Chapter Three

Jayfeather and Crowfeather were now at the ThunderClan and WindClan border. Neither of them spoke. As in the dream, the wind echoed in their ears, slightly ruffling their fur. A scent pulled Jayfeather's nostrils; it was sweet, with herbs and damp with the scent of trees. He sighed, recognizing the scent. It belonged to his mother, Leafpool. His father recognized her scent as well. Jayfeather could feel his claws scrape the grass, from anger or pain he couldn't tell.

"I never meant to fall in love with Leafpool." Jayfeather could feel his father's remorse tingling in his body. "I was still mourning…" Suddenly Crowfeather fell silent. Jayfeather knew that he couldn't say the name of the she-cat that had first taken his father's heart.

"You were mourning Feathertail," said Jayfeather calmly. He felt his father's surprise. "I know about her," Jayfeather cautioned. "Leafpool explained to me how broken you were when she died."

"Broken?" Crowfeather snarled. "I was more than broken. I felt as if the reason for living had gone from my useless body." A shudder escaped from him, and Jayfeather suddenly felt a flash from his memory. "Feathertail…Feathertail…no! Don't leave me." He saw his father as a young tom, an apprentice at the time before the Great Journey. Grief and sorrow echoed in his eyes, and he struggled even to speak. Feathertail's voice was barely audible as she spoke to Crowfeather – then Crowpaw. The apprentice who would become his father wailed as his first love became still. Jayfeather gasped. It was the same wail as the wail in Crowfeather's dream! He lost his sight again as he heard Crowfeather's raw voice. "I thought I would never come home. I wanted to stay with her…forever. My Clan was destroyed, Jayfeather. My Clanmates, most of them, apprentices and elders, were now in StarClan, including my brother."

He met Jayfeather's sightless gaze. "His name was Jaypaw, and he was the only cat that understood me." Jayfeather felt a rush of emotions from his father, obscuring his own shock and disbelief. "Our father died before we were born, and Ashfoot wouldn't tell us who he was. She only told us that he was a brave, strong, and loyal warrior. She didn't spent much time with us, and so Jaypaw and I mostly raised ourselves. One time, we found out the truth about our father. He was the deputy of WindClan when he died, battling the Tigerstar and his followers. Ashfoot wouldn't speak of him because of her grief from his death. Tallstar told me that she loved Deadfoot more than life. I remember standing on the Great Rock at four moons old, vowing to my father that I would become a fine leader of WindClan that he had failed to become." Crowfeather fell silent, lost in his own thoughts.

"I don't think Leafpool knew about Jaypaw when she named you. I don't think anyone knew how close Jaypaw and I were, or how his death changed me. He was my only friend, and Jaypaw's death was like Feathertail all over again. I wanted to die. Only Leafpool with her kindness and sincerity saved me, Jayfeather. I felt angry at myself for falling in love again so recently after Feathertail's death. Then when she left me for her Clan…I felt betrayed. I felt like Feathertail's and Jaypaw's deaths had just happened! I hated her then for what she did to me! But the hatred didn't last." Jayfeather felt his father's voice soften. "I still loved her. I only took Nightcloud as a mate to prove my loyalty to WindClan. I tried to hate your mother, but I ended up falling more in love with her each time." Crowfeather snorted. "They didn't trust me, and I don't blame them. Nightcloud knew I didn't love her, and she nurtured that belief onto Breezepelt. Eventually, by the time the Dark Forest had risen, they both hated me with every breath in my body. They hated me more than you. They just wanted to hurt you, your brother, and your mother to hurt me. They both knew that your deaths would be more painful than my own."

"Does that mean that you loved us all along?" Jayfeahter prompted.

"I –" Jayfeather heard his father scraping the ground again. "Hide," he hissed to his son.

"What –" Jayfeather didn't get a chance to ask the question. Quickly, Crowfeather shoved him into a bush nearby. The leaves wafted through Jayfeather's nose, but he still smelled the reek of Breezepelt and Nightcloud.

"Have you come for me?" Crowfeather growled. Jayfeather could hear the tension in his voice.

"No, we've come for your medicine cat and the crow-food of a mate," Breezepelt growled. Jayfeather could easily envision his half-brother's hate in his eyes.

"We've only come for them, Crowfeather, not you." Nightcloud's voice was soft and sweet, but Jayfeather could feel the malice underneath her soothing balm. "We'll let you go if you let us through."

Jayfeather was surprised at the firmness of his father's tone. "I won't let you."

Breezepelt growled deep in his throat. "Then you will die!" He felt Breezepelt's sloppy charge as he ran towards their father.

Snarls and yowls echoed through Jayfeather's ears as Crowfeather and Breezepelt fought. He suddenly felt Nightcloud's sharp claws around his shoulders, and smelled her intoxicating scent. Jayfeather gagged, and with his strength, tried to unhook Nightcloud. It was useless as Nightcloud slashed his back with her claws. His resistance became weak as he felt Nightcloud drag his bleeding body out of the bush. "Stop now or he dies," she hissed. Jayfeather could feel her bloodied paw across his neck. He could hear Crowfeather's paws move away from Breezepelt, and felt his slight purr of satisfaction as he slashed Crowfeather's neck open.

"No!" Jayfeather yowled. He heard the sound of Crowfeather's body collapsing onto the ground, and his weak gasps as Breezepelt's satisfaction lingered in the air. Jayfeather felt himself overcome with rage, and broke free from Nightcloud's grip. He could see her now, without his eyes, her whiskers twitching in satisfaction. Using strength unknown to him until now, Jayfeather slashed his claws down her head and face. Warm blood coated his claws as he wounded Nightcloud. A haze of rage overwhelmed him. Blood trickled down onto the grass, and he felt it trickle on his own pelt. Nightcloud collapsed beneath him, and she shuddered. She lied still.

A scream of agony and hate echoed in his ears. Jayfeather could see Breezepelt's eyes, burning with hate and intent to kill. Before the rouge could, however, Crowfeather shakily stood on his four legs and clawed his elder son's stomach. Breezepelt gasped for breath as his intestines flowed out with blood. He screamed for mercy. He begged for Tigerstar. He vowed revenge. Then he died.

Jayfeather slowly walked over to Crowfeather. His father's breathing was labored, but Breezepelt's claws did not wound his airway. "Are you all right?" His tail gestured to his son's back wounds.

"I've faced worse," Jayfeather replied. "I'm glad they're gone," he confessed. He wouldn't look at the two bodies.

"They won't be able to hurt anyone anymore," added Crowfeather. "And to the answer to your question, I do love Leafpool, Lionblaze, and you. I love you three more than life."

Jayfeather paused. A rush of emotions overwhelmed him, and he calmed himself. Still, his voice quivered slightly. "I do believe you would make a fine leader of WindClan, Crowfeather."

Crowfeather was silent for a moment. Then he said, "Perhaps."