Jayfeather stiffened as he heard those four words, with more important meaning underneath them.
"I need to finish sorting herbs," Jayfeather replied, waving his tail towards the dusty old herbs that laid unsorted in the shadows of the den.
"Okay," Dovewing agreed, her leaf-green gaze flickering over the piles of untidy herbs on the ground, "meet me next to the training hollow when you're down. I'll get Lionblaze."
Jayfeather nodded as Dovewing left, padded to the shadows to continue sorting the herbs.
We need more marigold, he thought as his blind blue gaze flitted over the pitifully small marigold pile, only a few dried leaves.
Leafpool's scent wrapped around Jayfeather and he whipped his head to face her. Bundles of marigold were in her jaws as the scent of fresh marigold came to Jayfeather.
Gratefully, Jayfeather took the bundles from Leafpool as she set them down on the dusty floor, scattered with stray bits of leaves and dirt.
"There wasn't anything to do so I thought I might get some." Leafpool nodded at the swelled pile of marigold that expanded the pitiful size.
"Thanks," Jayfeather mumbled around the marigold in his jaws. Leafpool nodded in acknowledgment and worked beside him, helping him sort the remaining herbs.
It reminded Jayfeather of the old times when he and Leafpool would argue. She would snap a command and he would refuse. The tight tension in the air was evident and sparked arguments.
Now he knew that she was his mother, though medicine cats were not supposed to have kits. His and his littermates' birth had broken the medicine cat code and the warrior code, since their father was Crowfeather from WindClan.
Leafpool had stepped down from medicine cat but now she resumed her duties, since Jayfeather didn't want her skills to be wasted.
"Okay, we're done," Leafpool stepped back from their work to look over it. The scents were not jumbled now but stood neatly in piles of herbs and clung sharp and crisp in the air instead of mixing with the other scents.
"I'm going outside to fetch some more herbs," Jayfeather offered.
"We need more mallow, watermint, and borage for Squirrelflight's kits," Leafpool listed, reeling off her list of herbs. "And also some more goldenrod and comfrey."
Jayfeather nodded and headed out of the den, towards the training hollow where Dovewing specified.
In a clump of ferns a few tail-lengths away from the hollow, he could scent Dovewing and Lionblaze waiting there.
"Okay, so why are we here?" Lionblaze started, directing the question towards Dovewing. Jayfeather could tell that his brother was still uneasy after what he had seen.
"We need to talk," Dovewing mewed again quietly.
"About what, though?" Jayfeather asked. "We got our powers back and that's what matters, right?" He knew that he was not telling the whole truth but he needed to know if Dovewing also seen it.
"You know that's not all," Dovewing hissed, her eyes glinting the the pale light. "You saw it too."
Jayfeather stiffened and then relaxed as he took in what she mewed. "You seen it?" he asked quietly.
Dovewing nodded. "Yes, and I think you saw it too." She looked over at Lionblaze, who was shifting from paw to paw uncomfortably.
"Yeah, I guess," he admitted quietly.
"We need to talk about it." Dovewing mewed again. "Why did we see it? Why was it there?"
Jayfeather recalled the warning that Firestar had gave them. "A darkness will come, that will sweep the clans away forever. Only the united Three can stop it."
Dovewing shuddered and fluffed out her fur, even though it wasn't cold outside. "Was what we saw, the darkness?"
"Probably," Lionblaze mused, thinking it over. "But how will it sweep the clans away?"
"I don't know." Jayfeather shrugged. "But it must be dangerous and important if it could sweep us away forever."
Spotting some comfrey near the clump of ferns they were hiding in, Jayfeather nipped some stalks and dug up some comfrey roots.
Dovewing and Lionblaze watched Jayfeather as he dug up the comfrey roots and carried some stalks in his jaws.
"So what can we do?" Dovewing ventured, her quiet voice breaking the silence and tension that hung in the air as Jayfeather padded towards the lake, where the mallow grew.
Jayfeather shrugged again. "Nothing much, but be careful with your powers and what you do. I'll try to get more information out of Firestar."
The two cats nodded as Jayfeather nipped off several stalks of mallow, adding them to his pile of comfrey.
After gathering some more watermint, borage, and goldenrod, the three cats headed back to cat, their minds reeling of what the darkness meant and a flood of questions that would be impossible to answer in a heartbeat.
The stone hollow approached as the Three neared the camp. Leaves fell above them but they were too occupied to bother catching them. The thorn barrier with Thornclaw still guarding it neared, and they dipped their heads to Thornclaw.
Jayfeather headed back to the medicine cat den, while Lionblaze and Dovewing were called to the evening patrol.
Sighing, Jayfeather poked his head inside the den. Leafpool was beside Briarlight, who was spasming, her eyes wild with terror.
With a stressed face, Leafpool looked up at Jayfeather. He had never seen her so distressed.
"Get me some feverfew and marigold," Leafpool hissed quietly, her distress rubbing off her pelt and spreading like greencough.
Quickly, Jayfeather rushed to the den, creating wind that whipped the herbs off their neat shelves. Inwardly groaning, he grabbed a bunch of flowers with white petals and holly shaped leaves. Moving to the next shelf with the smell of orange crushed petals with a musty scent of thin, prickly leaves, Jayfeather grabbed both flowers, whipping back to Briarlight.
Briarlight was now weakly breathing, her breaths shallow, slow, and feverish. With a quick look at Leafpool, Jayfeather lay down besides her, slowing his breath to match hers.
Jayfeather's heart began to race. He slid into the nest beside her and pressed his body against hers. She was unnaturally still. Fear gripped him; he had promised Millie that she would be alright. He focused on Briarlight's breathing and let his body relax. Then he steadied his breath until it fell into the same slow rhythm as hers.
He closed his eyes, and the world opened up before him in shades of black, white, and silver, washed with moonlight. He could see the pale shape of Briarlight padding through a forest. He recognized the trees and the undergrowth and the feel of the leaf-strewn earth underneath his paws at once. She mustn't come here!
"Briarlight!" He hurried to catch up to the apprentice, and she turned to gaze at him.
"I've never been to this part of the forest before." She sniffed the air. "It doesn't smell like home. Do you know where we are?"
"Yes," Jayfeather whispered.
"It's strange," Briarlight mewed. "Whatever herbs you gave me must have worked, because I don't feel sick anymore."
Jayfeather didn't reply, but padded wordlessly beside her, terrified of losing sight of her.
"The trees are so tall and leafy, and the undergrowth is thicker than anything." Briarlight obviously didn't realize that Jayfeather could see it for himself. "Can you smell all the scents of prey? It's like greenleaf here!"
"We've got to go back!" Jayfeather told her.
"But it's so beautiful."
"You shouldn't be here!" I promised Millie!
The trees opened before them.
"Stop!" Briarlight gasped. "There's a drop in front of us."
Jayfeather could clearly see the hollow below them, the Moonpool cradled at the bottom like liquid starlight. In this place everything was connected, and the forest led all the way into the mountains. Jayfeather's heart sank when he saw the shining pelts of StarClan gathered around the slopes.
"There's a pool at the bottom," Briarlight breathed. "There are cats all around it… " Her mew trailed away. "It's StarClan, isn't it? Does that mean I'm dead?"
Jayfeather's throat went dry.
"Am I dead?" she repeated more urgently.
"Not yet."
Jayfeather spun around when he heard Spottedleaf 's voice.
"Coming here with her was very brave," murmured the tortoiseshell cat.
"I promised her mother I'd keep her safe," Jayfeather told her.
Briarlight's eyes clouded with confusion as she stared at Spottedleaf. "Who are you? Have you come to guide me to StarClan?"
"No!" Jayfeather growled. "Come back to the Clan with me, Briarlight. I'll take you home."
"It's okay, little one," Spottedleaf meowed. "You can go with Jayfeather. There is a place here for you, but not yet." Stretching forward, she touched her muzzle first to Brairlight's and then to Jayfeather's.
"Take her home," she whispered. Thank you!
"Follow me," he told Briarlight, and, turning away from the glittering hollow, he led her back into the forest.
Leafpool's voice cut through the air. "Jayfeather!"
He blinked open his eyes into darkness. "Leafpool?"
"I thought you were ill too," Leafpool whispered. "Your breathing was so slow."
Briarlight!
He leaped to his paws and pressed his ear against her flank. She was still sleeping, but her breathing was deeper, steady and strong.
"How is she?" Leafpool asked.
"Better than she was before." Jayfeather sighed, closing his eyes with relief.
"I woke up and found the two of you hardly breathing." Jayfeather could feel Leafpool's gaze burning his pelt.
"I'm glad you're alright." She brushed her tail briskly over the den floor. "Dawn's breaking. I'll go and find Millie. She'll be relieved to hear the news."
As Leafpool padded out of the den, Jayfeather felt fresh energy tingling through his paws. Grabbing some catmint, he chewed it into a pulp and set it in Briarlight's jaws.
"You're alright now."