Jayfeather was in a moonlit clearing, surrounded by towering trees and undergrowth. The moon glowed faintly overhead, shining dimly through the dark trees.
Jayfeather got up, raising his head to the fresh smells of the forest, glistening silver from a brief spring shower.
A blue-gray furred cat awaited him in the center of the clearing, waiting patiently for Jayfeather to arrive.
"Bluestar." Jayfeather dipped his tabby gray head to the old ThunderClan leader, when he reached her, taking his time to admire StarClan's hunting grounds of the forest.
"Jayfeather," Bluestar addressed him as he reached the middle, bathed in silver moonlight that flooded in, starlight dancing from the shadow of the trees overhead. "Yellowfang found out didn't she?"
Jayfeather nodded curtly. "How did you know?" he asked, his jay-feather blue eyes narrowing suspiciously.
"She told me," Bluestar meowed, her voice calming down Jayfeather's hackles that had raised.
"Oh," Jayfeather replied, silent for a loss of words. "Did you come just to tell me that?"
"No," Bluestar mewed, unaffected by his tone but her blue eyes glimmered with amusement at Jayfeather's sharp tongue. "I came to talk to you about it."
Jayfeather became quiet again at what was going to happen.
"The-" Bluestar started but was interrupted by the rustling of leaves near them. Narrowing her eyes, Bluestar tasted the air. "Come out, Yellowfang!"
Sulkily, Yellowfang emerged from the trees, with a defiant look in the stare of her pale amber eyes.
"Eavesdropping again, I suppose, Yellowfang?" Bluestar questioned the matted rump of fur with stinky breath that billowed around them.
"Yes." Yellowfang raised her head defiantly to look Bluestar in the eyes, amber meeting blue in a locked glare. "I needed to know what was going on."
"You might as well get to know," Bluestar sighed as Yellowfang proceeded to join them.
Jayfeather growled lowly in his throat as he sprang up from his position. "What? Why should she get to know?" He glared at Yellowfang who returned his stare.
"It doesn't matter," Bluestar sighed wearily, but her mew had a ring of authority in it.
Yellowfang shot Jayfeather a gleeful look from narrowed amber slits, as Jayfeather glared from his icy blue gaze as he sat down.
Bluestar cleared her throat to gain the attention of Yellowfang and Jayfeather as the tension in the air between them ceased.
"Well," she continued. "Did the Others also see the darkness?"
Jayfeather's eyes darkened as he thought over it. It was a frightening thought to think that he was the only one to see the darkness.
"I don't know," he admitted, his brow furrowing in confusion. "There wasn't enough time to check."
"Then you can check when you wake up," Bluestar concluded, her blue eyes sparkling as she thought over it.
Jayfeather opened his jaws to respond, but a paw prodded his side, poking his ribs. He lashed out with his paws, before darkness slammed down on is vision, engulfing him in his blindness.
Shaking the scraps of moss and bracken that clung to his pelt, Jayfeather sat up to face the scent of Leafpool.
"What do you want," Jayfeather growled, rasping his tongue over his pelt as he groomed his chest fur.
Leafpool ducked her light brown tabby head and Jayfeather could picture the apologetic look in her amber gaze. "Sorry. Bramblestar called a meeting. Amberpaw, Dewpaw, and Snowpaw are about to become warriors."
Grunting, Jayfeather raised his head to meet his blind blue eyes to Leafpool's amber ones. "I'm coming."
Following Leafpool's scent trail towards the camp, Jayfeather sat down as Bramblestar summoned the clan.
"Congratulations, Amberpaw, Dewpaw, and Snowpaw, on passing your warriors assessment," Bramblestar started, looking over at the three proud apprentices, their fur well groomed and shining in the sunlight, their excitement bouncing off them like waves.
"I, Bramblestar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon these three apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code and I commend her to your as a warrior in her turn."
"Amberpaw, Dewpaw, Snowpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this clan, even at the cost of your life?"
"I do," Amberpaw's mew shook a little as she mewed the two words.
"I do." Dewpaw rose his head to look Bramblestar in the eye.
"I do," Snowpaw's voice rang loudly and confidently across the hollow.
"Then by the power of StarClan, I give you your warrior names."
"Amberpaw, from this moment, you will be known as Ambershine." Bramblestar rested his muzzle on the newly named Ambershine and she licked his shoulder in return, before turning to stand beside her mentor, Spiderleg. His muzzle was beginning to grow gray hairs and Jayfeather realized that he would join the elders den soon.
"Dewpaw, from this moment you will be known as Dewleaf." Dewleaf licked Bramblestar's shoulder respectfully as he placed his muzzle on his shoulder, before joining his sister and mentor, Whitewing, from an older litter.
"Snowpaw, from this moment, you will be known as Snowpelt." Bramblestar rested his muzzle on Snowpelt's shoulder, who licked his shoulder in return before turning to join his mentor, Ivypool.
Before the circle of cats could disperse, Spiderleg stepped forward to stand beside Bramblestar, dipping his head to him with great dignity.
"Bramblestar, I want to ask if I may enter the elder's den," Spiderleg mewed.
Jayfeather felt a pang of sorrow. Spiderleg was one of Dustpelt's and Ferncloud's kits from one of their older litters of kits.
"Of course you may join the elder's den," Bramblestar agreed, his voice surprised but not shocked, for he had expected him to asked soon.
"I will always miss Dustpelt and Ferncloud," Spiderleg's voice cracked as he thought of his dead parents. "And I will never forget them. They both died noble deaths defending their clan." He dipped his head to Bramblestar, "Go ahead."
"Spiderleg," Bramblestar began, "is it your wish to give up the role of warrior and go to join the elders?"
There was regret but no uncertainty in Spiderleg's voice. "It is."
"Your clan honors you and all the service you have given us," Bramblestar went on. "I call upon StarClan to give you many seasons of rest." He laid his tail across Spiderleg's shoulders, and the long-limbed black tom bowed his head, then stepped back. Spiderleg padded over to stand besides Purdy, Sandstorm, and Graystripe who had also came outside to see the ceremony.
"I'm lookin' forwards to more company in the elders' den," Purdy meowed. "I reckon you'll have plenty o' stories to tell us."
Graystripe dipped his head to Spiderleg, while Sandstorm nodded to him, as they led him towards the elders' den.
"Clan meeting dismissed!" Bramblestar lept off Highledge as the clan dispersed, returning back to their duties.
Jayfeather returned back to his den, sighing as his meeting with Bluestar and Yellowfang had been interrupted.
Seeing as though that he had no other duties, Jayfeather padded to his nest after a brief check on Briarlight, who was sleeping soundly after a dose of herbs.
After circling his nest a few times before settling down, Jayfeather tucked his nose under the tip of his tail. Silence overcame the den as he lapsed into sleep, pulling him under its lures.
Remembering his task that Bluestar had told him to do, he pictured a golden tabby tom, curled him in the warriors den. Letting himself float to him, Jayfeather curled up beside him and evened out his breath to match his brother's pace.
It was early new-leaf and the buds were beginning to swell, promising pink blossoms in green-leaf. They were next to the blue lake, reflecting the sunlight with boats rippling the calm surface from the half-bridge.
Jayfeather crept slowly behind Lionblaze, pausing in a clump of ferns and ducked in, concealing his scent with the fresh sharp smell of ferns.
A butterfly flew up, blown from the wind of the lake, and Lionblaze leapt up, batting the small insect from the sky and letting it fly by, teasing him with the flutter of its wings.
Lionblaze let out a growl of frustration as the butterfly flutter by right past his whiskers, making them twitch from the breeze.
Rearing on his hind legs, Lionblaze batted at it playfully before a strong gust of wind blew by and whisked the butterfly away.
Losing interest, Lionblaze spotted a small plump water vole, hopping across the stones surrounding the lake and stopping to nibble a stalk. Crouching, he stalked the vole, unaware of his presence. His hindquarters tensed up, preparing to pounce.
As Jayfeather leaned forward, only a few fox-lengths away from Lionblaze, he heard a crack and looked down to see his forepaw between a stick.
The vole looked up, alerted by the sound, and scuttled away, back into the safety of the water of the lake.
Letting out a hiss of frustration, Lionblaze stood up, his golden shoulders reflecting the sunlight.
As he stalked over to the clump of ferns, Jayfeather crouched down even lower, hoping that the ferns would hide his scent. Lionblaze narrowed his amber eyes and opened his jaws to taste the scent.
Suddenly, he was jolted and thrown from the dream, as Lionblaze was prodded hard in his side. Still in Lionblaze's mind, darkness slammed down on the bright sunshine of the dream. Lionblaze thrashed about drowning in the darkness full of fear and terror, paws flailing for the light as he became numb and cold. Lionblaze let out a yowl of fear and anguish but the words were flung back into his face, echoing into the darkness.
Jayfeather stood by, stunned, as he watched his brother fade into the blackness, his golden pelt nothing more that a smudge against the dark.
The paw pressed harder, waking Lionblaze and throwing Jayfeather out as he fully woke up.
Getting up out of his nest, Jayfeather flicked his ear, swiveling them towards the camp.
Lionblaze groaned and found that he was not drowning in darkness but in his nest. He got up with bits of moss and bracken still clinging to his pelt.
Cloudtail's irritated voice floated into focus from the background. "Come on, wake up, Lionblaze! You're going to supervise Hollypaw, Fernpaw, and Sorrelpaw's training."
Lionblaze's muffled voice mumbled in reply as he left the den, picking a mouse from the fresh-kill pile and gulping it down before joining Cloudtail, Brackenfur, and Rosepetal with their apprentices to the training hollow.
Their pawsteps echoed in Jayfeather's mind as he sighed and turned his mind to Briarlight, who was still coughing but getting stronger. Since he was up, Jayfeather resorted to sorting the herbs, and gathering the ones that were low.
Hearing pawsteps at the medicine cat den entrance, Jayfeather paused and padded towards the entrance, facing Dovewing who stood there, worry pulsing from her pelt and soaking the air. "We need to talk."