Another Bird

Summary: Sparrowpaw is a deaf apprentice from a Clan far away. When he stumbles onto ThunderClan territory, Ashfur and Lionpaw find him in a terrible state. They take him to Jaypaw and Leafpool, who help nurse him back to health. When Firestar invites him to join the Clan, Sparrowpaw doesn't know what to do. He'll have to tell them about his disability eventually, but will they take it like his old Clan and kick him out? Or will his new friends stand up for him and help?

Prologue

I couldn't help it. I collapsed. My paws couldn't hold my weight anymore. The other cats had been too strong, and I hadn't even seen them coming. I hadn't even felt them coming, which I normally would have. But their paws had hit the ground too softly.

Closer to the ground now, I could feel the rough vibrations of pawsteps. Running pawsteps, probably an apprentice. I wanted to drag myself toward the help, but at the same time, I wanted to get back, to hide.

Suddenly, a golden tabby tom appeared, bursting out of the undergrowth. He gaped at me for a moment. I had to concentrate to decipher the movements of his mouth as he spoke.

"Ashfur!" he was calling. "Ashfur, come here!"

A pale gray tom burst out of the undergrowth not far away. He too gaped. "Who is he?" he asked the other tom.

The first tom shrugged. He was probably an apprentice. "I don't know." He turned to me. "Who are you?"

I shook my head. Keeping my words un-slurred and legible took enough concentration. I couldn't try to speak and keep my secret in this state.

"We need to get him to Leafpool," said the second tom, who was obviously a warrior. "Lionpaw, help me get him up."

The apprentice nodded and came around to one side of me. He knelt down next to me and waited for the other tom to come around on the other side. Then, together, the worked to help me into a standing position. My shoulder screamed in pain. I was pretty sure that it was in worse condition than my other wounds. Being deaf, I wasn't used to making a lot of noises, so instead, I simply squinted my eyes shut.

Now I couldn't hear or see anything the two cats were saying though, so I opened my eyes. The golden tom was staring at me with a worried look in his eyes. He glanced up at the warrior. "I think he ran into ShadowClan," he said.

I would have turned my head to find out what the other tom was saying, but I couldn't muster the energy. Instead, I let my head loll to one side, landing on the tabby's shoulder. I didn't care what anyone was saying anymore. In this state, I wouldn't have enough energy to figure it out anyway.

My eyes began to droop, and I fought hard to remain conscious. For a moment, I could have sworn I'd caught a hint of angry green eyes poking out of a black background somewhere in the forest. My heart beat irrationally fast as the eyes brought back memories, but as soon as I looked directly at them, the eyes disappeared.

As the two toms began to move, I felt my shoulder scream in pain, and I welcomed the bliss of unconsciousness with an open heart.

Jaypaw scented his brother before he heard him. He and Ashfur were returning from a hunting patrol, but something was wrong. Jaypaw turned, frowning. Someone was hurt, but he didn't recognize the scent. Who was it?

He heard the two of them approach the entrance to the medicine den and called out. "Lionpaw? What's going on?"

"Jaypaw!" he heard his brother call as he entered the den. Jaypaw took a sniff of the air and smelled that same strange scent from before.

"Who's with you?" he asked. "He doesn't smell like any cat I've ever met before."

"None of us have met him," Lionpaw answered. "He didn't even tell us his name. He's really badly hurt though. Can you help him?"

Jaypaw moved to the tom's side and lay down next to him. He pressed his nose to the tom's fur, breathing in the smell of sickness and infection.

"He's got an infected wound," Jaypaw said, standing up. "But nothing serious, other than that. I should be able to take care of it, provided Leafpool gets back with those herbs soon." He let out a low growl. His mentor had been taking an awfully long time collecting the herbs they needed.

"She'll be back soon," Ashfur promised. "We passed her on the way out to the border."

Jaypaw nodded. "Thank you, Lionpaw, Ashfur. You can go."

"Are you sure?" Lionpaw asked worriedly. "There's nothing we can do?"

Jaypaw gave an annoyed sigh. "No, Lionpaw, there's nothing. Now go. You can, however, tell Firestar about our little arrival here." He could sense his brother's hesitation and quickly said, "There's nothing you can do in here. I need peace and quiet so I don't mess up. Now get out."

"Sorry Jaypaw," Lionpaw said quickly. His brother turned and headed out, but Jaypaw could sense him stop for a moment and cast a worried glance in the direction of the young tom. Jaypaw was about to snap something angrily, but then his Lionpaw turned and left the medicine den.

A/N: So, how was it? R & R!

--Cloudfeather