A white and orange kit crept out of camp, her paws making almost no sound at all. She paused and sniffed the air, then carried on. I want to catch a rabbit and make Quietfeather proud of me! She thought. The little kit sniffed the air again, and the faint aroma of rabbit brushed against the top of her mouth. She padded on, silent as a shadow, until she found what she was looking for. The rabbit! She thought triumphantly. Her tail swished back and forth with exitment, alerting the rabbit to her presence. It bounded away, into it's burrow, and the little she-kit hurried after it. All of the sudden, a rumbling sound reached her ears, just as the tunnel colapsed and buried in its dark, earthy clutches...
Brindlekit was missing. WindClan was in turmoil. Quietfeather was searching every corner of WindClan's territory, but to no avail. Her mate, Puddlesky, was of leading a patrol to RiverClan, to see if Brindlekit was there. Quietfeather clawed at the ground in frustration, and turned to Sandtail. He looked at her, his gaze fearful. Unspoken words passed between them. Where is Brindlekit? Why hasn't she come back to camp?
At first, it had seemed like this was just another adventure on Brindlekit's part. Just her exploring the nooks and crannies of WindClan camp. But when Quietfeather had called her name, Brindlekit hadn't come back. She had immediately gone to Stormstrike, their deputy.
"Stormstrike, I can't find Brindlekit." Quietfeather had told the blue gray tom. Stormstrike had turned to her.
"Have you checked the medicine den? You know she loves it there." Stormstrike had asked.
"Yes, I checked the entire camp. Brindlekit must have snuck out." Quietfeather had said, her voice quaking. Every minute that Brindlekit was gone made it more and more likely that she was in trouble.
"I'll send out two patrols to find Brindlekit." Stormstrike had reassured the nervous queen. "I'm sure she just got lost. We'll find her in no time."
That had been just after dawn. And now it was nearly sunhigh. Then Thornheart called out, "Look! The patrol found Brindlekit!"
Jolted out of her memory, Quietfeather hurried up to Cinderlight, who was leading the patrol. "Where did you find Brindlekit?"
"Buried in the rabbit burrows. She's unconscious."
"Can I carry her?"
"It might be better if I carried her back to camp. Can you run ahead and tell Cherryflower? She needs to be prepared."
Quietfeather nodded, worry sparking in her heart. She bounded towards WindClan camp. My poor kit. She thought. She rushed into the medicine den. "Cherryfeather! A tunnel collapsed on Brindlekit!"
The red tabby looked up, her amber eyes glistening with worry. "Oh no!" She gathered up a bundle of herbs. Quietfeather recognized thyme and comfrey, amongst others.
By that time, Cinderlight had already reached camp, Brindlekit dangling limply from her jaws. She set the bundle of white and orange fur gently on the ground. Cherryfeather immediately began to push on Brindlekit's chest, and the little she kit began to cough up dirt. As soon as it seemed like she was well enough, Cherryfeather began to give the kit herb pulp, and then she massaged the little kit's throat, helping Brindlekit to swallow. Then, Cherryfeather tended to Brindlekit's front paw, which had been crippled by the weight of the tunnel collapsing on it. She finally looked up. "Cinderlight, Sandtail, could you move Brindlekit into my den?"
Quietfeather tore her gaze from her kit, and turned to Cherryfeather. "Will she be able to become a warrior?" Quietfeather asked, her voice soft, with a quaver in it.
Cherryfeather looked at her "Brindlekit will live. But she will never become a warrior. StarClan warned me of this. But they also told me that she would become a Medicine-cat. The greatest one of all. No matter what happens, she will never again be underneath."