Elsi: So, this is a Jayfeather chapter, although right now, it's labeled as a Lionblaze chapter in my bank and I REALLY need to be fixing that. Ugh. Anyways, you guys hopefully won't be able to see that...heh.

Elsi: I wasn't going to write this at all today, but I knew what was going to happen, and the prospect of WILLOWSHINE WILLOWSHINE WILLOWSHINE wouldn't get out of my head. It's actually really interesting; Chapter 10 of Elemental Book 3 (which I'm in the midst of writing right now!) is VERY similar to the first half of this chapter. And they're both Chapter 10. Weird. That DOES mean that I've finally gotten ahead in War of Shadows! YES!

Elsi: Basically, Elemental Book 3 is going to start discussing a bunch of War of Shadows things that I would rather reveal here (spoilers and all that)...plus, I can't even begin to do Book 4 without having a bunch of this plotted out. Since War of Shadows is like ten chapters longer than Book 3 as it stands, I'm CHARGING through War of Shadows. Four chapters in one day. Whew! I'm awesome.

Elsi: However, I'm not awesome enough to own any of this. The ideas are sort of mine, although I'm keeping as much canon in as possible. Remember, this is AU after Fading Echoes. There are going to be some nice nods to canon, though. Like that Molepaw is Rosepetal's apprentice, or that the trainees in the Dark Forest are (for the most part) the same.

Elsi: Oh, and for the Sunstrike and Breezepelt thing, this probably happens sometime between Darkness and Light. Sunstrike knows she loves Breezepelt, but Breezepelt hasn't admitted how he feels for her. :) If you're reading Sunstrike's story. Which you may not be.

Elsi: This is SUPER long for an AN. Just...enjoy it!

Chapter 10

Jayfeather

Jayfeater dreamed in beautiful color, which was always his favorite part of dreaming. It was dark in this but the moonlight made the grass shine blue. Something reflective shone ahead – the lake! He was dreaming of the lake. Smiling to himself, Jayfeather skidded down the side of the hill, taking in the fact that he could see the dirt billowing up around him. This dream was real enough. He made a contented noise. Dreams were best when they were unprophetic.

Reveling in the sight of Silverpelt waving in the water, Jayfeather bent down to drink from the moonlit water, rippling it. He looked back up, ready to take in its vastness-

And saw Willowshine standing on the other bank of the lake. Except the lake was but a puddle.

"Jayfeather?" Willowshine said. "What are you doing in my dream?"

"What are you doing in my dream?" Jayfeather countered. Willowshine gave him a sour glance, not expecting him to see it. "Stop that."

Willowshine tossed her head up, throwing her fluffy over her shoulder, and crossed the puddle to reach him. Jayfeather took a step back as she shook out her coat.

"Look," she said once she was done showing off. "It doesn't matter whose dream it is. What matters is why we're sharing a dream." Her eyes were bright green and intense, and Jayfeather nodded in agreement.

"Maybe this is a sign from StarClan that we both need to see," said Jayfeather. It was the most plausible explanation he could come up with. "Have you heard anything lately?"

"Nothing in some moons," Willowshine said, looking around. "I doubt you have, either. Last I heard, there were apprentices getting prophetic dreams." She shot him a dark glance, and Jayfeather shivered under those eyes.

"I'm sure StarClan has their reasons," Jayfeather said, trying to dodge the subject. The last thing he wanted to talk about was Doveheart's abilities or Ivypool wandering into the Dark Forest. He just wanted to figure out what it was Willowshine needed to know and go on with his dreaming.

"Some medicine cat you are," said Willowshine. She suddenly stopped short, her eyes going wide. "Jayfeather, do you see that? Or…no, you didn't…"

Jayfeather tilted his head towards the sky and swallowed hard – he had, in fact, seen. Across Silverpelt, a huge cloud of darkness was descending. Dust rained down into the water, rippling it, but didn't touch them. Willowshine watched in confusion, her green eyes reflected in the ash-colored water. Jayfeather crept closer.

"Careful," Willowshine said. "There's some sort of…soot falling into the water. It's covering Silverpelt, its…everywhere."

She didn't sound afraid. Cautiously, Jayfeather reached into the water and scooped a pawful of soot up. Water soaked around his paws, inky and thick. It reminded him of that ball of darkness in the back of his den…

"Willowshine?" Jayfeather said quietly. "I think we should get away from here."

"It's a sign!" cried Willowshine, but Jayfeather butted her up the hill.

"I don't think that's a sign from StarClan, and if it is, it's not something you want to observe up close. Come on!" Willowshine hissed in protest, but she went anyways, beating him to the top of the hill. From that view, Jayfeather could see that the shadows were completely covering the sky, and that the puddle was flooding. Inky water sloshed onto the beach.

"What is it?" Willowshine said, her eyes wide and her ears pressed to her head in fear. "Why are the stars going out like that?" Willowshine looked at Jayfeather, horrified. "What could bring such darkness?"

Jayfeather then understood why StarClan had brought them together, and he heaved a sigh.

"Let's keep walking," he suggested, noting that the darkness was spreading up the hill towards them. "I'll tell you everything."

"Please," Willowshine said, "you know about as much as I do." Jayfeather just stared at her. "Okay, okay! I'm coming."

"Thank you," Jayfeather said curtly. "Of all the cats…"

"I don't fancy you, either," Willowshine snapped. She caught up to him as they walked through the dream version of ThunderClan territory. "Fine. I guess, since we're both stuck here, we should work together."

Jayfeather looked at her, and Willowshine gave an inviting smile.

"Come on, grumpy," she said. "Tell me what's going on."

So he did, and when he was done, Willowshine's eyes were full of empathetic pain. He waited for her reaction, knowing that it was a lot to take in. The idea that the Dark Forest was training warriors from the other Clans…the suggestion that her warriors were betraying their Clan…it all had to be a lot. Add that to the fact that he had also mentioned the shadow warriors that posed a threat to their Clans…and that Tigerstar may or may not be seeking a way to return to the world…

"You're mouse-brained," decided Willowshine, and she stopped abruptly. The prevalent emotion in her eyes was anger. "Tell me the truth, Jayfeather. Why have you brought me here just to tell me some ridiculous story?"

"I didn't bring you here," Jayfeather reminded her. "And…that's the truth."

Willowshine turned her chin up at him – still fighting for some power, he figured.

"And why has StarClan chosen to tell you this?" she wanted to know. Jayfeather sighed heartily. He couldn't just tell her about the prophecy, but would she buy any other explanation?

"I don't control StarClan," Jayfeather said furiously. "I'm just trying to help my Clan-mates." That thought in mind, he sat down, cross. In darkness, they sat, only able to see each other in the little remaining starlight there was. Even that was fading. Jayfeather knew that they would have to keep moving soon, but he didn't want to get up. "Plus, there's white-cough."

"Lucky," said Willowshine bitterly. "Mothwing and I have been fighting off green-cough for the past moon." Jayfeather leaned forward, concerned. She hadn't mentioned that at their latest meeting at the Moonpool. In fact, none of the other medicine cats had been sharing recently, himself included. If anything ripped them apart, especially now, they were in trouble. The Clans had to work together!

"You should have told one of us," he said, upset.

"It's a RiverClan problem!" snapped Willowshine, offended. Jayfeather sighed, and her features blurred a little more.

"I think that's why we're here," he said. There was silence on the other end of his conversation. "Really. Because eventually, those shadow…things are coming to RiverClan. And there are cats fighting for Tigerstar in every Clan. You should know these things."

"So I'm just here so you can help me," Willowshine said, still sounding a little cross. He saw her vaguely move, and then her tail was around his shoulders and over his head. Willowshine had started walking again. Alarmed at the fluff of her tail, Jayfeather followed her. "I don't think so."

"What else do you want?" he sighed.

"You should tell me more," Willowshine said. "About your Clan-mates. I'll help you figure out what to do."

Tentatively, Jayfeather explained his suspicions over Ivypool. Willowshine listened in relative silence, which was welcome. This entire situation was awkward – of all the medicine cats to meet up with, Willowshine wouldn't have even been in his top three. She was talkative and annoying and pompous and always thought that she needed to help. Sometimes, he didn't want help. This time, however, he welcomed it.

"I think it's a good idea to reach out to her," Willowshine said once he had explained. "But give her some space, Jayfeather! StarClan…I wouldn't want to be stalked by a grumpy old medicine cat, either."

"Well, nothing is changing," Jayfeather said in exasperation. He could barely see three feet in front of him, but Willowshine's eyes still had a glow to them.

"See if you can help someone else, maybe," she said. "Show Ivypool that…well, help can happen. Maybe she's just too sucked in."

"Help someone else? But Ivypool…" He broke off. No one knew that Ivypool was the fourth, and Willowshine could never get any hints that she was getting special treatment. "She's the littermate of my friend."

"But she's also one warrior in many," Willowshine said. "If what you're telling me is true, there are other warriors in all the Clans that are falling under Tigerstar's influence. Shouldn't you be trying to save them all?" Her eyes narrowed in worry, and Jayfeather considered this in silence. He looked at his paws, setting them down one in front of the other. She was right. It was just like Leafpool had said, earlier – he had to focus on his Clan. Ivypool was an important cat, but she was also one warrior in many. If he could help the others, maybe he could get through to her, too.

"That just may work," Jayfeather said, looking over to her. But Willowshine had gone. "Willowshine?"

He woke with a jump, his world spinning into its normal landscape of greyness.

"Jayfeather? Are you alright?" He couldn't quite identify the location of Briarlight's voice, but eventually his ears led him true. "You seem really shaken up…"

"Fine, I'm fine," said Jayfeather, getting to his paws and ruffling his pelt. "Just a strange dream. A…really strange dream." He could feel nervous energy dancing off of Briarlight's pelt. "Yes? What is it?"

"Well…" began Briarlight. "I was wondering if you could go check on Blossomfall. I didn't want to wake you, but Blossomfall and Brightheart met one of those shadow things in the forest, and- "

"What?" Instantly, Jayfeather bounded out of his den, and Briarlight called back for him. He didn't listen, going straight across the clearing to Lionblaze. "Briarlight says that there was another shadow warrior."

"Yes, but Brightheart and Blossomfall are fine," Lionblaze said lazily. "Briarlight said you were sleeping."

"My sleep is not as important!" snapped Jayfeather. He snapped his head around, trying to sense where the two could be. Locating Brightheart, Jayfeather abandoned his brother and charged over to the warrior.

"Jayfeather, oh, thank StarClan," said Brightheart. "I don't know if you heard, but – "

"You and Blossomfall got into a fight with a shadow warrior," Jayfeather finished. "Yes, I know. Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," Brightheart said. "I just had Briarlight patch up a scrape, but I got that on a bush getting away. Blossomfall is fine, too, I think…she ran right back out…but…"

Jayfeather jerked upright at the up, disrupting his search of her body for injury. Brightheart seemed genuinely concerned about something. He beckoned her to keep speaking, and Brightheart sighed.

"I'm just a little concerned," she admitted. "We were fighting that thing, and Blossomfall kind of shoved me aside. It seemed like she knew exactly what she was doing."

"That's good," Jayfeather said. From the disbelief he received, Jayfeather expected that she was giving him a doubtful look. "What do you think?"

"I'm just…what if Blossomfall knows about those things for a reason?" she asked. "What if she knows more about them and isn't telling us?" Jayfeather didn't answer, mulling this over. Blossomfall could be training in the Place of No Stars…but what did that have to do with the shadows?

"I'm sorry," Brightheart said bashfully. "I shouldn't be turning on my Clan-mates like this. Ignore me, Jayfeather. I'm getting too old for this."

"Don't say that," Jayfeather cut off. "Thank you for telling me, Brightheart. I'll talk to Blossomfall when she comes back. If you see her, send her into my den."

He began to retreat to the comfort and quiet of the medicine den, but Ivypool's scent on the wind, mixed with the faded smells of the dressing he had given her injury, caught his attention. She would know if Blossomfall was involved. Taking a deep breath, he wandered over to her.

"Blossomfall," Jayfeather said, bending down so only Ivypool could hear him. She flicked her ear into his muzzle, making him growl. "I'm not here to bother you, Ivypool, just to ask. Is Blossomfall training with you at night?"

"Why would I tell you anything?" Ivypool said coolly, but she didn't move or make any indication that she was looking at him. "I mean, if you think Millie's treatment of Briarlight in comparison to Blossomfall is enough to send her to the Dark Forest for attention, that's your opinion. I won't tell you who's in training with me."

Jayfeather almost laughed aloud at the reaction, but he jumped away from her instead, his pelt buzzing. That had been a direct answer – and Ivypool had tried to help him! What had spurred that answer from her? He turned his head, half-wishing that it was Ivypool's expression that was in front of his eyes instead of greyness. So, Blossomfall was after attention? She was jealous of her littermate, who was getting all sorts of love from her mother. That was partially Millie's fault, then. It frustrated Jayfeather to know that a cat could be so driven mad by the treatment she received from her own mother that she would join such evil forces.

"Ah, Millie," Jayfeather said, entering the den to find the subject of his frustration once again crowding Briarlight. "Will you do me a favor and take Bumblestripe hunting? Something I overheard Brambleclaw saying…"

"I…" began Millie, but Briarlight mumbled some excuse about being okay. Without a word to Jayfeather, Millie scrambled away.

"Thanks," Briarlight said quietly. "I don't want to hurt her feelings, but it's getting crowded in here with Millie fawning over me all the time."

"She's spent too much time with you," Jayfeather agreed. "It's making Blossomfall and Bumblestripe upset, and we can't have any more of that." A mother needed to take care of her kits – all of her kits. "I'm going to talk to Blossomfall later."

Should he tell Briarlight about his sister wandering into the Dark Forest? Best not, unless he found himself unable to solve the problem. All he had to do was find a way to give Blossomfall the attention and love she needed…

What seemed much later, Blossomfall came stumbling into his den, smelling like the trees. Accompanied, it seemed, by Toadstep. That would complicate this discussion.

"You wanted to see me?" Blossomfall said. "Is this about the shadow warrior? Because I'm fine, Jayfeather, honestly."

"I'll be the judge of that," Jayfeather said, and he leaned forward on her paws to take a good look – er…to inspect her. A brush with his tail indicated half-healed scratches on her side and back, a bruise on her hip. Jayfeather found similar evidence on the other side.

"Mousewhisker, Rosepetal and I have been battle training," Blossomfall said. "Have to keep up our techniques, now that ShadowClan is attacking us…"

Jayfeather summoned up one of his dark facial expressions, and she fell into nervous silence. That was good enough evidence for him.

"Is she okay?" Toadstep asked, leaning into his space and interrupting his plans. "There isn't one of those…shadow…things in her, is there?"

"No darkness, just a lot of scratches," Jayfeather said. He leaned back, considering banishing Toadstep. It was good luck that the white-cough incident was wrapping up. New-leaf would be upon them soon, and the den was emptying. But that still left Blossomfall to deal with.

"Can I go?" asked Blossomfall. "Toadstep and I were going to go hunting."

"Does Brambleclaw want you for a patrol?" asked Jayfeather, half wanting to keep her for a little while longer and reason with her.

"No," Toadstep said, a quiver of excitement in his voice. "We were just going hunting."

Those words made Jayfeather giddy, and the solution arrived.

"Blossomfall, I want you to walk to the fresh-kill pile and back," he said. "Bring something for Briarlight with you, and make it juicy."

"Jayfeather, I don't – " called Briarlight from behind him, but Jayfeather gave her the equivalent of a glare to shut her up. Then, he turned to Toadstep. This would be the strangest thing he would do all moon, but it was worth a shot.

"You're fond of Blossomfall, are you?" he said bluntly. Toadstep was in shock. "In a more than friendly way, I mean."

"You are!" squealed Briarlight. "Oh, that's adorable!"

"I…" Toadstep said, alarmed. "She doesn't know…she thinks we're just going hunting to help out the Clan. I…how did you…?"

Jayfeather forced himself to knock away the urge to roll his eyes and dismiss Toadstep. He instead pulled what he hoped was a welcoming smile onto his face.

"You know what I think?" he said. "I think you should tell her."

"I…should?"

"Yes," said Jayfeather in a disgustingly sugary voice. StarClan, he sounded possessed. "I mean…of course you should!"

Just imagine you're talking to Cinderheart. He ignored the fact that the thought was unwelcome, smiling once more. It felt more natural when he imagined Cinderheart's cheer before him.

"Look, Toadstep," Jayfeather said. "Trust me on this. Blossomfall is waiting for you to come out and admit how you feel. She's been waiting for you for moons." No, but she will appreciate being loved. It might be enough to convince her that Tigerstar's training isn't worth it. And, it will give her something to live for again. I just hope this works.

Toadstep shifted from paw to paw, but then, Blossomfall arrived. There was a slight hesitation in her step as she laid the present before Briarlight. Briarlight purred her gratitude to her littermate, bursting with excitement. Jayfeather welcomed the enthusiasm; it might just encourage Toadstep to do something. The hesitation in Blossomfall's walking pattern could be traced back to her right foreleg – probably another painful injury she was trying to hide. If she hadn't come to see him yet, it wasn't serious. Good. Taking a deep breath, Jayfeather pictured talking with Cinderheart in his mind again.

"That will be all," he said warmly. "Go along now. And Toadstep?" As the two cats started to depart, Toadstep looked back. Hating himself for how ridiculous he was acting, Jayfeather smiled and gave the tom a huge wink. "Remember what I told you."

"I will," Toadstep said, determination in his mew. Then they were gone, and Briarlight released a high-pitched squeal of excitement. She danced on her forepaws, making Jayfeather genuinely smile. Walking to poke his nose out of his den and into the hollow, he glanced (or performed the action of raising his head) to the sky, imagining Tigerstar's irritated face.

Take that, you fox-hearted menace, Jayfeather thought. Briarlight continued to squeal, and then stopped abruptly.

"What was that all about, anyways?" she asked wryly. "I've never seen you so friendly."

"Just doing my job," Jayfeather said. Saving ThunderClan warriors. "Your sister has been awfully upset lately. Love conquers all, so they say." Briarlight was at his shoulder, but Jayfeather's attention was somewhere else. Cherrypaw was bouncing around Icecloud as usual, from her high-pitched mews, but there was a low rumble of excitement there, too. Lionblaze. Jayfeather narrowed his eyes, searching blindly for Cinderheart. As he expected, there were waves of disappointment coming off of her. Jayfeather sighed to himself. Icecloud or Cinderheart, Lionblaze! He had to choose, or both she-cats (and Jayfeather) would get hurt.

Elsi: Giggles. I love the idea of Jayfeather not knowing how to be friendly. He's sweet on the inside, I think, and he shows it to the cats he cares about, but he's really more comfortable being brusk and grouchy about it. 3 him.

Elsi: Yeah, I know, the love polygon was thrown in at the end there kind of randomly. I had to get it in, but there wasn't too much to say, as Jayfeather had more to worry about. Like the whole thing where Willowshine showed up in his dream.

Elsi: If you've read Elemental, you'll see that Willow and Jay are extremely close and trust each other completely. Not romantically or anything. This sharing dreams thing, and what will follow, explains that. That's really the whole purpose of this story: to explain things. Things like Jay and Cinder, or why Dove and Ivy are so close to Briarlight, or why Willow and Jay are close...

Elsi: On a side note, I don't have enough space to insert as much Willowshine as I would like. I might write a one-shot from her point of view of her opinion of Jayfeather once their relationship progresses. I always thought that they were nice together.

Elsi: On THAT side note, I also have little nods to a bunch of pairings. You have your JayXWillow supporters along with your JayXBriar supporters and your JayXCinder supporters...I'm kind of drawn to all three (Jay and Briar probably wins), but for the purpose of this story, it's mainly JayXCinder. I will, however, nod to Willowshine and Briarlight as major parts of Jayfeather's life, which will be explored here. So, for all of you supporters of those pairings, you still get your female lead. Plus, I think all three are pivotal to Jay (maybe not Willow as much, but I always wanted her to be important).

Elsi: Last thing! This is getting long. I would really adore it if you guys could drop me a comment when you read this. Just tell me how you're liking this story so far, or speculations for what will happen, or if I could improve anything with my characterization or writing style for you! I really appreciate anything you guys have to offer.

Elsi: Lionblaze chapter coming soon! Complete with Icecloud's awesomeness and more shadow warriors!