Chapter Thirteen
Back at ThunderClan…
Jaypaw's whole body tensed and he froze. Cinderpaw looked up at him, and flicked her tail, making Jaypaw snap back into reality.
"How do you know where they are?' he challenged.
"I… had a dream," she explained.
"What about?"
"Well, I was in the WindClan camp. But I wasn't watching from the ground—I was watching from the sky." Cinderpaw cut herself short, and wiggled around anxiously. She was about to pull back from Jaypaw, when he touched her with his tail. He wrapped it halfway around her and held her paw with his.
"Please," he whispered, "tell me everything you saw." Cinderpaw held her breath for a moment before continuing.
"They were in the middle of the camp, and Owlwhisker was watching them. No one was around, but I could sense a few cats looking at them—Crowfeather was among those cats. Hollypaw and Lionpaw seemed hungry, and when I looked at the fresh kill pile, it was running low. I don't think WindClan fed them very much. Anyway… they were both very sad and home sick. Hollypaw was thinking that it was all her fault, but I couldn't tell what Lionpaw was thinking about. And then… I woke up." Cinderpaw finished, and she rested her head on her paws. "Oh, Jaypaw. I don't know why StarClan would send me this though! I mean, you're a medicine cat, why didn't they show you all of this?"
"But, so, Hollypaw and Lionpaw are in the WindClan camp?" Jaypaw asked, slightly ignoring her last question.
"Yes, I think so," Cinderpaw whispered.
"I knew someone had captured them," Jaypaw muttered, half to himself.
"What are we going to do?" Cinderpaw mewed, her tail trembling. Jaypaw rested his tail on top of her, and it lay still.
"We have no choice but to tell Firestar," he told her, getting to his paws.
"Wait!" she said, stopping him. He turned around, and could feel her eyes burning into his fur, with such intensity that he cringed slightly.
"What is it?"
"Can… can we tell him in the morning?" Cinderpaw begged.
"But who knows what WindClan could do to—" Jaypaw didn't allow himself to continue, for he heard a faint sob from Cinderpaw.
"Please, let it just wait until the morning," Cinderpaw repeated. Jaypaw's heart began to tear itself in two as he thought of what he should do.
"Okay," he meowed. "But why?" He let the words slip out, and couldn't restrain himself.
"Just trust me," Cinderpaw whispered. There's something she isn't telling me. Jaypaw ignored it and dropped to floor with a light thump. Then he felt Cinderpaw press her head against his chest. He twined his tail with hers again, and listened as she whispered something in his ear.
"Just one more night."
hr
In the morning, when Jaypaw woke up, Cinderpaw was still beside him. Leafpool was awake, and his heart pounded in his chest. What is she going to say? he thought desperately. But, in fact, she didn't say anything to him, as if not knowing that Cinderpaw was there. He felt her breathing right next to him, and he got up carefully to not wake her. He cursed at himself when he felt her stirring.
"Good morning," he meowed. Not wanted to go straight into the conversation of her dream last night, Jaypaw continued, "Did you sleep good?" Cinderpaw purred and stretched her paws out in front of her.
"Yep," she mewed. Jaypaw's mind raced, and he longed to ask her if they could go to Firestar now, but he didn't want to be rude or pushy. Then, as if reading his thoughts, Cinderpaw said, "I think we should go tell Firestar now." She sighed and began to shake, but then tensed and stopped. Jaypaw wondered why she was so scared, but decided to ask later.
"Alright," he replied, trying to act as if he hadn't expected het to ask the question. He heard her get to her paws and wait for him to walk out of the medicine cat den. He did so, and she followed behind him. They walked up to the entrance of Firestar's den and Jaypaw called, "Firestar? May we come in?"
"Yes, Jaypaw," his leader meowed from inside. Jaypaw padded in slowly to find that Cinderpaw wasn't following him. He sniffed the air to find that she was still outside.
"Excuse me," he said to Firestar.
"Sure…," Firestar meowed, puzzled. Jaypaw went back outside of his den and found Cinderpaw sitting near the entrance where he had left her.
"What's wrong?" Jaypaw asked, a bit fiercer than he had intended to.
"It's… it's nothing," she muttered sadly, she stalked into Firestar's den. Jaypaw bounded after her and sat down when he got back inside.
"Alright, so what can I do for you two today?" Firestar mewed, once both of them were sitting down. Jaypaw scent Sandstorm and figured that she must be in the den, too.
"Well, Cinderpaw—" Jaypaw began, but was cut short by Cinderpaw.
"I had a dream," she meowed.
"What kind of dream?" Firestar questioned.
"I know where Hollypaw and Lionpaw are," she told him, as if ignoring his comment. "They're in the WindClan camp."
"You mean to tell me that they were captured by WindClan?" Firestar mewed, shocked.
"Yes," Cinderpaw replied, "I think so." Remembering his trip to the Moonpool, Jaypaw added:
"And I smelled ThunderClan when I was on my way to the Moonpool!" Uncertainty flooded from Firestar's pelt.
"We have to go and get them," Sandstorm finally spoke up. "Who knows what could happen? WindClan aren't too happy with us as it is."
"You're right," he said. "And we might as well make this peaceful… I will send Leafpool to the camp at once."
"What about us?" Jaypaw asked, his pelt bristling slightly.
"You two are to go with her," Firestar told the grey apprentice. Yes! I'm going to get Lionpaw and Hollypaw Jaypaw brimmed with pride, but then felt fear coming off Cinderpaw's pelt in waves. Hoping Firestar didn't notice, he bowed his head, thanked him, and led her out of the den.
"Okay," he meowed. Sandstorm came out of Firestar's den and went to the medicine cat den. After she was gone, he continued. "I know something is wrong." He tried to soften his sightless gaze to make sure that she knew he wasn't angry. "Just tell me what it is—I can help you."
"No one can help me," she whispered, and she went off to the medicine cat den, causing Jaypaw to follow after her.