Chapter 25: Static

"Ow, ow, ow," Silver hissed as Jay rubbed marigold juice into her wounds, more forcefully than needed. "It doesn't usually hurt this much," the injured cat grumbled.

"I don't usually allow your wounds to get this bad, but you decided to go tramping all across the valley in the pouring rain yesterday, or had you forgotten?" Jay retorted, ducking back into the dark den to grab feverfew and stinging nettle. "Eat these," she ordered, passing off the leaves to the pale tabby.

Silver grabbed the herbs and chomped on them, nearly gagging at the taste. "Couldn't you do something about the taste?"

Jay's tail lashed, "Their purpose is to heal you, not to serve as a satisfying meal." The fur along her spine prickled as she once more turned into the herb den, tidying up her stacks on the shelf. After their meeting had finished in which Silver told the others about what had happened to her in concern the StarReaders, Jay had taken her away to treat her wounds while Midnight breathed more easily now that she knew her kits were alive and in no real danger.

That she knew of, at least. Jay had said that the kits were probably just being recruited, but Silver's dim gaze told her that there was something else going on. She hadn't told them everything. Jay exited the den and looked around, her kits were play-fighting over a scrap of squirrel fur and Silver was heading back over toward Midnight, who had her head raised to the sky, though she didn't seem to be watching the clouds.

Amelia was, of course, sleeping on her rock. Staying true to her decision not to do anything that day. Jay raced forward and intercepted Silver, dragging the growling she-cat behind one of the rocks where they were screened from the view of the rest of the camp.

"What?" Silver groaned, regarding her warily.

"Tell me what you wouldn't tell Midnight," Jay ordered sternly, looking down at the she-cat as she squirmed. "Did you think I wouldn't notice?" Jay sighed, looking at their shadows, how even in size they were.

Silver turned her head away and licked some ruffled shoulder fur, "I was hoping we could wait," she admitted, lowering her head. "While in the StarReaders' camp, I did hear some talk of ceremonies," the pale tabby murmured in a low voice.

Jay's tail twitched anxiously, "What sort of ceremonies?" The Clans had lots of harmless ceremonies, she didn't want to jump to conclusions.

"Ceremonies that take lives. I only heard it once, whispered between two StarReaders, they were talking about who would be used next, and they were looking at our side of the camp," Silver mewed.

"Do you think your comrades were used in these ceremonies/" Jay asked.

Silver shrugged, "I don't know. But don't you think that it was weird for the blind leader to go to those executions? Or to be clearly heading for a particular place?"

Jay shook her head, "Not necessarily, the leader exercised authority, and taking a life is a show of supreme authority. Whether or not that authority is just is another question entirely, but..."

"Then why go to the north-east mountain? That was clearly where we were headed," Silver hissed, ears flat against her head. "You have to admit, that part is suspicious. If you don't want any cat to see, there are easier places outside of their territory then a mountain of all places."

Jay turned away, frowning. "You were right to not say anything to Midnight. I still don't think there is any immediate concern, after all, they didn't kill any cat until they acted up. But I'll tell Amelia and we can keep an eye on the situation. For now, go get some rest."

She left Silver and headed for her own kits, spending the day playing and sleeping with them. She should have been carefree and happy with her kits, but she couldn't help but feel a sharp pang of guilt every time Midnight turned her ice-blue stare on her.

......

The cats passed the days in tense anxiety; Silver keeping mostly to her den, Midnight waiting anxiously for Amelia to return with news of her kits, and Jay gallantly ignoring both she-cats as she played with her own kits in the sandy clearing and occasionally taking them to see Crow.

It wasn't until the eve of the fourth day when Amelia had once again returned with assurance that the captive kits were fine that the black she-cat broke the silence on the matter. "We have to go to the north-east mountain tomorrow!" Midnight kneaded the ground with her paws, ears laid flat in worry.

Jay looked up from where she was eating with her kits, giving them a few pieces of soft food to try eating. Silver had paused amidst her washing and Amelia had peeked open an eye from where she laid on her rock, enjoying the warmth it had soaked up when it had been in the sunlight.

"Why?" Jay asked lightly, turning to her kits who were looking up at her with wide eyes. "Go play," she whispered gently, nudging them away as she stood up and walked over to the fluffy black she-cat, leading her away by the tail to the other side of the clearing near Amelia's rock. Silver stood up and trotted over to them.

"You know why!" Midnight cried, her blue eyes flicking between her and Amelia piteously. "My kits are still being held by the StarReaders, and you said we should go to that mountain!"

"Yes, speaking of which," Silver chirped in, "Why should we go to the mountain? I don't understand its importance."

Jay's tail twitched as she shot a glare at Silver, "That mountain holds its share of secrets, it is where the StarReaders used to live, after all. The more you know about your enemy, the better," she mewed lightly, there was no way she was mentioning the ceremonies again in front of Midnight, and Silver should have known better than to allude to the topic. But that was the real reason they should go there, uncovering the purpose of the ceremonies and finding the exact end of Silver's friends would give them a much greater understanding.

And I suppose this wouldn't be my first trip there, though now that the StarReaders aren't there, I might get past the edge of their territory. "We must avoid the StarReaders' present territory at all costs. Amelia is keeping an eye on the kits and if you try a rescue with only half a mind you will either be caught or killed, or ruin any chance of a later rescue. So no heroics," Jay ordered, she wasn't blind, she could see that's what Midnight had wanted to do all along.

The black she-cat looked away, eyes brimming with pain. "Fine," she whispered, her voice cracking as she sucked in deep breaths.

"Good," Jay nodded, "Now what did you mean when you said 'we.'"

Midnight looked surprised, "I meant all four of us."

Jay gave a harsh laugh, or what could be taken as a laugh, "Not a chance. No way would I ever leave three kits atop a mountain alone for days."

Midnight's eyes hardened, "The three of us, then."

"You don't boss me around, fluffy," Amelia yawned, showing her sharp fangs, her amber eyes glowing like fire in the twilight. "And I won't be going back to that mountain ever again."

The long-furred she-cat looked taken aback, despair trickling back into her gaze. Silver laid her tail on Midnight's shoulder, "I will go with you," the tabby mewed softly, regarding the distraught queen compassionately. A sharp contrast to the flinty look she turned on Jay, "Do you have any problem with that?"

Jay shrugged, "No, no, go right ahead. I'm not your mother, do whatever you want." Now that she had Silver's story, the she-cat was next to useless to her and more of an annoyance, she wasn't sure why she allowed her to remain in the camp.

"We'll leave right now, then!" Midnight mewed. She was clearly anxious to do something, anything, that could help her kits, even when she didn't understand how.

"Why don't we leave first thing tomorrow morning?" Silver suggested, the sun was going down and traversing the mountain in the dark wasn't the smartest thing to do.

Midnight was finally convinced to wait until morning and she and Silver went to sleep in Silver's den after Jay applied more balm to the tabby's wounds, not wanting to wake up early to do it the next day.

Jay called to her kits and they came running, "Time to go to sleep. See? The stars are coming out," she mewed, pointing up at the mystic blue and purple sky where a few twinkling lights had appeared, a few clouds filling the sky with patches of black emptiness.

"But the sky is so pretty," Ice sighed, her eyes filled with awe as she took in the sight.

"It looks like this every night," Hail grumbled, jumping on his sister.

"Get off of me!" Ice hissed, shaking her brother off and hopping away, slowing and coming to a stop as she looked up at the sky again.

Flint yawned, "Come back here, Ice, time to go to sleep." Jay swept all three of her kits into their den and curled around them, allowing them to shift and get comfortable against her flank as she licked their fur gently.

Flint and Hail fell asleep quickly, but Ice didn't close her eyes for a long time. The kitten stared at the swath of sky that was visible from their den, but the green eyes gradually slid closed. "Hey mom?" Ice asked, sleepiness dragging at her voice.

"What is it?" Jay purred, the warmth of love filled her until she felt hazy.

"Will you be leaving us?" Ice asked.

Jay purred reassuringly, "No, I won't ever leave you or your brothers."

"Promise?" the blue-gray kit murmured, eyes closed.

Jay looked down at her three kits and then up at the dark night sky, fully black now with the illuminating light of moon and stars. "Of course."

......

When Jay woke the next morning, Silver and Midnight were gone. Amelia said that they'd left before dawn and they had left without saying a word. Jay didn't mind, in fact, she was a bit happy to spend the day alone with her kits.

She gave Amelia the day off and took the kits out with her to go hunting. "Wow! You're so good at that, mom," Hail mewed, sniffing the squirrel she'd caught and laid at the paws of her kits.

Jay purred and licked her chest fur, happy that her kits were impressed by her. "I want to learn how to do that!" Flint mewed, hopping around the fresh-kill, nose twitching in excitement.

"Me too!" Ice spoke up, green eyes shining as she looked at Jay.

The dark gray she-cat purred, "You're going to have to wait until you're a little bigger. Right now, the prey might not know who the real predator is," she mewed, angling with her ears at the squirrel that was larger than any one of her kits. "But I can teach you how you hunt," she mewed, inviting her kits into a small grass hollow where the ground was soft and the sky was blocked by branches full of red and orange leaves.

Her kits lined up, looking at her expectantly as they trembled in excitement. "Now," Jay mewed, settling into a hunter's crouch, "You've all seen me use this crouch, haven't you?"

Her kits nodded vigorously until their ears flapped. "But do you know what the most important thing to remember in hunting is?"

Hail shook his head and Ice glanced away. "To not let your prey see you?" Flint chirped up.

Jay inclined her head, "Yes, but it is more than just that. You can't let it see you, smell you, hear you, or sense you."

"Sense?" Ice frowned.

Jay nodded, "Most prey is more sensitive than we are; a mouse, shrew, squirrel, or vole will sense your paw-steps before they see or hear you. That's why when you stalk forward, you have to 'float' above the ground. Like this," Jay demonstrated by stalking over to the other side of the clearing, her steps so slight and fast that it felt like she hardly brushed the ground.

"Let me try it!" Flint mewed, jumping into a crouch and stalking forward with fast little paw-steps.

Jay purred, he was leaning too much on his forepaws and his rump was sticking in the air. His steps, although quiet, were so fast and low that it sounded like he was sliding over the ground. Ice snorted, "You look stupid."

Flint sat up and shot a glare at his sister, "Let's see you do any better," he challenged.

Ice sniffed and folded her tail over her paws, "I won't try to do something just because you told me to."

"What about you, Hail?" Jay encouraged, watching her more tentative kit slip into a hunters crouch. He was far more balanced than Flint and his steps were as soundless as a stepping shadow. But he moved too slow, his prey would have long run away before he reached it.

"You looked great, Hail!" Flint told his brother, dark eyes shining as Hail shifted his paws in embarrassment.

"Nicely done," Jay purred and Hail purred back. "Alright, Ice," she called, looking across the clearing at her gray daughter, "Your turn to join us."

Ice reluctantly slid into a hunters crouch, she almost had it right, her fore paws were only a little too far apart. But her pace was good, and although Jay could hear her steps, it was a good start. Another thing she noticed was that, contrary to Flint, she leaned too far back on her hindquarters, almost as if she were trying too hard not to repeat Flint's mistake.

"Who looks stupid now," Flint scoffed as Ice reached them. The little she-kit glared at him and he glared back.

"Learning how to hunt is something that takes practice, you're not going to get it on your first try," Jay soothed. The two kits looked away from each other, fur still ruffled. "Let's go back to camp, and you can practice more there," she mewed, grabbing her squirrel and leading her trio of kittens back to the sandy clearing.

After eating, the warm sunlight coupled with the playful breeze to lull her kits to sleep in the open den. Jay curled down around them, watching a few drifting leaves shaken from their tree by the wind. Her thoughts and concerns far apart from those of Midnight. She knew it, and she felt guilty.

Although she didn't mean to sleep, she was awoken by the riled up voices of the two returning she-cats. She lifted her head as Amelia stalked over to meet them at the edge of the clearing. Jay yawned, sniffing the air and determined that nothing terrible had happened since there was an absence of the scent of blood and fear.

Her kits were awoken by the excitement as well and they gathered at the edge of the den to look out at the scene. Jay stood up and waved her tail in front of them, "Stay here," she ordered gently, hopping out and heading for the cluster of cats at the other end of the clearing.

"What happened?" her cold voice cut through the heat of their chatter.

Amelia glanced at her and took a step back, "You better tell her," she grunted at Silver.

The tabby nodded, turning to the expectant Jay, "When we went to the north-eastern mountain we were able to find a path that led into the mountains. But when we reached the top there was a ravine with a large stone archway and it was black-out dark past it, when we stepped past it..." Silver trailed off and shook her head in confusion.

Midnight stepped forward, "We don't know what happened, the next thing we can remember is waking up in the valley, outside of StarReader territory, it was terrifying!"

Silver waved Midnight back, "But we were unhurt, except for a few trembles. Based on where the sun was, I would estimate we were unconscious for half a day. We decided to come straight back here and see if you knew anything."

Jay frowned, it was similar to what had happened to her and Amelia, but she had been sure that it was the StarReaders that had done it, she remembered fighting cats anyways. Did this confirm her suspicion that not all the StarReaders were down in the valley, but that some remained in the mountain? And she still didn't know why no cat remembered anything past a certain point, and if the StarReaders were recruiting any cat, why throw them out? Why allow Silver, a fugitive, leave alive?

There were too many questions and Jay could feel that this was going to be mess if she tried to go in and unravel everything. It was too precarious of a situation, now more than ever she wanted to stay out of it.

"There was something else, the scent on us when we woke up," Silver was mewing, a perplexed frown on her face. "I recognized it, whoever carried us out of the mountain, I know I've met them before."

Midnight looked startled, "Did you? I didn't even notice any scent."

Silver ignored her, "But I don't know who it could be." She looked at Amelia and Jay, as if she expected them to know. Jay took a step forward and sniffed Silver's pelt. There was indeed a foreign cat scent that clung desperately to her fur, but it was too weak to be distinguished past being a cat.

"I can't tell who it is, but that's beside the point. We were lucky this time that you came back, there will be no more trips to that mountain. Amelia will continue to watch the kits and we'll wait here," Jay mewed, turning away.

"Wait for what?" Silver asked sharply. "For the kits to die? For them to forget about their own mother? How long are you going to leave Midnight in anguish until you're satisfied?!"

Jay's tail twitched, "I'm waiting for Midnight to figure out how to save her kits without dying. You should be helping her come up with something instead of accusing me," she growled, stomping away toward her kits.

"Mom? Is everything alright?" Hail asked as she returned, his green eyes round and worried.

Jay purred reassuringly, "Of course, everyone came back safe and sound. Why don't you three go play before it gets dark?" The three kits raced out into the clearing, the gray shadows of dusk fading their figures into the background. Jay watched them, keeping an eye on Midnight and Silver who looked as if they were desperately trying to think up something.

Midnight buried her face in her paws like her kit, Panther; a wail of misery came from her that sent a chill down Jay's spine. Silver glanced at her angrily and Jay looked away, laying on her stomach with her paws folded neatly underneath her, eyes stubbornly fixed on her kits that continued to play in mirth, but her own stomach was churning in turmoil.

"If you're feeling so awful, go do something," Amelia's growl came from above her and Jay looked up to see the black she-cat perched neatly on the top of her den.

Jay looked away with a flash of annoyance, couldn't they leave her out of their problems? "I have no responsibility in this," she mewed in a hard, final, voice.

Amelia was silent for a moment, "Is that what you really think?" Her growl dripped with scorn and Jay inadvertently felt ashamed. "You were more than a little involved when the StarReaders came out victorious in a battle that you orchestrated. And you have a responsibility toward both Silver and Midnight now, if you want to play leader, you have to go all the way."

"I'm not playing leader," Jay growled.

"No? You bark orders at every cat, you think they'll continue like this if you don't step up and fulfill the whole role? And what will your kits think? That their mother is a bossy coward? Too worried about her own peace to bother with anyone else?"

Jay jumped up, a snarl on her face, "You cannot say that I'm doing this for me! Everything I've done has been for my kits!"

"No," Amelia jumped down, facing her with fangs barred, "It hasn't all been for your kits, but for you. Even your kits are for you. We both know that you need them far more than they need you."

Jay's flattened her ears, arching her back, "I'm their mother! Of course they need me!"

"Any cat could feed them by this age, any cat could keep them warm and safe and happy. But for you, no other kits but yours would do. It seems motherhood hasn't taught you anything but how to be even more selfish! You don't care a rat's tail for Midnight's situation! You don't even have empathy for the agony she lives through, though it wasn't that long ago you were in the same position as her."

Jay's gaze was growing foggy, her eyes were fixed on Amelia's throat, a roar filled her ears and she could almost see the pulse in the neck of the black cat in front of her. A pulse she had simply to pop and it'd be over. "Your kits are watching," Amelia's cold voice cut through the noise and she stiffened, the blood-lust floating away like fog on a breeze.

Jay took a step back, straightening up and sheathing her claws. Taking a deep breath she regained control of her senses. "Amelia, let's take a walk," she mewed, noticing that her kits were looking scared and Midnight and Silver had stopped to watch them with wide eyes.

For the first time, Jay didn't care to comfort her kits, but left without a word and with the black she-cat trailing behind her. "I can't believed you were honestly thinking about killing me," Amelia complained loudly when they were out of sight and earshot of the camp.

"I wasn't really thinking about it, just assessing all my options," Jay mewed smoothly, the fresh evening air cooled her head and Amelia's attitude change had helped as well to quickly switch her tone. "But back to your point. I'm not going to change me mind, whether everything is for my kits or for me, I want to keep my peace and theirs. I'm sorry for Midnight, but she has to help herself like I had to do."

"But Midnight isn't like you, she won't be able to figure anything out on her own," Amelia pointed out.

"I know that, but I don't know how to rescue the kits either. It sounds like they are being held captive under full guard. Smuggling three kits out would be impossible," Jay shook her head, "There's no cheap trick for this."

"I'm sure if you really tried you could think of something," Amelia yawned.

"Or maybe you have too much faith in me," Jay snorted, stopping as they came to the edge of the trees and the mountain and looked out over the gray peaks. "Midnight may never get her kits back, and she'll just have to deal with that."

They sat in silence as the gray light totally took over the mountains. "Oh yeah," Jay mewed, thinking back to it. "You said that I orchestrated the battle which put the StarReaders in power. I have to disagree, I only played a major part because Ash meddled, and I'm sure that it was only because of Ash that the StarReaders were there at all. So, it is really Ash's responsibility. But I guess he's dead," Jay purred, her tail curling.

"Jay, I thought you had noticed," Amelia's voice was low and serious, it chilled Jay's mirth and she glanced at the amber-eyed cat. "Did you really not recognize the scent on Silver and Midnight's fur?"

Jay shook her head, already tensing to learn what Amelia had caught. "That cat scent, it was Ash's."