Jay x Stick Analysis by Echoheart

Echoheart takes a more serious look at Jay and his stick.

So if you saw my last article, you’d know that I ship Jay x Briar. I love that ship. But I spent an hour looking through all the moments with Jayfeather and his stiick because I got curious, and…yeah, I get it now 😛 I’m definitely taking this too seriously for a joke ship but I thought it would be funny to analyse.
I’m going to break down some of these moments in this article! Starting with…Dark River! Jayfeather first meets Stick here when he was collecting herbs with Leafpool. He carefully observes it, until Leafpool asks him what it is, surprising him. In the book it says that “He had been so absorbed that he hadn’t heard her approach.” Right off the bat he had been interested in Stick. Later on, Jaypaw wonders: “Why wasn’t she more interested in the stick? They had never come across anything like this before.” Then, “Reluctantly, Jaypaw slid his paws from the branch. His pads felt warm where they had been touching it.”
When they had to go, Jaypaw was concerned that Stick might get washed away by the stream and felt anxious at the thought of losing it. He hides it away, then bounds after Leafpool. The book says that “His paws felt heavy and unease fluttered in his chest. Leaving the stick felt wrong. He wanted to understand why. I’ll be back, he promised.” Okay, I know it’s only because Stick was important to connect with the Ancients and Rock, but Jaypaw didn’t know that yet. He even made a promise to this inanimate object that he would come look for it again.
Later in the book, Jaypaw finds Stick again. The book says: “He wanted to run his paws over it again, feel the scars in its smooth surface. His pads felt warm as they stroked it, his heart suddenly as full as a well-fed belly.” Jaypaw finds satisfaction in Stick, even on their second meeting. Hmmm…
Jaypaw drags Lionpaw to find Stick later so he can keep it safe from the river. However, he cannot find it and “there was a dark emptiness in his chest that told him the stick was no longer here.” Jaypaw is immediately panics and says he “has to find it”, silently repeating “I’m sorry” in his head as if he’d just let someone down. He then proceeds to almost drown hanging on to Stick. After that, he wishes that he could take Stick back to camp with him. The Ancients thank him for guarding Stick.
Later, Jaypaw finds Stick again.