Sunrise

He lifted his head to sniff the scents of early morning. There was a strong tang of herbs in the air; as Jayfeather bent his head to give his pelt a quick grooming, he located Leafpool in front of the storage cave. She was making up leaf wraps of tansy, and beside her there was a fresh mixture of juniper berries and daisy leaves to ease the pain of Mousefur’s aching joints.

“Should I take those for you?” Jayfeather offered, padding up behind his mentor.

Leafpool jumped. “Don’t creep up on me like that! You frightened me out of my fur.” She carefully patted the herbs together, then added, “No, I can manage. I want you to go over to the nursery and check every cat there, and the bedding, for fleas. I spotted Briarkit scratching yesterday.”

Jayfeather turned away, resentment seething beneath his skin. “Am I a medicine cat or an apprentice?” he muttered, loud enough for Leafpool to hear, but the she-cat did not respond.

He called a greeting as he pushed through the brambles into the nursery, and then he started to check for fleas.

“Oh, thank you, Jayfeather,” Millie meowed. “I’m sure I’ve a couple in my pelt somewhere. It’ll be such a relief to get rid of them.”

“You need a change of bedding,” Jayfeather told her, tracking down a flea in Briarkit’s neck fur and spearing it with a claw. “I’ll get Foxpaw and Icepaw to deal with it.” Unless Leafpool expects me to do that as well, he added grumpily to himself.

“Right, you’re done,” he told Briarkit. “Blossomkit, I’ll—”

He broke off with a startled yelp as claws stabbed into his tail. Wrenching it free, he spun around and picked up the scent of Toadkit.

“I pretended your tail was a mouse,” the little tom told him proudly. “I caught it, too!”

Jayfeather bared his teeth. “Just keep your claws to yourself!”

“There’s no need for that,” Daisy protested. “He was only playing.”

Jayfeather bit back a sharp retort and went to check Blossomkit and Bumblekit for fleas. Toadkit wriggled away from Daisy and bounced up to him, interest sparking from him as Jayfeather parted Blossomkit’s pelt.

“Can you eat fleas?” he mewed. “Do they taste yucky?”

“Why don’t you try one and find out?” Jayfeather suggested.

“You be a flea and I’ll eat you!” Blossomkit squeaked, pulling away from Jayfeather and leaping on top of Toadkit. Jayfeather staggered as the two wrestling kits piled into him.

“Stop that!” he snarled. “Blossomkit, do you want your fleas fixed or don’t you?”

The little tortoiseshell kit instantly broke away from the play fight and stood quietly in front of Jayfeather again. Toadkit pushed up close to them; Jayfeather could feel the kit’s breath on his ear.

“Do you like being a medicine cat?” Toadkit asked. “I wouldn’t want to do it if you only get to look for fleas.”

StarClan, give me patience! “That’s not all medicine cats do,” Jayfeather replied through clenched teeth. “We have to know about herbs and—”

“Do you think I’d be a good medicine cat?” Toadkit persisted. “I’d be good at finding herbs. I can scent out anything. Can I be a medicine cat? Can I?”

“You’ll be lucky to make warrior if you don’t shut up,” Jayfeather muttered.

“Daisy!” Toadkit let out a wail as he scampered away through the bracken that covered the floor of the nursery. “Daisy, Jayfeather was mean to me!”

“Honestly, Jayfeather!” Daisy’s irritated voice came from the other side of the den. “I think you’ve got ants in your fur this morning. You should go away and come back later when you can be more pleasant.”

Jayfeather ignored her, and went on searching for fleas in gloomy silence. He wanted Hollyleaf and Lionblaze to come back. They belonged together—especially now, when they had no idea where they had been born, who their parents were, or why Squirrelflight had lied to them for so long.

When Jayfeather finally left the nursery, he paused for a few heartbeats, letting out a long sigh as the weak rays of the leaf-bare sun soaked into his fur. A paw step behind him and the scent of his Clan leader made him turn.

“Good morning, Jayfeather,” Firestar meowed. There was concern in his voice. “Are you okay? Any problems?”

“I’m fine.” Jayfeather dipped his head awkwardly. He didn’t want to tell his leader that all his problems came from his Clanmates. After all, Firestar had never lied to him, as far as he knew.

He felt a pang of regret that he didn’t share his Clan leader’s blood after all. His respect for the flame-colored tom had nothing to do with the prophecy, and everything to do with the way Firestar led his Clan, even losing a life to greencough for their sake.

“Good,” Firestar murmured. Jayfeather sensed that the Clan leader didn’t entirely believe him. “You know, you can always tell me if there’s anything bothering you.”

“Yes…fine.” Jayfeather felt even more uncomfortable. Firestar, you don’t want to know the things I could tell you!