chapt 9

Jayfeather padded into his den, exhausted by the days work. Crowfeather had left to sleep in the warrior's den and Leafpool was well enough to leave too. Now only Hollyleaf remained.
"Why are those three peices of mouse-dung in camp?" Hollyleaf spat.
"Who?" Jayfeather mumbled as he sat down to eat.
"Leafpool, Squirrelflight and Crowfeather." Hollyleaf stated flatly.
"Well, me and Lionblaze have made up with them, and so has Bramblestar with Squirrelflight." Jayfeather could smell his leader coming through the entrance to his den.
"Jayfeather, I have to go to the moonpool." Bramblestar had just been to the moonpool the day after the batlle, it was unusual to go again so soon, but Jayfeather understood his urgency.
"We shall leave tomorrow. May I put Leafpool in charge of the medicine den while I'm gone?" Jayfeather thought that if Leafpool could take on the responsibilty for a while, she might change her mind about staying as a warrior.
"Yes, we will need her skills in the next few moons. We will leave at sunhigh and I'm bringing Squirrelflight to guard us while we walk through Windclan terrritory. All the clans will still be shaken after the battle."
"Do you think we should stop at their camp, to see if they're all right?" Jayfeather wanted to see if their clan was worse than his.
"Maybe, if we see a patrol we could ask, but I doubt a clan would want to make itself look weak." Bramblestar replied, then turned away.

Jayfeather slept that night. He opened his eyes, and realized he could see. I'm dreaming. He smelled a familiar cat, then a blue she-cat approached him.
"Bluestar," Jayfeather whispered. Bluestar was the leader before Firestar, and she often came to meet Jayfeather in his dreams,"Bluestar, why have you come?"
"Beware the presence of a dead clanmate." Bluestar mewed, her eyes glazed over with fear.
"Wait! What do you mean?" As Jayfeather spoke, Bluestar  faded   into the  darkness.
Jayfeather woke as a tabby paw prodded his side.
"Come on Jayfeather, we have to leave now." Bramblestar sat and waited for him to awake.
"Okay, I'm up." Jayfeather got to his paws, still thinking about his dream. Beware a presense of a dead clanmate.  Surely a dead clanmate was no harm. Maybe it meant the Dark Forest was coming back! Jayfeather couldn't even think about it, that would be the end of Thunderclan! He would ask Starclan again at the moonpool and hope for some answers.

"Watch out for the dip in the moor." Bramblestar told Jayfeather as they walked to the Moonpool. They were on Windclan territory, but they hadn't seen a patrol yet.
"I know, I've been here before, you know."  Jayfeather spat. No sooner had he said it, that he heard a patrol coming. Bramblestar sat down and waited, knowing there was a patrol coming too.
"Nightpelt, Onestar, and Heathertail, I think." Jayfeather mewed. Suddenly a low growl cam from the heather in front of them.
"Step out and face us!" Jayfeather heard Onestar snarl.
"We come in peace! Were going to the Moonpool." Bramblestar stepped out into the clearing where the three Windclan cats stood.
"We are too, we want to see if Starclan can tell us where our clanmates are." Heathertail stepped forward.
"How many have you lost?" Jayfeather asked this time.
"All but us and Ashfoot, she has her kits back at camp."
"Your welcome to come on our territory to search for clanmates, where the battle was." Bramblestar mewed.
"Do you think there will be a Gathering? It's in 2 nights, you know." Onestar asked.
"Thunderclan will be there. We haven't lost as many as you, but Firestar and most of our senior warriors died. We lost all our apprentices and elders." Bramblestar whispered.
They stopped talking as they approached the Moonpool, and Jayfeather realized Squirrelflight hadn't talked the whole time they were there. She was still grieving for her father.  

The curved path that led to the Moonpool was dimpled with the paws of the cats before the clans came. Jayfeather met them once, when he was Jay's Wing. He led them to the mountains, they were the ancestors of the Tribe of Rushing Water. They used to speak to Jayfeather, but they were silent now and it bothered Jayfeather. He lay next to Bramblestar and licked up the sparkeling water. He instantly felt the warmth sucked out of his body. He opened his eyes and saw he was in a clearing with cats with stars in there pelts. Starclan! A gray she-cat jumped out from the brambles, She had a flat face and ticks and fleas all over her. Yellowfang!
"Jayfeather, great trouble is coming to your clan."
"Great trouble has already come to our clan." Jayfeather spat.
"First I want to show you something," Yellowfang bounded away and slowed as they approached several cats on the ground."This is Windclan territory as you see it, and these are the cats you will find. They are alive, but not for long, you must help them and bring them back to your clan. There will be 5, who will bring the 4 to 1 and defeat the dead clanmate."
"I don't understand! Please come back!" Jayfeather pleaded as Yellowfang padded away into the heather. He was launched back to wakefullness. He got up as the others did and remembered what Yellowfang said about the cats on the moor. He bounded out of the cave to the moor.
"Jayfeather wait! What's going on?"  Bramblestar sped past him then blocked his path.
"Yellowfang said there are live cats on the moor! I have to get to them!" He jumped over Bramblestar and sped past him to the boulder that Yellowfang had shown him in his dream. To his suprise there was only 3 cats there, not the 5 Yellowfang promised. He checked each one and to his releif  they were all alive. Bramblestar Squirrelflight and the Windclan cats had caught up to him and were gasping for breath from the long run to get there.
"Onestar said that Starclan told them to join Thunderclan for the time being, so that they can survive. I allowed them. They will join us tomorrow at sunhigh with Ashfoot and her kits. Squirrelflight thinks it's a good idea, and I'm sure the clan will too." Bramblestar informed Jayfeather.
"Thank-you, Bramblestar. Windclan will be in your debt." Onestar dipped his head to the Thunderclan leader and the Windclan cats padded  back to their camp.
"How do you think Crowfeather will react to his former clanmates, especially Nightpelt?" Squirrelflight wondered. Nightpelt was Crowfeather's former mate, but he never loved her. He only took her as a mate to confirm his loyalty with Windclan.
"Hopefully, it won't be chatostrophic. Come, lets take these cats back to camp." Bramblestar suggested, seeing that Jayfeather was impaitiantly whipping his tail back and forth. They each grabbed a cat by the scruff and journeyed back towards camp. The sight that greeted them surprised the whole patrol.