UPLOADED! SO SORRY! I AM SO DUUUUMB. I posted chapter 2 twice!

Half-Moon is very popular. Hmm...But I'll do a fair amount of loooove from three she-cats before we start voting. I still need more reviews. Next chapter isssss...BRIARPAW! Give a round of applause! Don't worry. Half-Moon will come in frequently, too. Firestar Gets All the Girls is under construction for better romance.

Chapter 3: Be with me, Jayfeather(Briarpaw)

Brightheart and Millie were being unbearable existences in the medicine cat den. Briarpaw just hoped Jayfeather was back soon and chased them out. She knew they cared about her, but this...this was too much! She'd rather have Jayfeather and his calm demeanor than them!

"Just eat a little!" Millie begged.

Jayfeather would know what she REALLY needed. Briarpaw complained. "I'm not hungry!"

Who would feel appetite in this state anyway? Jayfeather pushed through the trailing brambles and put down the herbs.

"Leave her alone," he ordered.

It was as if a StarClan warrior himself had descended down from the Silverpelt. Jayfeather looked like a very ravishing tom at the moment with silky gray fur and sightless, but brilliant blue eyes that looked like bluish river pebbles on the riverside. She had never been relieved to see a cat so much before.

Jayfeather!

Her inner voice called out in relief.

"She's my kit!"

"I'm her medicine cat!"

And my savior. Briarpaw let out a dramatical sigh. Brightheart glanced at her worriedly, but had decency not to say anything. Good. She must have picked up a few tips from Jayfeather.

"I just want to help my Clanmates rebuild the camp!"

Briarpaw couldn't help but wail like a little kit at the moment. All this pressure! She just hoped Millie and Brightheart would go away and leave her and Jayfeather alone in peace. Fresh grief poured from her eyes. Longtail... Brightheart and Jayfeather murmured something to each other. Briarpaw narrowed her eyes. What were they talking about? She was distracted by the pair when Millie spoke up again.

"Save her? What did Mothwing tell you?"

Briarpaw stiffened. Her heart thudded against her ribcage.

"Wait."

As Jayfeather padded to Briarpaw's nest, she suddenly realized how messy her pelt was. She self-consciously began to lick her chest. It was hard to do that when she was lying down. She spat a piece of bedding from her mouth in disgust.

"What are you going to do?" Millie meowed.

"I need to be sure." Jayfeather ran his paws down Briarpaw's back. The dark brown apprentice twisted at his intimate gesture.

"Sure of what?"

Brightheart gently nudged Millie away and murmured something. Briarpaw watched Jayfeather nervously, aware of his gentle paws on her back. Sudden hope seemed to spark in Jayfeather's eyes and Briarpaw's hope soared. He lifted her leg as he had done yesterday. It dropped, still lifeless. Briarpaw's heart sank.

"Ow!"

Briarpaw stiffened at the sudden pain in her back, just below her shoulders.

"I'm testing something." Jayfeather's voice reassured her. "It'll prick, but I won't damage you."

Okay. His muzzle came closer until their whiskers brushed. Briarpaw dazedly stared at the silky-furred tom, feeling the smoothness of the mottled gray fur, her heart pounding at the soft contact. Her nostrils filled with woodland wildflower and freshwater scents.

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes," she breathed whole-heartedly.

Yes, she did.

"I need you to be brave while I do this."

"Okay." Determination flickered in her eyes. She wasn't afraid!

Millie tried to move to Briarpaw's annoyance, but Brightheart blocked her. "Give him room to work."

Yeah, please.

"Ow."

Now he was nipping farther down, but the pain was much less than before now that she was prepared. He nipped again, working his way gradually toward her tail. Briarpaw waited for Jayfeather to nip her once more, but the gradual process was now broken. Puzzlement filled her eyes.

"Aren't you going to do it again?" she asked, trying to crane her neck to see more of the mottled gray medicine cat.

"Did you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Briarpaw twisted around.

"No, don't look."

She obediently turned around. Her shoulders began to shake like reeds in rainstorms. No.. she would be okay. She'd be a warrior soon with Blossompaw and Bumblepaw. Everything was fine. It had to be. She imagined Graystripe, Dovepaw and Jayfeather calling out her name as she shone radiantly under golden sunlight.

"Now?"

Jayfeather's voice brought her back to cold reality.

"I can't feel anything." She felt panic welling up inside, threatening to break up from inside. A scream built up on her throat.

"What are you doing?" Millie barged past. Dust particles flew up in the den and Briarpaw coughed. Jayfeather's heart seemed to freeze. It couldn't be!

"You're making her bleed!"

"Is he?" Briarpaw struggled to see, swallowing her scream as it stuck on her throat.

Jayfeather hardly heard them. The world around him was threatening to collapse. He had failed. He was helpless. He was powerless. He couldn't even save a single apprentice. Briarpaw.

"You couldn't feel my claws, could you?" he murmured numbly.

"N-no." Her voice shook with unbelievable fear. She was too young. She had moons ahead of her! Surely...surely..

Brightheart nuzzled her head. Her white and ginger fur had none of softness of Jayfeather's fur.

Go away!

"Your backbone is broken."

Again, it was his voice that drew her from drowning in her panic.

"There's no pain because there's no feeling past the break."

She felt his gentle paw against her flank. The initial panic died down.

"I'm sorry."

Jayfeather's voice cracked. So did Briarpaw's heart.

"Why?" She squeaked desperately like a moon-old kit. "If I can't feel pain, surely that's a good thing?"

Briarpaw tried to grasp the last straw.

"You won't ever be able to feel pain in your legs again," Jayfeather said slowly, "You won't ever feel anything in your hind legs again."

But right now, Briarpaw's heart was going through terrible cascade of emotions. The dark brown she-cat was afraid that her heart would fail and she would choke in utter, black despair.

"What do you mean? Broken bones mend."

Briarpaw faintly heard her mother's mew.

"Not backbones."

"How do you know that?"

"Mothwing had a warrior with the same injury."

"What happened to him?" Briarpaw craned her neck towards Jayfeather.

Jayfeather didn't answer. Say something! Please! Anything! The realization hit Briarpaw on the head like a heavy rock. Her soul was crushed and the light of life died in her eyes.

"He died, didn't he?"

I don't want to die! I-I'm too young! I have a warrior ceremony to perform!

Millie barged Jayfeather into his shoulder and shoved him outside the den.

"No! Come back!" Briarpaw shrieked as panic burst inside her. "Jayfeather! Jayfeather!"

Why was she calling out to him instead of her mother? But right now, she didn't have an ounce of sanity to delve further into her own thoughts.

"Jayfeather!" Briarpaw screamed, almost choking from lack of air.

"Briarpaw!" Brightheart nuzzled her, but she found no comfort in the soothing gesture.

Jayfeather!

-ThunderClan Camp-

"Our poor kit!" Millie buried her muzzle into Graystripe's shoulders.

The trailing brambles at the entrance swished. "Briarpaw can hear you!"

"Jayfeather!" Briarpaw's desperate voice was muffled by the brambles. Jayfeather stiffened at the panic in her voice and immediately tried to go past Millie, who was blocking the entrance. He had to go comfort Briarpaw. His strong pull of emotion surprised himself.

"I think you should come in, Jayfeather, and explain to her exactly what's happening."

Jayfeather's sightless, blue eyes trembled.

"I'll look after Millie and Graystripe." Squirrelflight's nose brushed his cheek, but he hardly noticed.

Heart as heavy as a stone, Jayfeather padded into his den. His attempt at Briarpaw had been futile. Slow, heavy paws trudged towards the terrified apprentice. He settled beside Briarpaw's nest, feeling her warmth warming his own pelt. Panic was flooding in waves from the young cat.

"I'm never going to walk again, am I?"

Jayfeather rested his muzzle on her trembling head, feeling the sleekness of her dark brown fur, hoping that she wouldn't go mad from grief. Her entire life. Ruined. Just like him. Oh, Briarpaw... How could he tell her this? But he did.

"No."

Briarpaw held onto Jayfeather as if he was her lifeline. She buried her muzzle into the gray tabby's flank, feeling his strong, lean muscles hidden beneath. For a heartbeat, Briarpaw was only thinking of the small, thin-bodied medicine cat. Then the fragile enchantment broke.

"I'm so sorry."