Chapter 22

SUP MAH BROS

How you guys doing? I missed you! Now, lets get back to the story!

A new major character will be introduced in this chapter.

The mouse sat, nestled in the roots of a gnarled tree. It nibbled on a nut, unaware of anything surrounding it. A small rustle sounded in the bushes near it. The mouse turned, looked for a moment, then went back to its nut. Suddenly, the mouse's nose shot up as it sniffed the air. It sprang to its feet, forgetting the nut, and began to run away. At the same moment, I burst from the bushes and jumped onto the mouse. I held it to the ground and killed it with a blow to the throat.

I looked out across thew forest. The lush green plants bobbed in the breeze. I heard a few birds beginning to chirp. I looked up at the sky. The sun was almost over the horizon. I remembered my promise to Firestar. I grabbed the mouse, along with the thrush and vole I had killed, and began to bound back to camp.

I paused outside the thorn tunnel. The camp was much more active now than it had been when I had left. Most, if not all, of the cats were now wide awake. My heart lurched as I saw Foxpaw gossiping to Icepaw. He must have told her that I was back, because her ears shot up in surprise.

I swallowed my fear and padded through the tunnel. To my surprise, no one noticed me. Yet. I walked over to the fresh-kill pile and placed my catch on the top. I looked around. Nothing seemed to have changed.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!" I looked up towards the tumble of rocks. I saw Firestar standing atop them, gazing upon his Clan with undisguised pride. While most of the cats gathered close to one another, I stayed near the back, alone.

"Cats of Thunderclan, I am happy to announce the return of our lost warrior, Jaggedscar." Most of the Thunderclan cats jumped and gasped in shock, except for the few who had known that I had returned. I nodded to them and then to Firestar. He continued.

"Last night, a patrol led by Lionblaze had discovered him trying to get back home, from wherever the Twolegs had taken him. He was surrounded by a Shadowclan patrol." The cats in the clearing starts to murmur uneasily around themselves. I stayed where I was, waiting uncomfortably.

"It seems that Shadowclan has decided to ignore all aspects of the warrior code. Even though Jaggedscar was on our side of the border, and alone, Shadowclan nearly attacked him. If it wasn't for Lionblaze's patrol, then..." Firestar broke off. I didn't want to think about what could have happened to me if Lionblaze didn't show up in time.

Firestar began to wrap up his small speech. "Jaggedscar will continue warrior duties today. That is all." Firestar leapt down from the Highledge and began to talk to Brambleclaw about something.

I stayed where I had sat, not moving. I gazed around the camp, trying to figure out what had happened while I was gone. It seemed normal, with cats padding around everywhere, and patrols leaving through the thorn tunnel. I sighed contentedly.

And then I saw Thornclaw.

The golden warrior was hunched over, looking as though he was in pain. As he lurched over to Leafpool's den, he stopped and coughed, tremors racking his body. I felt my heart begin to crawl in my throat. I dashed toward the nursery; even without entering I could tell that Millie and Briarkit were not in there. I had a feeling that the greencough epidemic had started.

I didn't want to annoy Leafpool, so I decided to find Jaypaw. I walked to the medicine den, and bumped into Jaypaw before I got there.

"Jaypaw," I growled, "We need to talk."

Jaypaw looked up. "So you're back." If he was surprised, he was very good at hiding it.

"I think we have a problem," I said, hinting that I wished to speak with him alone. He looked up, slightly annoyed, it seemed.

"I don't know if the Twolegs messed up your vision, but I'm busy," he replied sharply. I hissed.

"This is important! It involves what you're working on right now!"

Jaypaw sighed. "Fine. But make it quick." I sighed in frustration as me and Jaypaw padded out of the camp. He turned to me once we were out of earshot.

"What do you want to tell me?"

I took a deep breath. "There's greencough in the camp."

Jaypaw snorted. "Not yet, mousebrain. It's only whitecough."

I padded over to Jaypaw until our noses almost touched. "It will turn into greencough. And it will be a deadly strain. Half the Clan will get infected."

Jaypaw looked frightened, but held his ground. "How can you be so sure? Have you gotten a sign from Starclan?"

I hesitated. "No. But trust me on this. I need you to be ready."

Jaypaw still looked unnerved, but he nodded. "Okay. I will be."

I grinned. "I know you will be."

I turned around and padded back to camp, a lot still on my mind. Besides Jaypaw, most of the Clan had seemed rather shocked that I was alive and well- more than I had thought. Something seemed off. I decided to head back to camp. Jaypaw wasn't behind me; he must have gone off looking for herbs.

I detected a familiar scent behind me; I saw a pitch-black she cat with emerald eyes, stalking a mouse. I watched as she slowly padded over the leaves and moss on the forest floor, closer to the mouse. It seemed as though not a hair on her pelt moved, like she had turned to stone. Then, she leaped. I wasn't able to measure the time from the leap to the kill, but within seconds the mouse was dead.

"Nice catch," I meowed. Hollyleaf looked up, surprised.

"Jaggedscar!?" She meowed in delight. My tail curled; I had never been so excited to see anyone. She rushed over to me and bowled me over. I growled playfully and we play-fought for a while. Then, without warning, Hollyleaf sprung up and flipped me over. I grunted as I hit the ground, and looked up into Hollyleaf's emerald gaze.

"Pinned you," she smirked, looking confident. I feinted defeat for a moment, and then sprung up. I rolled with Hollyleaf, planning to pin her down, but she snaked upwards, pushing me into a pile of leaves. I spat out a few crumbs, and felt a light pressure on my chest.

"Pinned you again," Hollyleaf purred, her paw on my chest. I smiled; I hadn't played like that in a long time. She padded up to me and nuzzled me, burying her head in my shoulder.

"I missed you," she murmured. I rested my head on hers.

"I missed you too," I purred. However, something didn't feel right. There was a stiffness in her neck that felt odd. She seemed tense, and her pelt was beginning to spike up.

"Is... Is something wrong?" I asked gently. Hollyleaf looked up, and shook her head. But she stayed silent. This puzzled me, and encouraged me to think something was indeed wrong. "Whatever it is, you can tell me," I asked again. This time, though, Hollyleaf shook her head harder and bounded away. "Hollyleaf, wait!" I shouted, but to no avail. She bounded away, through the forest. I stopped. I knew I could easily catch her with my powers, but something told me not to. Instead, I padded back to camp. Maybe Lionblaze knew what had happened.

I walked through the thorn tunnel, and thankfully saw Lionblaze right in the middle of the clearing. He looked like he was about to leave, though. I quickly bounded over to him.

"Lionblaze," I meowed. He turned around.

"Jaggedscar," he said. "I'm glad you're back." However, there was an edge to his mew- he was holding something back.

"Did anything... important happen while I was gone?" I implored. Lionblaze looked fidgety, and when he answered me, I could tell he wasn't giving me the whole truth.

"Well... We thought you were... Dead." Lionblaze sighed. I knew that wasn't it, though.

"Lionblaze," I meowed, "What else happened? What aren't you telling me?"

Lionblaze looked ready to bolt, something I hadn't seen him ever do. When he answered me, I understood why he didn't want to tell me.

"We held your vigil."

I collapsed into my nest, tired to the bone. I had been unable to find Hollyleaf all day. I suspected she had gone into the tunnels. I shuddered as I remembered how she was supposed to meet her demise... How she was supposed to die. I curled up into my nest, still shocked that the Clan had held my vigil. When the rest of the Clan found out that Lionblaze had told me, they began to apologize. I had accepted their apologies, but still felt hurt. Firestar didn't hold Graystripe's vigil for months.

As I drifted into sleep, I was vaguely aware of a lithe form slipping by me, and falling into the nest next to me. Hollyleaf groomed my fur until I finally fell asleep.

My eyes shot open. I gazed around with a groan. I saw leafless trees, a river of slime, and the hisses of cats hungry for revenge. I was in the Dark Forest.

I looked around for Tigerstar. Like last time, he didn't show up. However, another tabby warrior padded into the clearing. He looked almost identical to Tigerstar, except he was a bit smaller, and had icy chips for eyes.

Hawkfrost.

"Well, hello, Jaggedscar," Hawkfrost meowed. His voice sounded like a knife on bone. Cold and unforgiving. Before I could open my mouth to ask how Hawkrost how he knew me, he silenced me with a sweep of his tail. "My father told me all about you."

I froze. Had Tigerstar heard me talking to Spottedleaf? Had he sent Hawkfrost here to kill me? No. Hawkfrost padded to the side.

"My father must find you very special," Hawkfrost purred. I thought that was strange; I had only trained with Tigerstar once. However, Hawkfrost seemed to think otherwise. "There are a few cats he wants you to meet."

I gasped as I saw the shimmering outline of a cat pad over to me, as well as another that looked much more recent and familiar. As for the former, he was almost invisible, with the trees and ferns showing clear as day behind him. He was little more than a shadow against a backdrop. His eyes, though faint, were a striking red color. They looked hungry for blood. He was muscular despite his fadedness, and he stood just taller than me. I hadn't the faintest idea who it was.

The latter was all too familiar. He was small, smaller than an apprentice. He held strength in his wiry body, and although he was thin he looked fast. He had ice blue eyes, much crueler than Hawkfrost's. His claws were longer than a normal cat's, and I knew that they were dog's teeth. His collar was studded with more of the grisly trophies. Finally, he had a jet-black pelt, and one white paw.

"Scourge," I growled. Scourge gave the smallest nod, not saying anything. The other cat padded forwards.

Hawkfrost looked pleased. "Jaggedscar, meet Scourge, former leader of Bloodclan." Scourge snarled, obviously wanting to rip Hawkfrost's pelt off. However, he remained in his sitting position. Hawkfrost turned to the fainter cat. "I'm not surprised you don't know him. I'd like you to meet Shadestar, thefirst traitor to the Clans."

Shadestar nodded. "I felt that my leader, Mintstar, was not very... suited to her position. So I took it. By force."

I shuddered. I was standing next to the first Dark Forest cat! He twisted around me, inspecting every hair on my pelt.

"Oh yes," Shadestar nodded. "this will be fun."