The Goose and the Jay

The Blind One

Originally Posted On ao3. Please read there if you can! There are faster updates and more reader interactions.

Summary: The Beginning

Original Notes from ao3: I am definitely not multi-tasking 4 fics at the same time. I have no idea what you're talking about.

Wow, you're reading this story? That's cool. I would like to say that if anyone has suggestions to which cats I should let Jayfeather meet, feel free to leave a comment!

It was all cold, around him. He could hear the ragged breathing of his littermates beside him.

"Are they awake?" A gentle voice asked.

"Look! I think the smallest one is going to open his eyes!"

The smallest one? Was he the smallest one? He was actually opening his eyes right now, come to think of it.

He didn't see anything. Everything was still dark. There wasn't any change. He closed his eyes again, snuggling towards his littermates.

"He opened them, didn't you see?" The first voice said, her voice soft. "He opened eyes, and then closed them again!"

"Why would he do that?" The second voice asked, puzzled.

"I don't know," the first voice answered. "I think he just needs to open them at his own pace."

Three, beautiful kittens. One black, one gray, one golden yellow. None of them really looked like Squirrelflight, but it would have to do.

"We should name them," Squirrelflight told her sister, licking the gray one. He was shaking. The other two were snuggled against her side.

"We could name them all after birds," Leafpool suggested. "Crowkit, Jaykit, and, uhh, Finchkit?"

"Leafpool!" Squirrelflight shook her head vigorously. "No!"

"Why not?" Leafpool asked, eyeing the three of them.

"Well, there are plenty of reasons why!" Squirrelflight said. "One, we are not naming one of your kits after Crowfeather! It's obvious enough that these aren't my kits, and if you named her Crowkit, you're just asking for trouble. Two, the golden kit looks nothing like a finch. He's golden and strong, and you want to name him after a finch, of all things? Also, naming them all after birds is just plain weird."

"At least keep the name Jaykit," Leafpool pleaded. She thought for a moment. "What about Lionkit then, for the golden one?"

"Fine," Squirrelflight sighted.

"Featherkit? For the black one?" Leafpool asked hopefully.

"What about Hollykit instead?" Squirrelflight said. "It's a really pretty name."

"But, Fea-"

"These are my kits, not yours now," Squirrelflight reminded her. "I should at least have a say in one of the kit's names."

"Alright," Leafpool said, sighing.

There were cats in the shadows.

Shiny, star-pelted cats with eyes that glowed.

Jaykit didn't know who they were, but he enjoyed their company.

He could actually see them, unlike Lionkit, Hollykit, Squirrelflight, and Leafpool. He could look at them in the eye and have a conversation, all while knowing what was going on.

Hollykit and Lionkit didn't see them, though.

When he mentioned them, all he got were funny looks.

So who were these cats?