The Heart of a Lion

Chapter 18: Lionblaze Goes Missing

Jayfeather yawned, stretched, and emerged from the medicine cat den. It had been a long night. His muscles ached, and his head was still spinning from the night before. Yesterday ThunderClan returned from the battle, victorious but badly battered.

Onestar's challenge for ThunderClan territory surprised everyone, especially Firestar. He knew his old friendship with Onestar was well past over, but he never would've expected such a blatant attack from their recently peaceful neighbors. The battle was long and brutal with WindClan putting up amazing strength, but in the end ThunderClan was able to drive them back over the border. After Firestar defeated Onestar in a one-on-one fight, he fled, taking the rest of WindClan with him, leaving the ThunderClan cats to yowl their victory to the sky.

For Jayfeather, battle always meant treating injuries. There was always something that needed to be treated, and his herb store was going down fast. He was already making a list in his head of the herbs he would need to collect today. He could always send Brightheart to do it. She was always willing to help.

Most of the Clan was already awake. Brambleclaw was organizing patrols, sending the fittest warriors to check the borders. Jayfeather went over to join them, hearing Hollyleaf's voice. He knew she got a nasty scratch in the battle yesterday, and he needed to get some more marigold on that. Also, he wanted to talk to her.

"Jayfeather!" a voice called.

He spun around to where he heard Leafpool's voice. "I need you to help me make some herb wraps. Hazeltail, Sandstorm, and Cloudtail all need marigold right away," she meowed.

"I'll get to it," Jayfeather replied dismissively and stopped in front of Hollyleaf. He smelled the strong scent of herbs on her fur.

"Jayfeather, I was just about to go on patrol," she said.

"Patrol can wait. I need to know if you've seen Lionblaze. I am getting worried. He never returned from the battle yesterday. Have you seen him around camp this morning?"

Hollyleaf fell into a thoughtful silence. "He didn't return? Come to think of it, I didn't see him after the battle at all yesterday. I hope he's okay."

Jayfeather lowered his voice. "We both know he is okay. He can't get hurt in battle. But where is he?"

"I don't know. Honestly, I have been too busy resting to notice he was gone. Maybe he is out hunting?"

"All night?" he countered.

"Hollyleaf, I need you to go on patrol with Berrynose, Birchfall, Sorreltail, and Dustpelt," Brambleclaw ordered.

Jayfeather cut in before his sister could agree. "I would rather she stayed in camp. I want to keep an eye on this scratch." He bore his sightless gaze into Hollyleaf, daring her to say something.

Brambleclaw knew it was best not to argue with a medicine cat. "Very well. You know best. I think the four of them can manage the patrol on their own."

Jayfeather and Hollyleaf waited as all the cats thundered out of camp, some to check the borders and some to stock the fresh-kill pile. Jayfeather became aware that Firestar was emerging from his den and probably wondering why his medicine cat was standing around doing nothing. "How about you come with me and collect some herbs. We can go to the twoleg den and pick some more marigold. We need more cobwebs too. We could get those while we're there."

"What about my scratch? You just lied and told everyone you were keeping me in camp," Hollyleaf argued.

"I lied. Your scratch will be fine as long as we take it slow. I want to find out where Lionblaze is. I have a feeling something isn't right." Even though he was blind, he confidently led the way out of camp. He heard Hollyleaf padding behind him. Luckily no one asked him where they were going as he slipped out the tunnel and headed out into the forest.

"Where should we start looking? The WindClan border?" she suggested, coming up beside him.

"That was my plan. That was the last place we saw them. We will go to where the battle took place and see if we can find his scent or something." Jayfeather lowered his head and determinedly pushed through the undergrowth. His senses were pulling him toward the border. He wanted to know what Lionblaze was up to. He had this feeling quite a few times when he caught Lionblaze going off by himself, but even Jayfeather could not predict what he was doing. That, he would have to find out.