CHAPTER FIVE
We followed Half Moon out of the tunnel and were immediately surrounded by a crowd of concerned cats. A small brown she-cat— most likely Shy Fawn— rushed up to Lion's Roar and began to scold him for hiding from everyone. There was a buzz of suspicion as the Tribe cats realized that Jay's Wing, Half Moon, and Lion's Roar were not alone.
"Who are these cats?" a big black and white tom growled, amber eyes flashing.
I stepped forward. "Greetings," I mewed respectfully. "I am Snow Falling on Rock, and she is Wolf with Sharp Claws."
He blinked, taken aback by my formality. "Um... I'm Jagged Lightning."
Sam— Wolf now, I suppose— broke in. "We are adventurers from afar." She was pushing it a little, now, using words like 'afar'. "We were lost in the caverns back there, until Lion's Roar here found us."
Half Moon saved us from the still-suspicious Tribe. "Cats of the Tribe," she began, "these cats were discovered in the cave with the pointed stones. Jay's Wing vouches for them, as he met them on his journeys before he returned to us." She paused, looking over the now silent crowd. "He says we should allow them to stay for a while."
I padded over to her. "I am Snow Falling on Rock."
"And I am Wolf with Sharp Claws," Wolf added.
"We can hunt, and fight. We have been in these mountains before, and sort of know the territory. We would like to stay, if you would let us," I finished.
Half Moon broke in. "Do we require a casting of the stones?"
There were shrugs and murmurings of "If they can hunt, they can stay" from the crowd. Lion's Roar got to his feet and piped up, "I think that they should stay for a while!"
There were murmurs of agreement, along with a few distrustful glances. Half Moon let this continue for a moment; then spoke: "I think that the general consent is that they may stay if they wish, for a while." Her voice was slow and reluctant, but she was right. These cats were skinny and hungry-looking. If we could hunt, they would welcome us. And while I only knew a little about mountain-hunting, I was sure I could figure it out.
The meeting broke up. Wolf and I hung around as cats came up and introduced themselves: Chasing Clouds, Half Moon's father; Dove's Wing, Jay's Wing's sister; Shy Fawn, Lion's Roar's mother; and a few of the 'softpaws', Hawk's Talon, Running Fox, and Silver Glow. The adult cats were curious and cordial, the apprentice-age ones excited and interested. Most cats, however, stayed away from us. They didn't quite trust us yet.
Almost immediately, Jay's Wing came up to us and asked if we could hunt with him and Dove's Wing. I accepted, curious to see how much Dove's Wing knew of her future self.
We walked outside the cave. Dove's Wing did not appear to recognize us, or that Jay's Wing was actually Jayfeather. She was very curious about our past, and how we knew her brother. Wolf and I had come to a silent agreement: we would lie with the truth.
We stuck with calling our 'tribe'— ShadowClan, as she had been leader back at the lake and I had been Shadow— the Tribe of Shaded Pines. We said that we had been exploring across both sides of the mountains— technically true, though we had not been cats while traveling all over the country— and that we had met Jay's Wing then, wandering near the Lake. I mentioned that we had traveled with my cousins, Wind that Blows through Trees and River where Rocks are Large— Wind and River, or my cousins Josie and Macks— and that we had only recently bumped into Lion's Roar. That was pretty much the only true lie, however.
Jay's Wing was amused by our half-truths, often almost bursting into laughter. A glare from Wolf or I usually shut him up, though, and Dove's Wing was so enthralled in our conversation as we looked for places to hunt that she didn't notice him.
At last, we found a small nest of plump mice. Together, we carried the fresh-kill back to the cave.
"What do you call this cave?" I asked as we padded behind the waterfall.
Dove's Wing shrugged. "Just the cave."
"It is quite impressive," I said. "It should have a name. We called our camp the Hollow of Dark Trees." That I just made up on the spot. I was beginning to realize that the Tribe may have become the way they did because of me and Wolf— imposing our so-called traditions on them. How strange. Then again, time travel always is.
"You could call it the Cave of Rushing Water," Wolf suggested.
Dove's Wing looked a little confused, but said she would mention it to Half Moon if it made us feel better.
Wolf and I exchanged a look, then looked away. Jay's Wing was fighting a smile.
Meddling with destiny is kind of fun.
Over the days, the Tribe gradually grew used to us. Our odd suggestions for the names of things became routine, and through repetition we found that they gradually began referring to themselves as "cave-guards" and "prey-hunters" rather than "sharpclaws". I hung out around the "softpaws", or as I called them, the "to-bes".
The younger cats loved me. They often asked to hunt with me, and seemed to look up to me. I had four younger sisters as a human, so I in general found "small children" or "midgets" annoying, but these admirers were intelligent and friendly, unlike my siblings.
Wolf's friends were mostly among the cave-guards. She was a big, strong cat like them and got along well with them. I had a few friends among the prey-hunters— Jay's Wing, obviously, and Shy Fawn, who had befriended me quite easily (I found our friendship amusing, since technically she was my mother-in-law)— but apart from them and Dove's Wing, I stuck mostly with the to-bes.
The elders didn't like me much. I only visited them a couple times. Stone Song liked me well enough, but Cloudy Sun distrusted me, and Broken Shadow was mournfully insane since Fallen Leaves, her son, died back at the lake. She distrusted every one, especially cats she didn't know well.
One night, after overhearing an awkward conversation between him and Half Moon, I cornered Jay's Wing.
"Jayfeather," I hissed, "we need to talk."
I drew him aside, despite glares from the heavily pregnant Half Moon.
"You need to tell Half Moon the truth," I said flatly.
He gazed at me incredulously. "Are you kidding me?" he demanded. "She can't know about the whole time-travel and shape-shifting thing—"
"Yes, she can," I said firmly. "She thinks that you're in love with me, Jayfeather."
He stared at me in shock. "She what?"
I shook my head in exasperation. Toms! "You said that you met us while you were traveling, when you were away from her," I insisted. "And since we're good friends, you know what she must be thinking. She hates me. And I can't pull the 'I-already-have-a-mate' card, because my mate is Lion's Roar, who's barely a to-be in this time!" I took a breath. "The only way to prove that you really love her is to tell her the truth. Ryan, Sam, and I will back you up."
Jay's Wing's eyes were hopeless. "But, Gingerstar— I can't! I've lied to her for so long, if she found out..." He trailed off.
"If you keep lying to her, it will be worse when she does find out," I said kindly.
He shook his head, troubled. "But how?" he asked. "I can't just waltz up to her and say 'Hi, Half Moon. I'm sorry, I've been lying to you for moons. I'm really a shape-shifting time-traveling cat from the future sent back in time to form the Tribe of Rushing Water.' She would think I'd gone crazy!"
"Do you still have your dream-walking powers?" I inquired.
Jay's Wing shot me an exasperated glance. "No. I gave those up the second I stopped being Jayfeather."
I opened my mouth to reply, when all of a sudden a wide-eyed Lion's Roar raced over to us. "Jayfea— I mean, Jay's Wing!" he exclaimed. "Come quick! Half Moon is kitting!"