Jaytail's Story {Chapter 5}

Instructions

Chapter 5 Jaypaw was laying in his nest when Sorrelpelt woke up. She seemed to notice the jay feather near her nest, and she bent down to sniff it. Jaypaw saw her stiffen, and he guessed she was seeing the vision. The sun was setting when she looked away from the feather. "Sorrelpelt?" Jaypaw meowed, hoping she got the message. Sorrelpelt turned to look at him. "It was a sign from StarClan! It said, 'A jay must choose his own path'. I think it means you were meant to choose your own path," Sorrelpelt choked out, her gaze bright with fear. Jaypaw nodded. "Does that mean I can be a warrior?" he asked hopefully. "I'll ask Dawnstar about it. Why don't you go play with Stormkit and Cloudkit when I talk to her," Sorrelpelt huffed. Jaypaw skipped out of the den, his heart soaring. He saw Stormkit and Cloudkit playing with a crow feather. "Hi Jaypaw!" Stormkit squeaked, her eyes wide with admiration. "I heard you fell into the gorge! Was it scary? Did you die?" Cloudkit burst out. Jaypaw looked at Cloudkit and Stormkit. "I'll tell you a story about it," Jaypaw meowed evenly. Stormkit and Cloudkit fell silent. "Well, I was running through the moor, until I fell into the gorge! I was being tossed around by waves, and then when I finally broke through the surface, I went down a huge waterfall! And then, I hit my head on a sharp rock, and I was knocked out. When I woke up, I was in the RiverClan medicine den. There were three medicine cats there, called Appleshade, Firefox, and Rosepaw. Dawnstar came with a patrol to bring me home," Jaypaw mewed, telling the story as well as he remembered it. Stormkit's eyes widened in awe. "That must be scary," she mewed. Jaypaw was about to agree when Dawnstar leaped onto the High Rock. "All cats old enough to run through the moor please gather below the High Rock for a clan meeting." Jaypaw turned his full attention to Dawnstar, realizing that Jayshade was sitting proudly beside Sorrelpelt below the rock. The deputy, Raindew, was sitting on the other side of the rock. "Sorrelpelt had a vision, and she thinks that it meant Jaypaw should choose his own destiny. Jaypaw, would you want to continued being a medicine cat, or train as a warrior?" Jaypaw looked at Jayshade, and he noticed what Jayshade wanted him to say. "I want to be a warrior," Jaypaw meowed calmly. Dawnstar dipped her head. "Very well. Jaypaw, your new mentor shall be Jayshade." As the meeting broke up, Sorrelpelt trotted over to him. "I hope this was a good decision. Make me proud, Jaypaw." Jaypaw watched Sorrelpelt pad back to her den, her tail trailing on the ground. He saw Jayshade talking to Gingerstripe and Raindew. He decided that he would visit Mossyheart, the WindClan elder. He walked into the elder's den. "Mossyheart?" he meowed. Mossyheart turned to look at him, her eyes full of fondness. "Oh, Jaypaw," she purred. "Anything you need?" Jaypaw nodded. "Can you tell me who all the leaders, deputies, and medicine cats are in the clans?" Mossyheart nodded. "Starting with ShadowClan, Gravestar is the leader, the deputy used to be Stonefoot until he died mysteriously, now Russetpelt is the deputy, and Shadeheart is the medicine cat. Snakestar is ThunderClan's leader, Oakwood is the deputy, and Sharpthorn is the medicine cat. In RiverClan, Streamstar is the leader, Thornfang is the deputy, and Appleshade, Firefox, and Rosepaw are the medicine cats." Jaypaw said his thanks, and he walked out of the den, his tail held high. Now he was prepared for his first gathering.