Chapt 18

Jayfeather padded throught he gorse tunnel, itching to know how the clans were doing. He knew he should start looking for the pregnant queens as soon as possible, but he had to report what he knew to the clan leaders. He padded to the high rock, listening for cats in the clan leaders' den. All four leaders shared the den, which made it very crowded. He climbed up the Highledge, and meowed a greeting. Willowshine was behind him, anxious to check on the queens.
      "Come in!" Mistystar's voice mewed in the den. They padded in, and Jayfeather sensed that all four leaders were in their den, probably waiting for them to return.
      "So what did Starclan say?" Rowanstar asked both Jayfeather and Willowshine.
      "Jayfeather and I," Willowshine began, "both had the same dream saying the two new medicine cats would be trained by us two."
      "They also said that they weren't born yet, but they will reveal them too us later." Jayfeather added," Willowshine thought that we should check the she-cats from all clans, to see who could be carrying the kits."
      "Good, you should get some help, maybe some of the queens in the nursery could help you." Onestar suggested.
      "Great, now you should get started now," Bramblestar spoke now. Willowshine and Jayfeather nodded in agreement and padded out of the den. They crawled down the rocky out-cropping, and stopped out-side the nursery.
      "I think we should just ask the queens to help us, but I don't think anyone should know why." Willowshine whispered.
       "We'll tell them we need as many warriors as possible in this war, so we don't want kits to get hurt if their mother gets hurt." Jayfeather added. Willowshine flicked her ears in agreement as they padded into the nursery. Jayfeather heard kits squealing and scuffling, while some were suckling.
        "Hello Jayfeather. Hello Willoshine. Is there something we can do for you?" Squirrelflight's warm mew sounded in the back of the nursery. Jayfeather could hear her kits suckling from her, and he remembered when she would stop in the nursery to see him and his littermates.
         "We were wondering if some of you could do us a favor?" Willowshine mewed.
         "What kind of favor?" Squirrelflight mewed quizzically.
         "We want to make sure all she-cats who are carrying kits, stay in the nursery so their kits will be safe. We need warriors more than ever, so kits and their mothers must be safe." Jayfeather explained.
         "What do we need to do?" Squirrelflight asked.
         "We want you to help us check the she-cats, from all the clans." Willowpelt murmured, stifling a yawn.
         "I'll do it, and I'll ask the other queens as well." Squirrelflight added when she noticed Jayfeather yawn too," You two should get some sleep, kits won't be born if your not awake." Jayfeather twitched his tail crossly, he was the medicine cat, he had to look after four clans with only another medicine cat to help. He would go to the elders den, then the apprentices, then the warriors, before he could even think about sleep. Willowshine in the other-hand sounded like she was asleep on her paws, stumbling and yawning. She padded away, to the mdicine clearing. Jayfeather guessed she was going to take a nap.
         Jayfeather padded to the elder's den. It was quiet and Jayfeather guessed they were napping. He nosed his way in quietly. He could hear slow rythmic breathing and Jayfeather knew that in fact the elders were sleeping. He sniffed the air and checked for the sour smelling scent that he might have smelled if there was sickness. Thankfully he could only smell mouse-bile, from the apprentices removing ticks, and mice.
         He padded out of the den and strolled to the apprentice den. He could not hear any cats, and as he walked in all he could smell was the stale smell of young cats. He realized that they would be out training. He turned around and walked towards the warrior's den across the clearing. He padded in and scented Leafpool and Crowfeather along with Heathertail and Oakfur. He smelled blood and located it on Crowfeather. He prodded his father on the side, trying to wake him.
        "Whaa-" Crowfeather woke, confused.
        "You're bleeding come on, I need to check it out." Jayfeather murmured into his ear as to not to disturb the other cats. Crowfeather stummbled over the cats, and Jayfeather padded neatly through the sleeping cats.
         "You would never know you were blind," Crowfeather murmurmed. Jayfeather lead the way to his den. They settled in the clearing and Jayfeather began to examine Crowfeather.
         "Where are you bleeding?" Jayfeather sniffed the tom.
         "I tore a claw while climbing a tree, you Thunderclan cats are crazy for climbing those things!" Crowfeather spat.
         "You are a Thunderclan cat, remember?" Jayfeather mewed crossly. He sniffed the claw, then padded into his stores and grabbed a mouthful of marigold. He chewed it into a pulp and dabbed it onto Crowfeather's claw.
         "Come and let me check it tomorrow," Jayfeather mewed. He reminded himself to tell Leafpool about this. No former medicine cat would let a wound go untreated. Crowfeather murmured something inaudible and padded away. Jayfeather suddenly felt like he was going to fall asleep right then and there. He yawned and padded to his nest, falling asleep almost instantly.