Jayhaven Chronicles

Rapid woke up the next day ready for a typical day of class, but was only a few feet out of his den when he saw Peak and Hawk playing in their overgrown front lawn flecked with dandelions.

“What are you doing?” Rapid bounded over to them as Peak passed a ball of damp moss from his paw to Hawk’s.

Hawk dropped the ball and snickered, turning his head towards Rapid, his eyes gleaming with laughter. “Oh dear. I think Sedge might have hit him over the head last night, Peak. We oughta get him some ice.”

Peak rolled his eyes. “Shut up, Hawk. Rapid, don’t you remember?” His previously sarcastic blue gaze began to light up with excitement. “Trader Pad’s coming today!”

How could I have forgotten? Rapid slapped his paw to his forehead. “Duh! And there’s no school, of course.”

Trader Pad only came two times every year, and it was always a citywide holiday. Kittens would flock to his stand to buy cool gemstones and wooden dolls, while older cats would purchase furniture made of exotic wools and spices from across… who knows where!

Hawk picked up the moss ball again and casually passed it to Rapid. “We’ve still got time to chill, first. And anyways, there are always cats who camp out there, so they can snag all the good stuff. We don’t want to be caught in that.”

Rapid did an elaborate little flip before kicking the moss to Peak with his hind legs. Onyx had told them to practice their Raccoon strategies at home. “Yeah. Remember that time we tried to set up a tent to wait for him, but it collapsed and trapped us inside?”

Peak caught the moss in his mouth. “Yeh, gud tihms.” He mumbled around it.

Finally, they decided that they needed to get going if they wanted to catch Trader Pad, so they each grabbed one of Dusk’s old leather bags and set out.

The three young cats meandered through their neighborhood for a while before they noticed the quaint houses that usually surrounded them become larger skyscrapers. Street vendors called out to them from colorful stands decorated by flashy banners, reading things like Origami Mice and Paw-Paints for Beginners, and the traffic became even worse. The shadows the larger buildings cast reminded Rapid of the cramped academy tunnel, and he suddenly felt uncomfortable.

“Yup, this is downtown Jayhaven.” Rapid muttered as he saw a seemingly inept pottery stand worker drop a newly molded vase onto their client’s head.

An especially shovey crowd of customers suddenly came into view, and though Rapid couldn’t pick out Trader Pad in the congregation, he heard a gravelly voice calling, “Step back, step back.”

The group of buyers stepped out of each other’s personal space, enough so Rapid and his friends could squeeze through.

Trader Pad had his usual set up, with bobbles of all sorts lining old oak shelves. His wagon had been around for sun-cycles, and you could tell by how chipped it was. Pad himself was an eccentric old tom, with wiry, vibrant red fur and a backpack filled with diaries from his journeys. The namesake pads on the bottom of his feet were scuffed and worn, showing his years of travel without words.

“Ah!” Trader Pad exclaimed when he saw Rapid, Hawk, and Peak. He had a twitch right above his left eye that pulsed whenever he was excited. “If it isn’t my best customer.”

Rapid was confused for a moment, before he realized Pad meant Peak. I’m pretty sure Pad could murder someone and Peak would still want the latest Mighty Meower action figure from him.

Those two started up a conversation while Rapid and Hawk browsed the selection of books Pad had available.

“Eh.” Hawk shrugged, seeming unimpressed. “Looks like a bunch of junk.” He walked away to look at board games. “Ooh, this one has the Epic Fun Time Award.”

Rapid heard angry muttering behind him, and realized that he was holding up the line. “Sorry!” He mewed over their quiet growls and scooted further down the wagonside.

As his eyes scanned the shelves, a shiny foil cover caught his gaze from right in front of him. He peered at it closely, and saw that the spine read, The Book of Jay.

Hmm. Interesting. Rapid was vaguely aware of a cat gently pushing him with their shoulder, but he opened the novel and started reading.

The Table of Contents was huge, it’s text scrawled in a shaky font that looked like it had been written by a very elderly cat handling a printing machine. Rapid sighed and started to close the cover. He didn’t like big boring books.

But wait, was that Claw’s name? Rapid threw the cover open again, nearly sending the book flying into the cat who had been nudging him before. Yes, it was Claw’s name, and he had an entire section dedicated to him on page 274.

Flipping furiously to the right page, He started to read the passage on his former Guild leader.

Claw. Battler. War hero. Guild leader. Headmaster. This cat could be called many things, but for those who were close to him, one word comes to mind: Friend.

Rapid’s ears perked up with interest, and he found his eyes continuing to skim the worn paper of the book.

Claw was always fiercely loyal. He grew up amongst many other cats of fair significance, like Crisp, in whom he was in a relationship, and even King Panther himself. He had a statute of importance even at a young age, and was destined for greatness. Then tragedy struck.

At age 2, Claw’s parents died of an unknown disease, leaving their only, now grown son heartbroken. Determined to make them proud, Claw carried on the Battler legacy of his father by becoming head of his guild, and leading his city through wars like The Silver War and The War of Mid-Sun Season.

However, with recent developments, it seems that Claw may not be returning to his mantle of power. His fate is still uncertain. More details will be added soon.

Rapid’s head was spinning. Claw had been in love with Crisp? Were people really convinced he could die? What would that mean for Jayhaven? All the history books Rapid had ever read had happy endings, or at least decent ones.

As he put the old book down, it’s cover now stained with Rapid’s sweat marks, he wondered if this one would.