More Jayfeather vulnerability and raw emotion!!

Briarlight has sadly passed away, and Alderheart has left the medicine den to get some air:

Soon he realized that Jayfeather had followed him out and was crouching beside him, his breath coming in short, shallow gasps. "This is my fault," he snarled. "I must have given her the sickness when I went to the nursery to deliver Ivypool's kits. I never should have gone near her."

His guilt and regret struck Alderheart like a massive claw, driving him a little way out of his own sorrow. "It's not your fault," he meowed firmly. "Ivypool and her kits might have died without a medicine cat to help. Besides, you could just as well say Leafpool and I were responsible. We shouldn't have left you as the only medicine cat in camp."

Jayfeather turned his head toward him with an intense blind stare. "We all thought Ivypool had a few more days to go," he admitted. "But that doesn't change the fact that Briarlight got the sickness from me. And I couldn't help her," he added. "No cat could help her. Oh, StarClan, what good are we?"

"You did your best," Alderheart told him, beginning to recover in his need to comfort Jayfeather. "You gave her seasons of life with the routines and exercises you worked out for her."

He half expected Jayfeather to snap at him, but to his surprise his Clanmate gave a grunt of agreement. "I wish I could've healed her," he meowed.

"So do I," Alderheart responded. "I blame myself... I should have realized how weak she was getting."

"No." Jayfeather shook his head empathetically. "You're a fine medicine cat. None of us saw this coming."

"Jayfeather" and "empathy" in the same sentence? Well, I'll be darned. On a more serious note though, I LOVE this so much. Jayfeather has such a big heart, he just hates to show it!

From A Vision of Shadows: River of Fire