| "Don’t worry. [...] Mousefur has been asleep for ages. It’s time she woke up." |
| — Longtail to Jayfeather in Sunrise, page 141 |
- Below contains in-depth information for chapter twelve of Sunrise (book). If you are looking for a shorter summary of the entire book, please check the main article.
- Chapter Number: 12 (of 28)
- Page Numbers: 139-143
Chapter description[]
- Jayfeather shifts uncomfortably on the bare ground, wondering how any cat could sleep without a proper nest. He notes that Leafpool had kept him busy for a while, and had no spare time to collect fresh moss, and as he is reminiscing Leafpool calls to him that it feels nice to have the den aired out. Jayfeather just shifts on the ground. He awakens when he hears a cat brush the bramble screen, picking up Leafpool's scent, and Jayfeather wonders why she didn’t ask him to help carry in fresh moss, and feels irritated by this. Stumbling out of the scoop where he had slept, he begins to assist Leafpool in arranging the moss where near the ill cats had slept. Jayfeather offers to fetch more, but Leafpool only grunts in response. Jayfeather pushes away the urge to ask her what’s bothering her, and thinks that he’ll have to find answers himself.
- While he was pushing moss into place, Jayfeather’s mind cast back to early memories, realizing his littermates' absence, and inwardly suggests sharing what they remembered when they were just kits. Jayfeather remembers a long, cold journey through the snow, Squirrelflight's scent billowing around him, alongside Lionblaze's and Hollyleaf's. He also recalls another adult cat, who was a warm, bulky shape, trying hard to remember who it was. Jayfeather wonders if two cats had brought him back to the hollow, both of ThunderClan, meaning to ask another ThunderClan cat what had happened when Squirrelflight had brought Jayfeather and his littermates back to the hollow. A thought enters Jayfeather’s mind of one cat who doesn’t gossip, and offers again to fetch more moss, shoving the rest into its place.
- He doesn’t give Leafpool a chance to protest and brushes quickly past the bramble screen and into the clearing. Jayfeather heads toward the elder’s den underneath the hazel bush and calls for Mousefur. The elder was asleep near the trunk of the hazel, asking what excuse he had for waking her up. Jayfeather apologizes, cursing in his mind, but Longtail tells him that Mousefur's been asleep for ages, and that it’s time she woke up, but Mousefur lets out a hiss. Jayfeather reports that he’s only checking them for fleas, adding that the apprentices brought some back from a patrol. Mousefur meows that she hasn’t been scratching, but lets Jayfeather look her pelt over anyway, adding not miss any as he probed through her brown fur. Jayfeather realizes he could now question them about last leaf-bare. He asks Mousefur about it, and she begins to say that it was the coldest leaf-bare she remembered, and that the whole Clan was stunned when Squirrelflight returned to the camp with three kits. She then thanks StarClan out loud that Leafpool had been with Squirrelflight. Jayfeather stops running his claws through her fur, shocked.
- Jayfeather locates a twig on the ground, snapping it in his teeth, telling Mousefur that he took care of her ticks. He continues to further question her about the time when Squirrelflight had come back to the hollow. Mousefur replies that she doesn't remember a lot, but it was a snowy leaf-bare when every cat was astonished when Squirrelflight had come home with three kits, finishing that the ginger she-cat was always scatterbrained. Jayfeather queries Mousefur if she noticed anything odd about that time, but the brown elder says that most of what the Clan does is odd. Longtail chimes that he remembered a funny-tasting herb. Jayfeather asks what herb it was, and Mousefur responds that Leafpool had brought her tansy as usual, and that a weird taste was mixed in with it. The blind medicine cat asks if Leafpool told her what the herb was, but the dusky-brown cat stretches and says no, but the latter complained about the strange taste, and that it wasn't meant for her anyway. When Jayfeather presses Mousefur on the taste, she replies that it was odd, and continues to describe the herb as cold, fresh, dry and dusty. Jayfeather concludes that it was definitely weird, and snaps another twig, saying that Leafpool didn’t usually get herbs mixed up. Mousefur snorts and tells him that the medicine cat was always fussing about him and his littermates, and Jayfeather murmurs softly.
- As he finished searching Longtail's fur for ticks, he spots one and kills it. Jayfeather then bids the elders good-bye, and heads into the forest to gather more moss from the roots of a tree. His mind wanders as he becomes intent on finding out what the herb was, and how strange Leafpool was behaving. Jayfeather notes that he must find out what the herb is, and collects his moss and goes back to camp. When he arrives back at the medicine den, Leafpool demands whether he’d taken so long to gather moss, or if he had been mooning about in the forest. Jayfeather says no, dropping his moss and starting to arrange a nest. Confessing that he checked on the elders first, he adds that Mousefur had a story about the herb mixed with her tansy. Leafpool seems startled by this and asks when Jayfeather heard this. He tells her that it was a while ago, not wanting to specify, but asks Leafpool if she remembers what it was. His mentor lets out a hiss, snapping that she had more important things to worry about. Jayfeather tries to interrupt, but she continues to state that he was so bored that he asking questions about last leaf-bare, but changes the subject and orders him to go fetch more moss. Jayfeather doesn't protest, but is glad to leave. He knows that Leafpool lied about not knowing what the herb was, noting that he was closer to the truth, and that Leafpool didn’t want him to find it.
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| Sunrise (book) chapters | |
|---|---|
| Prologue • Chapter 1 • Chapter 2 • Chapter 3 • Chapter 4 • Chapter 5 • Chapter 6 • Chapter 7 • Chapter 8 • Chapter 9 • Chapter 10 • Chapter 11 • Chapter 12 • Chapter 13 • Chapter 14 • Chapter 15 • Chapter 16 • Chapter 17 • Chapter 18 • Chapter 19 • Chapter 20 • Chapter 21 • Chapter 22 • Chapter 23 • Chapter 24 • Chapter 25 • Chapter 26 • Chapter 27 • Chapter 28 | |