Sorry I haven't updated in a while. This chapter's kind of boring. Enjoy this chapter. There are also a few mistakes in chapters 16 and 17 because I accidentally have chapter sixteen twice. I'll fix it. Enjoy this chapter.
Chapter Twenty-three
Jayfeather curled up in his nest and welcomed sleep. When he awoke, he was standing in front of Yellowfang. He rolled his eyes.
"You again." He muttered. Yellowfang narrowed her eyes and flattened her ears.
"I'm not ecstatic to see you either." She reminded him. "However, I have things I must show you." With her parting words still hanging in the air, his vision disappeared, than reappeared in a different setting. Jayfeather found himself in a bramble-surrounded clearing. He smelled milk in one den, and assumed it was the nursery, and herbs in another, which he thought to be the medicine den. I'm in another camp, but which one? The answer to that was easily figured out as a reddish tom padded out of a den, reeking of ShadowClan.
Jayfeather padded into the den that the cat had left. A large white tom lay in a nest, his breathing shallow. There was a distinct taint of sickness in the den, and Jayfeather could tell that the tom was on his last legs.
"Blackstar is dying." Jayfeather breathed. Another cat entered, it was Littlecloud this time. Jayfeather opened his mouth to scent what herbs Littlecloud was bringing Blackstar.
"Tansy, honey, coltsfoot, poppy seed, and borage." Jayfeather knew that Blackstar had greencough, and none of those herbs were the remedy for the illness. He padded into Littlecloud's den and nosed through his herb store. The tantalizing scent of catmint seemed to be missing. Jayfeather realized that ShadowClan must not have any catmint either. He nosed his way back into Blackstar's den. Littlecloud was mixing tansy and coltsfoot together, probably trying to ease his breathing and lessen his cough. He added borage and honey, possibly to lower his fever and give energy or to soothe his throat. Littlecloud topped the mixture with an excessive amount of poppy seeds, shaking out an entire headful. As Littlecloud mixed the poppy seeds in, Blackstar stirred.
"Littlecloud? Is that you?" he rasped. Littlecloud nodded.
"Yes, Blackstar. I've brought some herbs to make you feel better." Blackstar twisted his head and glanced at the herbs.
"Don't lie to me, Littlecloud." He mewed sharply. "I recognize poppy seeds when I see them, and I'm guessing that you're trying to make my journey to StarClan easier." His breath was coming in ragged gasps. Littlecloud bowed his head respectfully.
"Yes, Blackstar." Blackstar let out a hoarse chuckle.
"Thank you Littlecloud. You've served our Clan well." Littlecloud dipped his head.
"Thank you Blackstar. Please eat the herbs." The old leader lapped up the mixture, and his eyes began to droop almost immediately.
"Thank you again, Littlecloud." He mewed. Then he curled up in his nest to fall into a sleep that would bring him all the way to StarClan. Jayfeather snapped awake into the familiar darkness of his den. He stretched, then padded out of his den into the clearing.
"Blackstar is dead." He mewed to the Clan.
Lionblaze stared at Jayfeather. His brother stood in the middle of the clearing, his gray tabby fur bristling, and his tail lashing.
"How do you know that?" he asked. Jayfeather took a moment to contemplate what to say. Lionblaze assumed that he was deciding whether to tell a lie or not. Finally, Jayfeather admitted that he'd received a vision from StarClan. The warriors listened carefully as he described what happened. When he finished, Bramblestar leapt onto highrock.
"Cats of ThunderClan!" he yowled. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath highrock for a Clan meeting!" Daisy led Shadekit out of the nursery and Cinderheart followed with their five kits. They stumbled around the clearing in awe, and Lionblaze hurried over to his family. Goldenkit stared up at him with narrowed amber eyes.
"You smell familiar." She mewed cautiously. Thistlekit and Dreamkit bounded up next to her.
"Yeah!" they chorused. "We've smelled you before." Honeykit scrunched up her nose and sniffed loudly.
"I recognize it too!" she exclaimed. Hollykit was about to give her input when Cinderheart swept her tail around them.
"That's because this is Lionblaze, your father." The kits nodded, though they looked slightly confused. Cinderheart purred proudly.
"He's also the Clan deputy. He's very important. Now we should probably sit down and hear what Bramblestar has to say." Lionblaze sat down next to Cinderheart as their kits sat obediently beside her. Bramblestar swept his gaze over the Clan.
"If you haven't heard the news already, Jayfeather received a vision from StarClan telling him that Blackstar has died." A perplexed murmur erupted among the cats. Bramblestar cleared his throat and continued. "No cat will mention this to any cat outside our Clan. We don't want ShadowClan thinking we are spies. If a ShadowClan patrol brings it up, you may express your sympathy, nothing more." The ThunderClan cats dispersed quietly into their dens, clearly wanting a chance to gossip about the recent news.
Dovewing padded back into the nursery after the Clan meeting. Thunder sat watching Dovewing's kits, looking curious.
"So," mewed the ginger she-cat, "Who's Blackstar?" Dovewing swept her kits back into her own nest and began to explain.
"Blackstar is the leader of a hostile Clan called ShadowClan. If he died, that would mean the deputy would become leader." Thunder nodded slowly.
"So if Bramblestar died, would Lionblaze become leader?" Dovewing purred.
"You're getting the hang of it! If you have any more questions, feel free to ask me." Bumblestripe nosed his way into the den.
"Hello Dovewing, Thunder." He dipped his head towards the loner and peered at the kits in Dovewing's nest. Dovewing nudged the tom towards him.
"This is your father, Stormkit." The gray tom blinked open blue eyes and looked at Bumblestripe. Quickkit clearly wasn't about to be left out as she revealed her startlingly ice blue eyes and bounded forward, stumbling over her own paws. Stormkit poked Flowerkit.
"Wake up, lazy furball! Let's go exploring!" Quickkit squealed in excitement and leapt over her sister.
"Yeah, come on!" Dovewing gently pushed Quickkit off Flowerkit.
"Settle down you two. Flowerkit will open her eyes when she feels like it. You'll not leave the nursery without her either. Why don't you ask Bumblestripe what it's like being a warrior?" With her two adventurous kits out of the way, Dovewing leaned down to her smallest kit. Flowerkit curled into a ball. Dovewing licked her between her ears.
"Come on, Flowerkit. Don't you want to go exploring with Quickkit and Stormkit?" She saw Flowerkit's ear twitch, and she raised her head a little bit.
"Are you scared?" Flowerkit nodded. Dovewing leaned down. "Don't worry, I know the camp seems huge, but it's quite nice and I'm sure you'll enjoy it." Flowerkit blinked her eyes and sat up.
"Are you sure?" she mewed cautiously. Dovewing nodded encouragingly and Flowerkit stood up. Stormkit noticed, and leapt on Quickkit's back.
"Yes!" he cried. "Now we can go outside the nursery!" Quickkit wrestled him off her and tried to pin him down. Bumblestripe pulled Quickkit off Stormkit and set her down on the moss nearby. Stormkit bounded over Quickkit to get out of the nursery. Flowerkit ran after them, and Dovewing was glad to see that she didn't look nervous anymore.
R&R please.