Jayhaven Chronicles

Rapid told Peak and Hawk to come into his room later that night. They all sat on Rapid’s bed, and Peak’s eyes widened with shock when Hawk and Rapid told him the news. “Oh no,” He shook his head and looked at the cover of the bed they were sitting on. “That’s awful.”

“I know.” Rapid scowled, fighting fury. “Kiirion did nothing wrong! He had tried to protect us!”

But as Rapid turned to Hawk, he saw that, like in the clearing meeting, his friend was wearing a conflicted expression. “But if he knows anything about the Empress’s plans, he can help us.” Hawk’s face turned confident and he met Rapid’s eyes. “I mean, we don’t want another terrible battle, do we?”

Rapid’s mouth fell open and he was taken aback. “But… You met Kiirion, he was nice to you, and-”

“Hawk’s right, Rapid.” Peak spoke up. “At the end of the day, we need to be putting Jayhaven first. That’s what we did back when we built those traps, and,” The small brown tom gave a soft chuckle. “Now King Panther is training us.”

Rapid jumped to his feet, bouncing a little on the soft mattress. He furrowed his brow in anger. “We did what we did that night because it was the right thing to do. Now, the right thing to do would be to save an innocent owl from being interrogated for something his leader did!”

Hawk leapt up and took a step towards Rapid, his fur on end. “Look, bud. You’ve always been one to say what you think, and I respect that.” He stomped his foot, but it made no sound while sinking into the cushy bed. “But I’m not going to let us argue over a stupid thing like this!”

“It’s not stupid!” Rapid screeched, trying but failing to control himself. “What if it wasn’t an owl being interrogated, what if it was a cat? What if it was sweet Snow?”

At the mention of his former guild leader’s name, Hawk began to shake. His eyes faltered, and as he stepped away, Rapid knew he had hit a nerve. He must be even more sore about her than he’s letting on.

“I think we all need to think.” Hawk squeezed his eyes shut. “Goodnight, Rapid.”

Hawk trotted out of the room without another word, and Peak, who had been sitting silently with his ears pinned back, flitted his gaze between his brother and his best friend.

“Go on.” Rapid seethed. “It’s fine.”

Peak’s eyes began to shine with tears, but he blinked them away. “Okay. Goodnight.” He whispered, so soft that Rapid could barely hear him. And he followed after Hawk.

After he had heard their respective doors close, Rapid drove his face into the softness of the blanket. “Why am I such a jerk?” He gave a muffled whimper. He sat there for a while, fighting the urge to cry, before growing restless. He wasn’t tired at all, and the faint candlelight of the hallway seemed to be calling him tonight. He crawled off his bed and slinked out of his room. He spotted a fancy display table with several pleasantly scented candles spread out upon it. Grabbing a candle holder in his jaws, he began to walk down the eerie hall, the only sound in the castle being his footsteps.

He once again noticed all of the intriguing artifacts sitting upon small pillars of quartz, the huge windows of the castle illuminating them. Rapid could see that one of them was a jade necklace. He held the candle up to the description, which read, The Willow Amulet. Property of King Panther. Original owner: Moth.

Rapid’s ears perked with interest when he saw the famous guild founder’s name. He whipped his head down the hall, and saw three other amulets, one of opal, one of sapphire, and one of… sunstone?

Creeping to take a closer look at it, Rapid almost dropped the candlestick. But sunstone is only mined in the Feather Realms! No way did the owls let us take their gemstones!

He read the description for the orange amulet, soaking in every word. The celestial amulet. Property of King Panther. Original owner: Laka.

Squinting in confusion, Rapid read the name over and over. Laka. That didn’t sound like a cat name. Had Jayhaven stolen it from owls? And why was it on display with the guild leader amulets?

Trying to blink away unease, Rapid figured he had seen enough. He padded silently back down the hall, crawled into bed, and after a while found sleep.