Jaggedstar's Choice {COMPLETE}

Chapter 26

Jaggedtail breathed in the sweet scent of freshly bloomed flora in LichenClan territory, no longer did his paws and ear tips sting from the bitter cold of leaf-bare. Instead, he felt the soft earth beneath his paws. The birds had returned and filled the forest with their sweet melodies.

Leaf-bare had left the forest and newleaf had taken its place. It had been two moons since Birdstar's death and LichenClan was recovering from such a harsh leaf-bare. LichenClan had been forever changed by the death of their leader but Jumpstar proved himself to be a more than capable leader in her wake. Jaggedtail had high hopes for LichenClan's future.

In the two moons that had passed, the Clan had done the best to move on from the deaths of loved ones. Jaggedtail knew that Jumpstar had lost a lot to the sickness, but the leader kept his head high. He had named Daisyfern his deputy, Jaggedtail assumed it was to keep his daughter as close as possible. Daisyfern was a responsible deputy, keeping LichenClan busy and the Clan fed.

The rest of the cats who had been sick recovered back to full health including Elmheart. It was as if he had never been sick in the first place, the tom was back to his old, confident self and Jaggedtail couldn't be happier. He could sense a bright new future for LichenClan, and Jaggedtail was so excited to see it.

With a large prey collection in tow, Jaggedtail returned proudly from his hunting patrol along with Hareclaw, Poppywing and Breezefall. Each of them carried a large amount of prey, by the time they returned there would be enough prey for all of LichenClan to sleep with full bellies.

"Hey, Jaggedtail." Jaggedtail looked up from his prey, noticing Maplepool approaching him. She cast a glance at Cherrypool, something seemed off about Maplepool's posture, there was a sense of excitement as well as fear deep in her green eyes. What's up with her?

"Hey Maplepool." Jaggedtail looked up at his sister curiously. "What can I do for you?"

"I need to talk to you, actually." Maplepool mewed, she seemed to be struggling to keep her voice steady. "Alone, if you don't mind Cherrypool."

"Of course not." Cherrypool purred, her voice sounding like honey. "He's all yours." Jaggedtail felt incredibly confused, but stood up and looked at Maplepool.

"Come on, let's go for a walk." Jaggedtail cast a look at Cherrypool, still feeling incredibly confused. What was so important that they had to be alone? Did something happen? Maplepool didn't seem sad or distraught. Jaggedtail sighed and calmed his thoughts, he would find out in just a few moments, he just had to wait.

Maplepool guided Jaggedtail out of camp, and he waited until they were a good distance away from camp to speak. "So what's going on? You're acting weird." Jaggedtail pointed, but then he recalled Maplepool had been acting weird the last few days. He hoped that everything was alright.

"Well," Maplepool took a deep breath. "There's something that I've been meaning to tell you, we just haven't found the right time but now I am certain it is the right time."

"We?" Jaggedtail tilted his head, Maplepool wasn't making this any easier for him. "Who is we?"

"Me and Elmheart." Maplepool mewed, her eyes getting softer. "We've been getting closer and closer and well...after Mosswing died he came to me for help."

"Yeah," Jaggedtail nodded slowly, still not quite sure where she was going with this. "He came to me too."

"He came to me in a...different way." Maplepool sat down, resting her soft tail across her paws. "Elmheart came to me and told me everything on his mind, he told me how he had been feeling about his parents and how he had been feeling about me. He told me that he needed more than just a friend, and I realized I wanted him in the same way."