CHAPTER SIX

Jay's Wing and I rushed back to the center of the cave. Crowded around Half Moon were half of the Tribe, mostly the she-cats.

Jay's Wing was back in his element. He barked some orders to the wide-eyed to-bes for moss and feathers to make Half Moon comfortable. I ran to get some herbs for him, then took a respectful step back from the kitting she-cat and her mate.

Jay's Wing worked busily, giving Half Moon a stick to bite down on and murmuring soothingly to her. Wolf watched from the edge of the cave, before coming up and hissing to the Tribe to give them some space. I joined in, offering to lead or join a hunting patrol, to feed Half Moon once her trial was over.

I took a youngish tom named Fish Leap, Lion's Roar, and Dove's Wing, while Wolf joined a patrol with Dawn River, Jagged Lightning, and Shy Fawn. By the time we returned, Half Moon had kitted four little kits, three she-cats and a tom.

I walked over to see Jay's Wing purring as he watched his kits nurse.

"Have you named them yet?" I asked quietly.

Half Moon was too happy with her newborns to glare at me. Jay's Wing replied, "No."

"I want to name this one Little Bird," Half Moon purred, gesturing with her tail toward the smallest, a white she-cat with green eyes, the spitting image of her mother.

Jay's Wing hesitated. "I think we should call her Little Bird that Sings," he said.

Half Moon gave him a hurt look. "You mean, you want to name her like your outsider friends Snow and Wolf."

I gave the gray tom a look. He shifted uncomfortably. "Half Moon," he began, "there are some things I need to tell you."

Half Moon's gaze hardened. I cast my glance around, looking for Lion's Roar and Wolf to back us up. I caught Lion's Roar's gaze and jerked my head toward Half Moon and Jay's Wing. Concern in his eyes, he padded over.

Wolf saw us all huddled together, frowned, and walked over. I was still a respectful distance away from Half Moon and her mate, and Lion's Roar and Wolf stopped just behind me as Jay's Wing fumbled for a beginning.

"Look, Half Moon, it's a really long story," he began. "It's just... I'm really sorry, but I've been lying to you about where I came from."

Half Moon frowned, confused and a little angry. "What? But you're Dove's Wing's sister! I've known you my whole life!"

He shook his head. "I'm not from here. I'm not even from this time. Well, I am, but now I realize everything... It's really confusing."

Half Moon looked concerned and lost. "Jay's Wing, are you feeling all right?" she asked in concern.

"This is getting nowhere," I interrupted.

Half Moon turned to glare at me, a her green eyes full of pain and distrust. "After what you've done, you should stay out of this!" she hissed.

I looked her straight in the eye. "Half Moon. Teller of the Pointed Stones. Listen to me."

She looked shocked and hurt at my use of her other name. "Why do you know about that?" she hissed, turning on her mate. "Did you tell her?"

"No!" Jay's Wing exclaimed, wide-eyed, his world falling to pieces around him.

"Stop, Half Moon," I repeated. "I do not love Jay's Wing. Listen to me, and to him. It will be difficult, and hard to understand, but if you believe us, and trust Jay's Wing, it will be all right."

She turned her head away, grief in her eyes before I could not see them. "You don't understand. You haven't had the love of your life disappear."

"Yes," I said gently, "I have."

I turned to Jay's Wing. "You're sure you can't do the dream thing anymore?"

He hesitated. "Well... no. I haven't tried. But I can't read emotions anymore, so I figured..."

"Try it now," I ordered, being my most leader-y.

He closed his eyes and concentrated. Then I crumpled to the floor, along with him, Lion's Roar, and Wolf.

I opened my eyes in the snow-covered forest north of ThunderClan's territory at the Lake. Half Moon, Wolf, and Lion's Roar were next to me, wide-eyed and scared.

"What's going on?" Half Moon asked, an edge of panic in her voice. Wolf looked a little wide-eyed, and Lion's Roar's fur was all fluffed out. Jay's Wing looked pleased. I was a little startled, but mostly okay.

"Since you won't believe what I tell you, I'll have to show you," he replied, a smile on his face.

At the edge of the clearing there was a rustling noise. Two she-cats emerged from the brambles, a tabby and a ginger-furred one. I stifled a gasp. It was Leafpool and Squirrelflight! Then, trotting out, half blind, behind them, were three small kits—one fluffy and black, one big and golden, and one skinny and gray: Hollyleaf, Lionblaze, and Jayfeather.

"Jay's Wing?" Half Moon asked in a small voice. "Who are those cats?"

"The tabby is my mother," Jay's Wing replied calmly. "The ginger she-cat is her sister, the cat who raised me. I am the gray kit."

"And... that golden tabby kit is me..." Lion's Roar said in a daze. "This is so weird..."

"And that's Hollyleaf," I said quietly, thinking of the cat I had killed.

Half Moon looked very confused.

"Jay's Wing," I asked tentatively. "I think you've got things pretty much under control. Can you send Wolf, Lion's Roar, and I back now?'

He nodded. "Of course." Once again, he closed his eyes and focused, and I woke back in the Cave of Rushing Water.

Jay's Wing and Half Moon looked as if they were asleep, close together while their kits were curled up at their mother's belly. There were four of them, one a small white she-cat with green eyes who looked extraordinarily like Half Moon. The second was a mottled brown and ginger tom, also with green eyes, and the third was a gray tabby much like Jay's Wing, with his blue eyes. The last was a mottled gray she-cat with amber eyes.

The family was sleeping peacefully. I wished my family could have turned out that way, back when I was Shadow and Ryan was Thunder. Instead, our kits had been raised in ThunderClan thinking that their mother was a rogue. I had heard that they had found out about their mother after Thunder had died from StarClan, but I hadn't spoken to them since... they were newborns. I didn't know whether they had Faded out of existence because no one remembered them, the way many ancient StarClan cats did. I knew that Owleyes, at least, was still alive, as he had been an important leader, but what of my other kits, Thornfang and Brackentail? Were they still among StarClan?

I sighed sadly, exchanging an unhappy look with Lion's Roar. He knew what I was thinking, as he was most likely having the same thoughts. Then we were interrupted when Half Moon and Jay's Wing stirred in their slumber.

Wolf had been sitting quietly, gazing off into the distance. She turned now as the couple opened their eyes.

"How was it?" she asked.

Jay's Wing had a strange expression on his face—relief mixed with love. Half Moon was similar.

"I'm so sorry, Snow and Wolf," she apologized. "But surely you can understand where I was coming from?"

I smiled at her. "That's fine," I shrugged. "In your position, I would be suspicious too."

She sighed. "All right, Jay's Wing—should I call you Jayfeather now? Or Jeff? Or Sky?"

My friend smiled at his mate. "No, Half Moon, Jay's Wing is fine," he replied. "I left those lives behind, to come to you."

If cats could blush, Half Moon definitely would be. "All right, then, Jay's Wing. Let's name our kits. This one can be Little Bird that Sings."

"We'll call her Little," Jay's Wing said with a purr.

"Do you want to name them all like that?" the white she-cat inquired.

Jay's Wing hesitated. "Yes, I think so. We need to gradually have the current Tribe change to the one it is in the future."

"All right." She pointed her tail to the mottled gray she-kit. "Then this one will be Lichen Growing on Rock, or Lichen."

"This one will be Leaves Falling into Pool, after Fallen Leaves," Jay's Wing said softly, lightly touching the only tom.

Neither of them suggested a name for the final kit, the gray tabby. After a moment's hesitation, I tentatively asked, "Could I suggest a name?"

Half Moon blinked, startled, but cautiously replied, "Of course."

"Last time Jayfeather visited the mountains, the visit caused the accidental death of a cat named Swoop. So, maybe, you could call your kit Swoop, after her?"

Jay's Wing looked a little surprised, but he and Half Moon agreed, naming their final kit Swoop of Fearless Falcon, in memory of Swoop of Chestnut Hawk. Then Wolf and I helped them carry their kits to the nursery. I purred as I watched Half Moon settle down with her named kits, then walked back to the center of the cave. I met Lion's Roar's eyes, and was hit by a wave of sadness as I looked into his amber eyes, sadness for the family we had never had.