Chapter 2

Jayfeather sat in the back of his den with his eyes crossed in thought. There was something strange going on. Seedkit had been sleeping more than she should. He only gave her a single poppy. She had been sleeping for an entire day, not waking up even to make dirt.

The medicine cat sniffed the little kitten, who was writhing in her sleep. Briarlight was fast asleep as well, but she wasn't nearly as overheated as Seedkit. The entire den was beginning to get warmer and warmer as heat radiated off of the ill little Seedkit.

Things had been different since his grandfather died. Firestar was a great cat. He could get his clan through anything. While Jayfeather didn't dislike Bramblestar, he couldn't help but feel he wasn't as fit for the duty as leader as someone who shares blood with Firestar, such as his brother, Lionblaze. That didn't matter, though. What mattered was waking this kit up and making her eat and take some herbs.

"Wake up, little one." He said gently as he nosed the kit awake. In a daze, Seedkit looked up at him with blurry eyes. Her nose was crusted with dried snot and her pelt was stained in sick. Jayfeather flinched. No kit should look this ill, especially one as young as Seedkit.

The kitten convulsed before dry-heaving. She had nothing in her belly to vomit up. Only air. Jayfeather rubbed her writhing back with his paw. Once she had settled down, he saw how truly wrecked she was. Even though she had been asleep, she looked as if all the energy had been wrung out of her in one night.

Poor thing… he thought to himself, nosing through his store until he found a few bits of catmint. That truly was the only thing he could think of, even though he knew this wasn't green cough, white cough, or black cough. This seemed perhaps even worse than that. He had been giving the kitten catmint for the past few days, and she was getting worse. Jayfeather had no idea what to do.

Seedkit lapped up the catmint that her medicine cat had sat in front of her and looked up. She was fighting the urge to fall over and go to sleep once more. "Jayfeather." She mewed. Her voice was raspy and quiet from not using it for so long, and the damage the sick had done to her throat. "I still feel yucky."

"I know." The tom replied hopelessly. Was there nothing he could do for this poor furball? Maybe there was something that the other medicine cats had that would help him?

Jayfeather nudged the kit back into a laying position and she closed her eyes. Perhaps she'll be better once she wakes up. He hoped.

The tom wobbled over to his nest, completely bushed. While there wasn't much to do that day, he had wasted all of his energy trying to make Seedkit feel better. There wasn't anything he could do now but let her sleep, and catch some shut eye himself.

As soon as the darkness enraptured him, he awoke to light. It wasn't StarClan's hunting grounds. It was the forest that surrounded the lake. Why was he here? Did he accidentally make his way into another cat's dream?

Not bothering to stop and think about what he was doing, Jayfeather made his way toward the Lake. It was bright and sunny out, with birds singing and the air smelling of honey and the lake. A beautiful thing, he thought, this was.

He loved dreaming. In his dreams, he could see. In his dreams, he didn't have every-cat watching over him, wondering if he's going to fall over his own feet because he can't see them. No, there wasn't any of that here. He could see the sunlight filtering through the trees, and the green grass below his paws.

"Jayfeather?"

A familiar voice called to him from above. Jayfeather craned his neck and saw a thin brown tail breaking through the leaves. Opening his mouth to taste the scent, he recognized it as the cat he'd been sharing a den with for many moons.

"Briarlight. What are you doing up there?" What a stupid question, Jayfeather hissed inwardly. Of course she would be climbing. In reality, she was lame. She needed an escort to leave the camp, and her movement was limited even in the camp. But here, she could do anything. Just like Jayfeather's blindness, her disability had vanished like smoke.

The brown she-cat leaped nimbly down and Jayfeather could hear a purr rumbling in her throat. She was happy.

"What are you doing here? I was just chasing a squirrel when I saw you walk this way." Briarlight's head tilted with curiosity.

Jayfeather flicked his tail. Many cats now knew of his special power, which, even while he shouldn't need it, he still had. But it felt foreign to him to actually speak about it.

Briarlight licked his nose, the same way she did when they were in his den. That's what Jayfeather had loved about her. He had never told the rest of the clan, or even Briarlight herself, but as he grew closer to the she-cat, he began getting feelings for her that he hadn't felt in generations.

Don't forget about me… A voice rang in his head. The picture of a beautiful white she-cat popped into his mind. It was Half-Moon, the ancient cat he was mates with long, long ago.

Jayfeather shook his head. He couldn't think about her now. She wasn't alive anymore. They couldn't be mates. And while he missed her quite terribly, Briarlight was here. She was real. She was here.

"Briarlight?" Jayfeather began to speak as his companion slowly walked away, her tail flicking Jayfeather's cheek playfully.

She didn't stop walking, just continued on towards the lake with her tail held high. Jayfeather galloped after her, purring. This was a good dream. Finally. After moons of death and violence and spying, he could have a calming dream.

The sun was beginning to set in the brown she-cat's dream. Her silhouette danced behind her as she sat down on the edge of the calm lake. Jayfeather sat next to her, not daring to speak a word. He wouldn't want to break the beautiful silence that drifted between them

The sky turned black within a second of the two twining tails. Perhaps a sign from Starclan.

Briarlight disappeared. She had obviously woken up, her body becoming a thousand fireflies in this once lovely dream-land.

All Jayfeather could hear was yowls of cats in pain, and what sounded like some-cat retching, as if trying to rid themselves of the sick inside their belly.

A group of strange looking cats sat in an ominous circle around him. They smelled of each different clan, mingling together. They were all the same color, with different colored glowing eyes. What was this?

Several voices spoke at once, ringing through Jayfeather's ears.

Poison will become Protector when the long lost murderer has returned

And once more, Jayfeather was in darkness.

((Sorry this was quite short. Next chapter will be from Briarlight's perspective. If you have any ideas for Cinderheart's kits, let me know! Or if there's something you'd like to see in this story, again, tell me!))