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Thanks to Azrakatz, my first review for this story...
"I… don't want to talk about it…" Velvet whispered, voice panicked and rough.
Alderheart bit back a growl of irritation. Why is this so hard? The fluffy gray cat curled up and dozed off, leaving Alderheart alone with his thoughts.
A few sunrises later, Velvet was on her feet again. With a slight wobble due to a sprain that hadn't quite healed yet, she would constantly be seen wandering about the clearing with a fire in her eyes for which the reason still wasn't clear. Alderheart had tried to get her to tell him. So had Sparkpelt, Ivypool, Sorrelbush, Bramblestar, Lilyheart, and even grumpy Spiderleg. But she wasn't giving anything away, and so one by one, the cats gave up.
One morning, as the sun was painting the sky a vivid red, Alderheart was sent a sign from StarClan.
You must aid the gray storm cloud, for it is breaking apart from the inside.
It didn't take a genius to know what that meant. Alderheart woke up in a sweat, heart pounding. He knew he had to find out what was wrong with Velvet.
Racing out of the den, he headed for the thorny camp entrance. He could scent Velvet's pawsteps, telling him she'd left camp. Paws pounding the mulch, he raced towards the Great Oak-
The gray she-cat was sitting at its roots, bleeding anew, and there was… a fox? The fox was biting and clawing at her, and she was doing nothing, except raising a paw to keep it from her nose, eyes, or areas that could lead to fatality. It was like... she wanted the fox to cause her pain. Like she wanted to suffer, like she needed the hurt.
"No…" Alderheart whispered, and ran back to camp to get help. But he knew it was beyond his control, deep down.
"Bramblestar! There's a fox, and it's attacking Velvet at the Great Oak!" he yowled.
The leader jumped to his paws. "What? I'll send a patrol immediately." The brown tabby tom whipped around and opened his jaws.
"Fernsong! Lionblaze! Whitewing! Icecloud! Go with Alderheart to the Great Oak! There is a vicious fox- there might even be more nearby! Go now!"
The patrol raced out of camp like their tails were aflame. Alderheart ran with them, wondering why Velvet was just letting it happen to her… she could get really hurt!
As they approached the Great Oak, the tang of blood filled Alderheart's nostrils. He screeched to a stop in front of Velvet, and as the rest of the patrol fought off the fox, he and Lionblaze carried her back to camp.
Placing the she-cat back onto the stale moss she had only just left a sunrise ago, she whimpered and wriggled into the dry bracken. "Why did you save me…" She coughed, a few scarlet drops of blood spewing out of her jaws.
"I couldn't just leave you, not after all you've been through." Alderheart said, back to her. He was pawing through the depleted herb stores in search of his elusive poppy seeds. She coughed again, yet more blood dripping out and staining the dust.
Alderheart dug out a tiny seed the width of a whisker and some marigold. But as he turned back to Velvet, he saw something horrifying, something he'd never seen a cat do before.
Velvet was sitting up, blood pouring from her wounds, with her claws pointed at her chest. Before Alderheart could stop her, she drove them inside.
