Chapter One
Briarlight crept up on a mouse, setting down her paws lightly and keeping her belly low to the ground. Slithering across the forest floor, she pounced, snapping the mouse's neck. With a muffled mew of pride, she raised her head proudly, the mouse dangling from her jaws. A breeze ruffled her fur, and sunlight glittered on her pelt.

"Wake up!" a voice hissed.

With a gasp of shock, Briarlight snapped her eyes open and raised her head. She found herself staring right into Jayfeather's blue eyes. Suddenly everything came rushing back to her - the falling tree, the pain in her legs … then no pain at all. It was all a dream. She couldn't hunt anymore. She couldn't even walk. Briarlight sighed loudly and heaved herself to her front paws. "Yes, Jayfeather?"

"Are you up for a long walk?" the silver tabby asked, drawing back a bit from Briarlight's face. He looked distinctly awkward, as if he wasn't sure what he was about to do.

I can't walk, you stupid furball, Briarlight thought inwardly. "I guess," she meowed aloud.

"Good. We're going to take a little journey." Jayfeather turned away and began gathering traveling herbs. "I don't want you collapsing in the middle." He leaned down and bit a dead leaf off a stalk, then began shuffling herbs around again.

Briarlight perked up. "A journey?" she asked. "Are we going to the Moonpool?"

Jayfeather fixed Briarlight with such a penetrating gaze that for a moment she couldn't even believe he was blind. "If I were going to the Moonpool," Jayfeather replied. "I wouldn't be making traveling herbs, nor would I be bringing you. Besides, it's not the half-moon." Before Briarlight could defend herself, he pushed a bundle of herbs toward her. "There. Eat."

With a roll of her eyes, Briarlight dragged herself forward and leaned down. As she chewed the herbs, she could hear Jayfeather eating his own traveling herbs. When they were done, Jayfeather swiped his tongue around his lips and glared down at the brown she-cat. "Come on," he meowed. "We haven't got all day. I want to at least get halfway there before sunset."

Briarlight opened her mouth to ask Where are we going?, but Jayfeather was already pushing aside the brambles and emerging into the clearing. Not wanting to be left behind, she rapidly dragged herself after him as he bounded across the clearing and slipped into the forest. The soft dirt and trailing ferns were like a cool drink of water to Briarlight - she hadn't been out in the forest for moons. "Wow!" she murmured, half to herself. "Everything's so beautiful."

Jayfeather twitched his tail impatiently but said nothing. Even he understands the joy I feel, Briarlight realized. There's more to him than his grumpy exterior, isn't there? Shocked by her own thoughts, the brown she-cat shook her head and pushed through the fronds after the ThunderClan medicine cat.

They were already deep into the unknown woods above the Clan's territory, and Briarlight glanced around uncertainly. If they were traveling to anywhere that was familiar to her, they would have changed their course a while ago. So wherever they were going, it was a surprise. Briarlight narrowed her eyes. Jayfeather is up to something. Why won't he tell me where we're going?

As the sun sank lower in the sky, Briarlight finally couldn't take it anymore. "Jayfeather!" she called. "Stop. I need to ask you a question."

Jayfeather turned, looking uncertain. He must have expected her question, but wasn't eager to reveal the answer. But Briarlight refused to move, shaking her head firmly when the silver tabby tried to continue without a word. Sighing, Jayfeather twitched his ear. "Fine," he meowed. "But don't blame me if anything happens."

Briarlight rolled her eyes. "Just tell me where we're going. It's not that hard, is it?"

With another sigh, Jayfeather looked to the sky. The first warriors of StarClan were appearing, and it appeared as if he were pleading to his ancestors for help. But before Briarlight could comment on this, Jayfeather looked down again and stared right into her eyes, his blind eyes burning into her glittering amber ones. "I'm taking you to get your legs fixed," he said, so quiet that Briarlight could barely hear him.

For a moment there was dead silence.

"You're taking me to what?" Briarlight squealed.

Jayfeather turned his head away to stare at a clump of daisies. "I know, I know. It seemed impossible, but I thought on it for a long while, and I decided that there was a way to fix your spine. But you're not going to like it," he warned.

Briarlight narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"

Jayfeather tried to avoid her gaze. It was very unusual for him to be so awkward and embarrassed, and Briarlight wondered if there was something wrong with him. Before she could ponder this further, he opened his mouth and said something.. But he mumbled it so low that she couldn't hear it no matter how hard she strained.

"What was that?" she meowed.

Looking very frustrated, Jayfeather shouted, "I'm taking you to the Twolegs!" Then, thoroughly embarrassed, he turned his back to her and glared down at his paws.

Briarlight immediately felt two conflicting emotions - guilt for making Jayfeather feel so awkward, and astonishment at the fact that he was taking her to the Twolegs. "I … I thought-" Briarlight cut herself off with a shake of her head. As quietly as she could, she dragged herself over to Jayfeather and touched his shoulder lightly with her muzzle. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "Why are you taking me to the Twolegs?"

Jayfeather craned his head around to stare at her, and she instantly felt embarrassed that she acted so forward with her actions. I've never done that before, she realized, rubbing at her muzzle with a paw. Briarlight opened her mouth to say something, but Jayfeather cut her off.

"I know how frustrated you are with your broken spine. So I went up here," Jayfeather gestured with his tail at the woods around them. "And found a small Twolegplace about a day or two from the camp. One of the Twoleg nests was bigger than the others, and Twolegs took their injured or sick pets - like kittypets and dogs - into the nest. When they came back out, the pets were … they were healed. So I thought, maybe, there's a hope for your legs." He paused, and Briarlight racked her brain for something to say. But she saved from having to reply when Jayfeather swept on. "I know you must be angry at me, dragging you out here to meet some Twolegs, but I thought, well, if this is the only way, then we have to do it. And besides," he added, sounding more like his prickly self. "You can't stay in the medicine den forever. I might need room for sick or injured cats."

Briarlight struggled for something to say. This was the most Jayfeather had ever said to her at once, and he was acting very strange. She didn't know how to react. Especially because of what he just said - he wanted to take her to the Twolegs? She had always shied away from them, but her mother, Millie, used to tell her stories about them when she was a kit. They look scary because they don't understand cats, her mother had comforted her. And us cats don't completely understand them either. But most Twolegs are actually nice, if you give them a chance. She wondered if what her mother said was true. She had never experienced the destruction in the old forest, so the only interaction she had ever had with Twolegs was watching their water monsters on the lake. They don't seem cruel, she admitted to herself. Just loud and strange, that's all. And if they could fix her legs, who was she to argue? It was all she had ever longed for - to hunt, to run, to be useful again. The Twolegs could give her entire life back.

"All right," she meowed, touching Jayfeather's ear with her muzzle before she could think. "I'll do it."

Jayfeather looked surprised and relieved. "Good," he meowed brusquely, back to his old self now that all the messy stuff was out. "Now come on. I want to go a little farther before nightfall." Without another word, he rose and padded away. Briarlight, feeling a strange twinge in her chest - of joy or fear or curiosity, she didn't know - quickly got to her front paws and dragged herself after him.

They didn't go much farther before the sun completely set. Darkness engulfed the sky, and even the twinkling stars couldn't compensate for the weak, think moon. The foliage a fox-length in front of the pair were hidden by shadows. Jayfeather stopped and scented the air. "No foxes or badgers," he reported. "Let's stop for the night."

Briarlight spotted a clump of arching ferns. "Let's stay there," she suggested. "It looks like decent shelter." She dragged herself over to them and nosed the fronds to the side. A shallow hollow lay in shadows before her, just big enough for her and Jayfeather. "It looks safe," she commented.

Jayfeather stalked over to the ferns and stared down into the hollow. "Sure," he grunted, and slipped down into the shelter. Curling up, he closed his eyes and shifted to get comfortable. With a twitch of her whiskers, Briarlight settled down next to him.

The hollow was small, and her fur was pressed up against Jayfeather's side. The medicine cat opened one eye and stared at her, but didn't move away. Briarlight awkwardly tried to shift away from him, but when she did, half of her was out in the open. Sighing, she settled back into the hollow and let herself lean against Jayfeather. And I have to admit it doesn't exactly feel bad, she thought to herself. Her fur tingled where he touched her, and Briarlight fell asleep with the scent and pelt of Jayfeather all around her.