Warriors: The Forbidden Fruit - Chapter 1
This is chapter one. The perspective with alternate between Jayfeather and Briarlight in the upcoming chapters but will remain in third person. :)
Okay, I do not own ANY of the characters that are not my own, the settings or the song lyrics.
Chapter 1
"Sometimes I feel I've got to
Run away I've got to
Get away
From the pain that you drive into the heart of me
The love we share
Seems to go nowhere
I've lost my lights
I toss and turn I can't sleep at night
Once I ran to you (I ran)
Now I'll run from you
This tainted love you've given
I give you all a boy could give you
Take my tears and that's not nearly all
Tainted love
Tainted love"
-"Tainted Love" by Marilyn Manson
Jayfeather
Dawn was just breaking on the horizon as Jayfeather padded into the stone hollow that made up the ThunderClan camp. Fatigue and anxiety morphed together to create his current mood that was anything but happy. Around him, he could hear the hustle and bustle of early camp life as warriors and apprentices woke from their nests and headed out into the clearing of the camp for their day's assignments.
At the base of Highledge, Jayfeather heard Squirrelflight's distinctive voice as she organized the day's patrols with the other senior warriors. A part of him relished the fact that his surrogate mother was deputy and his surrogate father was Clan leader, but he could hardly call them his parents. Many moons ago, Squirrelflight and Leafpool's lies had been exposed and everyone learned the truth about Jayfeather and his littermates. Leafpool, the former ThunderClan medicine cat, had a romance with Crowfeather, the WindClan deputy and he fathered her kits. Knowing that it was against the warrior code, Leafpool gave them to her sister, Squirrelflight to be raised by her and Bramblestar.
Jayfeather shook his head as he remembered slowly uncovering the web of lies first hand and telling his littermates the truth. He and Lionblaze had handled it fairly well, but the revelation nearly catapulted their sister, Hollyleaf, into complete madness. Hollyleaf always tried to so hard to walk the path that StarClan had laid down for her, but this new knowledge made her question herself and her beliefs. In an act of desperation to keep their secret, she killed Ashfur, a warrior who knew of their lineage. However, in the end, she told their secret to all four Clans at the Gathering, and then disappeared. Moons later, she returned and redeemed herself and her crimes. She proved herself to be a loyal warrior, and fighting to defend her Clan and code it upheld. Jayfeather could only look back on his sister with pride for the obstacles she overcame and the tough choices she made.
Not wanting to be bothered by anyone, he quickly retreated to his den surrounded by a thin barrier of brambles. As he plodded inside, the scent of herbs swamped him, but another, sweeter scent dominated them; it was the scent of Briarlight. Jayfeather had always found her scent somewhat intoxicating, but now it was thick in the air and made him weak in the knees.
"Hello, Jayfeather," the voice of the temptress came from the corner of the den where she dwelled, her voice acting like siren.
"Hello, Briarlight," he returned the greeting before rushing to his herb storage. Though he truly had nothing to do there, he just needed to get away from her. Why was she suddenly doing this to him? He had noticed all of those sensual things before, but why was it now so heightened?
Her scent continued to clog his brain making a train of thought nearly impossible as he counted the herbs. "Jayfeather?" she called. "Sorreltail stopped by the den just before you came and asked me to tell you that she wanted you to check on Cinderheart. Sorreltail said that Cinderheart was complaining about pains in her hind-quarters and she wanted you to check everything out."
As long as it gets me out of here! Jayfeather thought somewhat annoyed. He didn't like this new feeling. It felt as if she had some kind of a hold on him as if she could control him. Why had everything changed so suddenly? Things were never like this before. He didn't understand, and that was the frightening part. He didn't know what was going on, and he refused to accept the most obvious scenario.
"I'll go check on her," Jayfeather meowed errantly as he bounded out of his den. Once out in the fresh air, his mind cleared and it felt as if he was finally able to breathe again. He returned the greetings of a few of his Clan-mates as he passed, and enjoyed the warmth of the rising sun on his pelt.
He slid inside the nursery and heard the voices of Poppyfrost's new litter as they mewled of wanting to play outside. "Please mother!" one squealed. Jayfeather could hear the rhythmic sounds his paws made as he jumped up at down.
"Not yet, Graykit!" Poppyfrost meowed tiredly. "Not until the sun is almost at its highest point."
"But we want to go play now Mama!" the other groaned exasperatedly.
Jayfeather avoided the hyper kits and made his way toward Cinderheart's scent. Jayfeather knew that the warrior was truly a former medicine cat from many seasons ago, reincarnated in another body. However, Jayfeather also knew that Cinderheart was his brother's mate and that made her a very important patient. If Jayfeather let anything bad happen to her, Lionblaze would personally skin him. His tawny brother was already panicking enough even though Cinderheart was only a few weeks pregnant.
As he approached, Jayfeather could feel the queen's eyes on him. "How are you feeling, Cinderheart?" he asked casually, sitting beside her.
Cinderheart let out a sigh and the rustling of moss and the shift in her scent told Jayfeather that she'd lain down. "I know my mother came and told you about the pains. I don't think it's anything serious," she mewed dismissively.
Jayfeather carefully ran his paws over her swollen abdomen. "Perhaps," he allowed. "However, there could be something more serious going on. Just let me check."
She hissed quietly, but didn't protest further as Jayfeather continued to check her. "Well, I see nothing out of the ordinary," he told her after a few minutes. "But I still want you to tell me if these pains return or increase—"
"Pains?! What pains?!" a voice nearly yowled.
The gray-furred medicine cat let out an amused chuckle and stepped out of the way as Lionblaze bounded to his mate's side. "Why didn't you tell me you were having pains when I visited you last night?" he asked, licking her cheek.
"I didn't think they were serious," Cinderheart answered simply. "Now calm down, you're making a scene! I'm not the first she-cat to have kits you know!"
Jayfeather nodded in agreement. "Plus, Lionblaze, I think she'll be fine, but I'll monitor her over the next few days."
"Oh, thank you Jayfeather!" the warrior purred in relief.
As Jayfeather exited the nursery, he heard his brother continued to question the poor she-cat about her pains. Suppressing a purr of laughter, he returned to his den to be greeted by Briarlight. "How is Cinderheart?" she inquired conversationally.
"Okay, I think," he answered, padding over to his nest. "Do your exercises and then you can go get something from the pile if you wish. I'm exhausted and I'm planning on taking a nap."
Briarlight sighed and began her exercises while Jayfeather flopped down in his nest. He enjoyed the familiar scent of herbs and moss. This was the one area that didn't harbor even the faintest traces of Briarlight. This was his sanctuary. Shortly after he closed his eyes. Sleep overtook him and he drifted off into a peaceful dream.
A/N: Thank you for reading! Please continue to do so! Did you like this chapter? Leave a review and tell me so! Do you like what you've seen here and you wanna see more? Click on my username to see more of my fanfics! :D They need love too.