Chapter 22: Crows

Tansy, dock, marigold, comfrey, watermint, feverfew, tormentil, ragwort... all the basics. Jay leaned over the leaves that Amelia had left drying, touching them with appreciation. The leaves, soaked and dried, could now be stored and used for moons to come.

The sun beat down on the white sand and Jay felt the irritating itch of it under her claws, in her fur, and in her mouth. She wondered how long she could last in a camp like this. "Flint! Toss it here!" Ice's voice commanded with serious playfulness.

Jay looked over her shoulder to see her three kits playing with a moss ball, Flint and Ice throwing it between them. Hail leaped and tried to intercept it as it went over his head, eyes glazed with determination as his attempts grazed the ball. They certainly didn't mind the sand.

It was sun-high, the day after she had seen Silver. After taking a much needed rest, Jay felt energy pour through her veins once more. Her plan was to return to Silver with marigold, feverfew, tormentil, and ragwort and convince the she-cat to allow her to heal her in exchange for information.

"Mom! Ice is cheating!" Hail cried, she winced as he ran toward her and sprayed her pelt with sand with his clumsy bounds.

"What is she doing?" she asked, glancing at Ice who was huffing at the far side of the clearing while Flint looked between the two siblings with the mossball at his paws.

"She kept throwing the ball too high so that I couldn't get it," Hail told her matter-of-factly.

Jay looked between all three kits in slight exasperation, "Wasn't that the point of the game?"

"No!" Hail cried impatiently, stomping his little paws in the sand as he looked at her, silently pleading her to understand. "You're supposed to throw the ball low enough so that the one in the middle has the chance of getting it! If you throw it so high, I can't win and that's no fun!" Hail explained in a whining voice.

Jay looked up at Ice again, "Play nice and let your brother have fun too!" she called.

Ice didn't respond directly, instead declaring, "I don't want to play this stupid game anymore." Jay sighed and shook her head.

Flint shrugged, taking the mossball and bounded over to Hail, "Let's just play by ourselves then," he mewed. Hail nodded excitedly and they went out into the middle of the clearing, tossing the mossball between them with excited squeals.

Jay watched with her whiskers twitching in amusement as Ice, who had wandered away, was attracted back by the happy cries and watched the two playing with longing, but she didn't ask to join in. Jay turned back to the herbs and put them away in neat piles in one of the many stone dens.

With her head in the rock, she didn't hear Ice pad up to her until she heard her sigh loudly. Jay pulled her head out, shaking the dust from her paws as she looked down at her dark gray she-kit. "Something wrong?" Jay asked happily, sitting gingerly down on the sand and wrapping her tail over her paws.

Ice didn't respond but looked at her brothers. "I don't think they like me," Ice mewed with resignation.

Jay couldn't hide her surprise as she watched her moon-old-daughter watch her sons with a hint of detached sadness. The expression was painfully familiar, though Jay had never seen it on a face so young. That's right, that's how I felt.

She could remember clearly returning to the nursery in tears since every other kit and apprentice wanted to play the same game day after day and they never wanted to play her games. Scorch had soothed her by rubbing her back and asking her softly why she wouldn't play with the others. She had only been two moons old when she had decided not to play with anyone but her brother again.

Jay found herself using her own soft paw to rub her daughter's tiny back, looking at her with love and sympathy. "I'm sure they would love to play with you," she purred softly.

Ice shook her head, and looked the other way. "They don't care about me," her voice was tight and when she let out her breath it was with a shuddering sigh; but no tears fell.

Jay purred and reached down to nose her daughter lightly. "I know that they do. Why don't we go over there together and all play?"

Ice looked at her happily now, they all loved it when she played with them. "Alright!" Ice jumped to her paws and led her over to her brothers with her tail in the air. "Mom's going to play with us!" Ice called, running toward her brothers.

Flint and Hail paused their game immediately and looked at the two she-cats, pleasure spreading over their tiny faces. Flint leapt into the air in excitement, "What game are we playing? Beat the badger? Fillet the fox? Murder the mouse?" the little tom rambled on.

Jay purred, "How about a new game? Called 'catch the crow?'"

"Yes!" the three kits cried in unison, turning to look at her with bright eyes.

"Alright," Jay mewed, warmth filling her chest. "This is how you play. One of us is the crow, and we have to stand on one of the stones," she mewed, nodding at the various rocks around the clearing. "And the rest have to try to knock the 'crow' off it's perch. But if the 'crow' manages to catch your tail, you lose. The game ends when either the crow is knocked off or all the tails have been caught."

The kits nodded attentively, taking in the rules like water. Jay purred, "Who wants to be the crow?"

Three tails stood up as another three voices spoke in unison, "Me!"

Jay purred, looking at each of the kits, "You will each get a turn," she promised. "Flint, you're up first!" The tom whooped with joy as he ran over to a slightly tall rock- by his standards- and scrambled up. It was nearly flat on top so he was able to stand comfortably and as the rock was easy to climb up and was only one tail-lengths high- about Jay's height- she approved of it and the game began.

Flint stood proudly, his black and silver tabby pelt a dark contrast atop the sandy-colored rock. He puffed out his chest and let out a 'cuckaw!' imitation of a bird while Ice and Hail circled the rock beneath him, eyes bright with mischief.

Jay joined them, circling the rock at a wider breadth and padding across the sand with her toes so that she hardly made a sound. Although for her it would have been ridiculously easy to knock Flint off or to jump on top of the rock, this game was to teach the kits and she gave only a few swipes at Flint that were easy to avoid but which made him giddy with joy.

All the games she ever taught them she had designed to start giving them an edge for hunting and fighting. This game would teach the 'crow' to fight defensively, manage his balance, and aim to hit a particular point on his opponent. And it would teach the ones trying to knock the 'crow' off how to fight an enemy on higher ground then them. And all of her games taught her kits how to work together.

Ice made the first move, leaping up onto a lower part of the rock and swiping at Flint's paws. Flint took a step back and tried to pounce on Ice's grasping paw but stumbled as Hail swiped at his legs from behind, having jumped up while Flint was distracted.

Jay purred as Flint turned around and cuffed his smaller brother soundly over the ears, using his superior strength to knock his brother down the rock. But Ice used his distraction to jump up on the rock and wrapped her forelegs around his neck, hauling him over the edge with her and nearly smushing Hail as they fell onto the sand.

"I win!" Ice's voice was shrill with triumph as Flint sedately picked himself up off the ground and shook out his pelt.

"Good job!" his voice was easy and his eyes were merry. Hail joined his sister, sharing in the victory, two gray cats with the same green eyes.

"Okay, Hail, it's your turn," Jay mewed, purring over her kits warmly.

Ice spun around to look at her, "But I was the one who beat Flint!"

"As if you could have done it alone," scoffed Hail as he climbed onto the rock.

Ice glared after him, "I'll beat you too!" she shouted, circling impatiently around the bottom of the rock as Hail crouched against the top.

Jay paused with her paw raised, her nose in the air. "Mom, are you still going to play?" Flint asked, still standing beside her and looking up with a curious expression.

"Yes, in a moment. I need to check something," Jay purred, using her tail to sweep him toward the rock. He glanced back at her, dark blue eyes concerned, but he shrugged and joined Ice as she circled Hail with an annoyed expression.

Jay turned away and hurried to the other side of the clearing where Amelia laid on one of the flat slabs of stone, soaking in the sun's warmth. She'd been there all day and Jay was surprised she wasn't cooked through by now. "Amelia," she growled, poking the silky black she-cat.

Although she was sure Amelia had been fast asleep, the two amber eyes popped open immediately and searched her expression scathingly. "I'll watch your stupid furballs," the black she-cat growled, without needing an explanation.

Jay nodded and guessed that Amelia had already noticed. "I won't leave until you're sitting up," she declared, waiting for Amelia's irked expression to pass as she complied and sat up, her dark shadow cast upon the forest beyond as she gave a yawn that showed off all her teeth.

Jay left the camp, hurrying on the trail toward the tunnels. A smell was disturbing her; it was cat scent, fresh, and it came from this direction. She had thought it may be Silver, but this scent was tom. Was it a StarReader? A rogue? Another escaped member of Python's forces? She didn't think she could welcome any more new faces in such an inclosed space.

She paused at the mouth of the tunnel, the small black hole in the mountainside echoed with pawsteps. Some cat was coming through. Jay drank in the dark air from the tunnel; it was certainly a tomcat, a hint of foulness suggested it was dirty, but there was no blood or sickness. Jay breathed in deeper, knowing she'd smelled this cat before. But it wasn't until the cat was nearly at the end of the tunnel that she recognized the scent with a groan. Why him of all cats?

Out stepped a mess of black fur that owned two yellow eyes. The elder from the Eagle Tree meeting! She remembered well now his ungracious manners and dirty pelt that she had been obliged to groom. She looked over his fur with annoyance, only two days had passed and he was already a mess again, though she admitted he didn't smell as bad as he had when she first met him.

The old tom didn't seem surprised to see her, or especially pleased, and greeted her with a grunt. "What are you doing here?" Jay demanded in a cold voice, she owed him nothing at all this time.

"I could ask you the same thing," he grumbled, his yellow eyes raking her over until she felt as if she had sand itching her pelt- which she probably did.

"I was under the impression that no cat lived here anymore," the elder grumbled, his eyes flashing with fresh irritation. "But I see that I was wrong."

"Clearly," Jay retorted, sticking out her chest, "I'm living here now and you're not welcome," she added, she was not going to start taking care of cats left and right.

The black tom didn't respond but walked past her, pushing her stubbornly out of the way when she blocked him. Jay hissed as he pushed her aside as if she weighed as much as a feather, he's like a lumbering badger! She thought as he pushed through the thick foliage, creating his own path instead of using the sandy trail.

Jay followed him, ears flat against her head. How was she going to get rid of him? She hurried forward, reaching the sandy camp before the elder and went over to Amelia, waving her tail at her kits as they called to her. "That elder from the meeting is here," Jay growled.

Amelia, who had been laying on her belly with her eyes on the kits responded with a languid ease, "I wasn't at the meeting."

"Help me get rid of him!" Jay growled.

"I'm watching your furballs," Amelia sighed, "Just kill him or something."

"Why would I kill him?" Jay mewed angrily, "He's not a threat, he's an annoyance."

Amelia shrugged, closing one eye to her, "I kill things that annoy me."

Jay smirked, "And yet my kits are still alive," she remarked with amusement.

Amelia scowled, "That's because they're supposed to be your annoyance, not mine."

Jay tried a couple more times to enlist Amelia's help, especially when she heard the steady crashing of the tom's lumbering steps growing closer, but it was no use. Amelia wouldn't be persuaded to leave her warm rock for anything and proved it by threatening to claw Jay's ears off if she didn't leave her alone at that moment.

As her kits spotted the tom that had appeared from the screen of foliage and raced over to her with a wail, she turned and faced the tom once more, trotting forward as he paused at the edge of the sand clearing. "Please leave," she mewed with taunt politeness, "Or I may have to persuade you with force," she added, unsheathing her claws.

The tom had an almost amused look in his eyes, "My fur is too thick and messy to be hurt by such little prickers," he snorted, gesturing to her paws. "And I recall that you promised to groom and feed me when you first met me and dragged me out of my den."

Jay bristled, "That was only for when you came to the meeting! I did it, so now there's no more promise."

"No, no, no," the tom shook his broad head over her, "That's not what you said. You said that if I came to the meeting, you promised to hunt for me and groom my fur. You never said only once."

Jay grumbled in her throat, "I'm not going to take care of you whether or not I said that. Why don't you just go back to your own den, why are you even out on a mountainside like this?"

The tom nodded around at the hideout, "This was my home seasons ago, and I figured if these Star cats or whatnot were going to be causing trouble, I ought to get out before the first snowfall."

Jay glared at him, "This wasn't your home seasons ago, it was Python's. I heard that he'd lived here for moons."

The black cat shrugged, "He did. Two cats can live on the same mountain, can't they? And I won't be leaving," his yellow eyes shone with such stubbornness that Jay was nearly swept back to her apprentice days, having to clean and hunt for the elders and not being allowed to take a break even when she was bone-tired from battle-training or patrols.

"Then go somewhere else in the mountains, this is my home," Jay stood her ground against the older and bigger elder, it mattered little if he had known Python or was an elder, she doubted he could give her anything worth her trouble at this point.

The tom ignored her and pushed past her again, heading for one of the slabs of stone and, having climbed on top of it, laid down on his belly and closed his eyes. Jay stared at him with indignation. This was her home! He couldn't do whatever he liked and ignore her! For half a moment she contemplated taking him by his ratty tail and flinging him out of the camp.

She sighed and looked up at the pale blue sky, this wasn't the time to be making unnecessary enemies, so long as he was gone by tonight she'd put up with his antics. She didn't sense any ill intent from him and Amelia didn't seem bothered by him as she curled down to sleep on her own rock, Jay thought that the two black cats could be cousins.

Jay's kits, however, were much stirred by this intruder, the three of them were hiding behind one of the rocks, taking peeks at the already sleeping elder and sharing secretive whispers with each other. Oh well, he would at least keep the kits amused for half a day or so.

Fed up with the two black cats in the clearing, Jay told her kits to behave once more and ordered Amelia to watch her kits again, pushing the she-cat off the rock when she only responded with an ear twitch. The black she-cat gave her a baleful glare and then sat up on the sand, proceeding to groom her fur as Jay left.

The sun had passed behind the mountains again and the eastern mountainside was mantled in pale shadows. She followed the trail she had taken the previous night, noticing how much more open it seemed in the daylight. There were no trees, only a few low bushes dotted the green up-slope that gradually turned to gray stone.

She could see out over the eastern mountains, a collection of stony mountain tops that peeked and fell into scraggly valleys, none of them nearly lush enough to sport such greenness as there was in the valley or around the sandy clearing.

She realized the height of this mountain was impressive, considering that many of the others fell short even from where she stood now. They seemed more comely, their climbs more gradual and their peaks less pointed. They lacked the power of the mountains that guarded the valley.

Jay turned her thoughts away from the ancient hills, complacent enough to not wonder what lay beyond her sights. She entered the stony land where Silver lay. The stale scents of last night clung stubbornly to the rocks as she halted in front of pale tabby's den and pricked her ears.

The rough breathing and prickly sensation told her that Silver was awake and watching her. "Are you ready to comply now?" Jay called, stepping forward.

"Go away," the answer was a dark growl, fueled by pain.

"If you don't accept my help, you will die," Jay mewed sternly. She was fed up with Silver's nonsense and had left her herbs at the hideout in irritation, Silver would have to come with her if she wanted to live.

"Then I'll die happily knowing you'll be sad about it," Silver's hiss was venomous.

Jay's tail lashed once and her eyes narrowed, if the pale tabby thought she'd let her die without giving up some information she was the biggest moron she'd ever met. And Jay had met a lot of morons. "I guess I'll have to make you allow me to save your life," she mewed through gritted teeth, stomping toward the den.

There was a scuffling noise inside the den followed by a hiss, whether it from from pain or defiance Jay was too annoyed to know. She entered the dark den, finding it larger and colder then she had thought it would be. She found the she-cat by scent and the pulsing warmth that emanated from her.

"Stay away from me," Silver seethed as Jay moved closer.

"Not a chance," Jay purred, feeling slightly happy that she'd made the cat so upset. "You're coming with me whether you like it or not." Jay lunged forward and grabbed the she-cat by the scruff. As she'd expected, the cat was light from a lack of food and weak from her wounds, but she did feel Silver's claws scratching her as she dragged her out of the cave and back along the route to the sandy hideout. Once the she-cat managed to land a hard blow on her cheek and scratch her muzzle enough for it to drip with blood for a few moments. The ache and sting did nothing but annoy Jay further.

She ignored Silver's incessant struggles and swears that both grew noticeably weaker as they grew closer to the hideout and silence rose between them. Silver seemed concerned with her dark mumblings as her eyes glazed with exhaustion, Jay could tell she was in pain. But she was more concerned with wondering if the elder had left yet or what her kits would think of this new cat.

She wasn't, however, too worried about what Silver would think of her kits. The tabby was too weak to be a threat and too softhearted to be manipulative, her kits would not be in danger from Silver. As they came within earshot of the camp, green plants screening them from view, Jay released Silver and turned on her.

"I have one thing for you to keep in mind when we get to the camp," she mewed harshly. "No swearing. My kits don't need more insults to use against each other and I don't want them to be exposed to such..." Jay gestured at Silver for lack of words. "You understand what I mean?" her question was more rhetorical and Silver gave her a slight glare.

"Do your kits know what you've done?" Silver snarled.

Jay sent her a look so hot that the tabby shrunk back in spite of herself. "No, and if you wish to keep your tongue, it will remain that way. " That ended any conversation as Jay herded Silver in front of her into the camp.

As the tabby blinked her blue eyes against the bright sunlight, three bouncing blurs raced toward them. Jay purred as her kits chorused their greetings of "you're finally back!" and when they noticed Silver they shrunk back and mumbled to each other as the tabby regarded them in shock as if she hadn't truly believed Jay had such kit-like kits.

Jay shushed her kits, purring to them and asking them to please be quiet and play nicely since her friend wasn't feeling well. The three kits obeyed dutifully and wandered away, whispering to each other and sending indiscreet glanced in their direction as Jay led Silver over to one of the larger rock dens, completely ignoring the two black cats still asleep on their rocks.

"Those are your kits?" Silver asked, she sounded unconvinced. Jay nodded, cocking an ear back at her 'guest.' "I didn't think they'd be so... cheerful," the tabby added lamely.

Jay gave her a scathing look over her shoulder but didn't say anything, indicating to the den. It had a large entrance and the den was round, the rocks creating a dome above that sheltered the space below. It was a dark den, with the entrance facing the mountainside it received little to no direct sunlight, and the sand had moistened into a soft dirt that didn't cling to the fur.

"You can stay in here, it's close to the rock where I put my herbs," Jay mewed, indicating the space to the she-cat.

Silver sniffed at it, "Seems like the sort of place you'd give me; dark and damp."

"It isn't wet and most of the other dens aren't suitable as they are," Jay explained, "I haven't gone out to get any moss yet, but after I finish making my nest I'll make you one too," she added.

Silver retracted her head from the den and gave her a quizzical look, "You haven't made a nest yet? How long have you been up here?"

Jay's tail twitched, did she need to know this? "Almost a whole day, if you must know. But I'm hungry so I'd like to take care of your wounds and go hunt, since Amelia doesn't look like she's going to do anything today," she added in a growl, glancing at the black she-cat who was still curled up on the same stone as before, even though it was no longer in direct sunlight.

Jay turned her back on Amelia as she stalked over to the den where she'd stashed her herbs. She ducked her head into the dark den, her head level with her shoulders and her ears grazing the coarse rock overhead. The den was was cool but not damp, the ground was covered in a finer sand than the clearing and the only light came from the small entrance that faced north-east.

The den was small, only two tail-lengths across and one tail-length long, barely big enough for a single cat, but it was perfect for storing herbs. In the back of the den, two rocks met perpendicularly, the horizontal piece sticking out into the den about half a tail-length at a height of about midway on Jay's chest. This made it a perfect spot to place herbs where they wouldn't become covered in sand but were well protected.

Jay sat down and shuffled through the herbs, locating them by scent more than by sight. She vaguely recalled Amelia telling her they had been soaking in a pool when she found them. Picking up a feverfew leaf and moving it so that it hit the light better she inspected it.

It was shriveled and fragrant, crisp to the touch but not yet brokenly fragile. It looked as if it had been soaked and dried on purpose. The possibility that it had been soaking in water for a moon was impossible, it would have been rotted and slimy if it hadn't already disintegrated. It certainly wouldn't have become like this.

Jay frowned as she mused on the puzzle. Silver had been here before they arrived, maybe she had put them in there. But why would she do that? I can ask her to be sure, but if she had known anything about herbs she would have used them for herself. Could she have accidentally knocked them in? No, the pool of water had high sides, they would have had to been placed deliberately. Was another cat here? But we haven't found evidence of anyone else in the area yet, but it has only been one day...

Jay sighed and put down the leaf, taking some marigold and tormentil as well as feverfew and exited the den. Her stomach growled as the fragrant leaves filled her mouth. Although leaves were not appetizing, the smell and sensation of something in her mouth made her hungry. I ought to hurry with this...

She glared at Amelia as the black she-cat cleaned her fur. Although Jay hadn't seen her leave or eating, a small pile of bones lay by her rock and the kits were sniffing them with delight, pulling at the scraps of fur that lay around them. She was sure her kits would be hungry soon too, and then there was also Silver... But at least it seemed the elder had finally left.

She pushed the overwhelming pressure of things to do away and entered Silver's den. Blinking to adjust her eyes, the tabby greeted her with a growl and Jay felt her patience wearing away with the cat as she started chewing up the marigold. Silver hissed as Jay rubbed the chewed pulp over her infected wounds, but she didn't struggle with her this time.

Jay quickly applied the tormentil in silence as well and told the she-cat to eat a dose of the feverfew. The dark gray she-cat could feel that the tabby's fever had been worsened by the struggle she'd put up on the walk over here and offered to get the she-cat a wet bundle of moss- even though she wasn't sure where to find moss other then the clearing where she'd seen Python instructing his cats in battle-training a moon ago.

"No, I can get some myself," Silver answered curtly, hiding her pain with a spiteful tone. Jay didn't move as the tabby limped out of the den, she was still favoring the foreleg that had been wrenched out of place but she was using it as normal.

Jay gathered the remaining herbs, wondering if she could find something that would fight the infection better. But I really have no idea, and all the Ivy she-cats are with the StarReaders, it would be impossible to ask them, even if they would oblige me.

She returned the herbs, noticing the air was cooler and that orange streaks were spreading across the darkened blue sky. Irritation filled her, it had been one annoyance after another today, she had done nothing but look after other cats so that she hadn't even had time to eat anything. StarClan, she was hungry!

Stomping to the herb den she put the herbs away with haste and left, hissing a curse as she bumped her head against the low roof. Her kits must have grown tired, for they were bickering in a small huddle by Amelia's rock. The black she-cat didn't even spare them a glance and Jay stomped toward them angrily. The kits spotted her approach and ran toward her.

"Mom! I'm tired."

"I'm hungry!"

"Where have you been all day?"

"Why did you leave us?"

"Mom? Mom!"

Jay barely kept herself from flinching away from her kits' cries and accusations. Her anger flowed into tenderness as she gave her kits a reassuring purr- they were on the brink of tears- and gathered them together with her tail. She led the kits away from Amelia and close to the den she had chosen for herself, laying down on the sand that was still a little warm and letting her kits nurse, watching their glazed eyes slide closed as they fell into a doze that hunger wouldn't quite allow turn into sleep.

Jay purred to them and washed them gently, licking the sand out of their fur. "I'm sorry, little ones. I had a lot to do today. But you all did so well, playing nicely and staying out of trouble."

The rumble in her stomach turned into an ache, but she couldn't leave her kits until they had fallen asleep, and she didn't even mind the sand that got into her fur anymore. She ran her tail over their backs as they stopped nursing and curled into her belly curve, slipping into sleep as easily as an otter slips into a stream.

"You really take good care of your kits?" the disgruntled mew startled her and she turned to look over her shoulder and saw the black elder standing nearby, two pieces of prey hanging from his mouth.

Jay wasn't sure if she was annoyed to see him back again or hopeful that one of those pieces of prey were meant for her. "I thought you'd left," she mewed as he sat down a good tail-length away from her.

He nodded, "I did, but I saw that your kits were getting fussy and that you hadn't eaten since I arrived. So here's my thanks for not tearing me to shreds," he grumbled, nudging over one of the pieces of prey, a fat vole.

Jay purred in thanks, congratulating herself on controlling her temper. The soft flesh of the vole was delicious down her throat and she felt it filling her stomach until she was comfortably full. "Thank you for that," she mewed politely, starting to feel drowsy with her stomach full and the sunlight disappeared into twilight's gray throes.

The elder had been picking at his own prey, a black iridescent- winged starling. "I know a den in a mossy clearing not far from here, so that is probably where I'll be staying," he muttered, as if that didn't suit him as well as staying in this clearing. He raised his yellow eyes to the sky, "But it is good to be back here again." The voice was almost melancholy and for a moment Jay forgot this was the cantankerous elder who'd annoyed her half the day.

She waited until he had finished eating, wishing him to leave so that she could find some moss to make a nest for herself and maybe hunt for Silver if she wasn't too tired. But he laid down on the sand, eating his food slowly with his eyes half closed. Jay's tail thumped against the sand.

"You said you knew Python, didn't you?" he asked suddenly. Jay nodded and the elder went on, "And you said you knew that he lived here for moons?" Jay nodded again.

The elder stared out from his rat's pelt of black fur, "And he's really dead?" he asked, yellow eyes staring at her strangely. There wasn't any sadness in them, but they did hold a shade of regret.

Jay nodded again, "Amelia saw it happen," she mewed, nodding at the black she-cat who had fallen asleep on top of her rock again.

The elder glanced at the she-cat briefly. "He was always too stubborn and self-righteous. I told him it'd put him in the ground, but he didn't listen to me," the elder muttered bitterly to himself. There was a note of paternal familiarity that took Jay off guard.

She looked at the elder more closely, "I don't suppose you were close to him?," she mewed, regarding him with surprise as he nodded.

"He was my son. But my mate and I weren't the type to cuddle our kits. He was on his own by twelve moons, and even though we lived in the same area, he became obsessed with what went on in the valley, eventually becoming involved in all sorts of nonsense."

Jay's tail twitched at this harsh portrayal of Python's ambitions, "I respected your son, he was an excellent leader for his cats. I didn't agree with much of what he said, but I believe he only had the best intentions," she used a low voice, glancing at Amelia and finding one ear cocked in their direction.

The elder shrugged, "It was his life to throw away, I'm just glad Lark wasn't around to watch him get himself kill, she would have taken it harder then I did."

Jay was quiet, watching the stars appear in the hazy indigo sky. "We all join them eventually," she murmured, but the old tom didn't hear. Jay looked at him, feeling a littler warmer toward him now that he had shared some of his secrets, she liked cats that gave her information for free. "I never properly introduced myself, my name is Jay," she mewed. He would have heard her name at the gathering and she had briefly mentioned her name when she met him, but it had been hurried and irritated, that wasn't the same thing as introducing herself personally.

The elder nodded, bringing his eyes to rest on her, "My name is Crow," he didn't use any pleasantries and he didn't sound especially concerned with her and that suited Jay.

She was going to make a comment on how both he and his mate were named after birds when she was distracted by Silver, who was limping across the clearing- probably from making her dirt- back toward her den. Her pale eyes were light with pain and Jay could smell the reek of infection.

"That cat is very sick," Crow mewed, observing Silver as well.

Jay gave him a sarcastic glance but held her tongue, he may not be as open with her if she was rude. "I tried giving her marigold and tormentil for the infection, and feverfew for the fever. But it hasn't worked at all yet," she shrugged, "I'm not sure I can save her."

"Is she a friend?" Crow asked, "I think I've seen her before," he added, squinting.

"She was part of Python's corps. I'm trying to save her so that I can ask her some questions about the cats that beat Python and the Ivy Cats, but I wouldn't call her a, 'friend,'" Jay explained.

Crow looked at the dark den that Silver had entered, eyes narrowed. "I once fell and cut myself on a rock. It got infected and Lark couldn't heal it- she found herbs interesting, by the way- but then she met one of the Ivy Cats and they told her to use Stinging Nettle to help fight the infection. It tasted terrible, but I did get better," Crow rambled slowly.

Jay's ears pricked, "Stinging Nettle?" She didn't even need a description, she'd used it in plenty of pranks on her fellow apprentices and gotten in a lot of trouble each time. Well, he was giving her all sorts of information, wasn't he? Maybe his acquaintance wasn't useless after all. "I'll look for some tomorrow and try it, thank you," she purred, hoping he would leave.

He did, the black elder stood up and left with a short,"good night." Jay watched him go, the merit of his stores of knowledge that hadn't yet been too affected by age and his unique relationship with Python had not gone over her head in that conversation. He wouldn't be such a bad neighbor after all.

Jay smiled and looked up at the sky, now nearly as dark as a crow's wing. She purred to her kits, "Did you know, my little warriors?" she whispered, "Crow's are often seen as a sign of misfortune since they eat carrion. But they're sometimes also considered the messengers of the dead, I can only wonder... what we can learn about the dead form this old Crow?"