Seapaw's P.O.V
I stared up at a rock roof wondering why it was there in the first place. Looking around, I saw a room with a pool beside me and a brown-pelted she-cat. I stood up and then a pain shot through my four legs and I crumpled to the ground. "Argh!" I cried. The cat turned, her eyes wide and hushed me into my nest. "Sh, you'll wake Jaykit. Lie still and try to go back to sleep."
"But I don't want to! I can't! I can't bear this pain!" I moaned, laying back into my nest. The she-cat dissappeared through a crack in the wall and came out with 4 black seeds in her paw. "I only give four poppy seed to sick cats, but you need ten. Your legs are in an awful state. You might not be able to walk."
"But-"
"Come on. Eat them." Something about her voice made me obey. She seemed familiar but I shook away the thought at once. Licking them up, I lay back into my nest. "I don't want to sleep..." Then I fell asleep, flicking my ear once.
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I woke, hearing the sound of two cats talking to each other. I recognised both cats. The brown she-cat and Jaykit. Still pretending to sleep, I eavesdropped on their conversation. "You're awake"
"Where is the other cat?" Jaykit asked groggily beside me. "What other cat? Do you mean Seapaw?" How does she know my name? Oh, right. Firestar. "The one that brought me water to drink. She was a tortoiseshell, with a white muzzle."
"Tortoiseshell with a white muzzle?" The other cat's mew sharpened with interest. Jaykit moved his neck and then winced in pain. "You'll be sore for a while," The cat warned him. "But you were lucky that no bones were broken." She rolled a ball of water-soaked moss to his muzzle. "Here, you should drink something."
"I'm not thirsty," Jaykit mewed. "I told you, that other cat brought me some water." The cat pawed the moss away from his mouth and left it near my nest for me to drink when I woke up. Well, I'm already awake! "Tell me about her," She prompted gently. "I've never seen her before, but she smelled of ThunderClan and she was here in your den, so I guessed it was okay to drink the water she gave me." There was a long pause, then: "It was Spottedleaf," She meowed. I stopped my ears from perking up. Spottedleaf?! Thats the cat who told me that I would be home! Wait, I am home! Wherever I am, I'm home! "One of our warrior ancestors."
"Like in StarClan? I . . . I'm not dead, am I?" Jaykit cried. Idiot. Of course not. But what's Starclan? "No, of course not. It must have been a dream."
"But why would I dream of a cat I've never met?"
"StarClan works in its way. Spottedleaf chose to come to you for a reason," She murmured. And me! I met her first! She turned away to tidy a wrap of herbs. "Thank StarClan your ancestors took pity on you," She told him briskly. "You could have died falling over the cliff. You were lucky you weren't badly hurt!"
"I feel hurt enough," Jaykit complained. "You have no one to blame but yourself. You should never have gone hunting foxes. You're mouse brains, the three of you! Also, why bring an innocent cat you don't know into the battle?" She growled, pointing her tail at me. I flicked my ears in annoyance. Excuse me? I'm the one who chased off the two foxes! "And you most of all, what were you thinking of? Leaving the camp like that?" She continued. I heard the scrabble of Jaykit's paws and saw him glare blindly at the cat. "It's not fair!" He snapped. "I should be allowed to do the same things as any cat!"
"None of you should have been outside the hollow," She pointed out. "Hollykit and Lionkit have been in serious trouble with Firestar and Squirrelflight." Jaykit opened his mouth to defend himself, but she went on. "Thank StarClan that Thornclaw was close enough to save Hollykit and Lionkit from that den. Those fox cubs were old enough to have torn them to pieces." I frowned and stood up, much to their surprise. "You're wrong! Jaykit ran for his life because he was blind! He doesn't know how big they are! He doesn't know where they are! Lionkit and Hollykit ran for their lives, except they could see and know where they were going! I had to fight off two large fox cubs on my own before they ran away! I agree with Jaykit! It isn't fair and you know that. HE'S BLIND!" Jaykit looked like he was in seventh heaven. A cat he actually disliked backed him up! Jaykit lifted his chin defiantly. "We were trying to protect the Clan."
"One day you will," She promised with surprise in her voice. "But first you need to learn as much as possible, which includes learning not to go off alone!"
"Do you think Firestar will delay my apprenticeship because of this?" He mewed, suddenly anxious. Leafpool gently drew the tip of her tail around his ears and said nothing. "You do, don't you!" Jaykit wailed. "Has Firestar said anything? Tell me!"
"Dear Jaykit." Leafpool sighed. "You must know that you can never become an ordinary apprentice like Hollykit or Lionkit." She ran her tail along his back.
"Don't say that!" I cried. She ignored me. Jaykit shrugged away. He began to walk to the den's entrance, but I knew each pawstep made him wince with pain. The cat called to him, sounding unhappy. "Jaykit, wait! I thought you understood. . . ."
"Understood what?" Jaykit whipped around to face her. "That I'm not good enough to fight for my Clan?"
"This has nothing to do with not being good enough," The cat meowed. "There are other ways to serve your Clan." But Jaykit hardly heard her. "It's not fair!" He raged. He started to push his way out through the brambles. "Jaykit!" The she-cats voice was firm. "Come back!" Instinctively Jaykit paused. "You described Spottedleaf to me perfectly. Have you always been able to see like that in your dreams?" Jaykit tipped his head to one side. "I guess," He mewed. "What do you see?"
"It depends on what I'm dreaming about." Jaykit was growing impatient. I stood up defiantly and then crumpled to the floor again in pain. The she-cat ran over to me and shifted me into my nest. "Now tell me which herbs I used to treat you." She called Jaykit. Curious now, Jaykit padded back to his nest. "Dock on his scratches and comfrey where his body is stiff." We said at the same time. The brown she-cat glanced warily at me. "You both have a good memory for plants. There are other ways to serve your Clan than being a warrior, Jaykit. You'd both make a good medicine cat, for example."
"A medicine cat!" Jaykit echoed in disbelief. "You could be my apprentice," She urged. "I don't want to make do with being a medicine cat!" Jaykit hissed. "I don't want to live half a life, separated from my Clanmates like you are. I want to be a warrior like Brambleclaw and Firestar." He turned away from her, bristling with fury. "I hate being blind. I wish I had never been born!" Seeing him pad out the den, the cat turned and sat down by the pool. "You shouldn't have joined in." She whispered. "Well, I have. And I haven't caught your name." The cat stood up and fetched some more poppy seeds. "Does it still hurt?"
"Yes-"
"Well then, eat this." She forced me to lick the seeds and I fell backward. "My name is Leafpool." That was the last thing I heard before she whipped away, crying. Then once again, sleep overtook me.
