A/N: So I decided to give the third part it's own title. It's . . . yeah maybe this is good or maybe not?

It's a wrapping up chapter, and I'm still not quite sure where this was ever going. Who really knows.

I'm tired but determined to finish this. It'll be a pain to upload this on FF and AO3 but I've got peeps waiting XD. Originally posted Warriors Amino.

Here we go.

EDIT: Oh dear gog this is a mess. I'm going to bed. Bye.

Such a (not so) pretty sight part 3: What's left in twilight

The bustle that followed soon after was quicker-flowing than anything the Clan had reacted to before in recent times, save The Great Battle.

Brightheart was at the lead, a pack of cats on her heels. Her single eye was wide and shining, mouth parted in fear.

Bramblestar, too, was at the forefront. As well as Whitewing and the rest of her family. All were connected to Cloudtail in some way closer than the rest of the Clan, and come Starless dangers or floodwater they were going to go help.

Jayfeather heard the bustle of activity; the yells of Squirrelflight and Brackenfur keeping certain cats in-camp and allowing others out. Leafpool had whisked into the den and then back out after the rest, herbs in her jaws. The gray tom awkwardly danced and hopped as cats came too close in order to pass, a growling-hiss being held back in his throat. He was becoming disoriented from too much sensory stimuli, and the old-recent panic threatened to set in.

"-eather! Jayf-er! Jayfeather!"

He was snapped out of his anxiety attack by Daisy's voice, concern tinging it.

He turned to her, ears flicking; an indication he was listening.

The cream-colored she-cat breathed a sigh of relief. "Do you think there's anything you could do? To help Cloudtail, when they get back I mean."

Jayfeather got control of himself, nodding. "Of course. He'll definitely have bruising and some scratches at the least. I'll - I'll go get some stuff set up. Especially if he broke something we'll need some splints."

He could practically see the relief in her voice, tension seeping out like mist evaporating in air. But whether it was for Cloudtail or for himself, he didn't know. "Thanks hun. If you need me to get you anything, let me know."

He held back an angry retort as she walked away; Daisy called all the younger cats 'hun', some weird word from when she lived in the Horseplace. As far as he understood it was like calling a car 'Kit', or 'Youngster' as Purdy said. He was not her kit.

But he knew she was just worried so he let it go.

He flicked his tail and with an irritated sniff, went into the medicine den.

He was a Medicine cat of Thunderclan, and he had work to do.

Despite most cats' fears, Cloudtail was mostly fine. He strode into camp as though unscathed, his prickly pride coming out to nudge others away non-too gently with his words.

He looked a mess though, Jayfeather guessed from what he could smell; dust and dirt clung strongly to that white pelt, the tiniest hint of metal where stones had nicked him. Jayfeather could feel those eyes that he'd been told were so blue, almost impossibly so, just daring him to say something.

He almost did, really; the two toms were the snarkiest cats in Thunderclan (Berrynose was just annoyingly arrogant, and Mousefur was no longer among them) and had an agreement of sorts. There was no irritance if they tried to rile on another, but for the most part they left alone.

So all he said was, "Let's get you washed up. Maybe a dip in the lake?" The latter part suggested to Leafpool.

But the white Warrior cut them off. There's no time. Like I've been trying to tell some cats, we have more important matters."

No one interjected, allowing the not-so-white tom to stand tall as he said, "I saw who it was."

There was a hushed gasp, like the slightest rustle of leaves. All the cats in the Clan leaned forward with gleaming eyes, Jayfeather himself dipping his ears forward.

Cloudtail beckoned Brackenfur forward with a flick of his fluffy tail, and the Senior warrior joined him. "We were doing a quick border patrol like Squirrelflight asked us too, just up along the area before the Moonpool but away from the stream. You know where that dip is? Well Brackenfur went to go check out a sound he heard, and I stayed put in the shade. Well suddenly some cat yowled something about non-clan blood and unbeliever," Cloudtail couldn't hide the humorous scoff at this, "and the whole area above me have way. But he couldn't get away before I caught a glimpse of him." He flashed his teeth in a snarl.

"Who?" Bramblestar demanded.

Cloudtail's gaze filled with defiant amusement; after all, Bramblestar was younger than him. But he was his leader.

"Well unless there's another skinny, dark furred cat with amber-yellow eyes and absolutely stinking of Windclan, it has to be Breezepelt."

There was suddenly a clamour of voices, like jackdaws, jays, and mockingbirds all at once. Bramblestar had to practically roar to be heard over the noise.

And it seemed he did as the wordless caterwaul silenced them completely.

His amber eyes burned with an angry fire as he spoke. "Now, this is a very serious matter. You all know how Onestar is, an accusation of one of his Warriors will certainly antagonize him." When they began to raise their voices once more, he threatened with an irritated growl, then continued on more calmly, "I am not saying we let him get away with this, not at all. We know from Jayfeather it was a smaller tom, and a cat allied at once - and seemingly still - with the starless cats. And from what Cloudtail has told us, it's quite obvious that Breezepelt is our top suspect. But we must tread this cautiously or risk Onestar sheltering this - this -"

"Mutilater?" Lionblaze provided.

The brown tabby nodded. "This mutilater," he spat.

Leafpool stepped forward. "Perhaps we could bring the matter to another Clan leader? Starclan has not offered me any advice and I do not know if they will. We will need back up on this."

Bramblestar nodded, demeanor calmed. "Thank you, Leafpool. I will take yourself and Cloudtail, and . . . Thornclaw, yes, to go visit Mistystar tommarrow. She's a very experienced leader and may know how to handle Onestar a little better. Then if all goes well we can confront him privately before the gathering in eleven sunrises. Any other concerns or ideas?"

A couple cats voiced their opinion, but Jayfeather had slunk back into his den before he heard them.

He needed to think.

And to do so, he needed to dream.

Jayfeather felt nothing but darkness.

and there was nothing, but darkness.

'No!' he thought. Yowled in his mind. 'I am a Medicine Cat! I am one of the three!

but there was nothing still. Had there really ever been anything?

a skittering in the dark, echoing. A raspy laugh. A memory of Brokenstar, telling him he can't. And another time, him again with Breezepelt at the Moonpool and then once more with searing pain across his face and he c a n' t defen f. . .

And there is the sensation of his body alone on the ground, and he struggles to stand but hecan not, as his breathing becomes ragged and his chest is so tight dangit-

And, for the first time in what feels like moons, he finds purchase. Trembling limbs struggle but manage to lift him. He realizes, despite phantom pains and the knowledge that he was born without, he can see.

And what he sees before him is a star, ends stretching in four directions and impossibly bright, a ways before him, the light reaching enough for him to see the toes of his forepaws though behind him is everlasting shadows.

And, he stands there. Begins to walk to the star.

For the first time since he was attacked, and still the first time that will occur in general for a while, he dreams.

For the first time since before the Great Battle, he dreams the dreams of another cat's thoughts.

He can see that it's evening, through this cat's eyes. Feel his vision sharpening with moonlight. The smell of Thunderclan briefly registers, but this cat dismissed it. His goal is not Thunderclan and its taint-blood tonight.

It's not hard to guess who it is he's seeing through.

Water laps black paws and the cat veers away from the shore for a bit. Then, more so as pines come into view like harsh edges. It's quick yet silent as the cat weaves through trees and then hides, close to Toadstools. A dark shadow with almost no scent.

He sees various cats pass through his dreamer's vision; hears the picture-thoughts as they're dismissed. Finally, a night-Hunter piques his interest, and then Jayfeather understands.

It could be Tawnypelt. It could be Tigerheart. It could be Dawnpelt. The image kept shifting but the intent was clear, especially once they were ambushed and killed or maimed, as the dream-thought kept switching between suggesting.

Breezepelt meant to hurt cats of Shadowclan who had other blood in their veins.

Jayfeather jolted awake, in a panic. He knew it couldn't wait until tommarrow; Breezepelt meant to make his move - tonight.

The gray tabby scrambled up, ducking out of the den. Leafpool wasn't there, but he barely gave it a thought. He was careful, however, not to wake the rest of the camp; night had fallen recently it seemed.

'Can't go through the front; I have been allowed outside of anyone's sights much less camp since - then. I'll have to go out through the dirt place tunnel. Like when we were kits.

The last part was thought with fleeting amusement. Then worry took over once more as the seriousness of the situation settled in his mind.

He didn't notice amber eyes wink in the darkness, as a cat watched him go.

He hurried once away from the camp, racing through the forest; it would do no good to follow Breezepelt, lest he had already moved. He was still unsure whether he had seen a dream or a thought, so time was of the essence.

Jay paused, then passed the border, and began going cautiously. His ears pricked and nose twitched, seeking sound and scent of the vile cat. He was beginning to tremor, anxiety clawing it's way through his chest, but he shoved it away when he heard some cats shouting, nearer to the lake.

He took off in a wild sprint.

"-e Windclan cat?! This is Shadowclan's land!"

"-ay for your sins! You taint the blood of every clan cat!"

"-azy! You hear me! Crazy!"

He burst out into the sand, almost tripping, but managing to barrel the Windclan tom off of Dawnpelt.

He could smell the blood and could almost see a flash of it pooling from her chest and throat. The strength told him that another bite and yank was all it would have taken to kill her, or possibly mute her is she lived.

Jayfeather was quickly flipped off in a shower of sand as Breezepelt gave a wordless yowl, driving him onto his back hard onto the shore. Fear clawed him as his nightmares returned, the phantom pain stronger than ever.

'No! Nonono! Not my eyes! Not again!'

Then Breezepelt was yanked off by a much more powerful source, and Jayfeather's trembling subsided as he recognized the cat's scent.

'Lionblaze!'

Lionblaze was absolutely furious. His fur was fluffed like his namesake's, lips drawn into a fearsome snarl and eyes burning like starfire.

"Leave my brother alone!"

Breezepelt struggled beneath him, some sort of fury burning within his own eyes. His own snarl was ugly by comparison, and the cat wasn't mad like Lionbaze had first thought.

He was driven by hatred.

And it definitely gave him a boost of strength as he lifted Lionblaze off of him with an oomf! and tossed the golden warrior to the side. He quickly scrambled up though and they were locked into combat once more.

But Lionblaze didn't have his star-given strength anymore. He could - would - eventually overpower Breezepelt, but at what cost?

Jayfeather listened to the fight; Dawnpelt's gasps; the yowling in the very distance. Then he felt it.

There was still the anxiety, the trauma, the fear, but also something else this time.

There was anger burning in his gut.

And with a shimmer, Jayfeather saw.

His vision was glasses over with an odd blue tone, vision shuttering at a slower speed. He didn't know what this was, but when he saw Breezepelt's back face him, he knew what he had to do.

He gathered his legs and then sprung at him, as his vision fell back away to nothing, and the world was dark.

He felt his paws hit soft fur and compact flesh, and he quickly sunk his claws in. The body beneath him arched with a howl as gravity pulled his claws down. Quickly, before he was flung off, he clamped his teeth down among the flesh between Breezepelt's shoulders.

A furious yowl sounded as Breezepelt tried to dislodge him, but Jayfeather stayed there even when he had begun to taste metal. Lionblaze continued to box at his ears until he was subdued.

When the black tom finally collapsed, then Jayfeather let go, ever so carefully, and slipped off of him. Lionblaze stood looming over him.

His ear twitched as he heard voices speaking, and recognized Leafpool.

"-e'll be fine, but Littlecloud will confine her to his den for the time being. But the bleeding stopped so that's good."

"Do you think Rowanstar will blame Windclan?" The second voice asked. It was deeper and smoother, almost feathery. "I'm just worried that-"

"Leafpool!" Jayfeather cried, next to her instantly. "Is Dawnpelt okay? I-"

"She just said she would be fine," the other voice grumbled, sounding as though the cat was facing away from Jayfeather. "Calm down."

"Crowfeather," Leafpool said, her voice cold. "Jayfeather is a medicine cat too, and if he hadn't been here, she'd be dead because of Breezepelt."

Instantly Crowfeather's time become apologetic as he said, "I - I didn't know it was him."

"We know," Jayfeather cut in. "No one did except Breezepelt; it's not your fault. But . . . how did you two know to come here?"

He felt them pause, no doubt exchanging a look. "I went to go speak with Crowfeather about the situation, to see if he might know something or be able to talk to Onestar. It . . . seemed more sensible but I doubted Bramblestar would have agreed."

"No doubt because of our history." A sudden sniff as Crowfeather picked up from her. Then, "When we were discussing the, er, situation, I saw Breezepelt sneaking out of camp. But he was already a ways away and we didn't want to be caught so we followed at a distance."

"Then we spotted cats fighting, and I saw you and Lionblaze," Leafpool said with motherly concern evident in her voice. "But Dawnpelt needed us and you seemed to have the situation under control. But how did you two get here?"

"Well," Jayfeather wheezed a laugh, "Lionblaze followed me I guess. Whereas I-"

There was a sudden yelp and when Jayfeather spun around he felt wind rush close to him as Crowfeather tore past him. His vision pinged for a moment, like a ripple from a drop falling on the surface of water, and he saw Lionblaze reel back, nose bleeding heavily. His vision went back dark almost instantly, but he still saw the dark blur of Breezepelt receding.

Jayfeather rushed over to his brother nudging him and checking him over. He gave a sigh of relief as he noted Lionblaze had no other injuries except his nose, which resulted from a head-butt to the chin, rather than a clawing.

He didn't dwell on the fact that his brother had somehow escaped any other injury.

"Tilt your head down you big lump, or you'll choke on your own blood," he chided, more exhausted than anything. He almost sagged as the adrenalin left him.

He had managed to stop Breezepelt from murdering someone; now he was someone else's problem.

"Duh-hyu dink dehy'll catdch 'im?"

"What nonsense are you sputtering now? Oh great Starclan - you bit your tongue too, didn't you? Keep your head tilted down, dangit!"

"Hyur naht muh muhth'rr, Jay'fr!"

"I'll mother you all I want you thick-headed fluff-brain! Don't make me get Leafpool to come join in!"

"Huait - dhu hyu 'ear datt?"

Both toms turned (Jayfeather making sure Lionblaze kept facing the ground as they did so) at the loud commotion as most of Thunderclan poured out around them, with Shadowclan too. The cats milled around asking what happened and shouting for answers. But Jayfeather and Lionblaze only noticed one cat's shouts.

Little Dovewing ran up to them, voice clipped with some sort of joy, and thick worry, yowling:

"Jayfeather! Lionblaze! I heard you - I heard you! "

When they had eventually gotten back to camp, Dovewing had already explained her part and most of the cats had settled down.

Apparently, whatever surgence had verify given Jayfeather his powers momentarily had also given them to Lionblaze and Dovewing, too, but at different times.

Dovewing had been sleeping when some sound of Lionblaze growling had woken her up. She figured he'd been having another dream (or nightmare) of when they were the three. But after standing in confusion at the sight of an empty nest, she heard when Jayfeather had leapt upon Breezepelt, and then she had understood.

She had heard them.

She could hear!

Dovewing didn't revel in the missed sense though; she understood the urgency of the situation. She had ran out of the den and immediately roused Bramblestar, uncaring of who else she woke.

And then they had rushed over, a patrol led by Squirrelflight running to Windclan to get Onestar.

Leafpool told them the rest after her sister and past mate had told her.

They had come running to help, Onestar furious and ready to shake Breezepelt by the scuff, so outraged that one of his cats had been so traitorous. He was ready to beat and banish him after this - allying himself with the cats of the dark forest was one thing, and had been forgiven, but he obviously did not regret his previous allegiance.

And for that, Onestar wouldn't stand.

But there would be no need for that.

They had found Crowfeather, standing where the land rose a bit, and water tricked from an off-shoot on the stream down below.

Here is where Crowfeather's view picked up; he had chased Breezepelt like a comet, racing after him. (He had actually torn something in his leg when he tripped and would need to rest extensively. ) When he managed to snag his class in Breezepelt's haunches, his son wriggled and managed to slip out of his grasp, falling and whacking his head on the rocks below.

He had died.

There was a morose air amongst all the Clans for awhile. The incident was relayed in full at the next gathering, mainly so Riverclan could hear. Jayfeather had attended, drawn back somewhat as the cats of the other three Clans reacted with varying degrees. Luckily the other Medicine cats had taken it in stride (Willowbreeze had the gall to make a joke, which he appreciated.)

Mistystar had also personally taken Jayfeather aside to speak with him, which left him feeling a little muddled. He tried to make cats annoyed and irritated; it was a way to divert their attention from pitying his lack of eyesight (plus it was fun and some cats definitely deserved it.) But after all that had happened? He didn't want the pity, though it was expected - it was the fact that some cats cared? Definitely more than he expected to.

But he knew with time the pity and worry and gentle thin-ice-acts would dissipate. Time would flow, memories not disappear, but perhaps dull and fade. He had been already blind after all, and even if he wasn't such a pretty sight to see, he was a skilled Medicine Cat, and he knew the Clans respected him.

(He still couldn't stand the smell of mint though.)

(And the Three's powers were gone once more.)

(but he still saw in water-drop vision once in awhile, though his dreams stayed empty for a very long time.)

(And he knew.)

(Breezepelt may be dead - but this wasn't over.)

'. . . hello, brother.'

Because even though the Place Of No Stars was empty, it's memory still lingered.

END