Chapter 24

HOWSITGOINBROS

I'm getting my ideas down for the rewrites of the first few chapters. They will be MUCH better when I'm done with them.

What happens in this chapter? Read and review to find out!

JAYPAW

I stalked back to the medicine den, annoyed that I had wasted my time with Lionblaze. I tunred back over to realize that Hollyleaf was still talking to him. Typical. Whenever Lionblaze wants something, Hollyleaf helps. I shrugged my annoyance off. Jaggeedscar wasn't a bad cat, just mysterious. And although I wouldn't tell Lionblaze, I wanted to find out more about him.

I walked back into the medicine den. I smelled the scent of a few cats that were milling around outside the entrance. They all seemed worried.

"Hey, what's going on here?" I meowed, a bit annoyed. "You're blocking the way in."

One of the cats, Cloudtail, looked over to me. He must have opened his mouth to say something, but his body was instantly wracked by a hoarse coughing fit. When he recovered, he looked back.

"The den is full of cats with whitecough," He meowed solemnly. I rushed past him to see if it was true. Indeed, the den was flooded with cats, strewn across the floor. The rank scent of sickness rushed into my nose, and I held my breath to keep from coughing. I sensed Leafpool by the back of the den, seeming worried.

I padded up to her. "How did this happen?" I asked. "I was gone for only a few heartbeats!"

Leafpool turned at the sound of my voice, and her worry was temporarily replaced with relief. "Jaypaw, thank goodness you're here. I need you to find catmint for the sick cats."

The hairs on my back began to rise. I felt panic edge my voice as I asked, "Do any of them have greencough?"

Leafpool's voice was bleak. "Not yet, but if things keep going on like this, it won't be long until they do."

I let my head swing around the medicine den once more. The amount of sick cats was so large, anyone who came into the den would become infected. I looked back to Leafpool, but she was already bent over another patient. I turned tail and fled out to the forest, preparing to look for the precious herb.

JAGGEDSCAR

I sniffed into the patch of grass. Nope, nothing here, I concluded. I had never smelled catmint before, but I knew that it smelled sweet and had the effects of a hallucinogen. I moved over to another bush and began smelling. Again, nothing. A rustling sound from behind me made me jump up. I turned around, hackles raised.

"Who's there?" I asked, smelling the clearing. I recognized the scent almost instantly, and I sat down calmly, waiting for the cat to appear.

Jaypaw burst into the clearing, looking like he had seen a ghost. I looked at him, and felt the hairs on my back beginning to rise. "It's begun, hasn't it?"

He nodded, breathless. I looked back in the direction of camp, and knew that the sickness had begun to spread between cats. I turned back to Jaypaw, but he was already crouched down, sniffing all around for catmint. I stifled a sigh of pity as I watched him, but Jaypaw's powers picked up my feelings.

"What? You've never felt bad for me before," Jaypaw said. There was no anger in his voice, only concern and fear. I sighed again.

"There's no catmint, Jaypaw," I meowed, defeated. I heard Jaypaw's gasp of shock, and continued. "The only plants I could find were some crushed ones, and they're of no use." Jaypaw looked as though he wanted to believe I was lying, and I couldn't blame him. I had been searching for catmint for the past thirty minutes, and still nothing had come up. Not across the entire forest.

"No, that can't be true!" He growled. I shrugged and sat down.

"It's true," I meowed. he yowled in a fit of rage. Then he brightened up.

"I know! maybe the other Clans can spare some!" He meowed hopefully. His sightless eyes looked up at me, brimming with hope.

"I'm afraid that's out of the question," I mumbled. "Shadowclan surely won't give us any, and Windclan and Riverclan would tear us apart if they knew we were weak. We're on our own." I didn't like the notion, but it was true. It was too soon after the Great Battle to ask for help. News spread fast between the Clans, and it wouldn't be long until we were attacked at our most vulnerable point.

I looked down at Jaypaw. "You must not tell anyone how bad the sickness is getting," I meowed solemnly. "If anyone else finds out, there will be chaos."

Jaypaw nodded, but he had more to say. "Where will the healthy cats sleep? There are too many sick ones."

I thought about the old Twoleg nest. That had been where they had originally stayed. Maybe... "No," I said. We can sleep together, for another night. It won't hurt, but we can't move them until we have a proper plan." I felt confident that nothing would happen, but underneath that confidence there was a feeling of unease.

As Jaypaw and I walked back to camp, I wondered about the consequences of what I had just done.

I awoke with a pounding headache. I groaned and rolled onto my stomach. I opened my eyes to see that Honeyfern and Poppyfrost were talking at the edge of the clearing. I looked on in despair as Honeyfern broke off for a fit coughing. I looked over to my side and saw that Hollyleaf had long since left, probably on dawn patrol. It's probably for the best, I thought. I don't want her to get sick.

As I stumbled out of the warrior's den, I felt a sharp tickling in my chest. I immediately coughed violently, spasms shaking my body. I gasped for breath when it was over, terrified. I had caught the sickness! I hastily moved up to the fresh-kill pile, where Jaypaw was picking out a sparrow. I looked down at him, while silently speaking.

"I caught it," I meowed bleakly. "I have greencough."

Jaypaw jumped up. "Oh no! How can this happen, Honeyfern's sick, and Birchfall, and now you too? This is bad!" His voice was edged with desperation, and he looked more scared than he had been at the Great Battle. I sighed in defeat.

"You'll have to tell Firestar to quarantine us," I meowed. "Tell him to put us at the old abandoned house." I kept eating the mouse I had chosen, but Jaypaw looked confused. "What? It's sounded pretty simple to me."

"What's a... house?" Jaypaw meowed, rolling the new word over his tongue. Oops.

"Uh... I meant the old Twoleg nest," I said stupidly. I hoped he would just think that the greencough was driving me insane. Thankfully, he didn't look too concerned.

"Alright," He meowed. "I'll talk to Firestar."

"Good," I meowed, and broke off with another fit of coughing. When I could finally take a breath, I meowed, "Make it quick!"

I felt like crap.

That was the best way to describe greencough. It stiffened your limbs, made you short of breath, and scratched up your throat. But the worst part was the coughing. It came without warning, and lasted for a good thirty seconds. I was starting to feel lightheaded, too. God, I hope Jaypaw can come up with some catmint soon, I thought. Jaypaw and Leafpool had been working their butts off trying to help us, but to no avail. I was worried that one of them might become sick, too.

"How you feeling?" I looked up. Lionblaze was standing over me. In his jaws was a plump mouse. He dropped it at my paws and nudged it over to me. "You've got to eat."

I pushed the mouse back; I wasn't hungry. "Give it to one of the others." I coughed again, and when my throat cleared up I added, "I can manage."

Lionblaze wasn't convinced. "Hollyleaf says you haven't eaten all day. You must be hungry."

I sighed in defeat. "Fine." I took the mouse back, and started to eat it.

"So..." Lionblaze said. I looked up.

"You want to know what I know, don't you?" I asked in monotone. Lionblaze smirked.

"That was pretty transparent, wasn't it?" He asked sheepishly. I nodded, finishing off the mouse. Lionblaze shrugged. "Yeah, I do want to know. And if it's about us, we deserve a right to know."

I snarled in annoyance. "I already told you, I'm not telling you yet. I may not have to."

Lionblaze cocked his head. "What's that supposed to mean?" I rolled my eyes.

"Great Starclan, I'm not telling you anything!" I said, exasperated.

Lionblaze began to get angry. He paced around, lashing his tail back and forth. "You know about the prophecy, which is about us. You told us so. So why can't you tell us what else you know?"

I sighed and stood up, coughing a bit. "If I told you..." I looked Lionblaze in the eye, and he backed away, frightened. "It would ruin everything."