A/N: Yay! Chapter 9! I've never actually gotten this far with my stories. Sad, right? No? Well fine! And sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been getting bored, hanging out with my friends, and...ugh, school. Hate it! Who agrees with me? Say so in a review if you hate school! I'm sorry to all the people who like school...jk, there's probably NO ONE who likes school.

Chapter 9

Heatherpaw panted heavily, and sat back as Berrynose said, "Good job! Well done! Leafpaw and Heatherpaw, you guys only did a couple of things that could have gotten you killed, but hopefully you already knew them."

Leafpaw and Heatherpaw looked at each other, smiled, then looked back at their mentors and nodded.

"Good," said Cherryblossom. "Heatherpaw, you did very well. Let's walk back to camp and I'll give you a little test."

Heatherpaw nodded, and followed her mentor. She looked back to see Leafpaw talking to her mentor, and the small black she-cat laughed. Berrynose smiled and nodded, and waved her tail for Leafpaw to walk with her as well.

"Heatherpaw?"

"Huh?" She looked back at her mentor who had stopped and was watching her, whiskers twitching.

"You alright?" her mentor said.

Heatherpaw nodded. "Yes. Leafpaw just put up a good fight."

Cherryblossom nodded, and started walking again. "So, about your fighting moves..."

XXXXX

Heatherpaw sighed in exhaustion as she flopped down into her nest. The elders would not stop talking or cooperate when she was trying to change their nests. The tabby did hear some interesting things though.

:: flashback ::

Dawnpool entered the den, stumbling and limping, and flopped down into her nest with a pain-filled sigh. Twoeyes shook her head, and Longfall looked at her questionably. Twoeyes leaned over to him, and whispered in his ear, "She's dying."

Longfall gasped silently at her, then closed his mouth and turned away. Heatherpaw was just as shocked when she heard this.

Twoeyes looked at Heatherpaw, noticing the faint surprise and grief in the brown tabby's purple eyes. "Please don't tell everyone this. She wishes for everyone to not make such a big fuss."

Heatherpaw nodded in understandment(is that even a word? lol). She wouldn't want everyone to make such a fuss, either. She would want to be remembered as the dying elder who could do things for herself, not an elder who needed everyone's help for something stupid, like groom themselves. "I promise I won't."

Twoeyes nodded, and rested her head on her paws. She shifted her shoulders, and grimaced. "Before you leave," she said, lifted up her head again. "Do you think you could get rid of a tick, please?"

:: end flashback ::

Heatherpaw rested her head on her paws and instantly fell asleep.

XXXXX

"Heatherpaw! To the clearing!"

Heatherpaw grunted in protest. She forced herself to get up and stretched her muscles.

The tabby squeezed out of the den, to see Cherryblossom and Fallenwing rushing towards her.

"Heatherpaw," Fallenwing said quickly. "I need you to help me gather herbs for-" She stopped. "For future, wounds or infections and stuff..." She looked away.

Heatherpaw's eyes shone with understanding and grief, remembering what she heard from the elders. She then closed her eyes, then when she opened them, the sympathy was washed away into the lilac purple pools. Heatherpaw licked her paw, and brushed it over her ear. The light brown tabby looked deep into the white tabby's eyes. She saw the pleading and urgency shining so bright it could blind the apprentice. Heatherpaw nodded, but when she just tilted her head upwards Fallenwing said, "Great! Let's go!" And she zoomed off.

Heatherpaw looked at her mentor, eyes wide. Cherryblossom just shook her head, and walked over to Sleetsong and Icestorm.

Heatherpaw watched her walk off, then the apprentice ran over to the pool, and dove in.

XXXXX

"Thank you for helping me," Fallenwing murmured.

Heatherpaw nodded, and jumped over a large rock.

Fallenwing suddenly stopped, and looked at Heatherpaw, confidence lighting her gaze. The worried and scared Fallenwing became the brave and confident Fallenwing that everyone knew and loved. Heatherpaw stopped a couple of tail-lengths ahead of her. The tabby walked forward a bit, so she could whisper, "Do you really know why I brought you?"

Heatherpaw nodded, and turned her head away, looking in the direction they were going in. "Yes, I heard the elders talking about it when I was changing their bedding."

Heatherpaw looked back at Fallenwing. "Is it true?"

Fallenwing nodded solemnly. "Yes."

Heatherpaw nodded in understanding, then trotted off ahead like nothing happened.

XXXXX

"Do you have the marigold?"

"Yes."

"Daisy leaves?"

"Yup."

"Poppy seeds?"

"Yeppers."

"Ragwort? Colts foot?"

"Yes!"

"What about..."

"I also have chamomile and tansy!"

Fallenwing nodded. "Good." She then looked at Heatherpaw, who's eyes were burning with a fire lit by annoyance towards the medicine cat. "I'm sorry, I'm just really worried."

Heatherpaw looked calmly at her, and nodded. The fire had gone away, and was replaced by sympathy. "It's okay. I understand. I'm worried, too."

The white tabby nodded.

Heatherpaw kept talking. "I especially feel bad because of her sister. But it's good that she'll be with her at the Star Beach."

The white tabby nodded again. "Yea," she said, looking up at the sky. The stars were now appearing. One star shined very bright, and Fallenwing wondered if it was Lightsky, or if she was too late, and Dawnpool had died already. Fallenwing shook her head. Most likely not.

XXXXX

Fallenwing rushed into her den, to see Dawnpool coughing, and Silverslash treated her.

"Silverslash!" the white tabby panted around the herbs in her mouth. "What are you doing here?"

Silverslash looked at her calmly, but her silver eyes gave away her calmness because their flashing with worry. "One of your warriors heard Dawnpool coughing horribly, and came to get me or Dapplefur since he couldn't find you. Were you out getting herbs? Did you happen to get tansy?"

Fallenwing nodded, and dropped the herbs by her paws. "I also brought chamomile, in case her heart will act up, colts foot in case she stops breathing..."

Silverslash nodded, and pawed the ragwort and daisy leaves. "Ragwort for strength, daisy leaves for joints..." she muttered.

"And poppy seeds and marigold just in case."

Silverslash nodded, and looked at Fallenwing. "I would have gotten the same things..."

Fallenwing rested her tail on her shoulder. "You're becoming a true medicine cat."

Silverslash nodded, and smiled at her. "Thanks, Fallenwing."

"Now, how long has she been coughing? How bad?"

"Bad."

Dawnpool shifted from where she lay, and lifted her frail, once-beautiful, now dull, tabby head. "There's no need to try to heal me," she hacked. "Ever since I was a little kit, I knew that there was a paradise(1) waiting for me, because I felt like I was useless. I was never able to have kits, even though so many loved my pelt, and I wasn't the best at hunting, and I was too fragile for fighting."

Fallenwing shook her head, and said, "No, you weren't, and still aren't, useless, but I knew that one of these days the ground will drop out from underneath your feet(2)."

Silverslash nodded, and added, "Dapplefur knew that one of these days your heart will stop and play its final beat."

Dawnpool smiled, and gently pawed their front paws. "Thank you, tell Dapplefur it was good knowing her, for she was one of best friends at Gatherings." She laughed, then coughed. Her eyes closed, remembering the good memories.

Fallenwing licked her cheek. "Hopefully when your eyes will close, and the pain will disappear."

Dawnpool opened her eyes and shook her head. "No it won't." She smiled. "Because I'll miss Longfall, who was practically my brother, Dapplefur, and you guys. Tell everyone I'll miss them. And, make sure Wavestar loses her throne. She's not worthy for it." She then closed her eyes for good.

Silverslash gently pressed her paw to Dawnpool's still chest, and placed her head on it. The tabby closed her eyes, then lifted her head. She opened her watery eyes, and turned to Fallenwing.

"Her heart has played its final beat."

XXXXX

"Attention she-cats and toms of WaveClan," Wavestar said, padding out of her den and onto the ledge in front of it with Dragonblaze and Fallenwing following. Fallenwing wasn't looking at everyone, and it looked like she was about to run down the ledge, run off, and cry.

Wavestar hung her head, but Heatherpaw could see that she wasn't even grieving by the look in her eyes. Wavestar lifted up her gray head again, and sniffled. Faker. But she was playing a faker really well because her eyes were watery. The gray she-cat sniffled again, and said, "We have lost one of our most wisest elders, for she had lived before I was born."

Heatherpaw swore she heard Wavestar mutter, "We have finally lost..." Heatherpaw shook her tabby head. She couldn't believe their leader was like this.

"Fallenwing and Silverslash have some words to say, that Dawnpool had said."

Fallenwing opened her eyes in shock, and shook her head. "She didn't say anything important. Just that she'll miss you all."

Hm. Heatherpaw looked deep into her eyes, and she saw that Fallenwing was lying, yet not lying.

Wavestar's eyes narrowed, and she swung her large head over to Silverslash, who was sitting near the entrance, next to Glacierpelt and Whitenose.

Silverslash slowly shook her head, and whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, "The Star Cats have sent me a sign." She lifted up her head, and smiled at Wavestar.

"New kits shall be born soon."

(1) I was listening to Paradise by Coldplay. Good song!

(2) I was also listening to These Days by Foo Fighters.

A/N: Yay! After several weeks of boredom and writer's block, I finished this chapter! Yeah, buddy! R&R