Chapter 73
"How did it happen?" Jaystar rasped, her gray eyes wide with grief. Gray had been Jaystar's best friend in the Tribe during the short period that she had stayed with them. Jaystar had almost risked falling in love with Gray, but once she returned to the Clans and witnessed Blackstar's death as well as the grief of Rushleaf and Rabbitclaw she realized she would never love the Tribe cat more than a friend. That still didn't make Jaystar's head spin with grief. If Jaystar had met Gray first instead of Blackstar then maybe life would be different. Jaystar couldn't think about how life could have been and instead turned to Featherfoot, repeating, "How did he die?"
"The same way Crooked joined the Tribe of Endless Hunting. Apparently another Sharpclaw had decided to make its home in the Tribe's territory. Gray had led a patrol consisting of Stormfur, Talon, and Crooked to scare it off their lands. They succeeded, but Gray and Crooked were killed in the attempt. Stormfur and Talon managed to bring the bodies for burial. Stormfur told me that it was Gray's idea that helped them scare off the Sharpclaw and Crooked fought as well as any warrior even though he was still a young cave-guard. I am proud of Crooked for fighting to save the Tribe and you should be proud of Gray." Jaystar looked at Featherfoot in surprise. When had the young warrior grown to be so wise?
Jaystar bowed her head and then turned to Turtleclaw and Cloud, meowing, "I should probably take you two to the barn before it gets too late. By the time we get there the Twolegs should be asleep. Hazeltail, I don't know where the barn is so I will need your help to reach there. We will bring Bearpaw too. It could be good training for her." Bearpaw who had been listening gave an excited jump. Jaystar remembered when she was an apprentice when the thought of doing something with her Clan leader and mentor seemed like the biggest thing in the world. Things were so much easier when she was an apprentice... no huge decisions. Jaystar suddenly felt new respect for Firestar.
"Hazeltail wait!" Jaystar turned and spotted Daisy padding towards them, her cream-colored fur silver in the moonlight. Hazeltail and Bearpaw both padded forward and Jaystar remembered with a jolt that the two she-cats were half-sisters. Hazeltail's parents had been Daisy and Smoky while Bearpaw's parents had been Daisy and Thornclaw. As Jaystar glanced around, she realized that a lot of warriors shared Daisy's kittypet blood. Berrynose and Mousewhisker were Hazeltail's brothers; Rosestripe and Toadflower were Daisy and Spiderleg's kits; and Bearpaw and Badgerpaw were Daisy's kits with Thornclaw. "Say hi to your father for me and be careful you two." Daisy gave each of her kits a gentle lick before padding towards Thornclaw who was standing a little bit away. Jaystar nodded to her before leading Hazeltail, Turtleclaw, Cloud, and Bearpaw out of the camp.
Once they were out of camp, Jaystar ran beside Hazeltail, following the small gray-and-white warrior's steps. As they ran, Hazeltail meowed, "I'm actually excited to see my father. I haven't seen him or Floss since they came to ThunderClan cam-" Hazeltail's voice trailed off and her pelt began to bristle as though she said something she shouldn't have. "Listen to me! I must have had a bad piece of fresh-kill earlier!" Jaystar looked at Hazeltail oddly, but followed her without saying anything. Maybe Hazeltail was just mistake, but maybe she wasn't. As they ran, Jaystar and Hazeltail's small, muscular frames made them look like kin. Hazeltail stopped running as they reach a red Twoleg nest and mewed, "This is the barn."
As they padded inside, two cats emerged. The first one was a large, muscular tom who seemed more like a Clan cat than a kittypet. He had dark green eyes; identical to Berrynose, Hazeltail, and Mousewhisker... and Rushleaf and Rabbitclaw. The she-cat was smaller and plumper, but she had thick fur that made Jaystar give her thick pelt a brisk lick. The strangest thing about the she-cat was her eyes... they were a dark gray. Exactly like Jaystar's. Smoky padded forward and meowed in surprise, his voice just like his kits', "Hazeltail? Wow I haven't seen you for many moons. Not since you came here with your denmates. How are you and your brothers? How is your mother?"
Hazeltail didn't get to say anything because Floss pushed forward and mewed, "Smoky, its Jay!" Smoky turned away from Hazeltail and his green eyes locked with Jaystar's. Floss padded so that she was a pawstep away from Jaystar and gave the golden brown she-cat a gentle sniff. "It is Jay! You smell different... like a wild- Clan cat, but you still smell the same. My scent is still there as well as Smoky's." Jaystar pulled back as Floss attempted to give her friendly lick. She had just met Floss for StarClan's sake!? "Jay, what's wrong? I thought you would be happy? I mean I am. I thought I would never see you again since we left you with ThunderClan all those seasons ago."
"What in StarClan's name are you talking about? My name is Jaystar. Not Jay." Jaystar meowed, her gray eyes narrowing. Jaystar turned to glance at Hazeltail and saw that her clanmate was looking at her paws. Was this what Hazeltail had almost revealed on their way over here? Floss too shot a glare at Hazeltail and mewed, "You don't know. I thought they would've told you. You are my kit. Smoky and I gave you to ThunderClan in hopes that the Upwalkers wouldn't take you and your brother. You had a brother too. His name was Thorn, but he wasn't strong enough to make the journey. He died with me here."
"Lies," Jaystar growled, but Hazeltail meowed, "It's true, Jaystar. Smoky and Floss came to ThunderClan to help you find a better life. Sorreltail adopted you since she had lost her own kit just a couple days before. You became a sister to Stripepool... a replacement I think for Russetkit who was Sorreltail's dead kit. Firestar ordered us not to tell you, saying that it didn't matter where you were born. You were a Clan cat by the time you opened your eyes. You were no longer Jay, but Jaykit. I couldn't even treat you like kin without giving anything away. You were no longer my kin, but the kin of Stripepool and Brackenfur and Sorreltail's other kits. It was convenient that Sorreltail was nursing... you looked so much like Brackenfur except for the eyes. You have Floss' eyes whether you want to admit it or not."
Jaystar didn't want to believe it: she, Jaystar leader of ThunderClan, was a kittypet?!
