"Sakura?" Jayfeather whispered. After he had woken the smell of blood clogged his senses, that and the shocking surprise to find it cold. He explored the area he was in and concluded that Sakura had passed through here not too long ago. He didn't feel anymore blood on the ground, so that meant she wasn't bleeding freely around the area. Jayfeather quickly continued walking at a quick pace. While he didn't smell a lot of blood, he smelled an infection. He had to find Sakura and fast.

Jayfeather grew anxious the longer he walked and he stopped. He was sure he had been walking in circles. Each twist and turn felt familiar. He pawed the ground; it was still a bit damp with the semi dried blood. He felt the wall. There was a crack in it; he had passed that crack before. The tom growled in frustration.

'Calm down Jayfeather, think.'

He stood there with his eyes closed; not that it made a difference, but it served its purpose. Jayfeather walked again, slower this time, with his side barely brushing against the left side of the wall. When he came upon the crack again he walked with the right side of his body to the other side of the wall. Not even before he made the halfway point he felt a small draft. He nosed against the wall and came to a small hole big enough for him to fit in. The grey tom slipped inside and was engulfed in the scent of blood.

"Sakura?" He asked tentatively.

"J-Jayfeather?" Came a timid but surprised reply. Jayfeather quickly made his way over to her.

"Where is it?" He asked immediately. He pawed over her body. She was shivering from the cold.

"There," she hissed. It was the thin bit of skin that connected her thigh to her stomach. "Th-there's another one in my arm..." Jayfeather sniffed over her. There was a puncture that went straight through her arm, but miraculously missed all vital veins and didn't scrape or hit any bones. The only danger was the infection that was setting in.

"I-I grabbed some things I smelled in your den from the outside, I don't know if they are the right herbs..."

'So that's why she passed by,' he thought as he walked away from her. It was a small little cave she was in with enough room to sit three cats and was mostly dry.

In one of the corners were a pile of herbs: burdock roots, borage, burnet, beech leaves, catch weed, chervil and chamomile. 'At least she got chervil,' he thought with relief.

"Do you have any more cobwebs?"

"They are beside the pile." Jayfeather gathered the herbs and walked over to her. He sniffed over her wounds again; they were clean, so how did they get infected? "Sakura, how often do you clean your wounds?" He asked.

"I cleaned them this morning, well; I think it is morning..." She squirmed. "I don't know why it smells like it does."

'It may be the water,' his mind hissed. "We have to clean it again..."

"There is a puddle of water not far from here, just leave the hole and take a left. Only a couple of steps really, there is another hole similar to this one." She informed. Jayfeather nodded and shot out of the small cave. Feeling along the wall again he felt the hole and slipped inside. There was a puddle of water there, but when he sniffed it, it smelled foul. He quickly went back to her.

"That's bad water."

Sakura groaned. "I sorta knew that..."

"Then why use it you mouse brain?!" He scolded. Jayfeather settled down at her side. "We have to clean the wounds regardless; I'll start with your arm."

Sakura hissed when he started cleaning with his tongue, the wound was still tender and was starting to swell. Jayfeather moved to her thigh wound once he was done, then applied the necessary salves. He placed some Catchweed on the areas and left back to the corner, returning with Chamomile.

"Eat it," he orders as he places the herb in front of her. "We need to go back quickly and you need the strength."

Sakura nods and eats said plant, making a face at the taste. The then stands and stretches slowly. "I'm going to slow us down..."

"No, we will keep a steady pace. We will be halfway once we make it to the small fish pond I found."

He heard Sakura's stomach rumble at the mention of fish and sighed. "I haven't eaten since last night," she confesses in a small voice. Jayfeather grunts and slips out the hole. Sakura follows him after a few pain filled hisses.

They set a slow and steady trot back to the way Jayfeather came, all he had to do was sniff for the fish smelling water. They walked in silence until Jayfeather started talking. "You need to be more careful," he chastised softly. "You could've got both you and Cinderheart out of danger."

"What?" She said in confusion.

Jayfeather flicked an ear at her. "Sacrificing yourself for another clan mate is heroic, but you are part of a prophecy, the clans need you."

"Sacrificing myself?" She stopped walking, much to Jayfeather's annoyance. "What did I sacrifice myself for?" She demands.

Jayfeather scowls at her. "The ground crumbled. You pushed Cinderheart out of the way to stop her from falling."

"Cinderheart pushed me into the hole! She thinks I'm trying to steal Mousewhisker from her!" Her eyes widened. "Do they think I'm dead?"

Jayfeather wasn't listening. Cinderheart lied!

"Watch for the lies of the deceiving." Firestar's words drifted back to his mind.

'Why would Cinderheart try to kill Sakura over Mousewhisker?' He thought frantically. Sakura's worried voice brought him back to the present. "What did you say?" He asked.

Sakura shivered, her fur on ends. "It's cold, like colder than befreore," she whispered. "It doesn't feel right here..."

Jayfeather clued in with all his able senses and concluded that it was indeed colder than before and... Something wasn't right. The air was...unsettling. Jayfeather tensed, his fur on ends. Something definitely wasn't right.

A sound went off behind them, making them turn in shock. Jayfeather jumped as another sound went off in front of them. "Something's wrong," he hissed. "We have to move."

"You aren't going anywhere," a voice snarled. Jayfeather froze at the voice. It was so long ago, yet so familiar...

"Look at the little traitor, are you scared?" Another taunted. Jayfeather's stomach dropped. He knew that voice.

"Berrynose?"

Cackles filled the air. The nagging thing in the back of his head bursts to the forefront of his mind, another one of Firestar's warnings. "Beware the darkness."

"Oh no," he gasped.

"Oh yes," the still unfamiliar voice hissed.

"Sakura, what do you see?" He says quickly.

Sakura backed away, pressing against him. "There are two in front of us and two behind," she informs. "From behind us one is a dappled she cat with amber eyes, one is a tabby tom with blue eyes. They look really shadowy… What's going on?"

"And in front of us?"

"Berrynose," she says with a snarl, "and a large pale gray tom with dark grey flecks and dark blue eyes." Jayfeather had to pause and think. "Jayfeather, isn't Berrynose suppose to be dead?" Sakura questions with a hint of a small.

Jayfeather growled. "Yes he is, but I can't believe it." He stepped closer. "Ashfur, why are you in the Dark Forest?"

Dun Dun Duuuh! Told you it was gonna be a shocker.