Erin Hunter - Long Shadows

“I’m worried Mousefur might still be stiff after scrambling up to the Highledge during the battle,” Leafpool went on.

“And they’ll both need checking for ticks.”

That’s an apprentice job, Jaypaw thought resentfully as his mentor padded past him on her way to the nursery. He answered himself: So? That’s what you are, an apprentice. Get on with it .

He had been proud of his littermates when Firestar had made them warriors, but Jaypaw had no idea when Leafpool would give him his name as a full medicine cat, and he would walk in her shadow until she died. He didn’t want her to die, and yet… Can’t I have anything for myself? How long before the prophecy is fulfilled?

Trying to banish the thoughts clawing at his belly, he found a twig and collected a ball of moss soaked in mouse bile from the cave where Leafpool kept her supplies. Wrinkling his nose against the acrid smell, he stalked across the clearing to the elders’ den under the hazel bush.

“Hi, Jaypaw,” Longtail meowed drowsily as he approached; Jaypaw was surprised that the blind elder could pick out his scent even with the tang of mouse bile in the air.

“It’s good to see you,” Mousefur added. “I’ve got a tick on my shoulder that feels as big as a blackberry.”

“Let me look,” Jaypaw mumbled around the twig. At least Mousefur sounded in a good mood today. If she was in a bad temper she could claw with her tongue almost as harshly as Yellowfang, the former ThunderClan medicine cat whom Jaypaw met in his dreams.

He soon found the tick—not as big as Mousefur said, but swollen enough to make her uncomfortable—and dabbed mouse bile on it until it dropped off.

Mousefur flexed her shoulder. “Thanks, Jaypaw. That’s a whole lot better.”

Jaypaw set the twig aside and began searching the skinny elder’s fur to see if she had picked up any more ticks. “Leafpool wondered if you were stiff after climbing to the Highledge.”

Mousefur snorted. “Tell young Leafpool that I may be an elder but I’m not completely helpless. Why would I be stiff after a little climb like that?”

“Good,” Jaypaw muttered. “Now, do you want your ticks fixed? ’Cause if you do, keep still.”

“Is that how you talk to an elder?” Mousefur’s voice was tart, but Jaypaw could feel her amusement. She settled herself comfortably and went on, “You were at the Gathering, weren’t you? What happened? I know there was trouble, but no cat tells us anything. Was it WindClan again?”

“No…” Jaypaw hesitated. He didn’t want to discuss Sol with any cat.

“Well?” Mousefur snapped. “Badger got your tongue?”

“ShadowClan didn’t come,” Jaypaw began, choosing his words carefully. “Just Blackstar. He had Sol with him.”

“Sol? That tricky lump of fur who told us the sun would disappear?”

“Yes.” Jaypaw was surprised that Mousefur seemed so hostile. “You didn’t like Sol, then?”

“I don’t trust any cat who knows things that StarClan hasn’t told our medicine cat,” Mousefur replied. “There’s something wrong there, or I’m a rabbit.”

“Blackstar spoke to the Gathering,” Jaypaw went on, relieved that Mousefur didn’t know Sol had almost become his mentor for fulfilling the secret prophecy. “He said that Sol had persuaded him and ShadowClan not to listen to StarClan anymore.”

“What?” Jaypaw felt Mousefur’s pelt begin to bristle. “But every Clan cat listens to StarClan. What else are they supposed to do?”

Jaypaw shrugged. “Blackstar thinks living cats can look after themselves.”

Mousefur snorted. “No more than I’d expect from that flea-brain. So what did StarClan have to say about it?”

“Nothing,” Jaypaw admitted. “The moon kept on shining, bright and clear.”

He felt Mousefur’s muscles tense under his paws. “That doesn’t make sense,” she muttered.

Though Jaypaw agreed, he didn’t reply, just retrieved the ball of mouse bile to deal with another tick near the old cat’s tail. “There, you’re done,” he mewed when the tick plopped onto the floor.

Mousefur grunted her thanks, and Jaypaw turned to Longtail. The blind elder had remained silent as Jaypaw passed on the news of the Gathering; Jaypaw could pick up mingled feelings of guilt and confusion. He guessed that Longtail was still feeling bad that he hadn’t been able to fight beside his Clan in the battle. There wasn’t much Jaypaw could say to comfort him. He was blind, too, but at least he had been able to use his medicine cat skills to help.

“Keep still,” he meowed, parting Longtail’s fur gently and making sure his claws were sheathed. “I’ll soon check you for ticks.”

“Thanks, Jaypaw.” Longtail relaxed a little. “Could you check my pad, too?” he added, holding out one forepaw. “I think it got scraped on the stones when I climbed up to the Highledge.”

“Sure.” Jaypaw didn’t find any ticks, and set the mouse bile on one side to run his paws over Longtail’s pad. There was no sign of blood, but he could feel grit embedded in the roughened skin.

Bending his head, Jaypaw rasped his tongue over Longtail’s paw until it felt smooth again. “I don’t think you need any yarrow, but I’ll check it again tomorrow. Keep it clean, and give it a good lick now and again.”

“I’ll do that,” Longtail meowed. “It feels better already.”

Jaypaw picked up the twig and squeezed his way out of the elders’ den. I wish we could sort out Sol and ShadowClan as easily as I can sort out a scraped pad.

He picked up Hollyleaf’s scent close by. A blast of anxiety hit him, like walking into the teeth of a gale; he could almost feel his fur flattened by it.

“I thought you’d never finish!” his sister exclaimed.

“What’s the matter?” Jaypaw asked her.

“We’ve got to talk.” Hollyleaf’s voice was low and tense.

“There was a fight on the ShadowClan border this morning.”

“I know,” Jaypaw replied. “So what? There are border skirmishes all the time.”

“This wasn’t just a border skirmish,” Hollyleaf hissed. “It’s all about Sol. He’s telling the ShadowClan cats to ignore the warrior code.”

“We already knew that,” Jaypaw pointed out.

Hollyleaf’s anxiety crackled like lightning. “Look, we can’t talk now. We need Lionblaze here. Sandstorm and Cloudtail are waiting for me to go on another hunting patrol, so we’ll meet when I get back, okay?”

“Okay.” Jaypaw knew that Hollyleaf wouldn’t give up until he agreed.

“Hollyleaf!” Cloudtail’s voice came from the other side of the camp.

“Coming!” Hollyleaf called back. “I’ll catch you later,” she mewed to Jaypaw, and bounded off.

Shaking his head, half irritated and half worried by his sister’s distress, Jaypaw padded back to his own den.

Jaypaw was tidying the supply of yarrow when Leafpool returned from the forest with a huge bunch of borage leaves.

“I was lucky to find these,” she meowed, dropping the stems at Jaypaw’s paws. “It’s time we started stocking up getting ready for leaf-bare.”

“I can go out and start collecting stuff,” Jaypaw suggested hopefully. Anything to get out of camp!

“In a day or two, maybe,” Leafpool replied. “We should go through the stores first, and check on what we need. Meanwhile, you can shred some of these leaves and chew them into pulp for Briarkit.”

Boring! But Jaypaw knew better than to object. He pushed the yarrow to the back of the cleft where they stored herbs and began tearing the borage leaves apart with his claws. He’d gotten through less than half the pile when he heard paw steps outside the den and caught a whiff of fresh-kill. He picked up Hollyleaf’s scent, too; the hunting patrol had returned.