Jayfeather's Curse

Chapter 22

I wake up to little paws batting at my nose, and I crack my eyes open to see Willowkit and Shimmerkit a whisker length away from my face, excitement dancing in their eyes. Once they notice I'm awake, they leap on my back and beg me to get up and take them to meet the clan.

"Come on! I want to see all the cats and hang out with Jayfeather!" Willowkit tells me, and her brother echoes her. I shake my head at them, dreading informing them of the vital and busy role Jayfeather plays in the clan.

"You two know that you can't be hanging out with Jayfeather every day now that we're here. He has a very important job that he spends his entire day doing, and he doesn't have a lot of time to spend with us. You can visit him, but he needs a lot of time to keep the clan healthy." I can see their little hearts breaking, and I know they miss him already.

"What does he do?" Shimmerkit asks.

"Well, his job is to make sure all the cats in the clan are safe and healthy. He treats their injuries and gives them herbs when they get sick. He loves all the cats in the clan and sees them as his family, so he needs to give attention to everyone," I explain, hoping they understand. They love Jayfeather and I don't want them to get hurt.

"Well that seems cool, but can we visit him now? I want to ask him more about his job," Shimmerkit asks, and I can't say no.

"Let's find Stream and hang with Jayfeather until the event later," I tell them, and they look at me curiously. Before they can ask, I nod at Mintleaf and duck out the nursery entrance, the kits hot on my heels.

I dodge their questions left and right as I pad over to the warriors den to fetch Stream. Once we arrive, they start batting at my haunches for answers and I whirl around and give them a look, halting their actions immediately.

"You two see the den up there on the ledge?" Their little heads look up to where my tail is pointing. "Head up there and bother Jayfeather and Briarlight. She'll play with you. Now scram," I tell them, and they begin racing each other up the rocks.

I continue into the warrior's den where casual conversation drifts into my ears. I push through the bramble to see Stream sitting in a small circle with other warriors. Among them is Hollybranch and I can tell she's asking him all the questions she can.

"So you said you left for a little bit, huh? How was it living on your own after being with her and the kits?" I hear her slyly ask, and I halt, keeping myself obscured from his view.

"It was a rough time without her. I had met up with some old friends, and being with them, reliving old adventures we had, it didn't feel the same. So I helped them complete whatever task they had to do and I immediately returned to find her and the kits. She fit me perfectly and not having a close family as a kit made me want to be there to mentor Willowkit and Shimmerkit. I eventually found her, and the rest is history," he mews, and I can hear approving murmurs from the listening cats. I decide that it's enough eavesdropping and pad into the warriors den.

All heads turn towards me, and Hollybranch bounds over to me, knocking me onto the floor. "I approve!" she cries and we start to tussle out of habit. She again pins me to the ground and hops off me. "You really gotta get your fighting skills in order or else the kits will take you down!'' She jokes and I cuff her ears. I turn to leave the warriors den and signal her and Stream to follow me.

"It's not like I've been away from the clan for moons or anything. Definitely didn't have to teach myself all these skills," I fire back at her, but she's always been wittier than I am.

"And whose fault was that? I surely didn't force you to leave," she smacks my haunches and takes off towards the nursery to visit Mintleaf.

"You two really are something, huh?" Stream asks and I turn around to look him in the eyes. Taken aback by my seriousness, his eyes flood with panic and he takes a step back. "Are you okay? I didn't do something wrong, did I?" he worriedly asks.