Jayfeather awoke to the sound of quiet whispering. He pricked his ears and heard Dawnpelt and Ginger murmuring quietly to not wake the others. Jayfeather sat up, still feeling a little drowsy from the poppy seed.
"Ready to keep traveling?" Jayfeather asked them.
"Yes." they chorused.
Jayfeather prodded Briarlight and she stirred. "Time to keep moving." he meowed, "We're almost to the mountains."
"Can I go with you guys to the mountains?" Ginger asked, grooming his thick, ruffled fur.
"Sure. We'll need the extra help." Jayfeather meowed gratefully.
Ginger let out a little mrrow of excitement. Briarlight sat up and started licking a paw.
"Let's go." Jayfeather meowed.
They pushed their way out of the bushes and headed through the woods towards the towering mountains. Dawnpelt, Ginger, and Briarlight chattered like squirrels, while Jayfeather stayed quiet. Jayfeather brought up the rear, making sure nothing was following them.
"When I was a rogue, I had to fight off a group of feral cats once!" Ginger meowed proudly, "There were five of them and I beat every single one. I didn't kill them though."
Arrogant fleabag. Jayfeather thought, whiskers twitching.
"If I could, I'd like to join a clan. I love fighting and hunting. Dawnpelt told me about your clans, but I prefer to live where it's cold so I won't join you guys. I'm thinking about just living alone up in the mountains. I was just a little kit last time I was in the mountains, but now I want to live there. I only moved to twolegplace because I was too young to survive. I was a loner ever since I was one moon old because my parents abandoned me. I have no idea why... I was too young to remember. But anyway's, I'm thinking about forming a clan of my own up in the mountains! It's nice and cool there and I-"
Jayfeather slapped his tail over Ginger's mouth but he still kept talking, his voice muffled. Briarlight and Dawnpelt purred with amusement.
Finally, they reached the mountains and started climbing. Jayfeather felt the cool autumn breeze turn into cold, icy air as they got higher. At about sun-high they had made it to the snowy part of the peaks.
"It's so cold!" Briarlight exclaimed shivers rippling her brown fur.
Ginger was confidently stalking about, his thick pelt keeping him warm and he leaped easily over boulders and small rivers. Briarlight was panting and struggling to keep up, though they were going at a slower pace for her. Jayfeather closed his eyes against the high wind, knowing it wouldn't matter anyways since he was blind. Snowflakes flurried down from the thick- clouded sky, soon sticking to their pelts, turning them white. They pushed on, clustering together to keep warm.
It's colder than I remember, Jayfeather thought, sneezing, I wonder how the tribe is doing with prey.
They stopped by a stream and drank, even though it was so cold it stung their throats. And they kept on trudging, the snow up to their belly-fur. Jayfeather pressed against Briarlight, knowing her leg may get frost-bite from this snow storm. He did not want Graystripe and Millie to loose their daughter, and he definately didn't want another death to be his fault. After a while, even Ginger was shivering, snow clumped in his thick pelt.
Do we even know where we're going? Jayfeather wondered, regret stabbing him.
A robin chirped above them and Ginger leaped swiftly into the tree and caught it, slamming it to the ground.
"Nice catch." Jayfeather croaked, his throat sore.
The four cats ravenously gulped down the robin and immediately continued walking. The whole day was long and seemed unending, until finally they rested in an empty log. They could see in the far distance the cave where the tribe lived, and decided they'd go in the morning. They all slept uncomfortably in the log, not able to have nests since nothing green was growing. Jayfeather curled up into the tightest ball he could, his tail covering his cold nose. He slipped into sleep more quickly than he would of after eating a poppy seed, the cold dragging him from consciousness.
~~~
"Jayfeather!" a hiss awoke him.
Jayfeather scrambled to his paws, alarmed with the urgency of the hiss.
"What?" he meowed, wondering who had waken him.
"Follow me." the voice said quietly.
Jayfeather recognized Dawnpelt's voice and followed her out of the log.
"Where are we going?" he asked, confused as she led him away from the log up to a cliff.
She sat down, looking out at the land ahead of them past the cliff they were standing on. Jayfeather felt a prick of anxiety.
"Is there something wrong?" he asked, suspicious.
"Remember how I was so angry at you for killing my brothers?" she began.
"Yeah..." Jayfeather answered, wondering what she was getting at.
She turned to him. "I was wrong for asking for you to be exiled."
Jayfeather felt a surge of relief and joy. Dawnpelt forgave him!
"You know what I really should of done?" she meowed, her voice soft and calm.
Jayfeather cocked his head. "What?"
"THIS!" she yowled, slamming a paw with force into his shoulder.
Jayfeather stumbled and fell, shock and agony piercing through him. Dawnpelt jumped on top of him, her claws digging into his shoulders sharply.
"I've been waiting for this!" she hissed, "All who break the warrior code deserve this!"
She dug her claws in harder to stop his struggling. Jayfeather tried to kick her belly but couldn't.
"How dare you kill both of my brothers! What did I ever do to deserve that!" she screeched in his ear, "I'll never forgive you!"
Jayfeather shut his eyes tight, bracing for a killing blow to the throat when Dawnpelt suddenly let out a frighted yelp. Jayfeather felt her weight lifted from his body and he sprang to his paws.
"How dare you kill an innocent cat!" Briarlight's normally sweet voice was a snarl of rage, "He would never purposely harm anyone! You're a murderer!"
Briarlight lashed an unsheathed paw at Dawnpelt, sending her rolling to the edge of the cliff. Dawnpelt gasped as she clung to the edge of the cliff, her hind paws scrabbling frantically to get up. She was slipping quickly, her claws starting to bleed. She wailed, terrified. Jayfeather heaved himself to his paws and darted forward, grabbing her scruff and digging his claws into the rough rock. She dangled over the edge, and Jayfeather could feel her shivering. With a great heave he swung her up, back to safety. She collapsed on the ground, panting and shivering uncontrollably.
I shouldn't have trusted her, Jayfeather thought bitterly.
When she had caught her breath, Dawnpelt gasped, "You saved me!"
Jayfeather narrowed his eyes, wondering if this was another trick. Suddenly he felt her nose touch his.
"Thank you." she said trembling, "I don't know how you could ever forgive me. I don't know why I did such a cruel thing. I've always known you weren't a murderer... but I was so full of grief, I had to blame someone. I'm so sorry... I'll never forgive myself."
Jayfeather felt sympathy wash through him, though he was still angry at what she had done. He stood in silence, not knowing whether to yell at her angrily or forgive.
Always be forgiving, he remembered Bluestar's words.
Jayfeather sighed inwardly. It was so hard to forgive someone who tried to kill you. Too hard. But if he didn't forgive her, wouldn't it make her worse?
"I forgive you." he finally said, trying to sound honest about it.
"Me too." Briarlight added.
The three cats padded (and Briarlight dragged)
back to the log where Ginger was still fast asleep. Jayfeather felt a twinge of hope, seeing that it had stopped snowing and the wind had died down. Jayfeather also felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his heart. He had always been guilty for Flametail's and
Tigerheart's deaths, and now that Dawnpelt had admitted it wasn't his fault he felt less responsible. Dawnpelt had finally forgiven him, because he had proven himself to not be a murderer.