The Forgotten Warrior

Jayfeather reached out and rested his paw on her shoulder. “It was an accident, remember.”

He could feel Hollyleaf’s gaze on him, scorching him like a flame. “But it wasn’t,” she whispered.

Jayfeather heard Mousefur’s words echoing in his ears, telling him how much harm had been done as a result of that single moment. He shook his head as if he could get rid of her voice like a buzzing insect.

“Enough,” he insisted. “We have to live with what has happened. I’m glad you came back. I missed you.”

“I missed you, too,” Hollyleaf murmured. Jayfeather felt the light touch of her nose on his ear, only for a moment. “I just hope I’ve done the right thing by coming back. Perhaps it would have been better if you’d all forgotten about me.”

“We would never have done that,” Jayfeather told her, leaning closer to her and drinking in her scent. “Never.”

In the silence that followed, Jayfeather could hear the breeze rustling in the trees overhead, and farther away the sound of cats approaching the camp. As they drew closer, he heard the excited voices of the apprentices.

“I caught two mice!”

“And I caught a squirrel! It’s huge!”

The hunting patrol emerged from the thorns, Cherrypaw and Molepaw scampering ahead. Lionblaze and Cinderheart followed, with Rosepetal and Foxleap bringing up the rear.

“Hey, take it easy,” Cinderheart warned the apprentices. “You’ll make every cat think that badgers are invading.” Her tone was gently teasing. “But you’ve hunted very well today,” she went on. “Molepaw, why don’t you take your mice to Mousefur and Purdy? They’re so nice and plump I’m sure they’ll tempt their appetites.”

Jayfeather heard Molepaw scurrying off, while Cherrypaw dragged her squirrel to the fresh-kill pile.

Cinderheart is a natural mentor, he thought, even though these aren’t her apprentices. And she couldn’t be a more loyal warrior to ThunderClan. StarClan made the right decision when they let her live a second life.

Grief sharp as thorns suddenly pierced Jayfeather, as if he had stumbled into a bramble thicket. Tensing, he realized that it came from Lionblaze.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

“You wouldn’t understand,” Lionblaze snapped. “All you ever think about is this dumb prophecy.”

Jayfeather bit back a sharp reply as he realized that his brother’s grief was tangled with longing for Cinderheart. “Try me,” he suggested.

For a few heartbeats Lionblaze was silent. “I know Cinderheart wants to be with me,” he meowed grudgingly at last. “But she thinks she can’t, because I have a destiny. She thinks I’m too important!” He spat out the last word and stalked away before Jayfeather could reply.

Anger surged up inside Jayfeather, and for a moment he wanted to yowl his pain to the sky. Half Moon… No cat in ThunderClan knew of his love for the long-ago cat, lost to him now through the passing of so many seasons. He would have given anything to have her beside him again. Remembering her now helped him to understand his brother’s hurt and frustration.

“She thinks he’s the only cat who’s important?” he muttered to himself. “Maybe it’s time some cat showed her just how wrong she is.”

That night Jayfeather curled up in his nest and took a deep breath before letting himself sink into sleep. He knew exactly where he wanted to go.

Somehow we have to settle this, once and for all. Not for Lionblaze, or even the Clan, but for Cinderheart. I have to show her what a great cat she is.

His eyes opened in a sun-filled forest, where thick foliage rustled above his head and the undergrowth was filled with the murmurings of prey. Jayfeather padded through the ferns, enjoying the cool grass beneath his pads and the warmth of sunbeams that struck down through the canopy. All his senses were alert as he searched for one particular cat.

Soon he heard a rush of paws, a pounce, and a hiss of disappointment. “Mouse dung! I missed it!”

Heading in the direction of the voice, Jayfeather bounded around a tree stump and burst into a sun-dappled clearing. Cinderheart was standing at the foot of a tree, looking up with a disgusted expression on her face. On a branch above her head a squirrel was chattering crossly.

“Bad luck,” Jayfeather meowed.

Cinderheart started. “Wow! Jayfeather—I didn’t expect to see you here.” A fearful look flickered in her eyes. “I am still dreaming, right? I’m not in StarClan?”

“Don’t worry,” Jayfeather reassured her. “This isn’t StarClan. Everything’s fine, and yes, you are dreaming. There’s something I need to tell you.”

Cinderheart faced him warily. “What is it?”