Sign Of The Moon

“We’ve got…er…stuff to do,” Lionblaze mewed to the new warriors.

Jayfeather sniffed. Sounding awkward will only make them more curious! “Medicine cat stuff,” he snapped. “And I need a warrior with me.”

He could feel the she-cats’ gazes boring into his back as he padded after Lionblaze toward the old Twoleg nest. It was a relief when the undergrowth closed around them and he knew he was out of their sight. But as Jayfeather followed his brother down the old Thunderpath and veered off to climb the slope, he felt his paws growing heavier. Too many memories were thronging into his mind. He seemed to hear Hollyleaf again as she fled into the tunnel, the underground river roaring behind her.

We couldn’t stop her. She wouldn’t listen when we tried to warn her.

Jayfeather felt Lionblaze’s pelt brushing warmly against his side, jerking him out of the memory. “Stay close to me,” his brother murmured. “The ground is rough here, and there are brambles.”

Jayfeather doubted that Lionblaze was just trying to guide him across difficult terrain. He must have the same misgivings, the same memories. There was comfort for both of them in the touch of a littermate’s pelt. But Jayfeather stopped himself from spying on his brother’s memories. He didn’t want to relive that terrible moment over and over again.

Once was enough. And I don’t think I’ll ever be free of it.

“We’re passing the old entrance,” Lionblaze mewed after a few moments. “At least, I think this is the place. It’s covered over with brambles now; no cat will ever get into the tunnels that way again.”

For several fox-lengths the two cats went on climbing; Jayfeather felt the ground grow smoother beneath his paws, and he picked up the pace until he was almost running.

“Watch out!” Lionblaze yowled, pushing him aside just as Jayfeather’s whiskers touched the outermost sticks of the temporary barrier that had been piled up around the hole.

“Watch it yourself,” Jayfeather retorted, ruffling up his fur as he regained his balance. He stretched out one paw and felt the sticks shift. “I thought Dustpelt and Brackenfur were building a proper cover.”

“They’ve started,” Lionblaze meowed. “But they haven’t had time to get all the way around. We can still get through.”

“Good.”

“I’ll go in first,” Lionblaze continued. “You wait here until I’ve checked it out.”

Jayfeather opened his jaws for a stinging retort. I’m not a kit! You don’t need to take care of me! But he bit back the words; Lionblaze sounded tense and angry, and Jayfeather guessed that he was struggling with his memories of Hollyleaf, rather than worrying about a blind littermate. He heard the rattle of sticks as Lionblaze pushed his way through the temporary barrier. He followed, whiskers quivering as he tried to sense the edges of the hole.

“Careful!” Lionblaze warned him.

“I’m being careful,” Jayfeather insisted as he skirted the hole, getting an idea of how big it was. He stretched out his head and let out a loud meow, listening for the echo as it came up from below. “Deep,” he muttered. “I’m not surprised Icecloud couldn’t climb out.” His ears flicked forward as he listened for the roar of the underground river, but he couldn’t hear anything today. The water must be lower.

“I have to get down there, into the tunnel,” Jayfeather announced.

He heard his brother’s sigh of resignation. “I think you’re completely mouse-brained.” There was anger in Lionblaze’s voice, but fear, too: fear of what they might find if they looked too hard.

“Don’t you want to know the truth?” Jayfeather asked.

“What truth?” Lionblaze challenged him. “It’s been hidden for this long; it can stay hidden forever. Hollyleaf has gone, and we both know that’s for the best. What’s the point in stirring it all up again?”

Jayfeather stretched out his tail to touch his brother on the shoulder. “The caves below the hills have been giving up secrets ever since the Clans arrived here,” he mewed. “Nothing stays hidden down there—nothing.”

Down below, in the distance, Jayfeather thought that he could hear the faint voice of Falling Leaves, trapped forever in the tunnels when he failed to become a sharpclaw.

“Help me! Help me find the way out!” the ancient cat’s voice echoed.

Lionblaze let out a heavy sigh. “Have it your way. But if you insist on going down there, you’re not going alone. I’m coming with you.” He stood beside Jayfeather where he could look down into the tunnel. “It’s too far to jump,” he reported after a moment. “Unless we want a wrenched shoulder like Icecloud.”

“What about the ivy tendril they used to pull Icecloud and Dovepaw up?” Jayfeather suggested, his paws itching with a mixture of apprehension and impatience. “Is that still here?”

“Yes,” Lionblaze replied. “But it won’t bear your weight, let alone mine. We need to think of something else.”

Jayfeather heard the sticks shifting as Lionblaze leaped back over the barrier. Frustrated, he clawed the loose earth at the edge of the hole. I’ll jump down on my own if he doesn’t get a move on!