Jaypaw's eyes snapped open and he shot to his paws.
"Should I get Leafpool?"
"I'm fine."
"Sure you are." Cinderpaw snorted.
"I'm going back to sleep."
"Why? So you can end up in that creepy place again. That's the last thing we need."
"I'm tired, Cinderpaw. I'm going to sleep."
He closed his eyes again and Cinderpaw sighed.
"StarClan help us all." She muttered before she drifted off.
"What was that?!" Squirrelflight demanded of her sister when the other apprentices were out of earshot.
"I don't know."
"Fox-dung to that, Leafpool. If Jaypaw knows then why don't you?!" Brackenfur sneered. "You'd let an apprentice upstage you like that?!"
"It's not about who knows more, Brackenfur!" Leafpool snarled. "I'm just glad that Jaypaw was able to help. I wonder…" She turned tail and pelted toward the medicine den, where the two apprentices had taken their nests.
"Jaypaw, wake up!" She meowed sharply.
"What's wrong, Leafpool?" Cinderpaw asked.
"Does this have anything to do with what you two were talking about on your first day as apprentices?"
Cinderpaw hesitated, shifting around in her nest and casting a wary glance at Jaypaw.
"Yes."
"You have to tell us what it is."
"You wouldn't believe me if I did."
"I would, and your parents would. That's all that matters."
Jaypaw rolled over in his nest and his eyes snapped open. He righted himself with a yelp and gave Cinderpaw a look.
"What happened?"
"Leafpool wants to know the truth."
Jaypaw muttered under his breath and got to his paws, pacing the length of the medicine den.
"I don't think we'd be in that much trouble."
"What happens if you get exiled?"
"For what? Telling the truth?"
"Or killed. You can die if he gets hurt too badly."
"So that is why you became a medicine cat." She groused. Jaypaw rolled his eyes and came to a stop in front of Cinderpaw.
"I'm trying to keep you alive and you're fawning over me? What is wrong with she-cats?"
"Shut up, Jaypaw. I'm not fawning over you."
He snorted.
"What are the chances of him getting to StarClan before they find out?"
"Well, they can't do much. They can't see us like StarClan can."
"That's not true. They see through him and since he's…"
"Oh."
"Yeah. So now what?"
"He could lie."
"They'd find out and still kill him."
"Then what else are we supposed to do?! He's innocent, Jaypaw! He's not even supposed to be there!"
"He tried to kill a leader!" The blueish-grey tom snorted incredulously.
"He had no choice! They were going to kill her!"
"They're still going to kill her."
"No Clan cat would dare attack a medicine cat!" Cinderpaw snarled.
"They aren't Clan cats anymore, Cinderpaw. That's the point."
"So now what?"
"Again, what are his chances of getting to StarClan before they find him?"
"Slim to none." Hawkfrost growled, having heard the better part of their argument. "You kits better not do anything vole-brained either."
"There aren't any, according to him."
"Okay, what's going on?!" Sorreltail cut off Jaypaw's response. Cinderpaw sat up and shook herself out.
"Brambleclaw, what if I told you Hawkfrost was innocent?"
"What do you know about Hawkfrost?" Squirrelflight pondered.
"And why would he be innocent?" Brambleclaw snorted.
"My point exactly." Jaypaw scoffed.
"Shut up, Jaypaw. I wasn't talking to you. He just is. And I know a lot."
"He tried to kill a leader."
"He had to or Tigerclaw was going to kill Mothwing. You'd do anything for Tawnypelt, wouldn't you?"
"I still don't see how this makes him innocent."
"Tigerclaw said that if he didn't go along with the plan that Mothwing would die. What about that doesn't make you think that he was set up?"
"Cinderpaw!" Sorreltail snapped in shock. "You can't speak to the deputy like that!"
"Why are you so concerned with Hawkfrost? And where does Jaypaw come in?"
"I don't know why, but Hawkfrost is right next to me. Always has been. He gives me advice a lot, like how to fight or who to trust and he's right, Brambleclaw!"
"What?!" The other four cats yowled in shock.
"And how is Jaypaw involved in this?"
"I'm the only cat who can see him." Jaypaw admitted. "I can tell you right now that she's got Cinderpelt on one side and Hawkfrost on the other. They both walk with her. I think Cinderpelt is supposed to be there but I don't really know everything. Hawkfrost was shoved in when the Dark Forest attacked. It's really weird but StarClan made a mistake somehow. If Hawkfrost gets hurt in the Dark Forest, Cinderpaw can feel it in real life. She dreams about the place, dad. She could die there." Cinderpaw rolled her eyes.
"Ask StarClan if you have to but they'll tell you the same story."
