Chapter Twenty-One

DISCLAIMER

If I owned warriors, Feathertail would've survived the fall, the three would belong to Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw, and Spottedleaf and Firestar would never have loved each other

Thanks Banana Llama, Jayfeather lover, XWarriorFanX and Nightfeather12 for reviewing!

Clearmist sat in her mossy nest, gently grooming herself. She flexed her injured leg and barely felt any pain. Jayfeather padded up softly holding a wad of leaves in his jaw. Clearmist recognised marigold and dandelions.

"Feeling better?" Jayfeather asked, setting down his bundle.

"A lot better." Clearmist replied. He quickly sniffed her leg over and gave a gruff nod.

"You can return to the warriors den now – but absolutely no patrols until I say so. I want to check on your leg everyday."

"Ok, Jayfeather." She excitedly scrambled out of her nest. I want to go hunting!

"Since your going hunting," Jayfeather said, "Bring me back some more marigold."

Clearmist didn't even bother asking how he knew she was going hunting. "Alright, Jayfeather. But why do you need so much? You already have three huge piles in the storage."

"I'm not sure… I just feel… Something is coming." Suddenly, Jayfeather stopped talking. His eyes filled with horror and every hair on his pelt was bristling – though in shock or fear, Clearmist did not know.

"Jayfeather? Jayfeather!" She flicked his ear with her tail. When he didn't respond, she cuffed him around the ear. He still did not respond for several moments.

"Clearmist," he rasped, "Don't forget that marigold. I also need borage. And catch as much prey as possible. StarClan knows we need to keep our strength up."

Clearmist had collected the marigold and borage and brought it back to the medicine den. Her leg was slightly sore, but Jayfeather told her to just take it easy. It would be fine.

She was about to go out again to hunt for the first time in moons, but stopped when she saw Lighteningclaw. The ginger warrior stalked outside with his tail and head held high. Trust him to get all snobby once he becomes deputy, Clearmist thought, only half affectionately.

"Hi, Lighteningclaw," she mewed. At first he did not respond. "Lighteningclaw. Lighteningclaw. Lighteningclaw." She kept saying his name over and over. "Lighteningclaw!" She hissed. The deputy jumped and turned around slowly.

"Yes?" He asked. His voice was slightly deeper then normal, and came out as a rasp, as though he had not talked for many moons.

"Let's go hunting together." She said.

"Really? Let's –" his face dropped and his enthusiastic voice turned angry. "Not. In case you have not noticed, I have important jobs. You go hunting and then maybe join the sunset patrol."

"Jayfeather said I'm not allowed to go on patrols."

"Mouse-brain," he growled softly, then added more clearly, "That leg shouldn't be bothering you anymore. Now go away."

"Ok, O Great Deputy, whose nose is so high that he wouldn't notice if a badger came out of nowhere." She said in mock respect. He simply hissed and turned away. I'm not letting you out of my sight. She thought. First, she looked around to see if she could find Silverdapple – she and her sister often went off in search of the brother lately – but the silver dappled tortoiseshell was nowhere to be seen. She's probably hunting or on patrol – like I should be, she thought guiltily. She shook the thought away and set out on her brothers scent trail. She kept close to the ground and skulked through the undergrowth, always keeping his familiar pelt in sight. But she started to limp slightly, losing speed and he headed on even faster then ever.

"Mouse-dung!" She said aloud. "Now I'll never catch him!" She limped as quickly as possible in the direction of the camp. She tripped over a tortoiseshell cat with a hiss of annoyance.

"Clearmist!"

"Lighteningclaw—"

"I'm Silverdapple, you know, not Lighteningclaw."

"Yes, yes, but Lighteningclaw- "

"Today is such a nice day. I bet Lighteningclaw is hunting. Is that what you were going to tell me? Oh, well, I'm glad your leg is better. Oh my gosh, you're limping! Come on, Foxleap is nearby, he'll help us take you back to camp."

"Silverdapple," Clearmist growled impatiently, "Lighteningclaw is acting weird. His voice is deeper and he smells different. Something is wrong with our brother. It's like… Well, I can't quite put my paw on it, but it's like he's being controlled or something… I don't know."

Silverdapple snapped out of her happy daze in an instant.

"What are we going to do?" She wailed.

"I don't know, Silverdapple, I just don't know."

"What's the matter?" Foxleap asked, bursting out of a bush. "Clearmist?"

"Hi, Foxleap. I just ran into Silverdapple when I was on my way back from hunting."

"Then, uh, why did she say 'What are we going to do?' Clearmist?"

"Oh, see, I promised Jayfeather I would bring him a nice juicy mouse, but I couldn't find any. There's not even a stir out there! So that is what Silverdapple was asking."

"Oh," Foxleap said, "I have a nice plump mouse here, if you want to give it to Jayfeather."

"Thanks, Foxleap. But see, Jayfeather wanted a wood mouse. That's not a wood mouse."

"Alright then. Well, let's find one." Foxleap mewed cheerfully. Once they started walking, Foxleap must've noticed Clearmist limping, for he said, "You better get back to Jayfeather. He'll just have to have his wood mouse some other time."

"Ok."

So the trio returned to the camp, supporting Clearmist in the middle, and trooped into the medicine den.

"Clearmist?" He asked, scenting the air.

"Yes, Jayfeather. I've started limping again…"

"I told you to take it easy!" He snapped.

Foxleap quickly intervened. "Yes, um, she was looking for a wood mouse for you. Sorry, but we could only find a normal mouse."

"What?" Jayfeather asked, his sightless blue eyes fixed on Clearmist. Please don't let him say that he didn't ask for a wood mouse. "Oh, yes, I remember now. A normal mouse is ok."

"Oh. Alright then." As the group left, Jayfeather turned at Clearmist with a knowing glint in his eyes.

"I don't know what your up to, and why you needed to tell Foxleap such a ridiculous lie, but whatever it is, it could be dangerous. Especially if your brother is involved." Jayfeather's whispered warning was serious.
"Ok, Jayfeather." She said.

"Oh, Clearmist, Silverdapple. I was looking for you too. You're going to the gathering tonight." Clearmist looked at her leader who she had accidently bumped into.

"Oh, ok," she mewed absent-mindedly

"Eat well. This is your first gathering for a while." Firestar's eyes were shining. "Brambleclaw was a fine deputy. I should imagine that his son is just as good. He is so efficient. Your father was very proud of you. If he could see you now, he would be so…" Firestar didn't finish his sentence, but Clearmist and Silverdapple nodded their heads to indicate that they knew what he meant.

"Firestar, to be honest –" Clearmist was cut off because Lighteningclaw was calling Firestar for a report of the borders.

"Sorry, Clearmist, but it seems that the sunset patrol is back. I must find out what happened." Firestar nodded and departed.

"Well, we're going to the Gathering tonight." Silverdapple mewed, though her voice was not laced with enthusiasm. It was laced with worry.

The sisters knew that something bad was going to happen tonight, and that it involved their brother, and the thought lay in their stomachs like a rock in a dark pit.

The next chapter is VERY short, so I've put it up as well. Whenever stuff like that happens, I'll put up two chapters :)