Ah, it's finally done! Took much longer than I expected, but here it is~!

Here's a Jayfeather x Briarlight one-shot. Wanted to try something a little different, so hope you like~

*BEWARE! CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS OF OMEN OF THE STARS* Warriors (c) Erin Hunter.

"The Dark Forest is rising. Remember, Jayfeather, you have the power of stars in your paws!"

"No! Spottedleaf, where are you?" Jayfeather wailed for the sweet-smelling tortoiseshell medicine cat as a wave of darkness washed over him, threatening to crush him, suffocating him. The stench of blood filled his nostrils, making him dizzy and confused.

StarClan, save me!

The shriek of a cat suddenly reached Jayfeather's ears. "Help! Please, someone save me!"

The voice sounded dangerously familiar, and the fur on his neck suddenly rose with horror.

H…. Half Moon?

An image of the beautiful white she-cat filled up his vision once again, the same cat that, ever since he got back home to ThunderClan after he was taken back into the ancient times of the cat Clan who had previously lived beside the lake, but journeyed to the mountains and eventually became the tribe of cats that presently lived there, known as the Tribe of Rushing Water, had roamed his dreams every night.

But instead of feeling relief on knowing that she had not abandoned him, dread washed over him as he struggled to follow the sound of her distressed call.

"Half Moon! Don't worry, I'm coming to –" His voice cut off as the blackness suddenly choked him, completing suffocating him and pulling him deeper and deeper into its black depths.

I can't die now!

"Jayfeather!" A voice called for him.

Half Moon?

"Jayfeather!"

Had Spottedleaf finally answered his prayers?

"Jayfeather, are you all right?"

Jayfeather's eyes flew open, only to find more darkness meeting him. But as the scent of cats, the camp, and the forest beyond reached him, he sighed in relief, relishing in this new blackness that did not crush him and allowed him to breath.

"Jayfeather?" The voice called again, more quiet now but tight with worry, and much more different than to whom he expected it belonged to.

Briarlight sighed in relief; her muzzle was so close to his that her breath tickled his nose.

"Oh, thank StarClan!" she cried. "You were twitching and spazzing so much, I thought you were battling a horde of badgers!"

Something along those lines.

"Are you okay?" Her voice was filled with concern this time. Jayfeather could imagine how her face looked, staring at him with eyes wide with fear, as if during his sleep he had sprouted wings.

He dragged himself out of his nest and shook the moss scraps out of his fur, trying to clear his head, which was still heavy with the image of the dream and Half Moon.

"I'm fine," he muttered. He had meant for it to sound reassuring, but it only ended up as a sharp retort.

Briarlight shifted her front paws uncomfortably. She could tell the gray medicine cat was unhappy about something, but didn't press on. Instead she inquired, "Um, do you want me to get some fresh-kill? The hunting patrol just came back."

"No, I'll get it. You should do your exercises."

"But I already did them!" she complained. "Really, I'll go get a nice juicy mouse for us to sh –" She was cut off with a bout of coughing.

Each time she coughed, it felt like a paw had whipped Jayfeather across his muzzle with unsheathed claws. It only reminded him of how sick Briarlight really was.

No, not sick. Briarlight was not sick. Rather, she was in danger of being sick.

The coughing revived a memory of that dreadful day when a large tree had fallen into the ThunderClan camp. Thanks to Dovewing's special power that she had received for being one of the Three of being able to hear and sense happenings from an unnaturally long distance away, most of the Clan was able to escape the destruction heartbeats before it happened.

However, there were two cats – Longtail and Briarpaw, back when she was still an apprentice – who ran back into camp. Longtail, because he went back to fetch a mouse that Mousefur kept complaining about because she thought StarClan would be angry for wasting such precious fresh-kill, and Briarpaw, because of her concern for the blind elder.

It had ended in a horrible and tragic ending. The tree fell into the camp right before they could escape, and Longtail was instantly killed. Just when all hope that Briarpaw was still alive was lost, the Clan cats had heard a wail that came from somewhere inside the wreckage.

She had survived, but at a high price. The lower part of her back was now permanently broken, and she had no more use of her hind legs, therefore losing her ability to walk.

That was not the worst part, however. A few days or so after the incident happened, that was when the coughing began. At first, Jayfeather thought she might still be recovering from shock, but they only got worse and worse, until finally he had to visit Littlecloud, the ShadowClan medicine cat, who had a similar situation happen to him, for answers. But what he had received was not good news.

"He died," Littlecloud had told him. "But I don't think it was the broken backbone that killed him. He kept getting a cough, over and over. Each time we treated it, it came back. He found it harder and harder to breathe."

Jayfeather decided that the only way to prevent this from happening to Briarlight was to make sure she kept moving and exercised each day.

So far it was working, but he began to worry that that wasn't the only thing that was killing Briarlight. Ever since the incident, although she had received a warrior name, she knew she could never be an actual warrior. She began to believe that she was useless to the Clan, that she was a burden who should've just died along with Longtail.

Briarlight believed that even though she had survived the disaster and from a brutal death, that would've still been better than the punishment she thought she had received from StarClan, the punishment of being a crippled cat who forever fought for her life until the day she died.

And on top of all that, Jayfeather had a prophecy from StarClan that involved him, Lionblaze, and Dovewing to worry about.

There will be three, who hold the power of stars in their paws. After the sharp-eyed jay and the roaring lion, peace will come on dove's gentle wing.

Like Spottedleaf had said, the Dark Forest was rising. If it was getting stronger, then the Clans must become even stronger.

But how can three ThunderClan cats unite all four Clans against a growing yet invisible dark force?

Oh, Half Moon, if only you were here in this time with me . . .

No! Your loyalties lie in ThunderClan as a medicine cat! Even if she lived in this time, you wouldn't be able to have her anyway! It's forbidden for a medicine cat to –

"Jayfeather?" Briarlight's feeble voice interrupted his thoughts.

He had been so lost in his thoughts that he had forgotten that he was still here in the medicine cat den, and Briarlight's coughing had stopped.

"You were staring off all dreamily into the distance," she murmured. "D-did you have a sign from StarClan?"

Jayfeather shook his head. "No, just thinking about what herbs to collect," he lied. "I'll get some fresh-kill. Start your exercises."

He padded out of the den before he could listen to another one of her protests.

He caught Millie's scent as she bounded towards him from the warriors den.

"How's Briarlight?" she asked him, not even meowing a greeting. "Did I hear coughing? Is she okay? Is she doing her exercises?" she battered him on with questions about her daughter.

"She's fine. Go see for yourself," Jayfeather muttered and kept walking towards the fresh-kill as Millie swept past him and entered the den.

Choosing a plump vole for himself and Briarlight, he trotted back to the den. He confidently picked his way across the camp without any hesitation, so confident in fact, that one could've easily thought that he was like any other cat that could actually see where he was going.

He pricked his ears outside of the entrance to his den, hearing raised voices inside.

"Why haven't you done your exercises yet?" Millie's sharp voice cut through the tendrils.

"What's the point anyway?" Briarlight snapped back at her mother.

"Jayfeather says it'll help keep the coughs away!"

"What does he know? He doesn't understand!"

"He's the medicine cat!"

"It doesn't matter anyway . . . I'm just a burden to ThunderClan . . . so why should it matter?"

"How could you say such a –"

Jayfeather quickly entered before a quarrel occurred. The grim atmosphere inside the den was so palpable he felt like he could almost touch it. He imagined Millie standing there, gaping at her daughter's shocking words, as Briarlight looked down at the floor, head hanging. Her front paws scuffed the ground quietly.

"Any troubles?" He attempted a cheerful tone, setting down the vole, but it came out stiff and awkward.

Millie swung her head towards him. "I thought you said she was fine!" she growled, and bounded past him.

His tail flicked irritably. "You know, you're just making her feel worse by saying those things."

"So?" Briarlight muttered.

"She loves you! And so she worries about you!"

"No she doesn't," she murmured. "She doesn't love me. Nobody in this Clan does. All they feel for me is pity!" She spat the last word out like it was a bitter herb.

"What are you talking about?" Jayfeather leaned forward, his voice low. "Millie worries about you not because she feels pity for you. She loves you! You're her kit, for StarClan's sake. She's concerned for your well-being, and she wants the best for you and for you to be happy! So does the rest of the Clan."

But Briarlight was shaking her head before he even finished.

"No, you're wrong. That's what it seems like."

"She visits you every day! The Clan asks for you every day!"

"That's because they want me to believe that they really care, but they really just pity me!"

"I'm just a burden," she moaned, slumping to the ground, resting her head in between her front paws. "A burden to the Clan . . . I'm just an extra mouth to feed. I can't do anything for the Clan. I can't hunt. I can't fight. I can't even collect herbs! I'm so useless . . . Why did Firestar even bother to give me a warrior name? Why did StarClan even bother to let me live, if I was just going to end up like this?" Her voice dropped to a whisper. "What did I do wrong that made me deserve to get this punishment . . .?"

"You did nothing wrong," Jayfeather said in a fierce tone. "This is not a punishment from StarClan. Firestar gave you that warrior name because you are and always will be a warrior of ThunderClan. He didn't do it out the pity of his heart. He did it for you. Can't you see? The Clan still treats you as an equal member. Sure, they were scared at first. They had to get over the shock first. But listen to me, Briarlight, you are no burden. You are Briarlight, a ThunderClan cat, and a warrior. So instead of moping around all day like a cat who has to search the elders for ticks the rest of their life, why don't you stand tall and look proud for once, like a true Clan cat?"

"That's not enough to be a Clan cat!" she snapped. "A true Clan cat hunts and fights for her Clan. She protects them, and feeds them. She supports them. She doesn't drag half of herself around all day, having to rest every two mouse-lengths, or do dumb exercises! She doesn't have her fresh-kill fetched by her own medicine cat! Or be scolded by her mother everyday for not doing what she is told! She doesn't lie around all day, watching her Clanmates come and go with their daily lives, while she is stuck in this state till the day she dies, not being able to do anything worthwhile for her Clan! What kind of life is that?" She wailed.

"Stop that whining. Haven't you listened to a word I said?"

Great StarClan! I don't have time to deal with this right now! I have a prophecy to worry about.

"I can't even have a mate. What cat would love me anyway, in this sorry state I am in?"

Great, just what I needed. A she-cat talking about mate issues.

He was about to tell her that having a mate wasn't everything, when her next words were like a slash to the face.

"I guess I finally understand how a medicine cat feels," she murmured softly. Her voice sounded so sad; it made Jayfeather wonder how much she had truly wanted to love someone and be able to have their own litter of kits with, a family with. "I don't know how they can bear it. To watch mates come and go, to watch kits grow into warriors, and know they can never have their own."

A few moons ago, Jayfeather vowed he would be a true medicine cat through and through. He would not end up like his, Lionblaze's, and Hollyleaf's mother, Leafpool, who had been a medicine cat herself, but had broken the warrior code by falling in love with Crowfeather, a WindClan warrior.

He would only have love for his littermates and friends, but not enough love for a mate. It was a disgrace to the warrior code to even have a mate as a medicine cat, let alone from another Clan, and Leafpool had broken that. But he would not. Because he was a true ThunderClan medicine cat.

Until that fateful day, when he walked out of the tunnels, only to find himself still beside the lake, yet in another world entirely. In the ancient times of the Clans.

And that was when he met her . . .

Half Moon . . .

No! What am I thinking? I'm a medicine cat! And she lives in a completely different time! She's dead by now. . .

Dead . . .

And Briarlight will be dead too, if I don't do something to stop her from feeling this way.

"I'm going out into the forest," he muttered, not knowing whether she heard or not.

I must find a way. . .

The smells of the forest and the feeling of cool grass against his pads soothed Jayfeather and calmed him, as he padded through its green depths. Even though he was blind, he knew every rock, every tree, every blade of grass in this forest he called his territory, and his home. If any intruder did so little as to try and take a bit of their own, ThunderClan will never cease to show them whose territory this really belongs to!

His paws seemed to automatically take him to the lake. He could smell the crisp air, and felt the wind tug at his fur. He closed his eyes and sat there for a moment, relishing in the cool breeze after that stuffy medicine cat den.

He wished he still had the stick. The stick in which its barkless surface was scratched and carved by the claw marks of warriors of the ancient Clan that now lived as the Tribe of Rushing Water in the mountains. It had been his only connection to Rock, his only connection to the Clan, and his only connection to Half Moon . . .

Oh, StarClan, he wanted to yowl to the sky. Why are you doing this to me?

Please help me! I need you!

Then he remembered his dream, how he had called and called for help, but they had never come.

I may have stars in my paws, but why do I feel so powerless then?

If StarClan could not help him with the prophecy, then . . .

Please help me save Briarlight at least.

It was all he could ask. Yet he felt as though it was the most important thing to ask, even more important than the prophecy.

If I can do that, then I know I am strong enough.

He crouched at the base of a tree, listening to the water lapping against the shore, until he did not hear it any longer, for his eyes had closed and a different darkness enveloped his already black vision.

He opened his eyes to find himself standing in the middle of a small clearing. However, the clearing was so thickly blanketed by white mist that he could barely see a whisker-length in from of him.

"Jayfeather . . ." A familiar sweet scent filled the air around him.

"Spottedleaf!"

Relief washed over him as he realized that the pretty medicine cat had not abandoned him yet.

"Jayfeather, of course I have not abandoned you. StarClan is always with you."

"Spottedleaf, why can't I see you? Where are you?"

"Do not worry. I am always here."

The mist around his feet swirled around and curled until the shape of a sleek tortoiseshell pelt speckled with stars was made. In only a few heartbeats, Spottedleaf was sitting in front of him, her tail curled delicately across her snow white paws.

"Jayfeather, do you know where we are?" Her voice still sounded like a whisper in his ear.

"StarClan territory?" Where else would he have been sent to? Shivers spread through his pelt as he remembered one dream where he had strayed so far he ended up in Dark Forest territory, and Spottedleaf was the one who had rescued him from the claws of Tigerstar and Hawkfrost.

She dipped her head. "Close. We are actually at the border of StarClan territory and the Tribe of Endless Hunting territory."

"Th-the border?" StarClan has territories? But I thought they ruled the whole skies!

Spottedleaf purred in amusement, as if she read his thoughts.

"Of course we do not rule all, young one. That would be quite a bit of territory to patrol, don't you think?"

Jayfeather's eyes that were always sightless in the real world scanned the area, drinking in everything that he saw. He noticed that Spottedleaf was right. Through the mist, he could see a row of trees that lined up both sides of the clearing. It was as if the unseeing mist was utilized as a border marker between the two territories.

"Why did you bring me here? Why aren't we staying in StarClan territory?"

"Look, young one," said Spottedleaf, pointing her muzzle to the side that was farther from them. "Look with your eyes."

Jayfeather's eyes strained to see through the thick white mist. Even if he could see in dreams, it didn't mean that his vision was sharper and better than any other cat's.

He searched to understand what Spottedleaf had meant when she told him to "look". But all he could see was white.

Until he saw it . . .

No, until he saw her.

Through the mist, he distinguished a pelt that was scattered with stars such as Spottedleaf's, but a pure white one.

Her green eyes met his pale blue ones, eyes filled with love and sadness, as if she wished she were beside him at this moment, brushing her soft pelt against his to comfort him.

"H-Half Moon!" Jayfeather cried, and was about to bound over to her when Spottedleaf placed her tail on his shoulder, keeping him back.

"No, Jayfeather," she said. "You cannot go to her. She hunts with the Tribe of Endless Hunting."

"But why?" He wanted to yowl out to Half Moon once again.

"StarClan shares borders just like the Clans share borders. We abide by the same rules and stay on our side. We live in peace, but do not immerse ourselves with the concerns of others. There are a certain few, however, who can share skies, like Feathertail who, even though she was a Clan cat, risked her life to save the Tribe from an imminent destruction."

"Then why can't I do that?" Jayfeather protested. "Feathertail saved the Tribe, but I was the one who lead them to the mountains! I'm the reincarnation of Jay's Wing, remember?"

"But that's not what Half Moon wants," Spottedleaf told him, shaking her head.

"But . . ."

He remembered the last words Half Moon had told him after she had became the first Teller of the Pointed Stones, and he was about to disappear back into the times of the four Clans once again.

I will forever wait for you, Jay's Wing!

Didn't she still wish for that? If so, then why wasn't he allowed to see her again?

"Jayfeather, Half Moon will always love you, just as she had loved Jay's Wing. But she understands that there is someone who needs you much more than her."

Who?

. . . Did she mean Briarlight?

Then he suddenly remembered something in his dream. The shriek of a cat he had thought to be Half Moon.

Had it been actually Briarlight's plea that he heard?

Once again his eyes searched Half Moon's, which were still filled with love for him, and sadness that she could not have him, but she blinked at him, and he could've sworn he heard her voice whisper into his ear, "Yes, this is what I want, Jay's Wing. Please protect her like you have protected me."

"But. . . Spottedleaf! Medicine cats can't –"

"Jayfeather, I am not telling what I think you should do, or what StarClan believes is right. Just because you're a medicine cat, or a Clanborn cat, doesn't mean that your path has already been carved by StarClan. You carve your own path. You have paws and claws, don't you?" Spottedleaf licked the fur between his ears. "Use them at your own will. But remember, StarClan will always be there to guide you every pawstep of the way. . ."

Jayfeather opened his eyes to find himself at the same exact spot he had fallen asleep in. He was still under the tree, beside the lake, in his home.

Briarlight!

That one name was the first thing that popped inside his head, and he raced back to the ThunderClan camp, not caring if he ran into any trees or brambles.

How long have I been asleep? What if she started coughing again? What if . . . what if . . .

He couldn't see the sky, but he could feel the air slowly growing chillier as the sun set. He imagined the stars beginning to appear and dot the slowly darkening sky, as if StarClan was watching his every step. He remembered Spottedleaf's words.

StarClan would always be there to guide you every pawstep of the way . . .

But will StarClan approve of the choice he was about to make?

He nearly ran into Bumblestripe before skidding to a stop right when the black-striped tom bounded out of the bushes.

"Jayfeather! There you are!" he exclaimed, panting. "The Clan's been looking all over for you!"

"What happened?"

"It's Briarlight . . . She's disappeared!"

No. . .

"She's not in the camp at all! Then I figured you'd be the one to have last seen her, but you were gone too. So we thought that something might've happened to the both of you . . ." He trailed off.

Dear StarClan, why now?

Jayfeather flicked his tail to Bumblestripe's shoulder. "Go back to camp and tell the rest of the Clan that I'm on it," he ordered him.

"But you should have a warrior escort to –"

"Don't worry! I'll be fine!" he called over his shoulder, and he bolted away.

I have to do this alone.

He figured that if Briarlight snuck away, then she'd go through the dirtplace tunnel where no one would catch her. True enough, he caught her scent as soon as he reached, but it was fading fast.

The scent took him as far as the stream that marked as the border between ThunderClan and WindClan, and he was worried that she crossed it until the scent suddenly veered him left and up the hill beside the stream.

For a cat who couldn't walk, she had gone pretty far. It made Jayfeather wonder how long she had really been gone since she disappeared from camp. The Clan would be frantic right now.

He kept following the scent farther and farther up the ridge, yet still had not found her.

Was she planning on going all the way up to the Moonpool?

What kind of mouse-brained idea is that?

"Briarlight!" he called, and quickened his pace.

What if she fell and was lying somewhere badly injured? She already had a broken back, she didn't need any more serious injuries that could cause her to lose use of the rest of her small, frail body!

"Briarlight! Where are you?" he cried again.

Suddenly, he heard a small mew coming from somewhere in the bracken a couple fox-lengths away.

The mew sounded out again, louder this time. "J-Jayfeather?"

"Briarlight!" He pushed through the bracken and found her laying there, head low from exhaustion.

She lifted her head when she saw him, and whispered, "Jayfeather . . ."

"You silly mouse-brain," he breathed, his voice low and soft. "What were you thinking, dragging yourself all the way over here?"

"I . . . I wanted to speak with StarClan," she stammered. "So I left the camp without anyone noticing, and I headed to the Moonpool, but then I got really tired on the way, and –"

"You should've never done something like that!" he mewed. "What if you injured yourself? What if a fox had gotten you? Do you really think you'd be able to fight it off?"

"I know! I realize know how mouse-brained of an idea this was. But I just . . . I just really wanted to find answers."

"And did you think StarClan would find a way to cure you?" Briarlight's head lowered as Jayfeather said this. "Briarlight, StarClan did not send the tree falling into the camp. They did not have Longtail die because of it. And they sure did not have what happened to you happen. It was all an accident. A terrible one, but an accident. But just because you cannot walk anymore, or be a true warrior, doesn't change the fact that you're still the same Briarlight. ThunderClan still loves you and accepts you for who you are, and they always will. They need you, Briarlight. I . . ." He took a deep breath. "I need you . . ."

He heard Briarlight take in a breath. He didn't know whether it was because he was a medicine cat and was not supposed to say things like these, or it was grumpy Jayfeather who just never said these things.

"But Jayfeather, you're a –"

Jayfeather padded up to her and crouched beside her, his pelt brushing hers.

"Just because we are Clanborn cats, or that I'm a medicine cat, doesn't mean StarClan carves our paths for us," he told her, remembering what Spottedleaf had said to him. "We have paws and claws to carve our own path, but StarClan will always be there to guide us every pawstep of the way."

Briarlight was silent as she contemplated this.

" . . . Jayfeather?" she finally said. "Do you . . . do you really mean what you said? That you need me."

"Of course." He nudged her affectionately. "Or are you surprised that Mr. Grumpy Jayfeather actually has a kind side to him?"

"No, I always thought you had a kind heart." She purred so loudly that he could feel her pelt vibrate against his. She buried her muzzle into his neck fur. "But I feel the same way, Jayfeather . . . Ever since the . . . accident . . . you helped me and took care of me. You always seemed to be there for me, when no one else was. I . . . I'm so sorry for running away like this. I feel terrible. But I . . . I think I understand now."

"As long as I know you're safe, I'm happy," he said to her. He licked her head between her ears.

"Jayfeather? I can see all the stars. There are no clouds in the sky. Does that mean . . . that StarClan approves of this?"

"StarClan knows that this is the path we've chosen. I told you that they will always be there to guide us."

Briarlight shifted her position so that she cuddled closer to Jayfeather, and she lay her head down and closed her eyes.

"Can we . . . stay like this a little longer?" she murmured. "I don't want this to end."

"Of course, my sweet."

He dared not move until he heard her gentle breathing to indicate that she was asleep. He was about to lay his head next to hers when suddenly his black vision was no more and he was able to see the darkened forest around him, and Briarlight, who rested beside him.

Her smooth, brown pelt glowed silver in the moonlight, and she was so beautiful that not even the back legs that awkwardly splayed out from behind took away from her beauty. In fact, that flaw just made him love her even more.

"Jayfeather . . ."

He suddenly saw a white shimmering shape appear before him.

"Half Moon!" he exclaimed, then quickly lowered his voice to not wake Briarlight. "How did you –"

She dipped her head. "You chose well, Jayfeather. Do not let her go from your grasp. Do not even let the prophecy take her away from you. Be strong for her. That is what truly will save her."

Jayfeather blinked. "Thank you, Half Moon. You have helped me so much."

She padded up to him and gave him a reassuring lick.

"This is your destiny. Remember that."

And she was gone, and Jayfeather's vision was black once again.

Jayfeather stayed in the position he was, afraid to disturb Briarlight, until dawn slowly trickled into the sky, turning it pink and golden.

He felt Briarlight shift position as she lifted her head, eyes blinking sleep out as she said, "Jayfeather! I . . . I had a dream. There was this beautiful white cat. She had stars caught in her fur, and I think she was from StarClan! She told me that I didn't have to worry or be scared anymore. She said that I had others that cared for me and loved me. That everything was going to be okay from now on."

"She's right," he told her, pushing his nose against her ear. "Everything will be okay."

Yes, Half Moon was right. This was his destiny.