Warriors #5: Heart of Fire

Prologue

A full moon was shining in the center of the navy, star-flitted sky as ThunderClan traveled through the forest, returning from the traditional Gathering between the four Clans around the lake.

Jayfeather, the ThunderClan medicine cat, was trailing just behind Firestar, the ThunderClan leader, and Brambleclaw, the ThunderClan deputy, also the cat that Jayfeather had known as his father until just a few moons ago.

Thanks to Hollyleaf, now all four Clans know that we were lied to, and lied about for our whole lives, the gray tabby tom thought bitterly as he crawled through the camp entrance and into the clearing.

Jayfeather tried to forget about the night that his sister had proclaimed to all of the Clans that Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight weren't really their, along with their brother Lionblaze's, parents. He hadn't been able to actually see even one reaction, but the amount of shock and disbelief that had rippled in that clearing had managed to overtake his own dismay.

Leafpool, Jayfeather's real mother, had withdrawn from her medicine cat duties because of her faults. She deserved it, Jayfeather told himself. But it had been overwhelming for Jayfeather to think that he was going to be the only medicine cat in ThunderClan.

But, luckily, his immense feelings of stress hadn't latest long at all.

Jayfeather yawned as he finally reached the medicine den, proceeding to crawl inside. Almost immediately, he shut his eyes as the sweet scent of the other cat in the den flooded through his nostrils. He could hear the shuffles of leaves a few tail-lengths in front of him, so he assumed that she was organizing the herb stocks.

You can always count on her to make sure that there's not even one leaf or berry out of place, Jayfeather thought fondly as he padded up to sit next to his apprentice. "Hey, Snowflight," he whispered, aware that outside of their den, the clearing was beginning to fall silent as cats went to their dens to sleep.

"Hey!" Jayfeather heard Snowflight purr as he felt a wave of excitement exude from her pelt. "Did anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

Jayfeather thought for a moment as he recalled the small bit of time that he hadn't been with Snowflight as they were returning from the Gathering. She had run ahead to the ThunderClan camp to check on her sister, Goldenshine, who had given birth to her kit just earlier.

"Nope," he answered, shaking his head. "Most cats were just talking about the situation with the drought, and the journey that the leaders are going to send some warriors on." And thank StarClan for that!

"Oh, right!" Snowflight exclaimed as she sniffed at one of the piles. "Who do you think Firestar will send?"

Jayfeather had been asking himself that same question since the Gathering, wondering which two cats that Firestar would trust the most to do something as big as to bring back the water. Brambleclaw, Sandstorm... or Squirrelflight, surely? "Definitely stronger warriors, I can say that for sure," he guessed, shrugging. "Luckily Firestar has many good options."

From Snowflight's eagerness, Jayfeather could tell that his apprentice was nodding in agreement. "Thanks to us, they'll be able to become even stronger!" she purred as she turned back to her herbs.

Jayfeather then sighed, shifting slightly closer to Snowflight as he began to help her sort through everything. Even though he never showed it, he was extremely grateful for and admired Snowflight's dedication and enthusiasm. She was always so forbearing, and was never phased by Jayfeather's impatience. Their ways of working seemed to complete each other, and had since Snowflight had become his apprentice eight moons ago.

Jayfeather couldn't see the white she-cat, but her gentleness, her soft voice, and her kindness always made his heart beat at double the speed. But is Snowflight ever going to know that? Jayfeather asked himself. No way in the name of StarClan.