A/N: w00tesk! I like this chapter. I'm proud to say that this story is really coming along nicely. Thanks to all my reviewers!!!!
"Leafstar!" Tinypaw yowled blindly. She pelted forward, glancing around in every direction. She breathed in deeply, trying to pinpoint Rockpaw's scent. She was only slightly surprised when she picked up a trace of Sharpclaw's scent as well.
"Where are we going?" Tinypaw flicked her head backward to see Thorn galloping along behind her. She saw Leafstar, Patchfoot, and Forest making their way through the crunchy snow toward them. Leafstar had a look of worry playing about her expression.
"My brother!" Tinypaw hollered. "He's in danger!"
The pitiful screech of Rockpaw's pain sounded once more. Tinypaw sped up, pelting through the Ground Rogue territory until Rockpaw and Sharpclaw's scents grew strong enough to figure out where they were coming from.
"Over here!" Tinypaw yowled, turning sharply to the right. Not long after the turn, Rockpaw came into view, slumped over a clump of nettles. He looked like he was hiding from something—or something had put him there on purpose.
"Rockpaw?" Tinypaw mewed, bounding over to the black apprentice. "What happened?"
To Tinypaw's horror, Rockpaw stared up at his sister and gagged on something stuck in his throat. Tinypaw leaned down and inspected Rockpaw's mouth, checking to see if anything was inside.
A scrumptious smell tickled her nose. The smell of warm berries flooded the air around her. Rockpaw was eating berries—and choking!
"They're just berries," Tinypaw mewed quickly to Thorn and the approaching patrol. "He's choking on berries."
"No!" Thorn hissed as Forest rushed up beside him. "Those aren't any regular berries!" the tabby yowled. "They're death-berries! They can kill any cat with a single berry!"
Horror filled Tinypaw's heart. She glanced back at her gagging brother and flinched at his painful expression. "We have to do something!" she shouted. "Can you get Ivory?" she added, remembering the Ground Rogues' healing cat, or medicine cat.
Thorn nodded and turned to dash off into the forest.
Leafstar turned to Patchfoot. "Why don't you hurry and get Echosong? I'm sure she can do something to help," the tabby she-cat meowed urgently. Patchfoot nodded and whisked off through the snow.
Tinypaw looked down at her brother and gazed into his pain-glazed eyes. "Don't die, Rockpaw," she mewed, worry layering her meow. "Please, StarClan, don't let him die."
"Death-berries?" a shrill mew sounded from nearby. Tinypaw turned to see Thorn and Ivory bounding toward the scene.
"Can you help him?" Tinypaw asked the white healing cat.
Ivory nodded and dropped a bundle of thick yellow leaves. Tinypaw assumed that they were an herb that could help Rockpaw. "Move," Ivory ordered and crouched beside the apprentice. Tinypaw noticed that strange contrast between Rockpaw's fur and Ivory's fur. She realized that it must be odd for a white cat to be related to a black cat.
Ivory picked up a few leaves and shoved them into Rockpaw's open mouth. "Chew!" she hollered, concern creeping into her voice. "Chew!"
Rockpaw gulped in some air quickly before chewing and swallowed. A few seconds later, the black apprentice gagged once more.
"That didn't do anything!" Tinypaw couldn't help shrieking.
Ivory flicked her tail for silence. "Wait," she whispered.
Rockpaw gagged a few more times before retching the leaves and a black-red substance.
"Yes," Ivory hissed under her breath. "Come on, little one."
Rockpaw retched once more and coughed numerous times.
"I think he'll be okay," Ivory meowed, getting to her paws. Tinypaw collapsed on top of her brother in relief.
"You mean he won't die?" she asked Ivory tentatively.
"I don't think so," the white she-cat replied. "If he continues to gag later, keep giving him yarrow leaves. They help. They look exactly like the ones I just gave him."
Tinypaw nodded and glanced up at Leafstar. The dappled tabby looked down thoughtfully before speaking up, glancing at Tinypaw as she spoke: "Why don't all the SkyClan cats go back home for a bit? We'll come back at sunhigh. Right now, we have to see why Rockpaw was away from the camp."
Tinypaw nodded, a bit thankful for Leafstar's decision. She still wanted to stay with the Ground Rogues, but also wanted to return home for a while. She was feeling slightly homesick.
Forest nodded formally. "I'll tell Bat and Night immediately," he meowed before trekking off through the snow, Ivory right behind him.
Tinypaw glanced at Thorn. The two locked their eyes before the tabby hurried off to follow his fellow rogues.
Tinypaw turned to look at Leafstar, but the leader was simply gazing at her with wide eyes. "What?" Tinypaw mewed.
Leafstar chuckled. "Nothing," she purred. "Let's go. Tinypaw, help your brother walk back to camp."
Tinypaw nodded and leaned down to help Rockpaw to his paws. Her brother was still coughing up the yarrow leaves and the death-berries, but he seemed to be doing better. Tinypaw wondered why he'd be hiding in the nettles.
Echosong and Patchfoot met the SkyClan cats at the top of the gorge, and Leafstar explained to Echosong what had happened. The silver medicine cat instantly escorted Rockpaw to the medicine cat's cave and the two disappeared inside. Meanwhile, Leafstar leaped on top of the Rockpile and called out the familiar greeting to the SkyClan cats.
As the Clan gathered, Tinypaw looked around. It felt like moons since she had slept in her own nest with Bouncepaw and Rockpaw, and she longed to see her ginger brother again.
"Cats of SkyClan, one of our eager apprentices, Rockpaw, has been injured by something called death-berries," Leafstar began. Tinypaw saw her mother, Clovertail, whimper in anxiety. "The Ground Rogues' medicine cat, Ivory, has told me that yarrow leaves can help cure death-berries which, hence the name, can kill any cat with a single berry. Rockpaw is safe for now, but we're still not sure on the affects of the death-berries."
Clovertail immediately shot up and raced for the medicine cat's cave. But Tinypaw wasn't paying attention. She was too busy observing Sharpclaw. She had smelled the SkyClan deputy's scent with Rockpaw before she found her brother in the Ground Rogue territory. Why was that?
Patchfoot padded up to Sharpclaw and mumbled something urgent in his ear as the Clan dispersed from the Rockpile. Leafstar hopped off and trotted up to Tinypaw. "Do you want to go back to the Ground Rogues or would you like to stay with your brother for a while?" she asked.
Tinypaw pretended to ponder the question. She wanted to go see the Ground Rogues again without hesitation, but she didn't want that to be too obvious for the SkyClan leader.
"Let's go back soon, but not now," Tinypaw mewed eventually. "I would like to talk to Bouncepaw for a moment."
Leafstar nodded, a soft purr arising from her throat as she walked away. Tinypaw got to her paws and trotted over to where Bouncepaw was crouched, speaking to Mintkit and Sagekit while Petalnose crouched near the edge of the frozen river.
But before Tinypaw reached her brother, he stood up and trotted over to where Sharpclaw and Patchfoot were talking, the two grey kits right behind him.
Suspicion and betrayal struck Tinypaw's heart like an icy claw. Was her Bouncepaw bringing two innocent kits into Sharpclaw's plans? But how did she know Sharpclaw was planning anything? Maybe he was working out a way to help SkyClan. Still, Tinypaw couldn't have been too sure. She crept forward until she was safely hidden behind a boulder on the other side of the path leading up the side of the gorge. She could see the talking SkyClan cats clearly, and was upwind at the same time.
"I'm worried, Sharpclaw," Patchfoot was meowing quietly. "I have a feeling that Tinypaw is catching on."
Sharpclaw snorted. "That senseless apprentice wouldn't see a fox if it bit her on the nose," he mumbled. "Don't worry about her."
Tinypaw stifled a snarl rising from her throat. It was official. Sharpclaw was planning something.
"I can take care of Tinypaw," Bouncepaw whispered, inflicting a fierce pain on Tinypaw. She couldn't understand why her brother was saying these things. "She's my sister; she'll believe anything I tell her, even if the sky was falling."
Sharpclaw nodded. "That's one cat out of the way." Then he turned to Mintkit and Sagekit. "Well hello, you two," he murmured with false warmth. "Has Bouncepaw told you of our secret?"
Sagekit, obviously trying to act the elder of the siblings, nodded formally, although Tinypaw spotted a hint of hesitation in his nod. Mintkit beside him was shivering in nervousness.
"Well then," Sharpclaw meowed, inhaling deeply. "I'll have to inform you of the sweet berries' whereabouts."
Tinypaw's ears prickled. It was Sharpclaw who led Rockpaw to the death-berries. And Mintkit and Sagekit were probably too young to understand what death-berries were.
I'm not going to let you hurt any other cats, Sharpclaw, Tinypaw thought in determination. She shoved all thoughts of betrayal by Bouncepaw out of her head and focused on the lives of Petalnose's children. Right now, Sharpclaw had to be stopped, no matter what.
