“We’ve got to talk about this again,” Lionblaze muttered before they separated.

Jayfeather replied with a curt nod. Between the struggle in the hole, the discovery about Hollyleaf, and being soaked through on his way back to camp, he was exhausted.

Briarlight sat up as Jayfeather brushed past the bramble screen and staggered toward his nest. “Where have you been?” she meowed.

“Out,” Jayfeather replied brusquely, then realized that he could scent only one cat inside the den. “Where’s Icecloud?”

“She went back to the warriors’ den. She said she could rest just as well there.”

Jayfeather shrugged. He was too tired to say what he thought about warriors who thought they knew better than their medicine cat. He would check on Icecloud in the morning.

“You’re all wet and muddy!” Briarlight exclaimed.

Yeah, and claws are sharp! Anything else obvious you want to point out?

“I’m fine,” Jayfeather said aloud.

“No, you’re not fine,” Briarlight insisted. “You’re as wet as a drowned mouse, and asleep on your paws. Come over here and let me clean you up.” When Jayfeather didn’t reply, she added with a hint of mischief in her voice, “I promise I won’t nag you about where you’ve been.”

Too weary to argue, Jayfeather padded over to Briarlight’s nest and flopped down beside her. A moment later he felt the rough lap of her tongue, stroking rhythmically over his shoulder. For a moment he felt embarrassed that she was the one looking after him, but the young cat’s licks were so soothing that he dozed off, wondering if his mother had ever licked him like this.

But which mother? Leafpool or Squirrelflight?

He could see a face gazing down at him; at first he thought it was Leafpool, but it blurred and became Squirrelflight, then changed to Hollyleaf, her green eyes glowing as they stared at him. Jayfeather jerked awake, half sitting up. His fur felt dry and warm, and his whole body was more relaxed.

“Are you okay?” Briarlight’s anxious voice reminded him where he was.

“I’m fine.” Jayfeather sighed. Suddenly he wished there was some cat he could talk to: not a cat from StarClan, but a real friend like Lionblaze had in Cinderheart. He didn’t think Briarlight could be that cat.

“It must be hard, when you do so much for the Clan, and you have to keep all StarClan’s secrets,” she murmured.

StarClan’s secrets are much easier than our own!

“I’m a medicine cat; it’s what I do,” he responded. “You’ll never have to worry about anything like that.”

“Yeah, right,” Briarlight muttered in such a low tone that Jayfeather wasn’t sure he was meant to hear. “Because I’ll never be anything useful, will I?”

Jayfeather rose to his paws. He knew that even though Briarlight had been helping him with medicine cat duties, nothing would make up for not being a warrior. “Thanks for licking my fur dry,” he mewed, and padded off to his own nest.

Curled up among the bracken, Jayfeather opened his eyes to find himself back at the bottom of the hole. The rain had stopped. High above, clouds scudded fast across the sky, though Jayfeather couldn’t feel any wind. Padding deeper into the tunnel, he saw that the way ahead was dimly lit, as if the stars were shining through the earth and rock above his head. He walked farther in, his ears pricked to catch the slightest sound, but the air around him was empty and silent.