Chapter 4: Facade

"Are you absolutely sure this is the only solution to our problem?" Jay groaned as Amelia asked the troublesome question again.

Bone-tired and weary from training, Jay was trudging back to the camp with a trail of equally weary cats behind her. Only Amelia had the strength to continue pestering her. "Amelia, can we talk about this later?" she sighed, hoping without hope that Amelia would wait until she had a good nights sleep to continue the haggling.

"No," Amelia growled, and all mocking playfulness had left her voice, leaving it so startling cold that Jay had to look at her. Amelia's amber eyes were narrowed to slits and she looked infuriatingly calm.

Jay sighed again but knew there was no escaping this now. She stepped off the trail and waved Leaf on with her tail, letting the she-cat lead the rest back to camp. With any luck, Night, Spark, and Dark had managed to catch enough food for everyone while they were out training all day long.

Getting up before dawn, Jay had started the day by waking all the cats and giving strict orders for them to eat and drink before they headed out. She then asked the three rouges- who already knew how to fight- to spend their day hunting for the rest of them. Surprisingly, they had agreed without complaint and Jay led the rest on a march through the forest.

They left the forest and entered the fields that Jay and Amelia had spent so much time crossing and for the remainder of the day, under the beaming sun, they'd worked and trained. Although the cats had been able to take breaks while Jay and Amelia worked with the others, the gray she-cat hadn't had a moment to catch her breath. And right now, she didn't even know how she had the strength to stay upright, her whole body felt heavier than a rock and her vision had long since become blurry, double images messing with her line of perception.

"Jay, is it possible for us to get through the pass without these cats?" Amelia growled, sitting down on a patch of soft grass. Jay sat down next to her, wishing the ground to still be warm, but the sun had set and the last breath of light still allowed the forest to glow gray.

The dark she-cat sighed. The thought had crossed her mind more than once during that one exhausting day. The cats had been complaining and none of them had a talent for the art of fighting. Well, maybe Silver had the potential, but Leaf and Cherry were sorry cases. They were both older and didn't have any of the strength, speed, or grace necessary in a battle.

"Do have another idea?" Jay asked with a resigned sigh.

Amelia looked away, her eyes watching the bats flit over the trees, their tiny shadows outlined against the purple-gray sky. "We could try to sneak past these cats, I don't imagine a pass you can see from the hills would be so narrow."

Jay shook her head, "I already thought of that, but it's too risky. There are enough cats that they could have a lookout stationed in enough places that they can see everything, and if we do sneak past the front, then we still have to get past the middle and the end. If we knew the territory well, then it'd be another situation entirely, but we don't know what mountain terrain is like in general, and not a clue on this pass in particular. We can't risk it."

Amelia growled, lashing her tail, "I think we could pull it off, but if you're not willing..."

"I'm not," Jay reaffirmed.

"Then how about forgetting the pass and climbing up a different way? I know the pass is the easiest way, but there must be more than one way in and out of these mountains. We're wasting time and effort with these cats, they don't have any potential and we still have to test the other rogues fighting power. I'm not even optimistic about their abilities," Amelia scowled.

Jay turned away. Clearly the situation wasn't ideal, even though she had been hopeful that they could make it into the mountains before her kits came, at this rate, they might have to stay where they were until next new-leaf. No! I'm so close, I can't stay here for so long!

Jay stiffened, feeling the first kick in her belly. The kits were growing bigger and a fierce surge of anxiety and will swept through her, almost dizzying in its intensity. Feeling trapped and helpless, Jay looked at Amelia. "You're right, this isn't going to work. We need to get into those mountains as soon as possible and we can't wait for these useless cats to find their strength."

Amelia nodded, her amber eyes brightening, "What's the plan? Do we ditch them tonight?"

But Jay shook her head, getting to her paws and pacing painfully on her sore paws, "Don't do anything mean to them, we're still going to need their help, but we're going to use them in a different way," she explained, thinking hard for some way out of this problem. Come on, think harder! Both your mother and mentor were the greatest tacticians in ThunderClan, they wouldn't have had so much trouble!

Scowling, she stopped and looked up, searching for an answer. Her eyes rested on the bats, dipping and diving for bugs so eagerly that they filled the sky with their small movements, she was so focused on the bunch that she almost missed the lone bat that was performing the same dance below the tree tops. Pleasure flowed through her as she recognized the answer to her problem. It was an old trick used in ThunderClan, and only rarely used at that, but just maybe it'd work this once.

"I've got it," Jay mewed, turning to Amelia.

The black she-cat smiled, as if she'd known all along that the gray cat would come up with a plan. "What do you need me to do?"

Jay grinned at her readiness to do anything. "First off, I'm going to need you to do nothing. I'll take the cats out to 'train' alone tomorrow. And while I'm gone you can test the others attack power, test it anyway you like, and if its satisfactory, then we can proceed. If it isn't, get it to that point," Jay mewed.

Amelia nodded and Jay sighed, her heart light with hope again. Turning away from the black she-cat, she skipped back onto the path. "Come on, I need a meal, a drink, and a good night's sleep."

......

For Jay, sleep was out of reach. Even though she was sheltered by the marvelous den, she was uncomfortable sleeping in such close proximity with strangers. Amelia slept in the other section apart from her and she was stuck sleeping alone with three of the she-cats.

Although she'd already spent an entire day helping them, Jay had only managed to come to one conclusion. They were using her. Of course, she was using them too, but the odds of one to three put them on top of who would win this gamble. Not that I haven't played this game before but... never with so much to lose. She hugged her belly closer.

Jay closed her eyes, she'd just have to hope for the best. She was fairly certain she could count on these cats until they got through the pass but, then what? They'd be up in the mountains in a strange place, perfectly helpless to Leaf who clearly knew a thing or too about where they were going. They'd be in trouble.

At least, that's what they'll think, Jay smiled and gave a little purr as she pulled her tail around. Her thoughts drifted from the present day back along that dismal path of memories. The noises, scents, tastes, and sensations she had once known drifted and mingled creating broken pictures in her mind- wilder than a dream and more exhilarating than real life. The nightly adventure had begun for her.

Although she'd had little sleep, Jay was the first to awaken and feasted upon the prey left over from the night before. She sat and groomed her fur as the others woke up, sniffing the air and judging what the weather would be like.

The air was heavy and she could already feel the pressure building in the air, there would be a storm today. But whether it hit them or missed them she couldn't determine. "Alright, you three ready?" Jay asked. Leaf was cleaning her fur, Cherry- a pale cream she-cat with green, unassuming eyes- was nibbling a mouse, and Silver was already glowering at her.

"If today is anything like yesterday, I'll quit this whole thing," the pale gray she-cat snarled warningly.

Jay purred and trotted up to the she-cat, bending down near her pale ear, "If you quit, I will kill you."

Silver flinched, looking at her scornfully but with a wary glaze in her eyes, "Like I'd believed a hollow threat like that."

Jay grinned down at her, lifting her lips so that her fangs gleamed. "Keep up with that attitude and we'll see how hollow you are, on the inside. Now get going, back to where we were yesterday," Jay purred again, poking Silver harshly with a claw, nearly breaking the skin. "You two follow after us as quick as you can," she added, bounding up the steep sided pit to exit the camp.

Silver had broken into a run, leaving a trail of snapped twigs and stirred up leaves in her wake. Jay followed at a collected canter, enjoying the chirping of birds and the flashing sunlight that deceptively flickered from one side to the next in lacy dapples.

Jay strayed off the trail, pausing to look around before ducking through a crown of holly leaves to a screened area. "I was getting tired of waiting," Amelia growled.

"Well, sorry for inconveniencing you," Jay mewed, not feeling sorry at all. "But did you have a chance last night to scout that area without any cat noticing you?"

Amelia snorted, "Who do you think I am? And yes, I think everything is set. As soon as you get these cats in order we can head out."

"Good, I'll try to work things out today, and make sure you test those other three or else it'll take longer," Jay ordered.

Amelia waved her tail, stepping out of the screened area. "Just worry about your own job. Those three you have are a nest of problems for sure." Jay, knowing that the black she-ca wasn't wrong, just sighed and quietly stepped out of the leaf screened area and back onto the path.

Trotting along, Leaf and Cherry soon came up from behind, passing her with a quick nod as they ran the last few meters ahead of her to the edge of the forest. "Good," Jay mewed, stepping out from under the cool shade and into the vast, open space that was laid bare to the sweltering heat of the day. "We're all here. Today we're going to do something different than yesterday," Jay mewed, moving some sticks and rocks around that Amelia had left for her.

"Consider this log the starting point," Jay mewed, nodding to a what could be considered a thin log or a thick stick. "And over here," Jay mewed, running for a few moments to where she dropped a much smaller stick, "This is the turn back point. You three are going to start today by running as fast as you can between these two points. The second fastest cat will have to do it two more times and the slowest will have to do it four times over, while the winner won't have to redo it," Jay mewed.

The three cats looked at her despairingly. The last thing any of them wanted to do in this heat was run for a long time and only one of them could win. "Well?" Jay snapped, glaring at the cats, "What are you waiting for? Get going!" She bared her fangs effectively and the three lined up, even Leaf seemed rather nervous of her today.

Jay sat and watched the three cats race back and forth. As she'd expected, Silver was the fastest of the three, her lithe frame was similar to a WindClan cat but Jay noted with scorn that she was barely as quick as a flat-footed RiverClan cat.

Leaf finished only a nose ahead of Cherry and the almost chubby cream she-cat looked at the length in despair. "Leaf, do it two more times, Cherry, four more times. And Leaf, if you finish a lap after Cherry, then you have to do it four times," Jay barked, signaling Silver to come over to her.

As the two older she-cats continued the race, Silver flounced over to her and grinned smugly. "I won, so do I get to go back to the camp?"

Jay eyed her coldly, this cat had talent, but she was the most indolent of the three. "No, in fact, because you won, you get to do more."

"How is that fair?" Silver hissed.

Jay stood up to her full length, and even though they were the same height, she tiled her head up and glared downward, "A cat who is capable of more is responsible for more. Those two cats, although not old, are past the prime point for growing their talent. You have the most flexibility right now and I intend to make use of it. Of course, if you want to quit, I can help you out with that," Jay growled, unsheathing her claws.

Silver glanced downward, but her blue eyes were free of fear and full of anger. "If you threaten me again, I promise you that these cats won't help you with your stupid plans," Silver snarled.

Jay was stirred by the intense emotion swirling in the bright blue eyes and she nearly grinned, this cat did have a lot of potential. "I won't cause trouble if you won't cause trouble," Jay mewed amiably. Turning to shout at the still racing she-cats, "That's good you two! Let's move on!"

That day they focused more on speed, stamina, footing, and agility than they did on actual fighting moves. However, Jay felt that these cats were ready for the part they had to play and as the purple light of twilight settled over the field, she called the day to an end.

Once again she started back to the camp, her legs and paws aching and her head heavy on her shoulders. The others were as exhausted as she and silence reigned on the trip back to camp. Outside the camp Amelia waited and Jay stepped aside, letting the others go on in as she sat down in front of Amelia. "I hope your day was as successful as mine," Amelia purred, her amber eyes glinting happily.

Jay purred and nodded. "They're ready, and the others?"

Amelia nodded, "Night is a little slow since she's so small, but she'll do fine in the position that we have for her."

Jay grinned, their plan was coming together. "Do we want to wait a day and get our strength back or move out tomorrow?"

"I think we should move out as soon as possible. If we can set everything up tomorrow, then we can rest until evening and strike then," Amelia mewed. Jay agreed and the two of them went into the camp, "I'll tell them the plan, if you want, you look like you're about to keel over," Amelia snickered.

Jay rolled her eyes, "Thanks for your observation. But if you could cover the explanations I'd be grateful, there's nothing I hate more than 'explaining' things," she sighed, turning to the scanty pile of fresh-kill and choosing the fattest piece- which happened to be a chubby vole- and tore at it ravenously, gulping it down so quickly that she didn't even have time to relish its taste.

The gray she-cat yawned and stretched, arching her back and plucking at the dirty moss with her claws. She could see Amelia talking with the cats, giving them their orders. Apprehension settled over Jay as she watched, the dark glances and weary whispers. Discord in their hearts would mean discord in battle.

Jay sighed, that couldn't be helped now. They were strangers and they were putting their lives on the line for each other. At least, that what it appears to be. She almost felt giddy enough to smile but she frowned instead. She knew that what lay ahead would be no easy task to pull off.

The silent spider stalks at night, stirring the soundless fears of sleeping minds before the battle. But Jay was already wide awake. She watches her companions, who are by no means friends, roll and writhe in their nests. Her mind works on its own, calculating exactly how the battle will go, while at the same time recognizing the fact that nothing happens as you think it will.

But she stays awake anyways, too weary to sleep. She watches Amelia rise at midnight and go off on her own, doing- as Jay supposes- what all spies do. And finally, with the spider gone, Jay finds some repose in sleep and enjoys the mediocre comfort until dawn.

A few clouds dotted the sky as sunrise painted the bleak gray world of pre-dawn with multiple hues of pink, gold, and crystal blue. The birds raise their songs to the heavens but not a word is spoken in the camp. Every cat knows with hard certainty exactly what they have to do, so there is no need for noise as each cat faces themselves.

Jay ignored every cat and washed herself in the shadow of the den. Spark padded over to her and dropped a leftover mouse at her paws. Jay accepted it with a grateful nod, noticing that every other cat was picking meagerly at their own meals. Have they ever been in a fight before? The thought vaguely crossed her mind before when she was training the cats before, but surely no cat could live as long as them without getting into a scuffle or two? They must not have ever planned a raid on a group of cats before.

Even Amelia is quiet, resting with her eyes half closed with her paws tucked under her chest. Jay watched her, wondering if she enjoyed the thick feeling of nervousness that laid heavily upon the rogue cats. When every cat finished eating what they can, Jay stands up and walks over to Amelia, nodding at her.

"Alright, today, we go to the mountains," Jay mewed, turning to the cats. They nod, their heavy-lidded eyes shows their fear, but there's a grim determination that is typical of all cats set on a purpose. Leaf appears to take the lead, but it is really Amelia who guides the cats through the forest and toward the mountains.

Jay walks at the back of the group, keeping her eyes and ears wide open for anything out of the ordinary. After awhile of walking through the forest, they leave the trees behind and enter into a short stretch of flat ground covered with short grass that ends abruptly as the path takes a sharp incline and the grass changes into loose gravel and stone.

The cats stop and stared, the mountains stretched up over their heads and almost seemed to arch over them, nearly vertical in height and composed of the grayest stone ever seen before. Their sharp pointed peaks pierced the clouds and a type of unmovable silence was cast from them.

It was a silence so loud and immense that it seemed to smother Jay, her flame of spirit compressed and increased in the confines of her soul. This is it, this is where I'm meant to be. Her heart beat rose to a frightening speed and she could feel herself trembling as she took another step. "Are you scared?" Jay had been so focused that she hadn't even noticed that Spark had dropped back to her side.

She shook her head, unable to find the words to explain what she was feeling. "I'm okay," she whispered back.

"The mountains can be terrifying, but I love them," Spark sighed.

Jay blinked, "You're from the mountains?" Spark nodded. "I thought only Leaf was from the mountains," Jay mewed.

Spark shook her head, "Leaf, Dark, and myself are from the mountains. We came down to find some cats to help us with a problem and that's how we met the others, but we've been stuck here for moons since these cats took control of the pass. I can't wait to go home, I miss my family" the orange she-cat sighed.

Jay nodded awkwardly, feeling the first uncomfortable prickling in her stomach. But there was no turning back now. As Leaf had said, the pass was easy to see from the ground. It looked as if the mountains had been split, a long fissure between two peaks, a dark cavern that rose in height the closer it go to the peaks. Flecks of green permeated the gray and outlined the path and Jay, with a skillful eye, spotted the three distinct spots that Amelia had mentioned to her.

"Alright, we'll wait here until night time. Hunt and rest while you can," Amelia advised, stopping on the sloping path in the shelter of a gray boulder. The cats immediately scattered, even though it was only sun-high, they raced about to find some prey as if it would be their last meal in moons.

Jay first took a break in the shade of the rock, sitting silently side-by-side with Amelia to rest from the journey. By the time Cherry and Leaf came back, she went out and easily caught a shrew scuffling among the many rocks and also stopped by a puddle to drink her fill, enjoying her meal away from every cat. She preferred the silence to their anxious murmurings. And she had plenty of time to stare up and admire the impressive grandeur of the mountains.

The day seemed to pass too quickly and as she watched and admired the mountains, she saw the peaks start to turn orange as the glow of sunset reflected upon the stone spires. With a heavy sigh, she trekked back to where every cat waited and in silence Amelia gathered them up and they started toward the attack position up the trail.

"Remember," Jay growled, "The goal is to get behind them, since the cat on the higher ground has the advantage." Every cat nodded, fear and ferocity mingling in their gazes.

Jay shared a discreet look with Amelia and they nodded. "We did some scouting and found that the cats live in a den under that boulder," Jay mewed, nodding to a dark rock that stretched out of the mountain side. "Amelia, Silver, and I are going to go up and flush them out down here where you'll be waiting, as they come you'll separate and come back together once they rush past you so that you have the higher ground. When they are defeated, we will move as quickly through the pass as possible and when we come to the other side, well, we'll see how it works out," Jay mewed.

The cats nodded, shifting from paw to paw in anxiety. Jay moved into the lead now, her wide paws easily navigating the uneven terrain as they climbed off the trail and took a wide arc so that any guard sitting inside the cave wouldn't see them, Amelia and Silver staying right on her tail. "Why am I in your group?" Silver grumbled.

"Silence," Amelia hissed under her breath. The pale gray she-cat continued muttering under her breath but Jay ignored her, focusing on finding the easiest route through the rocks so that they would come up on the boulder with such an element of surprise that they would run down to where the others waited.

When they reached the rock, Jay found it short enough that she could leap on the top and she began searching. "What are you looking for?" Amelia hissed.

"An alternate exit, only a moron would sleep in a den with only one way in and out," Jay hissed back. Silver waved her tail and Jay trotted over to her, the silver she-cat pointed with her tail at a small hole where the mountain and rock met. Jay nodded approvingly, "We'll enter through here and block it so they can only go out the main exit, which is angled to where our friends wait. When you get in, make as much noise as you can," Jay whispered her last orders and jumped down into the dark hole.

The breathing of many cats stifled the air and she curled her nose at the overwhelming cat scent, only a faint light glowed from the main entrance and she could only see the silhouettes of a few sleeping cats and one guard. When Silver and Amelia were down the hole as well, Jay took a deep breath and let out a blood-curdling screech, not dissimilar to the screech of a fox.

Silver and Amelia imitated her sound until the cave seemed to shake with the ringing. Jay scrunched up her eyes painfully, shivering inside at the ghastly sound. But it served its purpose, before she had need to draw another breath the den had been deserted and she curled her tail in triumph.

"Alright," she mewed, looking at the other two and catching Amelia's eye. "Time for the next part of the plan."

Amelia nodded and Silver was already dashing for the entrance, the cries of battle resounding off the mountainside. Jay chased after the gray she-cat but skidded to a halt just outside the cave, looking down at the sight below her.

Cats clashed against each other in a furious whirlwind of wind, sky, and claws. The rogue she-cats were poorly outnumbered and outmatched and Silver's appearance did little to increase the odds. "Those cats are done for," Amelia mewed, commenting on the battle.

Jay sighed, "It would have taken moons to train them well enough to take these cats on. Oh well, I do wish them the best," she mewed, turning her back on them and looking up into the pass.

"Let's go before they notice us," Amelia mewed, dashing up the slope- a silent, deadly shadow.

Jay followed her, sure-pawed on the loose gravel and paused just before she got to where the path twisted into the shadow of the mountains, looking back at the now distant cats. The fight was already over. The she-cats were surrounded by snarling, spitting rogue cats. Night lay outstretched in the huddle, Jay couldn't even see for sure if she was still breathing, but not one of the she-cats had gotten away without some serious wound.

Silver's blue gaze lifted from the vicious faces surrounding her, as if drawn, and met Jay's eyes. Jay stared back, unblinking. A look of shock was on Silver's pretty pale face but it quickly changed to disgust, a look of such disdain that even Jay felt a little disgraced. Not that it wasn't like she could go back, the line she had crossed just now, she'd crossed a dozen times before and she'd cross it another score in the future.

The appearance of a noble, helpful warrior? Daughter of the two cats that were renowned in all the Clans? What a joke. She had never been a warrior, never been a hero; she had left before she could tarnish those names or be tarnished by them. Jay was nothing more than a troublesome apprentice who hadn't fit in and made a few mistakes common to youth, and few less common to normal cats. She knew that the path she was on led to nowhere good, and yet, she skipped along it lightly with a purr in her throat and a song in her heart. What a miserably foolish falsehood she lived.

That's what Amelia thought, that's how she viewed the dark gray she-cat who turned her dark eyes away from the gruesome scene she had herself created. Jay climbed the path to meet the black she-cat, looking unmoved, but with a little less life in her eyes and a little less heart in her voice. Amelia smiled, she knew- and she'd known all along- that this was her perfect revenge against a tiny black and red kit. And all she had to do was sit back and watch.

"Are you ready?" Amelia purred softly as the she-cat passed by her, a ghost of melancholy in her gaze.

Jay looked at her, dark eyes glowing- not from life- but from the pleasantry of a living nightmare, "I'm ready." Amelia grinned and followed the dark gray cat but there was something she didn't understand. Jay wasn't living a nightmare, the nightmare was in her head.