Sorry again if I got the tradition a bit messed up. Please correct me if I'm wrong! -.-

Chapter Ten

That night at midnight, Jaypaw walked to Leafpool's side. It was almost midnight, and it was time to head to Moonpool, for the half moon was floating high in the sky, no longer masked by clouds or rain.

"Ready?" Leafpool asked. Jaypaw nodded, remembering his dream in which he had gotten the strange prophecy. It wasn;t that long ago that they sent it to him—why couldn't StarClan just wait until this night to tell him? It wouldn't have made much of a difference!

"Let's go then," Leafpool mewed, and she padded out of the den, Jaypaw following her. Then Leafpool stoped dead, leaving Jaypaw to knock into her. He hissed irritably and around to her side to see why she had done that.

"Cinderpaw?" Leafpool meowed. Jaypaw was shaken when Cinderpaw's scent reached his nose. "What are you doing up so late?"

"I was going to… make dirt," Cinderpaw meowed, embarrassed, and she ran off to the dirtplace. With a shrug, Leafpool went on to the main entrance. It took Jaypaw a moment to comprehend what had just happened, but then he tagged along after his mentor.

"Hello," Leafpool purred, "Hazelpatch, Berryfrost, Mouseclaw." She nodded to each of them in turn as she said their name, but they didn't respond. "Very good—keep it up." Leafpool giggled and then led Jaypaw out of the camp. It was tradition that after a warrior had been given his or her name, that they should stand silent through the night and guard the camp.

All the way, Leafpool and Jaypaw walked in silence. She guided him through the forest so that he wouldn't stumble into or over anything. When they finally reached the WindClan border, they stopped, waiting for Barkface to arrive. Panting, he came down the slope and halted in front of them.

"Sorry," he meowed, catching his breath. "I got a bit caught up." Then, looking around, he sighed. "Oh, great StarClan, where is she?" Immediately, another WindClan scent hit his nose, and Jaypaw realized that it must be Kestrelpaw.

"Alright," Barkface meowed. "Now we can get going!"

"No," Leafpool told him, "we have to wait for Littlecloud, Mothwing and Willowpaw!" Barkface bowed his head in embarrassment. There was something weird about him and Kestrelpaw today. They were usually quick and sharp, but today they seemed dull and tired. And Jaypaw thought that he smelled a bit of ThunderClan scent on them… I must miss them so much that I'm smelling things, Jaypaw told himself.

When he scented ShadowClan, Jaypaw snapped back into reality.

"Hello, Littlecloud!" Leafpool greeted.

"Hi," the two WindClan cats said at the same time.

"Hi, everyone," he meowed. "Mothwing and Willowpaw still haven't arrived yet?"

"Nope," Leafpool was about to say, but then two cats came bounding towards the group of cats; they smelled of RiverClan.

"Mothwing! Willowpaw," Leafpool purred, walking over to greet her friend. Willowpaw came up to Jaypaw and meowed:

"Hi there, Jaypaw." She always seemed to treat him different than other cats, perhaps because he was blind. He took it offensively, and usually never wanted anything to do with her.

"Hi," he said back flatly. She shrunk back a bit, and went to greet the other cats.

"Now, can we get going?" Leafpool called out. The cats all nodded and headed to the Moonpool together.

When they all got there, Jaypaw was sure to step very carefully; it was slippery because of all the rain, and he didn't want to go plummeting into the Moonpool.

"Want me to help you?" Willowpaw offered, coming over to him and pressing up against his pelt.

"No, I'm fine," he snapped, and she stalked away down the slope. Jaypaw regretted saying that to her when he stumbled a bit and almost fell. Keeping his paws within the grooves of others made a long time ago, he managed the rest of the way down, though.

Every cat circled the shining pool, and then crouched to touch the surface with their nose. Jaypaw did the same, and was almost instantly chilled by the ice cold of the water. He soon appeared back in the forest, in the ThunderClan camp. Confused, and out of instinct, Jaypaw began to make his way over to the medicine cat den. Right before he came to the entrance, a starry figure appeared in front of him. He jumped back when he saw it, his fur bristling. It soon became solid, and Jaypaw saw a she-cat who he didn't recognize.

"Hello, Jaypaw," the tortoiseshell cat purred.

"Who are you?" Jaypaw couldn't help asking.

"My name is Spottedleaf," she said. "I used to be the medicine cat for ThunderClan before Cinderpelt." At Cinderpelt's name, Jaypaw flinched, thinking of Cinderpaw. The cat continued on: "I noticed that you've developed feelings for a certain she-cat?"

"We're just friends!" Jaypaw meowed, defending himself.

"Do not lie to me," Spottedleaf chuckled. "I know how you feel, Jaypaw."

"I… well…," Jaypaw stammered. "Okay… I'm in… in love." The words sounded strange coming from his mouth, and he quickly continued. "But I—" Spottedlead cut him off.

"Jaypaw, I understand," Spottedleaf meowed. Jaypaw opened his mouth to argue, but the she-cat continued. "I used to be in love as well."

"So… is it okay for me to love Cinderpaw?" Jaypaw asked, dumbfounded.

"It's against the Warrior Code," Spottedlead mewed. "You know that medicine cats are not allowed to fall in love, and Leafpool did, too. That's why she rejected Crowfeather, and moved on with her life."

"So…," Jaypaw began. "What do I do, then?" The pretty she-cat began to fade into air, and Jaypaw tried to stop her.

"Wait!" he called. "What do I do?" Spottedleaf disappeared, but Jaypaw could still smell her scent all around him.

"Listen to your heart," her voice purred softly. "Not me." Jaypaw looked around helplessly, trying to find the medicine cat again. He knew he would not, and laid down on the ground in the same position he had when he had been back at the Moonpool. Quickening his breathing, Jaypaw woke with a gasp at the edge of the pool to see that the other cats were stirring awake as well. Thinking about his dream, Jaypaw got to his paws.

"It's against the Warrior Code, you know that… Listen to your heart"... My mind tells me to move on, but my heart tells me to hold on.