Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors, or any of the Warriors Characters.

ALLEGIANCES

Thunderclan-

Leader- Firestar (3 lives remaining)

Deputy- Brambleclaw

Medicine Cat- Jayfeather

Warriors-

Graystripe

Dustpelt

Sandstorm

Sorreltail

Cloudtail

Brightheart

Millie

Thornclaw

Squirrelflight

Leafpool

Spiderleg

Birchfall

Whitewing

Berrynose

Hazeltail

Mousewhisker

Cinderheart/ Apprentice- Ivypaw

Lionblaze/ Apprentice- Dovepaw

Foxleap

Toadstep

Rosepetal

Briarlight

Blossomfall

Bumblestripe

Apprentices

Dovepaw

Ivypaw

Queens

Icecloud- Nursing Bumblestripe's kits: Sunkit, Moonkit, and Nightkit.

Daisy

Ferncloud

Elders

Brackenfur- Retired early due to getting one of his eyes' poked out in the last battle with Shadowclan

Mousefur

Longtail

Purdy

Jayfeather's POV-

I've been inside the medicine cat den countless times, smelled the smells of countless herbs, and felt the cold, solid earth below my paws plenty times. I know the medicine cat den well. Extremely well.

Well enough to know that when I woke up, I wasn't in it.

Instead, I was inside some sort of other den, much larger than I was habituated, and lying on something hard, brown, and warm that resembled a nest, instead of the dirt that I was also habituated. Further examination acknowledged it as copse, a certain type of wood that Brambleclaw had said twolegs used. I tried to scramble to my paws, but when I tried, I suddenly felt weak and nauseous. I sunk back down onto the copse, and began to picture my ambiance. It was dark, but with sufficient radiance to see if I really concentrated. The walls and ceiling were also made of copse. The den was pretty much bare excluding me. No bracken, brambles, or herbs were in vision. A sudden object flashed in the corner of my mind, and I spun around. Another pelt stood, gleaming a bright gray in the dark. I glared at it cagily. "…Hello?" I breathed softly. The pelt was still for seconds. "Hello?" It answered back. I sat for a second. Where had I heard that voice before…? Then it struck me like a rock. "Cinderheart!" I burst out. She said skeptically, "Who are you, and how do you know my name?"

"It's me, Jayfeather!"

When I meowed my name, she sat up.

"Is it really you?"

I flicked my ears. "Yes, it's me!" She seemed to calm.

"Good."

"Do you know where we are?"

At that, her ears drooped. "Yes." She sighed. "It's better if I tell you the whole thing." She began, "I had been hunting near the thunderpath, and I sighted you, looking for herbs, I suspect, but you tripped over a tree root, and bashed your head on the thunderpath. A few seconds later, a huge monster came, and a twoleg stepped out of its belly and grabbed both of us. I tried to fight it, but it was too strong. It threw us into the Monster's back. We've been here ever since." My mood dropped enormously. "Did you happen to hear the twoleg say where we are going?" I asked. She flicked her tail irritably. "I don't know. I can't speak twoleg." She meowed. Incredibly, my mood dropped even lower. "So what do we do now?" I desperately asked. She flicked her tail again. "We wait." She simply replied. So we did. And as we did, I found myself thinking about the Thunderclan camp, and all the cats sick with Leafbare's usual bout of greencough. The more I thought about, the more I wished I had an apprentice to handle my duties while I was gone. I placed it on the top of my mind to ask Firestar for an apprentice when we arrived back at Thunderclan. If we ever arrived back at Thunderclan. That thought was accompanied with a pang of worry. After what seemed like several Moons, the rumbling of the monster stopped. I glanced over to Cinderheart. Worry reflected in her eyes. "What do we do now?" I asked her. She hesitated for a second. "…I… I don't know." Then suddenly, her eyes glowed. "I've got it! Do you picture that open panel in the wall up there?" I pictured exactly what she described. "Yes."

"So, you can crouch underneath it, and I will scale over you! Then I can help you get out." I glanced at the panel. Then I darted under it. Cinderheart managed to scramble over me, and pull herself up. I jumped, and grabbed it with my claws. After much mortifying scrambling, I finally perched on it. We jumped down, landing on dirt. I felt like falling down on my belly and rubbing the sweet soil, but there wasn't time for that. The twoleg must have realized we weren't in the Monster anymore, and it climbed out of the monster's belly and tore after us. Of course, we did the obvious thing.

We ran.

"It's catching up to us!" Cinderheart yowled. I twisted my head around, and my heart sank. The twoleg was catching up to us. Just as it was about to grab us, another cat burst out of the monster, yowling. It scratched the twoleg's leg, and bit its paw. The twoleg screeched in pain, and it turned tail and scampered. The other cat darted up to us. We didn't even look at it. We just ran. We ran until my legs were screaming in protestation. Then we stopped, and I finally took in the cat that saved us. Red-colored fur… Green eyes… "Foxleap." I said after a slight gap. I cursed under my breath. If there was one cat that I didn't want to be within this situation, it was Foxleap. He just looked at me. After a few seconds, I finally burst out in exasperation. "What are you waiting for?" I asked him. He frowned. "I'm waiting for you to thank me for saving your hinds!" He said. I looked down. "We didn't need your help." I mumbled. He sneered. "Would you like to still be in that monster?" he inquired.

I didn't answer.

Instead, I analyzed our setting. We were in some sort of forest, except the trees weren't Maple, they were Pine. All of the trees were leafless. Thick snow caked the ground, while fresh snow fell from the sky. Foxleap, who had the shortest legs of all of us, grumbled as he waded through the snow. "How did I get here again?" Suddenly, Cinderheart stopped, causing me to bump into her. "Why aren't you moving?" Foxleap demanded. She stopped and curled her tail over her paws. "Well, in case you haven't noticed, there's no more daylight left, so we should make camp and call it a day." I nodded. "Cinderheart is right about that," I began, "But we need to find a place that isn't caked with snow." Foxleap flicked his ears, obviously annoyed. "How about under that tree?" He pointed with his tail, and walked over to it. I shrugged. "I guess he chose for us." We settled down, and Foxleap did the thing he's best at.

Ordering people around.

"OK. Cinderheart, you're on Guard Duty for tonight. Me and Jayfeather are going to catch some sleep. Keep watching until Dawn, and then you can sleep." For the first time, Foxleap had said something smart. Sleep seemed like the best thing for me right now. So I did.

The next morning, there was a blizzard.

The icy wind seemed to be coming from everywhere, even from under the tree. It was so strong; it threatened to blow trees down. Since I was the first one awake, I poked Foxleap. "IT'S MORNING!" I yelled over the roaring wind. Foxleap darted up. "WHERE'S CINDERHEART?" he yowled hoarsely. Suddenly, she erupted from under a huge pile of snow, with fur that was practically blue with cold. Her teeth were chattering. Spitting out snow, she howled, "My blood feels like it's frozen!" I pictured a large crevice in the rock wall that bordered the forest. "OVER THERE!" I yelled. We fought the wind, moving as fast as we could (which wasn't very fast). We were halfway there when Cinderheart collapsed. Foxleap obviously didn't see, plowing through the snow. "WAIT!" I yelled out. He didn't hear me, and kept plunging through until he was out of my sight. I glanced forward at the crevice, then back at Hazeltail. Making a silent decision, I grabbed Cinderheart's scruff with my teeth, and plowed on. The added weight of the she-cat slowed me down by a lot. By the time I had moved 4 acres, my fur was more blue than gray. But I charged on. Soon, the crevice was back in my sights. I silently urged myself on. 50 tail-lengths… 40 tail-lengths… 30 tail-lengths….20 tail-lengths… 15 tail-lengths… 10 tail-lengths… 5 tail-lengths… With a final push, I stumbled into the crevice. Foxleap just stared. "What took you so long?" he meowed. I growled.

Then I blacked out.

Foxleap's POV-

It's not my fault that Jayfeather and Cinderheart are slowpokes.

I mean, who takes a whole hour to go through a snowstorm?

While we were trekking through that snowstorm, I think I heard Jayfeather yell something from behind me, but it was probably nothing.

Did I mention that Jayfeather and Cinderheart are slowpokes?

So, as I sat on that cold rock for what seemed to be a Moon, he finally staggered into the space, carrying Cinderheart, mumbled something, than blacked out. A few minutes later, Jayfeather awoke. For a few seconds, he seemed dazed, but then realization dawned in his blind, blue eyes. He twisted his head to look outside. The Snowstorm had started to calm down, and was slowly giving way to pouring rain. I scanned the interior of the crevice. A grey mouse scurried by, and my belly rumbled. I just remembered how hungry I was. "I'm going to hunt." I announced. Jayfeather stared at me. "It's the middle of Leaf-bare, and we're in a strange pine forest. Where are you going to find prey, mousebrain?" I scowled. He had a point. I glanced back down at Cinderheart. Her breathing had calmed down, and her fur was beginning to thaw. Jayfeather suddenly turned around and marked a thin slab of rock with his claw. I stared at him blankly. He sighed. "We're obviously going to get lost somewhere, and if we ever come back here, we're going to know we've been here because I marked it." I frowned. He had another point. "Why are we waiting here again?" Jayfeather seemed flabbergasted. "For two reasons. One, Cinderheart is still unconscious, and two, we can't go out in weather like this." He flicked his tail at the gloomy rain. Even though it was still the middle of the day, dark clouds covered the sky. Cinderheart suddenly groaned, and shifted her weight. "Well, it's obvious that we're going to be here for a long time, so I'm going to take a little nap." I tucked my paws underneath my belly, and closed my eyes. Seconds later, my breathing slowed, and I fell asleep.

After what felt like two moons, Jayfeather finally poked me awake. The rain had vanished completely, though the ground was still wet with snow and rain. Cinderheart had already woken, gone astray, and was outside chasing a butterfly. She was moving so quickly and gracefully, you would never have even noticed that she had fallen from a tree and hurt her leg. The sun was shining, with not a cloud in sight.

Perfect for hunting.

I rose to my paws and stretched my haunches slowly. Walking out of the crevice, a plump gray rabbit immediately rose to my sights. I crouched down, aware that my red pelt would be fairly visible among the acres of wet grass, but not caring in the slightest. Stepping carefully and slowly, I moved closer and closer to the rabbit. Suddenly, I leaped and sunk my claws into its neck. I felt the life slowly drain out of it, until it went limp. "This territory would have been perfect for Windclan," Jayfeather remarked, "Lot's of open space, and acres of grass." Cinderheart was running through the wet grass now. Jayfeather stood up straighter. "Well, we've had enough leisure time." He announced. "It's time to get moving." He made another claw mark on a pine tree, and then held out his tongue. "His' Ay'." He said with his tongue still out. He began marching west of the crevice. I reluctantly followed him. Cinderheart dashed over, giggling. "Lots of space!" she said merrily. I ignored her. As we marched, the grass started to disappear, and be replaced by sand and mud. Rock surrounded us. A pile of strange sand lay in a corner. Cinderheart scampered over to it, and jumped into it. "What's this she?" she inquired. Suddenly, she began to sink. Her excitement changed to panic. "Help!" she yowled. "I can't move!" I dashed over to her, and grabbed her scruff with my teeth. No matter how hard I pulled, she didn't come out. Instead, she seemed to sink faster. Jayfeather padded over, with a large stick in his jaws. "Grab this." He mumbled over it. Cinderheart sunk her claws into it, and Jayfeather began to pull. "It's not working!" I howled in panic. "Maybe, if you stop acting a like a mousebrain, and come and help me, it will work!" Jayfeather scolded me. So I grabbed it with my teeth, and pulled. The sand was up to Cinderheart's scruff now, but she stopped sinking. "HARDER!" Jayfeather commanded. Cinderheart began to go the other way. Slowly, but at least she was moving. Finally, with a soft 'pop!' she exploded from the sand, spraying all of us with it. "…Never…do that…again…" Jayfeather panted. Cinderheart whimpered and nodded her head. Jayfeather weakly rose to his paws. "Let's go." He said. We began marching again. The mud and sand hardened into rock, and the walls of rock drew farther apart. Soon, we approached a canyon. A circle of land drew around a large cliff. At the bottom of the cliff, I could just spot a cave. "Um…. Jayfeather?"

"What?" he snapped back. "Do you know where we are?" Jayfeather's eyes became clouded. "Sort of…" I rolled my eyes. "So, you're saying you have absolutely no idea where we are?"

"…I never said that…" Jayfeather said in a small voice. Cinderheart's eyes opened wide. "We're doomed!" She howled. Jayfeather rolled his eyes. "How about we just get across this chasm, first." He said. He walked carefully around on the thin layer of rock. I followed him, with Cinderheart right on my paws. Suddenly, Jayfeather's paw slipped. A piece of rock disbanded, and he slipped down the slope of pebbles. He yowled, but couldn't find a paw hold. He soon disappeared from our sights, and with a sickening thud, he hit cold, hard rock. Cinderheart was silent for a moment, and then she started sobbing. I stared down the slope in astonishment. "So that is his end." I said solemnly. I felt a wave of pity for him. I rested my tail gently on Cinderheart's shoulder. "It's done." I said. "Let's go." I padded away. Cinderheart hesitated, looking one more time at the abyss, and then padded after me, sniveling.

Jayfeather's POV-

As I flew down that slope of rock, I knew that it was my time to join my ancestors in Starclan. No cat could endure a fall with this much Velocity. The wind ruffled my fur as the ground got closer and closer. At last, after what felt like a whole season, with a thud, I landed shoulder first into the rock. Stars swam before my blind eyes. "Is this what it feels like to die?" I thought weakly. Mist swirled around my mind, stopping me from picturing anything. Excruciating pain shot through my shoulder, and I felt my grip on consciousness release. Seconds before I gave way to dizzying shadows, I felt a thick pair of paws guide me to blackness.

Blades of grass ruffled in a gentle breeze. The bitter-sweet smell of pine welcomed me as I rose to my paws; a rushing waterfall stood over a rocky border, pouring water into the lake below. I felt no surprise at any of it.

I've been here before.

As I padded through the meadowland, I looked around, taking in the smell of nature. Doves and Pigeons sat on branches, chirping all the while. Shrews and voles chewed on blades of grass, and butterflies flew freely around the field…

Stop.

I froze in mid-stride. Something was wrong. The gentle breeze abruptly changed to a howling wind. Blades of grass flew in the air, still attached to patches of dirt. The ground began to rumble and shake. Suddenly, the terrain split into three uneven pieces, leaving me standing on a very small, very thin piece of grassland. I watched in shock as the earth morphed from meadowland to Thunderclan Territory. On one side, the scene showed Total Destruction. Fire rained from the sky, and ground together on the ground. Cats were running around, wailing. I stared in Horror as the ceiling of brambles that protected the Nursery collapsed, silencing the yowls of kits and their mothers. Firestar stepped out of his den, his eyes wide. "Why, Jayfeather?" He yowled. I tore my face away from the scene, and forced myself to gaze upon the other one. This time, I saw myself, in the middle of the night. The full moon shone, so I assumed that the clan must have just come back from a gathering. The other me was creeping into Firestar's den. The dark me raised his paw, and sunk his claws into the leader of Thunderclan's neck. I watched as Firestar lost a Life, and the dark me repeated it two more times, until Firestar's breathing stopped, and didn't start back up again. The scene then showed the next day, when Brambleclaw (then Bramblestar) came back from the Moonpool after receiving his nine lives, and it showed him as he proudly appointed Thornclaw as his deputy. A voice whispered in the wind. "It's your choice…"

Then everything went black.

I woke up with a start. With a yowl, I remembered my dream. I tried to shake off the growing suspicion inside of me that it would become true. I tried to bolt upright, but sank back down, wincing. From the signs, it looked like I had wrenched my shoulder, torn two of my claws, and scratched my flank in the fall. I cursed, and looked around, knowing it was hopeless. There would be not a chance of marigold or any type of herb to be found in this barren region stop the bleeding and infection in my shoulder. I carefully inched forward on my belly, wincing with every move. I stared up at the cliff hopelessly. I was probably about fifty fox-tails high. With a groan, I tried to rise to my paws again. This time, the pain was not so severe. I carefully placed one paw in front of the other. Higher and higher I went, until I was twenty-five fox-tails high. One more push… And I was up. I crawled forward, and the Rock slowly began to change to Grass. The smell of water began to rise to my nostrils, and Pine trees were everywhere. I carefully walked to a lake. I felt like bouncing on my paws for joy. I had made it! I followed the scent of Thunderclan.

Soon the grass began to morph into thick undergrowth. Trees overshadowed the bushes and ferns that ruffled in the gentle breeze. Even the slight breeze irritated the bare flesh on my flank. I winced at the sting as the air was sucked into the wound. Judging from the amount of blood and pus that was leaking from it, I figured it was probably infected. As I walked, I pondered my dream. "It doesn't make any sense." I thought aloud. "why would I kill Firestar? And how could fire fall from the sky?" I pondered like that for a few more moments, until my pondering was interrupted by me crashing into a tree, sending down a bucket load of snow pounding down one me. I shook it off as best as I could, but my fur still looked only faintly gray when I was done. I soon arrived at the clearing. Firestar stood atop High Rock, and his eyes were tainted with sadness. He appeared to be just starting of a clan meeting, for below him, all of the cats of Thunderclan were focusing intently on him. "As most of you know, Cinderheart and Jayfeather were captured by twolegs, and Foxleap, Brambleclaw, and Shockpaw were sent to rescue them. Foxleap, however, ran ahead of Brambleclaw and Shockpaw, hoping for his 'hero' moment, but instead, was captured by the same twolegs. Cinderheart and Foxleap returned in a moon, but Jayfeather took a fatal fall down a abyss, and was killed in the fall." Wails of distress came from most of the cats in the clan, the loudest from Leafpool. I noticed Lionblaze and Dovepaw looking the saddest. I understood their predicament. Without me, they were no longer the three. I noticed Brambleclaw standing next to Firestar, his head bowed. Shockpaw, who was standing next to him, also had his head bowed. I suddenly realized how popular I was in my clan. Firestar raised his head, and continued. "We shall hold vigil for him tonight. Now, we have a much bigger problem." Leafpool drew to a pitiful whimpering. "Jayfeather had no apprentice." Firestar noted gravelly. "Which means there is nobody to carry on in his pawsteps." The clan drew to a shocked silence. Nobody had considered that yet. "What are we going to do?" Cried Cloudtail. "We can't have a clan without someone who heals our warriors, and speaks to Starclan!" Seeing that Firestar had frozen, Brambleclaw moved forward. "Well, there really is only one thing we can do. There is only one cat in this clan who has enough knowledge about medicine to fill in as medicine cat. No matter if we like it or not, Leafpool is going to have to become our medicine cat." The clan burst into protests at that.

"But she broke the warrior code!"

"We can't trust her!"

"Imagine what that sly fox could do in control of our herbs!"

"I refuse to let that happen!"

Leafpool seemed very hurt by her clanmates' non-enthusiastic response to her put back in one of the most powerful positions in the clan. Just as she opened her jaws to say something, I decided I had had enough. I padded into the camp, annoyed. "No one is getting the medicine cat position!" The clan stared at me in shock, as if they were seeing a Starclan cat. I glanced down at my pelt, and cursed. My fur was still white with snow. I kind of did look like a Starclan cat. Firestar stuttered. "J-J-Jayfeather? I see you now hunt with Starclan. Tell me, why should Leafpool not be put back in the medicine cat position?" I saw Leafpool looking at me with pleading eyes. Somehow, she knew that I did not hunt with Starclan, but she wanted me to pretend I did. I glared down at the ground. I knew that the medicine cat position meant everything to Leafpool, and she was determined to get the trust of her Clanmates back, but the medicine cat position was my life. If I gave it up, I would have to start life as a rouge, or worse: as a kitty pet. But at least I would have made Leafpool happy. Which choice should I make?

KARMA MOMENT: Either Pretend you are a Starclan hunter, and let Leafpool regain the Medicine Cat position (5 Good Karma Points), or prove to the clan that you are alive, and regain the Medicine Cat title (5 Evil Karma Points). To select the good karma choice, read the below paragraph and change your Karma balance by 5+. To select the evil Karma choice, skip the below Paragraph and read what comes after it and change your Karma balance by 5-.

I shook my head. "No. Leafpool must regain the Medicine Cat title. I hunt with Starclan now. It is her destiny." I watched as the hopeful looks on Lionblaze and Dovepaw's faces faded away, and they padded away, tail down. Unimaginable Gratitude flashed across Leafpool's face. "So be it." Firestar said. "Leafpool is now the Medicine cat of Thunderclan." Leafpool walked tail up, to the Medicine cat den. I padded out of camp. Keeping my head up until I was out of view, I took one final last glance at the clan behind me. All of the cats were resuming their normal duties. The tension and the shock soon faded away. Raising my head high again, I proceeded to march through the undergrowth. I had made a choice, and I was going to have to live with it. Maybe life as a rouge wouldn't be too bad after all...

TO BE CONTINUED...

I shook my head. "I'm alive! See!" I spotted a puddle of melted snow, and I rolled in it until my pelt was soggy and dripping wet, Then I shook it off, revealing once again my dark gray coat. There was shocked silence in the clan for seconds, then there were cries of Joy. I was bombarded by questions and exclamations.

"How did you survive?"

"How did you find your way here?"

"Welcome back!"

Almost all of my clanmates were rushing around me-Almost all. Leafpool padded away, tail sagging down, to the warriors den. Lionblaze shouldered his way to the front through all of the drama. He was smiling warmly.

"Welcome back, Jayfeather."

I grinned. It was good to be back.

Two Moons Later, in Jayfeather's Dreams~

I padded through the thick grass, the wind ruffling my fur. The sound of voices stopped me.

"I don't know how he did it! I made it almost impossible for him to make that choice!"

"Well, he did it. So know, we have no choice but to kill him. Maybe another young cat will be placed in this particular situation.

"I highly doubt it, My Lord."

"... You made this happen. I will deal with you later. Right now, the most important thing to do is kill him."

As hard as I looked, I couldn't see the voices. They always seemed to be behind me, no matter where I turned. Suddenly, I felt the hot gaze of eye on me. Slowly, very slowly, I turned. An undersized cat was standing behind me. The darkness made it too dark for me to see the color of his pelt, or his eyes.

"Lights Out!"

That was the last thing I heard before he slashed me across the face. So many times, he attacked. So much pain. My body was exploding with pain, but the cat kept pounding me and scratching me and biting me.

Oh StarClan. Make it stop!

Finally, after an uncountable amount of strikes, he stopped. Then he left me there, leaving me to bleed to death, with no one around to hear my desperate cries for help. As I slowly I realized that this was the true end of me, and that there was no way I could escape my upcoming doom, I finally gave way to dizzying blackness.

THE END

Authors Note-

Well, how did you like it? Please review with your opinion. As hinted, Yes, there will be a sequel. I have just confirmed that this is a series. Did you like the Karma Moment? If I get, say, 10 good reviews on it, I'll add a lot more Karma Moments in The Sequel. The sequel has been named. It is going to be called Eye Of The Hunter. I have not made the prophecy yet, but if you chose the Good Karma Choice, it has something to do with a familiar nemesis from The First Arc in the Warriors Series... Anyway. Keep a watch out for the Sequel! It should be here sometime in the Fall or Winter of 2011. I will be adding a sneak peek soon.