Power of Three and a Half
Chapter 2: Pinecone
"Hey Lionblaze, wake up."
Lionblaze snored loudly and didn't respond. Hollyleaf proceeded to prod her brother with a paw until he woke up, alarmed.
"Wha'?" Lionblaze said, mouth hanging open and eyes closed. Hollyleaf thought he looked like an idiot.
"Come on, we both slept in!" she hissed. "We were supposed to be on patrol moons ago!"
"I'm too sleepy," Lionblaze said happily, falling back asleep. Hollyleaf sighed and butted him in the side with her head.
"Oof!" Lionblaze grunted. "Fine, let's go."
Hollyleaf led the way out of the den, and past the gorse entrance and into the forest. Lionblaze plowed through the trees like a badger, and by the look on his face Hollyleaf guessed he really didn't give a flying mouse tail about it.
"Who's patrol are we on?" Lionblaze asked, waking up slightly as he realized he was actually expected to be productive.
"Jayfeathers," Hollyleaf replied. Lionblaze snorted. "What the heck is Jayfeather doing running a patrol?" he laughed.
"He's taking turns showing different patrols the best spot to find healing herbs," Hollyleaf explained. Lionblaze continued to giggle.
"Shut up," Hollyleaf snapped.
"Oh I see him!" Lionblaze cried, then he bolted forward. Hollyleaf groaned and charged after him.
Meanwhile
"And if you look under the leaves," Jayfeather demonstrated how to fold the leaf back with a claw to reveal a cluster of dark blue berries. "You'll see that they are ready to be picked and brought back to the camp."
"I HAVE A QUESTION," Berrynose bellowed at the top of his lungs. Jayfeather closed his eyes in annoyance, when he opened them again, they were narrowed into slits. "Yes, Berrynose?" Jayfeather said, trying not to let his irritation show in his voice.
"HOW DO YOU KNOW IF THE BERRIES ARE READY TO BE PICKED?"
"I just explained that," Jayfeather snapped.
"BUT WHAT IF THEY JUST LOOK READY AND THEY'RE ACTUALLY NOT? WHAT HAPPENS THEN? CAUSE I DON'T WANNA PICK A WHOLE BUNCH OF THEM JUST SO YOU CAN SNIFF THEM AND BE ALL LIKE HEY BERRYNOSE THESE SUCK THEY AIN'T RIPE YET! THEN I'LL BE ALL LIKE, WELL JAYFEATHER, YA TOLD US THEY WERE RIPE SO-"
Berrynose stopped screaming mid word when Poppyfrost gently nudged his side and proceeded to inform him that Jayfeather was blind, not deaf.
"Oops," Berrynose said, completely embarrassed. "Sorry, Jayfeather. I always forget."
"It's okay," Jayfeather growled, ears flattening in annoyance as other cats among the patrol started to snicker. "Now, as I was saying. You have to be careful picking the berries off the tree, because they're delicate and squish easily," Jayfeather bent down and gently picked off a small branch with the berries on it. The second before he was about to rise back up, he jumped in alarm as a pinecone hit him right on the back. Jayfeather figured it must have been a squirrel knocking it out of a tree, so he said nothing.
"So the best way to carry the branch is in your teeth like this," Jayfeather said, not understanding why the entire patrol was staring at him with strained faces, as if they were trying not to laugh. Berrynose accidently let out a squeak, which he quickly explained was gas, not laughter.
"Um, okay," Jayfeather said, not understanding why he deserved that explanation. "Anyways, its important to remember not to accidently chew the berries, because the juices can go down your throat and make you ill if you're not in need of them. So the best way to carry it is with the branch in your mouth only, keeping yourself as far away from the berries as possible," Jayfeather leaned down and picked up the branch again.
Another pinecone flew through the air and bounced off his shoulder.
Jayfeather whipped around and glared at the patrol. They stared back innocently, except for Berrynose, who was making various snorting and squealing noises. Jayfeather gave them one last glare before continuing. "Another reason not to waste the berries juices is simply the fact that they are rare," he explained, at the same time keeping track of who may being throwing the pine cones. "They only grow in new leaf, so we need to stock up as much as we can, but without taking so much that they don't grow anymore," Jayfeather explained, breathing a sigh of relief that he managed to get through his entire explanation without another pinecone hitting him. Then he heard a crow screech in the distance, and his head whipped around in alarm.
A cluster of six or seven pine cones flew through the air and pelted Jayfeather on the back of the head.
The patrol burst into hysterics.
"FOR GODS SAKE," Jayfeather turned back to face the patrol and glared though his sightless eyes at them. "LIONBLAZE GET OUT OF THE FREAKING BUSH."
Lionblaze guiltily padded out of the bush he was residing in.
"Hollyleaf, you too," Jayfeather snapped.
Hollyleaf slowly walked out of the bush and sat with the group. "Sorry," she mumbled.
"I'm sure you didn't do anything," Jayfeather hissed, then he turned to face his brother. "Why do you always have to be so annoying?" he growled.
"Come on, Jayfeather, you were putting them to sleep with all that talk about your boring ol' berries."
"Boring old berries?" Jayfeather shrieked. "These boring old berries save lives you know!"
One of the cats in the patrol let out a loud snore.
"Berrynose, if that's you I'm going to tell Firestar what a disturbance you've been," Jayfeather snapped.
"Ooooh, Firestar!" Berrynose muttered under his breath. "I'm so scared!"
"You should be," a new voice growled. Berrynose whipped his head around to see none other then Firestar himself standing there, not looking at all impressed.
"Oh, Firestar," Berrynose said nervously. "I wasn't aware you were standing there."
"Clearly," Firestar murmured.
Berrynose gulped, not sure what else to say. Jayfeather looked upon them happily, glad they finally got what they deserved for picking on him.
"Jayfeather, I need to talk to you," Firestar said, then turned tail and stalked away. Jayfeather followed, confused. He rolled his eyes in annoyance as the patrol burst into giggles again as soon as they thought he was out of earshot.