that we're friends. I am so going to rub it in his face when I get back."
Crane's Wing suddenly fell silent.
"What?"
"I'm going to leave once Jayfeather figures all this out," Crane's Wing frowned. "I want to get back to my kin and my friends but I don't want to leave Jayfeather, Dovewing, and Lionblaze. And I like your clanmates and the way they do things. I want to see Lionblaze's kits be born."
"Cinderheart's pretty far along and Jayfeather doesn't seem to have made any progress in figuring this out, you'll probably still be here," Bramblestar pointed out.
"But Lionblaze told me how excited he is about watching them grow up. I'll probably leave here knowing their names but never knowing their warrior names. If I ever have my own kits and I tell them about how I met Jay's Wing, Lion's Roar, and Dove's Wing, I wouldn't be using the right names when I'm telling them stories. Briarlight told me how important a warrior's name is. Names important in my tribe too. I want to know them."
Bramblestar went quiet. He was sure that Crane's Wing was upset about more than that. This was just a feeling he could put into words. He would miss ThunderClan and spend his life wondering how they were doing. Bramblestar did the same. He'd journeyed more than nearly every cat he'd met, he thought about all the cats he'd left behind all the time. The Tribe of Rushing Water, Barley and Ravenpaw, Jessy and Minty, the dozens of loners and kittypets who gave him and his friends directions on their first journey. But he wouldn't leave his clan to see them all again.
"Maybe you can visit?" Bramblestar suggested weakly.
Crane's Wing shook his head. "It's too far and too dangerous. I remember how to get home but if I left, I don't think I could remember how to get back here. And it took me season cycles to get here. It'll probably won't take me as long to get home but it'll probably still be at least a season."
Bramblestar's anger had long since gone. He touched his tail tip to Crane's Wing's shoulder. This cat had devoted much of his life to one of Bramblestar's clanmates. Lying didn't seem all that unreasonable.
"Would you like to join the clan?" Bramblestar offered knowing the answer.
"I can't. If I could, I would, but I have to go home eventually. My kin and my friends are there and I need to tell them about my journey. It's been a long time since I've seen them. The journey was dangerous, they don't know if I'm alive. I don't want them to spend the rest of their lives wondering if I'm dead or not."
"When you leave, you'll spent the rest of your life wondering if Lionblaze, Jayfeather, and Dovewing are alright," Bramblestar told him gently.
"I know," Crane's Wing said sadly.
Author's Note: Crane's Wing is such a sad boy! We haven't really seen that much of his character so far and neither has many of the ThunderClan cats. Bramblestar feels bad for being so hard on him.
More of Crane's Wing's background has been revealed. According to the authors, there are three tribes but only one of them is mentioned in the books. The Tribe of the Sacred Lines is completely made up and its totally different from the Tribe of Rushing Water. Unlike the Tribe of Rushing Water, this tribe is devoted to remembering the history of their blood lines and they honor their greatest ancestors. I sincerely doubt anything like that would ever exist in the books.
Crane's Wing is a descendant of Jay's Wing and spent his life honoring him which is why he respects Jayfeather so much and traveled all this way to find the clans. The tribe considers Jay's Wing "a sacred cat" because he lead to ancients to the mountains, taught them about the Cave of Pointed Stones, and created the title Stoneteller. He resides in the Astral Plane for these reasons which is why he had the ability to be reborn in Jayfeather.
Btw, a season cycle is a year. Cats don't have the word year. The tribe lives so far away it took years for Crane's Wing to find the clans. Of course, he didn't know where he was going but that's a pretty long time.
Reviews-
Thepercabethfan- Crane's Wing managed to avoid the worst of it. Everything's going to be alright.
EDIT: So did some research and turns out its impossible for Crane's Wing's tribe to be descendants of the ancients but this is fanfic, there are going to be some inconsistencies with the cannon stuff. In the books, the ancients are one of the tribes and the tribes split long before they settled by the lake. In this, the original tribe split into three but on the journey to the mountains, two of the tribes reencountered each other and some of the lake tribe left to join the other tribe or something like that. No one has noticed this so far and the story isn't really about the Tribe of the Sacred Lines so it's not really that important. Still, whoops.