Snappaw woke early on the morning after Squirrelflight's vigil. With the poultice still wrapped around his head, he was once again surprised that he could not see. Every time he woke up, he was reminded that his life would never be the same. In his dreams, he still hunted and fought beside his clanmates as if nothing had changed. His littermates, Spotpaw and Flypaw, would walk and hunt with him. Honeyfur would teach him everything she could, and then the three of them would become warriors together.

But life always had a habit of changing in an instant, and for Snappaw, that instant came when the foxes mauled him.

Snappaw's ears perked up as he heard Ivypool beginning to assign the patrols for the day. It was her first full day as ThunderClan's new deputy, and Snappaw thought she fit the role well. He had always respected her. She had a certain fierceness to her that made him believe he would never want to face her in a fight. More often than not, though, she was one of the most compassionate cats in the clan. She was a friend to everyone, as long as you didn't pester her too much. Get on her bad side, and her tongue could be as sharp as her claws.

Eaglepaw broke out in an intense bout of coughing. Snappaw turned to her, wishing he could make her feel better. He heard Alderheart rush to her side. Leafpool and Jayfeather were already hard at work attending to the other sick cats. Snappaw worried for all of them. In his time, he had never witnessed a sickness so serious. When he was a kit, illness had taken the life of Briarlight. Her death was one of the few that Snappaw had been alive to see, until Squirrelflight died to save him.

Growing restless, Snappaw shakingly rose to his paws. He took a hesitant step towards what he believed to be the exit of the medicine den.

"Where do you think you're going, Snappaw?" Leafpool asked as she tore up some sort of herb for Ambermoon to swallow.

"I need to stretch my legs," he responded.

"Not until we check on your injuries. Sit back down, Snappaw," the medicine cat ordered.

His neck fur bristled with annoyance, but Snappaw obeyed. He returned to his nest and stubbornly laid back down, resting his head on his paws. He wanted nothing more than to go outside and feel the breeze on his fur. Even if the air was freezing, he wanted to feel it for himself. The snow could be deeper than he was tall for all he cared.

Leafpool finished with Ambermoon, and then she padded over to him. She began to remove the dressing from his head carefully and slowly. As she did so, he felt the pressure in his head begin to fade. His wrappings were tighter than he expected them to be, but supposed that was how they were meant to be. The better to stop the bleeding and prevent infection, probably.

Soon, the wrappings were removed and Snappaw felt better than he had before. He also found that he could see light once more. Everything was blurry and distorted, but he still felt relieved that he was not entirely blind.

"Can you see?" Leafpool asked him with concern.

He followed the sound of her voice and looked up at her. He could just make out her outline, but he could not distinguish exact features of who he was looking at. He knew it was Leafpool, but by sight alone, he could not tell.

"Sort of…" Snappaw replied hesitantly. "How bad is it?"

Leafpool gently placed her tail tip on Snappaw's shoulder, saying, "Well… just come see for yourself."

Snappaw rose from his nest and allowed her to guide him towards the small pool in the back of the medicine den. When they reached it, Leafpool stepped away, allowing Snappaw a close look at his own reflection.

He stepped forward cautiously, almost not wanting to see himself. He took a deep breath and looked into the pool. Although his vision was blurry, he could make out a few things about himself. He felt his fur begin to stand on end as he made out one distinct feature. The fur on the right side of his face was mostly gone, and in place of his right eye was a gaping, bloodied hole.

Snappaw jumped back in fear of what he had become. He closed his remaining eye and tried to stop himself from crying. Tears were coming, however, and he was helpless to stop them.

"I'm sorry, Snappaw," Leafpool said quietly. "There was nothing we could do about your eye. We were able to save your ears, though they are a bit shredded. I wish things could be different."

"That doesn't stop me from being half of a cat," Snappaw muttered crossly.

"You're not any less of a cat than you used to be," the medicine cat assured gently.

Snappaw turned to face her, his fur still bristling, though now it was with anger. "Why in StarClan's name did Squirrelflight save me for this? What can I do for the clan when I can barely see? Everything is fuzzy… and dark. I look like I belong in the Dark Forest!"

Leafpool's tail twitched irritably. "My sister died because she believed in you! You have an entire life left to live, and she wanted that for you. Just because you lost an eye doesn't mean you can't be the cat that you were meant to be!"

Snappaw turned away from the pool and began to walk out of the den. Leafpool turned and watched him go, but she didn't follow him. She had other cats to worry about, and Snappaw could go a little while without another dressing. He had to adjust to his harsh new reality.

He pushed himself out into the incredible cold of the ThunderClan camp. The snow had finally taken a break from falling, but it was still piled higher than it had been in the days before. His paws sunk into the powdery, cold white substance that reached up to his chest fur.

He felt the eyes of his clanmates turn to him all at once. Shock rippled through the camp like a wave as they all took in his injuries, just as he was. He heard them whispering his name and their sympathies for him, but he didn't want to hear any of it. He needed to adjust to everything. Every cat in the clan would want to talk to him about it, however, and he knew it.

The first cat to do so was his own mother, Cinderheart. She ran up to him and began to frantically lick his fur, happy to see him up and walking again.

"Snappaw, I'm so sorry this happened to you," she said, her voice choking with emotion. "Everything will be okay. You just need to get used to all the changes."

The fox should have killed me, he thought but didn't say.

Instead, he said, "I know. I'll get used to this."

"You'll be training again before you know it," his mother assured him.

Snappaw shook his head sadly. "I won't get to be a warrior with Spotpaw and Flypaw. They'll get way too far ahead of me."

"But you will be warrior. I know you will. You'll never let this hold you back," Cinderheart assured.

His mother let him go after another quick lick on the shoulder. He padded through the camp, listening to the chorus of apologies and sympathies.

"I'm sorry, Snappaw," Poppyfrost mewed.

"This never should have happened," Mousewhisker agreed.

"Keep your chin up!" Graystripe said, his whiskers twitching.

"You'll be okay, right, Snappaw?" Flypaw asked in concern.

"We all see challenges in our lives. You'll get through this, just like the rest of us did," Stormcloud assured him.

The final cat to greet him was the one that gave Snappaw the hope that he had been searching for. Brightheart found him just as he was about to leave the camp.

"I know what you're going through," she said sympathetically. "If you ever need someone to talk to about this, I don't think there is another cat in the clans that understands this better than I do."

Snappaw turned to face her and felt like he was seeing a reflection of himself. Brightheart had lost her right eye when she was an apprentice as well, and her ears had also been shredded. Snappaw realized with a start that the two of them shared injuries. Brightheart had become a warrior, and she could do everything that any other cat could do. She was no less of a cat. That had to mean he wasn't either, right?

"How did you do it?" Snappaw asked her in a subdued tone.

"How did I do what?" Brightheart replied, blinking in confusion.

"How did you become a warrior, with everything that happened to you?" he felt the question flood out of his mouth before he could think about how it might have made her feel.

The question didn't phase Brightheart, however. In fact, she seemed almost pleased with the question. It was almost as if she had been waiting her whole life to give another cat advice on that subject.

"Cloudtail helped me come up with new hunting and fighting techniques that took advantage of my disabilities. He got me to realize that I could turn my weaknesses into strengths," she explained.

"Can you help me?" Snappaw asked hopefully. "I want to be the best warrior that I can be… and being how I am now, I don't know if Honeyfur can do that for me."

Brightheart's whiskers quivered with amusement. "I'll talk to Bramblestar about it. But if you truly want this to happen, you have to focus on recovering first. You shouldn't be leaving camp in your condition. Not yet."

"I can do that," Snappaw agreed wholeheartedly. "Thank you, Brightheart, for giving me a chance…"

"Every cat deserves a chance to live the life they want to live. That includes you," Brightheart tapped him on the shoulder with her tail as she finished the sentence. "Now go get some rest. I'm sure Leafpool will want to redress your wounds. Do that, and I'll go talk to Bramblestar."

"Thank you," Snappaw said, bowing his head respectfully before bounding back to the medicine den.

Once inside, Snappaw once again held back a gag at the strong scent of sickness. He returned to his nest and lied back down. Leafpool soon came to him and redressed his wounds. When they were redressed, and Snappaw was blinded once more, she went on to treat her other patients. Leafshade, in particular, grew weaker by the moment.

Snappaw let sleep take him once more, but he didn't feel like he had been unconscious long before a shout of dismay woke him with a start.

"Alderheart!" Sparkpelt yelled from the entrance of the medicine den. "Please help! Puddlekit has started coughing, and she feels hot!"

"Bring her in here, Sparkpelt," Alderheart replied calmly. "I'll make her a nest."

"Shouldn't I be with her?" the young queen asked frantically.

"Your place is with your other kits. Puddlekit will be just fine in here; I'll make sure of it. Now, please go back to the nursery. It's crowded enough in here without you!" Alderheart finished playfully.

Snappaw could hear Sparkpelt's tail dragging in the snow as she went to retrieve Puddlekit in order to bring her to the medicine den. He couldn't imagine watching one of his own kits get an illness so serious. He had a long time before he had to even think about such things, but he could clearly picture the hopelessness of such an event.

As Alderheart busily made Puddlekit a nest among the sea of sick cats, Snappaw couldn't help but feel like a burden. With so many sick cats in the camp, he felt bad for taking up any of the medicine cats' time. Even if Brightheart had made him feel better about everything, that wouldn't change. He wondered if he would ever stop feeling like a burden to the clan.

Only time would tell.