Post by Yoko on Dec 19, 2009 14:26:09 GMT -6
((Coming soon I hope. 
. Basically, I hate how Starclan forced Jaykit into being a Medicine Cat, so I'm writing a story of how he could have been a warrior. Majorly influenced by Toph of Avatar 
))
"NO!" Jaykit yowled for all the starry forest to hear.
"Jaykit you must not deny it. It is your destiny!" Spottedleaf mewed, though her own eyes shone with pity for the blind kit.
"Never, NEVER, will I be a Medicine Cat. I'm going to be a warrior like a normal cat, like Lionkit and Hollykit! You don't think I can do it because I'm blind, but I'll prove you wrong!" he looked around to see if any other StarClan cats were near, watching what they considered a pitiful blind kit, "I'll prove you ALL wrong!"
He turned and ran away, as quickly as he could for a six moon old kit. His still slightly stubby legs moving remarkably fast. Never. Never! NEVER!!! He paused only when he realized that Spottedleaf had never been following him. He had been running from a ghost. A phantom in his mind.
The clearing he had run into was bright with the eternal, white, moonlight. The grass beneath his paws was far softer, and greener, than it ever could be in the world he was born in. But Jaykit became rather entranced by the many flowers in the clearing, brilliant blue flowers whose petals curled gently back to reveal their yellow centers. He looked at them somberly, not wanting to wonder how he would ever be a warrior, or even how he would wake up from this terrible dream...
"Who are you?"
Jaykit's head jolted, his clear blue eyes searching the trees beyond his clearing. Was it Tigerstar and Hawkfrost? Had they come to take him into that dreadful place? But the voice had sounded far softer, and jingle like. Like the cautious chirp of a small bird.
At last he caught sight of a moving shadow amongst the trees.
"My name is Jaykit!" he mewed, wondering angrily if another StarClan cat had come to persuade him. "Who are you?"
She came forth like a dream within a dream. Far more mystical than any dead starry cat he'd seen so far. Her golden pelt rippled as she moved, effortless and graceful. The black spots ontop the golden stream were like smooth pebbles, all shapes and sizes yet somehow fitting perfectly in place. Hermuzzle was sharply pointed, as were her ears, but her emerald eyes entranced Jaykit so that he was not bothered by her strangely beautiful looks.
"My name is Specklestar. Who are you?"
Jaykit blinked. Quickly he shook himeself from his stunned state. "My name's Jaykit...and, you look too young to be a leader!"
Indeed, she did. Specklestar appeared no older than eleven moons herself. She wasn't tall or thick or anything like that. But her body, from nose to tail was long and the muscles beneath it shifted like water in a stream.
She laughed, that soft, yet bird-like sound again. "Of course, I do silly. I'm in StarClan."
"But...you can't have been leader than, if you were this small?" Jaykit mewed suspiciously.
Specklestar looked away, and Jaykit could sense a sudden sadness wash over her. "Of course I wasn't..." she mewed quietly. "I changed my name when I came here..."
Jaykit tried to delve further, but sudden the sadness was gone. Specklestar looked at him brightly. "So is it true? Are you blind?"
Jaykit's pelt bristled. He knew it! Another pitying she-cat! No, not pitying! She was making fun of him! "Yes I am, you want to make something of it?!" he snapped angrily.
Specklestar looked shocked by his reaction, she took a step back. "Well no, I didn't...It's just that. I was blind too."
Jaykit froze. He was as still as a dead cat, no pun intended. "But you can see me, can't you?"
Specklestar let out a mrrow of laughter, as she sat down and swung her long tail around herself. "Of course I can! StarClan healed my sight when I died. But I was blind when I was alive too."
"Were you a warrior?" Jaykit mewed, hungry to know.
"I was an apprentice," Specklestar mewed, the sadness washing over her again.
"A medicine cat one?" Jaykit mewed, afraid to ask yet dying to know.
"No. A warrior apprentice," Specklestar mewed proudly. "They all said I couldn't do it, but I showed them! I was one of the best apprentices they had ever known!"
"How? Can you teach me?!" Jaykit mewed, desperate and estatic.
The spotted apprentice pretended to consider it. "Hmmmm, I don't see why not."
"Thank you! Thank you so much Speckle-!"
Suddenly, Jaykit was wide awake. Something had pushed him onto his side. He turned from left to right in darkness.
"What's going on?!" he snapped.
"Shhh, Jaykit," Hollykit mewed somewhere to his right. "You were having a fit in your sleep. You kicked up loads of moss!"
Jaykit scowled. "So what?"
Lionkit sighed. "Besides, it's nearly sunhigh. You've been sleeping all morning! Let's go play."
"Fine," Jaykit mewed, irritated but with a twinge of worry. What if it had all just been a dream? What if there was no Specklestar, and she could not teach him to be a warrior?
Four moonrises later, the day of their apprenticeship came! Jaykit and his siblings were all well-groomed by their mother, Squirrelflight and Jaykit could feel all eyes were on them!
Lionpaw went first. Firestar announced that his mentor was Ashfur. Jaykit felt his brother's excitement roll off of him like waves. His own heart pounded. He wanted to be next but it was Hollykit instead. Of course, because she had chosen to be a medicine cat, her mentor was Leafpool.
Jaykit's heart was pounding. I will be a warrior! I will be! But before Firestar could speak, murmurs broke out.
"Surely he can't become an apprentice?" Whitewing whispered.
"Longtail moved to the elder's den when he went blind," Thornclaw agreed.
"Poor mite," Sorreltail mewed quietly.
"I want to be an apprentice like Lionpaw and Hollypaw!" Jaykit spat defiantly.
"Of course you do," Firestar agreed. "And your mentor will be Brightheart."
Jaypaw was stunned. It could not be true. It could not! Surely, Firestar was joking?
Jaykit felt a rush of anger so strong it almost knocked him off his paws. Why had Firestar chosen one-eyed Brightheart when there were so many other warriors to chose from? As if he didn't know!
"I know it must be hard for you," Brightheart greeted him sympathetically. "But I promise I will teach you how to protect your Clan even without sight."
"Why bother if you think I'm so useless? Why don't you just send me off to the elder's den with Longtail?" he hissed.
Brightheart stiffened. "No cat has said that you're useless. And Longtail won't thank you for being rude to him!" she stepped back from Jaypaw and lifted her chin. "I've asked him to help with some of your training."
Jaykit lashed his tail. Oh great. Let's lump all the useless cats together and hope a tree falls on them!
Firestar stepped between Jaykit and Brightheart. "From this day until you recieve your warrior name, you will be Jaypaw."
Mousepaw and Berrypaw began chanting, "Jaypaw! Jaypaw!"
The other apprentices joined in loudly.
You don't have to try so hard! You're only doing it because you feel sorry for me!
Reluctantly, Jaypaw touched noses with Brightheart, accepting her as his mentor. She wouldn't be handling his real training afterall!
Jaypaw's first day as an apprentice had been about as fun as eating mouse bile. First he was ordered to clean out the elder's den, and forced to listen to Longtail give him the most obvious tips about being blind. Then he was 'shown' the territory and he and Brightheart found the fox that had chased him over the ravine a few moons ago. Brightheart was fine, but Jaypaw...got his tail caught in a bramble bush and was absolutely useless against the fox. An entire patrol saw him struggling helplessly in the thorns. It was the most humiliating moment of his life.
He had never been so thankful to go to sleep. To rest, and maybe see his true mentor. Specklestar...
When Jaypaw opened his eyes, he found that he could see. He was back in the moonlit field with soft green grass and brilliant blue flowers all around him. This time, he was not distracted by the beauty of it.
"Specklestar?" he mewed, a little nervous that she would not come. Or worse, Spottedleaf would come instead. "Specklestar?!"
"You called?"
Jaypaw jolted and whipped around to see the speckled she-cat only tail-lengths behind him. Before he could speak, Specklestar mewed, "How was your first day as an apprentice?"
Jaypaw was suprised at first that she knew already, but then he asked in an annoyed tone, "Didn't you watch it?"
"Only the ceremony," she replied. "I don't like going to watch very often. So many StarClan cats are always watching. And I don't like being around them much." she mewed with a giggle.
"Why not?"
"Well, wouldn't it depress you to be around a bunch of dead cats all the time?"
Jaypaw laughed. It was the only good laugh he had had all day long. "No I guess not," he mewed.
"So tell me what happened!" Specklestar mewed, impatient and excited. She laid down and tucked her paws beneath her tail.
Sighing, Jaypaw began his story from the ceremony and on. When he was finished, Specklestar only shook her head. "I'm so sorry. None of that would have happened if I had given it to you sooner!"
"Given me what sooner?" Jaypaw mewed, curious and suspicious. What could this cat really do for him?
"Jaypaw stand up, and stand tall. I shall help you," Specklestar mewed, getting to her own paws.
Jaypaw was still unsettled but rose from his sitting position as well. His heart jumped a little as, in moments, Specklestar was only a hair away from touching his muzzle.
"Jaypaw," she mewed softly, like a breeze on the moor. "Do you promise that you will pursue warriorhood at all cost? That you will reject the soft life of a kittypet? That you will never wander the forest as a rogue or a loner? And especially, that you will never be a medicine cat?"
Jaypaw gulped. That was an awful lot of promising she wanted him to do. What was it that she was going to do to him? "I do," he mewed surely. He couldn't imagine ever doing any of those things anyway, so why not promise not to?
Jaypaw expected Specklestar to say more but she did not. Instead, she leaned forward briskly and pressed her muzzle against his. He felt a jolt, like lightning! His fur stood on end. His entire body tingled. Was he going to die?! He felt weak and soon he found himself falling, falling, out of the sky and into the forest.
Specklestar, what have you done?
Jaypaw opened his eyes immediately. It was still dark outside. All the other apprentices were sleeping, Lionpaw and Hollypaw's bodies rose and fell calmly all around them. No one had been disturbed by his jolty awakening. Jaypaw could not tell what it was, but he knew that something was different about him!
He quietly rose from his nest, in a hurry to go to the clearing. But he only had to take one step in order to realize what was different...The second his paw hit the ground, Jaypaw felt as he never had before! His paw tingled in different places and in different ways than he had ever known they could. What was it?
Vibrations... The word seemed to have just floated into his head, and he knew instantly what Specklestar had down. This was how she intended for him to be a proper warrior!
Jaypaw padded out of the apprentice den, savoring every prickle his paw picked up from the earth around. It was a little difficult to distinguish one object from another at first, but the rhythmic breathing of the apprentices certainly helped. He felt their forms so strongly through the vibrations that he began picturing blurry outlines of his den mates. He wondered what else he could sense through his paws!
In the clearing, a single step sent vibrations in all directions and very far. The fresh-kill pile was the first object he "felt" all big and lumpy and soft against the earth. The rocks surrounding the hollow were easy enough to find, and the dens weren't all that tough either.
He spent all of dawn walking around the clearing, relishing his new powers. Soon, he had the entire camp mapped out beneath his paws. It's like seeing through your feet! he thought in amazement. Thank You, Specklestar!
It was not long until the first few cats began waking for dawn patrol. Jaypaw realized that he could hear their yawns even from within their dens. Was that another gift Specklestar had bestowed to him?
Two cats entered from the warrior's den. Jaypaw could not tell who they were through vibrations, though one was slightly larger than the other. Then he realized that he could put the blurry image in his mind with a scent. Immediately, he recognized Thornclaw and Ashfur! Then just behind them came....Brambleclaw!
"Jaypaw? What are you doing out so early?" Thornclaw mewed in an annoyed tone.
Jaypaw's pelt bristled. Thornclaw thinks he's too useless to be let out of the apprentice den?!
"Relax, Thornclaw," Bramblepaw mewed. "Perhaps Jaypaw wanted to go on Dawn Patrol with us."
"But, Brambleclaw," Ashfur mewed, sounding cautious. "Isn't the patrol too full?"
Jaypaw could tell he was lying! He just didn't want him to go because she had heard about the fox incident the other day! Every cat was making a big fuss over it! I've changed! Jaypaw so desparately wanted to mew. I'm stronger now! Give me a chance and you'll see! Jaypaw could feel his father look over at him. His heart pounded. Had his father seen the change in him?
"I see no reason why we can't fit one more apprentice," Brambleclaw mewed.
"But what about Brightheart?" Thornclaw hissed, clearly displeased that the blind troublemaker was going.
"Brightheart needs her rest," Brambleclaw mewed sharply. "And besides, she's not the one wandering the camp at dawn, is she?"
Jaypaw could hear amusement in his father's voice. His chest swelled with pride. His father loved him despite his blindness. I'll show you what I can do, Brambleclaw!
Just then, Poppypaw, Berrypaw, and Lionpaw were approaching. He felt them long before he had scented them. Jaypaw was excited. The forest would be a completely different place with his new talents!
"Jaypaw?" Lionpaw mewed, suprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Your brother will be joing us on patrol today. We don't have time to stay and chat. The sun is rising," Brambleclaw mewed curtly. He then led them all up and out of the hollow.
Certain enough, the forest was truly different as Jaypaw explored it with his new found powers. The scents and sounds were the same, but now he could feel the forest beneath him and all around. Throughout the entire patrol he did not run into a single tree, or trip over and rock, or run into any brambles. Though the larger objects like trees and rocks were nearly shapeless to him, he avoided them all together and had no trouble.
He could sense Lionpaw's burning curiousity as to how Jaypaw had stepped over an abnormally large fallen branch without a single warning or touch. He's wondering if I can see! Jaypaw thought in amusement.
They patrolled all along ShadowClan's border. The scent markings were very strong, but there was not a ShadowClan in sight.
"It looks like we'll have nothing to report," Lionpaw mewed casually to Jaypaw, hoping his brother might explain the bizarre new talent for avoiding things he could not see.
Jaypaw only grinned with his chin and tail high, "Yes, it appears there won't be anything to report."
The rest of the patrol was silent, despite Lionpaw's obvious worry over the new, happy, Jaypaw.
They returned to camp to find that all cats were wide awake and-
"Jaypaw!" Brightheart yowled.
Uh oh, Jaypaw thought. Every pawstep that Brightheart took was a fierce wave flowing to Jaypaw's paw pads. Anger was flashing all across her pelt, like cackling flames of a fire.
"Where have you been?" the half-faced she-cat demanded.
"He has been on Dawn Patrol with us," Brambleclaw mewed calmly. He then added quickly. "Don't blame him. I told him he could come along since he was up so early. I thought you might want your rest."
Brightheart looked reluctant to let Jaypaw off without punishment. "Very well," she mewed slowly. "But since you've been out of camp already, I don't suppose you'll mind cleaning out the nursery bedding?"
Jaypaw was greatly disheartened. She didn't care for him at all. She was torturing him on purpose! Jaypaw looked enviously in Lionpaw's direction. From the vibrations he felt, he could tell that he and Ashfur were leaving camp again. Probably to hunt or battle train!
"Fine!" Jaypaw hissed, storming off towards the nursery. She wasn't even going to give him a chance!
Jaypaw was frustrated from all the chores he'd done today, and he shouldn't even have been punished today! After cleaning the nursery and changing the moss in it, Brightheart ordered him to bring water to the Medicine Cat den and to remove fleas from the elders. The mouse bile on his paws smelt vile. But in the end he was rewarded!
Firestar announced that tonight was the Gathering and that Jaypaw and both of his siblings would be attending. The thought warmed Jaypaw right down to his tail. He was smiling even as he scrubbed his paws vigorously in a puddle to wash off the mouse bile. He could feel Hollypaw and Lionpaw watching him from across the clearing. They must think I've lost my mind, Jaypaw thought in amusement. I shall have to explain it to them soon. Perhaps I'll even introduce them to Specklestar! If I ever get to see her again....
At last, the time to leave had come. Jaypaw thought that he might be imagining the faint scent of mouse bile clinging to his paws, but at least the looked absolutely clean and his paws felt great! Every step along Windclan's strip of shore around the lake was soft and sandy. The vibrations were far weaker and Jaypaw had to concentrate to keep from running into any cat. Thankfully, nothing happened.
Crossing the fallen tree to the island was no problem at all for him. He leapt onto the tree with ease and despite the slippery bark, he managed to grab every branch that he needed to in order to keep his balance and cross safely.
. Basically, I hate how Starclan forced Jaykit into being a Medicine Cat, so I'm writing a story of how he could have been a warrior. Majorly influenced by Toph of Avatar 
))Chapter 1~ The Meeting
"NO!" Jaykit yowled for all the starry forest to hear.
"Jaykit you must not deny it. It is your destiny!" Spottedleaf mewed, though her own eyes shone with pity for the blind kit.
"Never, NEVER, will I be a Medicine Cat. I'm going to be a warrior like a normal cat, like Lionkit and Hollykit! You don't think I can do it because I'm blind, but I'll prove you wrong!" he looked around to see if any other StarClan cats were near, watching what they considered a pitiful blind kit, "I'll prove you ALL wrong!"
He turned and ran away, as quickly as he could for a six moon old kit. His still slightly stubby legs moving remarkably fast. Never. Never! NEVER!!! He paused only when he realized that Spottedleaf had never been following him. He had been running from a ghost. A phantom in his mind.
The clearing he had run into was bright with the eternal, white, moonlight. The grass beneath his paws was far softer, and greener, than it ever could be in the world he was born in. But Jaykit became rather entranced by the many flowers in the clearing, brilliant blue flowers whose petals curled gently back to reveal their yellow centers. He looked at them somberly, not wanting to wonder how he would ever be a warrior, or even how he would wake up from this terrible dream...
"Who are you?"
Jaykit's head jolted, his clear blue eyes searching the trees beyond his clearing. Was it Tigerstar and Hawkfrost? Had they come to take him into that dreadful place? But the voice had sounded far softer, and jingle like. Like the cautious chirp of a small bird.
At last he caught sight of a moving shadow amongst the trees.
"My name is Jaykit!" he mewed, wondering angrily if another StarClan cat had come to persuade him. "Who are you?"
She came forth like a dream within a dream. Far more mystical than any dead starry cat he'd seen so far. Her golden pelt rippled as she moved, effortless and graceful. The black spots ontop the golden stream were like smooth pebbles, all shapes and sizes yet somehow fitting perfectly in place. Hermuzzle was sharply pointed, as were her ears, but her emerald eyes entranced Jaykit so that he was not bothered by her strangely beautiful looks.
"My name is Specklestar. Who are you?"
Jaykit blinked. Quickly he shook himeself from his stunned state. "My name's Jaykit...and, you look too young to be a leader!"
Indeed, she did. Specklestar appeared no older than eleven moons herself. She wasn't tall or thick or anything like that. But her body, from nose to tail was long and the muscles beneath it shifted like water in a stream.
She laughed, that soft, yet bird-like sound again. "Of course, I do silly. I'm in StarClan."
"But...you can't have been leader than, if you were this small?" Jaykit mewed suspiciously.
Specklestar looked away, and Jaykit could sense a sudden sadness wash over her. "Of course I wasn't..." she mewed quietly. "I changed my name when I came here..."
Jaykit tried to delve further, but sudden the sadness was gone. Specklestar looked at him brightly. "So is it true? Are you blind?"
Jaykit's pelt bristled. He knew it! Another pitying she-cat! No, not pitying! She was making fun of him! "Yes I am, you want to make something of it?!" he snapped angrily.
Specklestar looked shocked by his reaction, she took a step back. "Well no, I didn't...It's just that. I was blind too."
Jaykit froze. He was as still as a dead cat, no pun intended. "But you can see me, can't you?"
Specklestar let out a mrrow of laughter, as she sat down and swung her long tail around herself. "Of course I can! StarClan healed my sight when I died. But I was blind when I was alive too."
"Were you a warrior?" Jaykit mewed, hungry to know.
"I was an apprentice," Specklestar mewed, the sadness washing over her again.
"A medicine cat one?" Jaykit mewed, afraid to ask yet dying to know.
"No. A warrior apprentice," Specklestar mewed proudly. "They all said I couldn't do it, but I showed them! I was one of the best apprentices they had ever known!"
"How? Can you teach me?!" Jaykit mewed, desperate and estatic.
The spotted apprentice pretended to consider it. "Hmmmm, I don't see why not."
"Thank you! Thank you so much Speckle-!"
Suddenly, Jaykit was wide awake. Something had pushed him onto his side. He turned from left to right in darkness.
"What's going on?!" he snapped.
"Shhh, Jaykit," Hollykit mewed somewhere to his right. "You were having a fit in your sleep. You kicked up loads of moss!"
Jaykit scowled. "So what?"
Lionkit sighed. "Besides, it's nearly sunhigh. You've been sleeping all morning! Let's go play."
"Fine," Jaykit mewed, irritated but with a twinge of worry. What if it had all just been a dream? What if there was no Specklestar, and she could not teach him to be a warrior?
Chapter 2~ Bonding
Four moonrises later, the day of their apprenticeship came! Jaykit and his siblings were all well-groomed by their mother, Squirrelflight and Jaykit could feel all eyes were on them!
Lionpaw went first. Firestar announced that his mentor was Ashfur. Jaykit felt his brother's excitement roll off of him like waves. His own heart pounded. He wanted to be next but it was Hollykit instead. Of course, because she had chosen to be a medicine cat, her mentor was Leafpool.
Jaykit's heart was pounding. I will be a warrior! I will be! But before Firestar could speak, murmurs broke out.
"Surely he can't become an apprentice?" Whitewing whispered.
"Longtail moved to the elder's den when he went blind," Thornclaw agreed.
"Poor mite," Sorreltail mewed quietly.
"I want to be an apprentice like Lionpaw and Hollypaw!" Jaykit spat defiantly.
"Of course you do," Firestar agreed. "And your mentor will be Brightheart."
Jaypaw was stunned. It could not be true. It could not! Surely, Firestar was joking?
Jaykit felt a rush of anger so strong it almost knocked him off his paws. Why had Firestar chosen one-eyed Brightheart when there were so many other warriors to chose from? As if he didn't know!
"I know it must be hard for you," Brightheart greeted him sympathetically. "But I promise I will teach you how to protect your Clan even without sight."
"Why bother if you think I'm so useless? Why don't you just send me off to the elder's den with Longtail?" he hissed.
Brightheart stiffened. "No cat has said that you're useless. And Longtail won't thank you for being rude to him!" she stepped back from Jaypaw and lifted her chin. "I've asked him to help with some of your training."
Jaykit lashed his tail. Oh great. Let's lump all the useless cats together and hope a tree falls on them!
Firestar stepped between Jaykit and Brightheart. "From this day until you recieve your warrior name, you will be Jaypaw."
Mousepaw and Berrypaw began chanting, "Jaypaw! Jaypaw!"
The other apprentices joined in loudly.
You don't have to try so hard! You're only doing it because you feel sorry for me!
Reluctantly, Jaypaw touched noses with Brightheart, accepting her as his mentor. She wouldn't be handling his real training afterall!
*
Jaypaw's first day as an apprentice had been about as fun as eating mouse bile. First he was ordered to clean out the elder's den, and forced to listen to Longtail give him the most obvious tips about being blind. Then he was 'shown' the territory and he and Brightheart found the fox that had chased him over the ravine a few moons ago. Brightheart was fine, but Jaypaw...got his tail caught in a bramble bush and was absolutely useless against the fox. An entire patrol saw him struggling helplessly in the thorns. It was the most humiliating moment of his life.
He had never been so thankful to go to sleep. To rest, and maybe see his true mentor. Specklestar...
*
When Jaypaw opened his eyes, he found that he could see. He was back in the moonlit field with soft green grass and brilliant blue flowers all around him. This time, he was not distracted by the beauty of it.
"Specklestar?" he mewed, a little nervous that she would not come. Or worse, Spottedleaf would come instead. "Specklestar?!"
"You called?"
Jaypaw jolted and whipped around to see the speckled she-cat only tail-lengths behind him. Before he could speak, Specklestar mewed, "How was your first day as an apprentice?"
Jaypaw was suprised at first that she knew already, but then he asked in an annoyed tone, "Didn't you watch it?"
"Only the ceremony," she replied. "I don't like going to watch very often. So many StarClan cats are always watching. And I don't like being around them much." she mewed with a giggle.
"Why not?"
"Well, wouldn't it depress you to be around a bunch of dead cats all the time?"
Jaypaw laughed. It was the only good laugh he had had all day long. "No I guess not," he mewed.
"So tell me what happened!" Specklestar mewed, impatient and excited. She laid down and tucked her paws beneath her tail.
Sighing, Jaypaw began his story from the ceremony and on. When he was finished, Specklestar only shook her head. "I'm so sorry. None of that would have happened if I had given it to you sooner!"
"Given me what sooner?" Jaypaw mewed, curious and suspicious. What could this cat really do for him?
"Jaypaw stand up, and stand tall. I shall help you," Specklestar mewed, getting to her own paws.
Jaypaw was still unsettled but rose from his sitting position as well. His heart jumped a little as, in moments, Specklestar was only a hair away from touching his muzzle.
"Jaypaw," she mewed softly, like a breeze on the moor. "Do you promise that you will pursue warriorhood at all cost? That you will reject the soft life of a kittypet? That you will never wander the forest as a rogue or a loner? And especially, that you will never be a medicine cat?"
Jaypaw gulped. That was an awful lot of promising she wanted him to do. What was it that she was going to do to him? "I do," he mewed surely. He couldn't imagine ever doing any of those things anyway, so why not promise not to?
Jaypaw expected Specklestar to say more but she did not. Instead, she leaned forward briskly and pressed her muzzle against his. He felt a jolt, like lightning! His fur stood on end. His entire body tingled. Was he going to die?! He felt weak and soon he found himself falling, falling, out of the sky and into the forest.
Specklestar, what have you done?
Chapter 3~Power in his Paws
Jaypaw opened his eyes immediately. It was still dark outside. All the other apprentices were sleeping, Lionpaw and Hollypaw's bodies rose and fell calmly all around them. No one had been disturbed by his jolty awakening. Jaypaw could not tell what it was, but he knew that something was different about him!
He quietly rose from his nest, in a hurry to go to the clearing. But he only had to take one step in order to realize what was different...The second his paw hit the ground, Jaypaw felt as he never had before! His paw tingled in different places and in different ways than he had ever known they could. What was it?
Vibrations... The word seemed to have just floated into his head, and he knew instantly what Specklestar had down. This was how she intended for him to be a proper warrior!
Jaypaw padded out of the apprentice den, savoring every prickle his paw picked up from the earth around. It was a little difficult to distinguish one object from another at first, but the rhythmic breathing of the apprentices certainly helped. He felt their forms so strongly through the vibrations that he began picturing blurry outlines of his den mates. He wondered what else he could sense through his paws!
In the clearing, a single step sent vibrations in all directions and very far. The fresh-kill pile was the first object he "felt" all big and lumpy and soft against the earth. The rocks surrounding the hollow were easy enough to find, and the dens weren't all that tough either.
He spent all of dawn walking around the clearing, relishing his new powers. Soon, he had the entire camp mapped out beneath his paws. It's like seeing through your feet! he thought in amazement. Thank You, Specklestar!
It was not long until the first few cats began waking for dawn patrol. Jaypaw realized that he could hear their yawns even from within their dens. Was that another gift Specklestar had bestowed to him?
Two cats entered from the warrior's den. Jaypaw could not tell who they were through vibrations, though one was slightly larger than the other. Then he realized that he could put the blurry image in his mind with a scent. Immediately, he recognized Thornclaw and Ashfur! Then just behind them came....Brambleclaw!
"Jaypaw? What are you doing out so early?" Thornclaw mewed in an annoyed tone.
Jaypaw's pelt bristled. Thornclaw thinks he's too useless to be let out of the apprentice den?!
"Relax, Thornclaw," Bramblepaw mewed. "Perhaps Jaypaw wanted to go on Dawn Patrol with us."
"But, Brambleclaw," Ashfur mewed, sounding cautious. "Isn't the patrol too full?"
Jaypaw could tell he was lying! He just didn't want him to go because she had heard about the fox incident the other day! Every cat was making a big fuss over it! I've changed! Jaypaw so desparately wanted to mew. I'm stronger now! Give me a chance and you'll see! Jaypaw could feel his father look over at him. His heart pounded. Had his father seen the change in him?
"I see no reason why we can't fit one more apprentice," Brambleclaw mewed.
"But what about Brightheart?" Thornclaw hissed, clearly displeased that the blind troublemaker was going.
"Brightheart needs her rest," Brambleclaw mewed sharply. "And besides, she's not the one wandering the camp at dawn, is she?"
Jaypaw could hear amusement in his father's voice. His chest swelled with pride. His father loved him despite his blindness. I'll show you what I can do, Brambleclaw!
Just then, Poppypaw, Berrypaw, and Lionpaw were approaching. He felt them long before he had scented them. Jaypaw was excited. The forest would be a completely different place with his new talents!
"Jaypaw?" Lionpaw mewed, suprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Your brother will be joing us on patrol today. We don't have time to stay and chat. The sun is rising," Brambleclaw mewed curtly. He then led them all up and out of the hollow.
*
Certain enough, the forest was truly different as Jaypaw explored it with his new found powers. The scents and sounds were the same, but now he could feel the forest beneath him and all around. Throughout the entire patrol he did not run into a single tree, or trip over and rock, or run into any brambles. Though the larger objects like trees and rocks were nearly shapeless to him, he avoided them all together and had no trouble.
He could sense Lionpaw's burning curiousity as to how Jaypaw had stepped over an abnormally large fallen branch without a single warning or touch. He's wondering if I can see! Jaypaw thought in amusement.
They patrolled all along ShadowClan's border. The scent markings were very strong, but there was not a ShadowClan in sight.
"It looks like we'll have nothing to report," Lionpaw mewed casually to Jaypaw, hoping his brother might explain the bizarre new talent for avoiding things he could not see.
Jaypaw only grinned with his chin and tail high, "Yes, it appears there won't be anything to report."
The rest of the patrol was silent, despite Lionpaw's obvious worry over the new, happy, Jaypaw.
They returned to camp to find that all cats were wide awake and-
"Jaypaw!" Brightheart yowled.
Uh oh, Jaypaw thought. Every pawstep that Brightheart took was a fierce wave flowing to Jaypaw's paw pads. Anger was flashing all across her pelt, like cackling flames of a fire.
"Where have you been?" the half-faced she-cat demanded.
"He has been on Dawn Patrol with us," Brambleclaw mewed calmly. He then added quickly. "Don't blame him. I told him he could come along since he was up so early. I thought you might want your rest."
Brightheart looked reluctant to let Jaypaw off without punishment. "Very well," she mewed slowly. "But since you've been out of camp already, I don't suppose you'll mind cleaning out the nursery bedding?"
Jaypaw was greatly disheartened. She didn't care for him at all. She was torturing him on purpose! Jaypaw looked enviously in Lionpaw's direction. From the vibrations he felt, he could tell that he and Ashfur were leaving camp again. Probably to hunt or battle train!
"Fine!" Jaypaw hissed, storming off towards the nursery. She wasn't even going to give him a chance!
*
Jaypaw was frustrated from all the chores he'd done today, and he shouldn't even have been punished today! After cleaning the nursery and changing the moss in it, Brightheart ordered him to bring water to the Medicine Cat den and to remove fleas from the elders. The mouse bile on his paws smelt vile. But in the end he was rewarded!
Firestar announced that tonight was the Gathering and that Jaypaw and both of his siblings would be attending. The thought warmed Jaypaw right down to his tail. He was smiling even as he scrubbed his paws vigorously in a puddle to wash off the mouse bile. He could feel Hollypaw and Lionpaw watching him from across the clearing. They must think I've lost my mind, Jaypaw thought in amusement. I shall have to explain it to them soon. Perhaps I'll even introduce them to Specklestar! If I ever get to see her again....
At last, the time to leave had come. Jaypaw thought that he might be imagining the faint scent of mouse bile clinging to his paws, but at least the looked absolutely clean and his paws felt great! Every step along Windclan's strip of shore around the lake was soft and sandy. The vibrations were far weaker and Jaypaw had to concentrate to keep from running into any cat. Thankfully, nothing happened.
Crossing the fallen tree to the island was no problem at all for him. He leapt onto the tree with ease and despite the slippery bark, he managed to grab every branch that he needed to in order to keep his balance and cross safely.
