"... so then Bluestar told me that Rock and Midnight are living embodiments of the Astral Plane," Jayfeather was saying. "I'm not totally sure what that means but it's different from us. Jay's Wing, Dove's Wing, and Lion's Roar were just normal spirit cats who earned their place in the Astral Plane then got reincarnated as us but Midnight and Rock are actually ancient. They watched the first sunrise and-"
"-and saw all of the prophecies, you told us that part a few days ago," Lionblaze interrupted.
"I did?" Jayfeather asked looking genuinely surprised.
"When you zoned out," Lionblaze confirmed.
Dovewing listened to the brothers talk in silence. She's been doing a lot more listening than talking lately. She found that she could hear more when her own mew wasn't overpowering the sound of everything else. Her own silence made her hear everything else better and helped her feel the loss of her powers a bit less.
Crane's Wing sat at her side also in silence but only because he was trying to follow Jayfeather and Lionblaze's conversation.
It had been a quarter-moon since half-moon. Bramblestar still wasn't totally okay with the four of them going off on their own and sneaking out was difficult but they'd finally gotten to the abandoned twoleg nest alone.
"So what exactly did we learn from this?" Crane's Wing asked as the brothers' conversation died down.
Jayfeather thought for a moment. "We should keep trying to contact Rock. It'll be much easier to go to Rock's Cave than to look for Midnight."
"Nuh-uh, we're not going back down there," Lionblaze said.
"We don't even know if anything will happen if we go there," Dovewing added.
"Rock lived there for lifetimes," Jayfeather pointed out. "Surely he had a reason for that."
"That doesn't mean he'll come to us if we just show up," Lionblaze argued.
"There are other places that are more reliable to contact our ancestors. We should try to go to those first," Dovewing suggested.
Jayfeather shook his head. "Whispering Cave and the Moonstone are the same as the Moonpool, the Cave of Pointed Stones only calls the Tribe of Endless Hunting, and the Sacred Stump is too far even though it's the only one we know will do something."
"If don't find a solution, I can take you there," Crane's Wing said. "But it'll take a very long time and even longer to get back. It should be our last resort."
Lionblaze nodded. "I don't want to leave the clan for long, especially not right now with my kits coming soon, but we can't spend the rest of our lives trying to figure out how to free these stupid spirits in us."
"Actually, you probably could," Jayfeather said. "I don't think I can though. Jay's Wing is becoming more prominent."
"Are you okay?" Dovewing asked.
"Of course. I've just been getting more memory flashes and I think Leafpool and Briarlight have been noticing my personality changes."
"You should be more concerned about that," Lionblaze told him. "That's not normal."
"Neither is being reborn."
"There you are!"
The four cats turned to see a patrol walking up to them. Cherryfall was leading Mousewhisker, Cloudtail, Rosepetal, and Poppyfrost towards them.
"Were you looking for us?" Dovewing asked, worried. If Bramblestar ordered a search patrol…
"No. Leafpool was asking where Jayfeather was and no cat knew where you were. Bramblestar said you were probably just talking but Squirrelflight told us to keep an eye out for you guys," Cherryfall explained.
"You ought to tell come cat where you are going," Cloudtail told them. "You really scared some of our clanmates when you disappeared."
"That was an accident," Jayfeather said.
"I'm not saying it wasn't," Cloudtail said. "But you should still put in an effort not to cause so much worry."
"No promises."
"Wasn't expecting anything more than that."
"You four should head back to camp," Poppyfrost said. "Well, Crane's Wing can do whatever he wants, he's not part of ThunderClan, but Lionblaze and Dovewing should've been on sunhigh patrol and Leafpool's looking for you, Jayfeather."
Jayfeather groaned. "What does she want?"
Poppyfrost shrugged.
"I know it's none of my business but are the two of you fighting again?" Rosepetal asked.
"For nearly two moons."
"Oh."
Jayfeather looked to the cats he'd been talking to. "I'd better get back so Leafpool doesn't claw my ears off later. And bring some herbs so she thinks I was doing something other than sitting on my tail with you guys."
"Do you want some help?" Crane's Wing asked.
"Do you know anything about herbs?"
Crane's Wing turned around so he was facing the abandoned twoleg nest where Jayfeather had several clumps of herbs growing. He began pointing at them with his tail.
"That's borage. We should get some for Cinderheart. This is daisy, we should get some for the elders. That's catmint. We don't need it right now unless you want to collect some just in case. This is tansy-"
"Okay, you can help," Jayfeather interrupted looking a bit impressed. He looked to the other cats. "See you later."
It was full moon. Dovewing padded beside Ivypool on the way to the island. Her belly tingled in excitement. It felt like so long since she'd seen Tigerheart. After the incident in the tunnels, she'd been worried that Bramblestar wouldn't let her go.
After Dovewing crossed the tree bridge, Ivypool stuck close to her side much to her annoyance but she didn't say anything and ignored her as she looked for Tigerheart. ThunderClan had been the last clan to arrive.
"Dovewing!" Tigerheart waved his tail in greeting. Dovewing's eyes brightened at the sight of him and bounded over.
"Tigerheart!" she purred.
"Hi," Ivypool said and sat beside Dovewing. She said nothing more. She didn't even look at them, she just stared off at the other cats. Tigerheart looked at Ivypool with confusion then at Dovewing. Dovewing shrugged. She didn't know why Ivypool was hanging around with her either.
"It's good to see you," Tigerheart said genuine though there was a bit of awkwardness in his voice. It wasn't like he never met Ivypool before, he just didn't know how he should behave when she was around.
"You too," Dovewing said. Their conversation was cut short when Mistystar called for the Gathering to start.
"RiverClan has three new apprentices!" Mistystar announced. "Jaypaw, Owlpaw, and Brackenpaw!"
"Jaypaw! Owlpaw! Brackenpaw!" the clans chanted. Dovewing looked around for the three RiverClan apprentices. They sat in a cluster with the other apprentices. Brackenpaw looked excited while her brothers ducked their heads and gave themselves a few embarrassed licks.
"Prey is running well in RiverClan," Mistystar continued once the chanting died down. "The waters have risen unexpectedly. The lake is full of fish."
Dovewing realized that the flooding in the tunnels may have had something to do with that. All that water had to go somewhere right? She had no idea if the lake and underground river were connected though.
"ShadowClan has two new warriors," Rowanstar said. "Grassheart and Spikefur!"
"Grassheart! Spikefur! Grassheart! Spikefur!"
"We also have three new apprentices. Beepaw, Berrypaw and Yarrowpaw!"
"Beepaw! Berrypaw! Yarrowpaw!"
As Dovewing chanted the names alongside the other clans, she looked around for the new warriors and apprentices. When she couldn't find them, Tigerheart pointed them out for her. Grassheart and Spikefur looked proud while the new apprentices had similar reactions to the RiverClan apprentices.
"Prey is running well in ShadowClan as well," Rowanstar finished and looked to Bramblestar.
"ThunderClan also has a new warrior," Bramblestar announced. "Stormcloud!"
"Stormcloud! Stormcloud!"
"Stormcloud! Stormcloud!" Dovewing chanted louder for her clanmate than she had for the others. Stormcloud's eyes were shining, excited to finally be a warrior. Dovewing noticed that Amberpaw and Snowpaw didn't looked particularly happy. They'd been apprentices longer than Stormcloud but Stormcloud was older and more experienced. He didn't require a very long apprenticeship and Bramblestar had given him his warrior name to the displeasure of the other ThunderClan apprentices. Dovewing was still happy for the young tom though.
"I would also like to thank WindClan for caring for some of my injured clanmates who were found on their territory," Bramblestar said, dipping his head to Onestar. Onestar nodded curtly back.
The island was filled with murmuring. It was uncommon for something like that to happen. Not unheard of but pretty rare.
"Which cats?" Tigerheart whispered.
"Um, me," Dovewing said quietly. Tigerheart looked surprised.
"Are you alright? What happened?"
"I'm fine, don't worry. I just went somewhere I shouldn't have."
Tigerheart looked like he wanted to ask more but Crowfrost and Rippletail were yowling for silence.
"Thanks to Leaftail's patrol for finding them, Kestrelflight for nursing them back to good health, and Onestar for being understanding of the situation," Bramblestar finished. Onestar whispered something to Bramblestar. The two exchanged a few words. Bramblestar shook his head and that ended their conversation. Dovewing was sure that he was asking if there was anything to do with the old prophecy happening.
"Prey is running well in WindClan. Many rabbits have abandon their burrows making easy prey," Onestar said. Again, Dovewing was sure that the flooding had something to do with that. The tunnels ran under WindClan territory, they must have overflowed and driven the rabbits to the surface. Dovewing was glad that some good came out of her near-death experience as traumatic as it was. "WindClan has nothing else to report."
Onestar and Bramblestar resumed their conversation. Mistystar and Rowanstar seemed keen on joining but Onestar waved them away and Dovewing was thankful for that. She didn't want too many cats knowing. She felt bad enough about keeping this from Ivypool and Tigerheart, she'd feel even worse if two more cats who were not them knew.
"Are you alright?" Tigerheart asked again. His eyes shone with worry in the nighttime moonlight.
"Yeah," Dovewing nodded. "I mean, I'm fine now."
Tigerheart's eyes continued to brim with worry but he didn't press.
"So how have you been?" Dovewing asked, changing the subject. "Dawnpelt's kits are the only ones in the nursery. How's that?"
Tigerheart purred. "They're begging to be apprentices. When Berrypaw, Beepaw, and Yarrowpaw, became apprentices, all they did was pester them into telling them what being an apprentices. Then they tried to get me to convince Rowanstar to let them become apprentices early. They seem to have some idea that they should get special treatment because their father is the clan deputy and their mother is the daughter of the clan leader."
Dovewing purred in amusement. She remembered Lionblaze telling her a similar story when he was mentoring her. Afterall, he grew up in the same situation.
"Any kits in your clan yet?"
Dovewing shook her head. "Cinderheart's due in a few moons."
"How's prey running in ShadowClan?" Ivypool butted into the conversation suddenly.
Dovewing was confused by her actions. Why is she only talking now? …. She doesn't want Tigerheart and me talking about kits…. StarClan, Tigerheart and I are just friends now! She should know better.
"Great," Tigerheart said his voice stiffening as he was once again off put by Ivypool's intrusion.
"ThunderClan too," Ivypool nodded. Tigerheart continued to look confused. He looked to Dovewing.
"Hey, look there's Lionblaze. I need to go talk to him. Want to come, Tigerheat?" she said suddenly. Tigerheart looked confused for another moment before catching on to her act.
"Yes. Yes I do. I haven't spoken to him much since we went on the journey together during the drought," Tigerheart said with as much falseness in his voice as Dovewing had. "See you later Ivypool!"
The two cats quickly moved away from her and moved over to Lionblaze.
"Dovewing!" Lionblaze said in surprise. "... and Tigerheart?"
"Hi Lionblaze. Sorry for coming over here. Ivypool was being weird."
"Crowfeather, have you met my old apprentice?" Lionblaze asked. Dovewing looked over and saw Jayfeather and Crowfeather sitting side by side right next to Lionblaze. Dovewing suddenly realized she was probably interrupting an important conversation between kin.
"I don't believe I have," Crowfeather said. "I saw you when you were in the WindClan camp but I don't think we've spoken."
"It's nice to meet you." Dovewing dipped her head. "Sorry for bothering you." Dovewing led Tigerheart away from them. "That was awkward."
"Why?" Tigerheart asked, confused once again.
"I think that's the first time the three of them have talked at a Gathering."
"... and?"
Dovewing gave Tigerheart a stunned look. "And Crowfeather is Lionblaze and Jayfeather's father?"
"Oh! I forgot."
Dovewing chuckled. "It's good they're talking. Jayfeather's been fighting with his mother a lot lately. He's got some stuff going on with him but I don' think he has completely forgiven her either. And Lionblaze is going to be the first of Crowfeather's kits to have kits of his own. Lionblaze told me that none of them were never really on good terms with each other but I think they're starting to work it out."
Tigerheart nodded and looked down at his paws. He looked sad. Dovewing felt the same feeling in her chest.
"It's probably for the better that we're just friends now," Tigerheart said quietly.
Those words clawed Doveing's heart. She knew she still had feelings for Tigerheart. That's why she had left Bumblestripe. Part of her wanted them to be together again but she knew that this was for the better. Being half-clan had really messed up Lionblaze, Jayfeather, and Hollyleaf. She wouldn't want that for her own kits.
Also there was the whole reincarnation thing. She hadn't told Tigerheart yet, she never really had the chance, but she didn't know how it would affect their relationship if it ever became more than it is now again. Jayfeather was the one most impacted by his rebirth but he was a medicine cat, he couldn't take a mate anyway and Dovewing doubted he would want to even if he could. Lionblaze already had a mate and her had been reborn as well so it didn't really affect the two of them as much. On the other paw, Dovewing had plenty to worry about.
Thankfully, the sad silence that replaced their earlier conversation was interrupted by Rowanstar's yowl.
"ShadowClan is leaving!"
"WindClan after them!" Onestar followed. The two leaders leaped off the rock.
"Bye," Tigerheart said and padded after his clanmates. Dovewing waved goodbye.
"There you are!" Ivypool finally found Dovewing again. She noticed her fallen expression. "You alright?"
"Of course," Dovewing nodded. She noticed that some of her clanmates were gathering behind the WindClan cats. "Let's just go home."
Author's Note: Sad Dovewing.
Also, chronologically, the three new ShadowClan apprentices haven't been born yet. I just included them so that Shadowclan would have some Gathering news.