"It's lucky you two returned at all with the snow," Leafpool mewed as Jaypaw and I returned to camp, our pelts covered in snow. "Anything unusual happen out there?"
Jaypaw threw an uneasy glance at me, his jayfeather-blue eyes twinkling. I knew what he was thinking of—the mysterious cry we heard by the lakeshore. What was that? I wondered, settling onto the hard-packed earth of the medicine cat's den and laying my tail between the celandine and juniper berries.
A little jolt prickled my heart as I remembered the other thing Jaypaw didn't see—not that he could see anything, that was—the plumy-tailed, silver-furred creature standing in the snow. Too big to be a cat, I considered thoughtfully. Too quiet to be a dog. And that leaves one option. The creature was an indistinct hallucination.
"No," Jaypaw said, his voice returning to its usual gruff state. "We didn't see anything. What else do we need to do?"
And that settled things.
Near sunset, Leafpool dismissed me and Jaypaw to eat and talk with our friends around the camp. Jaypaw whisked past me, snatching a mouse from the fresh-kill pile and retreating to the shelter of a hollowed-out trunk of an oak tree. I picked up a thrush hesitantly, surveying the camp for a friendly face. Mousepaw and Hazelpaw's eyes glowed from the apprentice's den, while Brambleclaw, Squirrelflight, and Firestar sat, huddled, near Firestar's den. I selected a fat rabbit and, after a moment of hesitation, joined Jaypaw in the shelter of the oak trunk.
Jaypaw's whiskers quivered in surprise as I set my meal down next to his. The trunk of the oak was wide enough to shelter the two of us, but we were close together; our grey fur mingled with grey as our pelts touched. Jaypaw's blue eyes glinted, and he flicked his ears at me as I took my first bite of food.
"What're you doing here?" Jaypaw asked, swallowing a bite of his mouse. He seemed unusually stiff, his breathing light and shallow in his tiny body. "Don't you have anywhere better to go?"
Irritation flooded my body. Don't you have anything friendlier to say? I wondered, though I couldn't push away the stinging feeling Jaypaw's words had left inside my body. Unable, for once, to come up with a sharp remark, I took another bite of rabbit. "Why, you don't want me to be here?" I said, looking at the snowdrifts rolling around outside the tree trunk.
"I never said that." Jaypaw's reply was curt, and I felt prickle of annoyance. And I thought you were warming up to me, back at the lakeshore…
Several awkward moments passed. I was considering taking the rest of my rabbit to the apprentice's den and eating with Mousepaw and Hazelpaw before Jaypaw broke the silence. "So, you really walk in other cat's dreams," he said finally, his voice almost inaudible against the whining of the winds.
I shrugged. "I know I do," I said. A little more curt than I would have liked…I thought, nibbling at my dinner, but I guess I was being alright…
Jaypaw shivered, his blue eyes clouded and troubled. "StarClan haven't spoken to me directly in the last moon or so," he admitted shiftily, his thick tail brushing against the rough bark of the tree trunk. He had an air of one not saying as much as they knew.
I flicked my ears in his direction before realizing he couldn't see me. "Why, what've they been doing?" I asked briskly, looking down at the last few bites of my fresh-kill. It's all I'll be eating until evening tomorrow, I thought sadly, swallowing the mouthful of prey.
"Well…I've been having this dark dream several times over…" Jaypaw's voice trailed off, like he wasn't sure if he could trust me.
"Good for you," I said. The moment after I said it I realized how sarcastic I sounded. "Well, I mean…just…"
The tip of Jaypaw's tail gave a minute flick. "Something with shadows and a horrible screeching," he concluded, rising to his paws. "I don't know what it means. I wake up before any cat brings the explanation."
"Do you," I said, scraping snow over the prey bones. "Well…I've never had a dream like that before."
Smart, Lilypaw, I thought the moment after I said that. Of course you haven't! He knows that!
"Yes, I know you haven't," Jaypaw mewed. "I just wish that I knew what it means…"
Curiosity twinged in my stomach, and my mind drew back to the dream I had about Tigerstar's cryptic warning to Lionpaw. Maybe they're related, I thought, cocking my head to one side. Maybe somehow, the two of us can put two and two together…piece together clues…
For what must have been the thousandth time, I glanced over at Jaypaw. He looked frustrated and something else, his fur was fluffed out, and he looked…uncomfortable.
I took a deep breath, recalling all my memories of Jaypaw's sharp tongue and fierce temper. And yet, all I could say was the truth…
"I want to help you." I exhaled loudly, unable to look search Jaypaw's face for the expression he carried after my preposition.
Jaypaw was silent for a long time, before drawing in a long and steady breath. "You mean…like allies?" he meowed at last, whiskers quivering with the heaviness of the awkward silence.
Guilt prickled at my pelt. Just allies? I wondered. I bet that Jaypaw's never had…
"A friend," I said finally, quickly giving my white-dipped paws a few brisk licks. "I mean, we'll work together, but as…friends."
Jaypaw tipped his head with an unreadable expression in his eyes.
I rested my head against his shoulder briefly, feeling the warmth of his silver-grey fur and the gentle feeling of his uneven, shallow breathing. "Oh, Jaypaw," I purred, lifting my head to stare into his eyes.
"What?" Jaypaw snapped, looking away. "As far as I'm concerned, I just want to figure out this myster"—
I cut him off. "You've felt real friendship, have you?"
I curled my tail around his as he breathed softly in my ear, "No."
My whiskers brushed his, quivering with amusement. "Until now."