Sorry for not updating much: I've been dealing with way to many new things right now. But I am back, so please read the next chapter!

So let's go over the important things: Ashclaw hasn't told anybody about his secret and neither has Twigpaw. Ivoryheart had a dark side and an alliance before she was murdered (sorry for that but I needed to add some more fuel for some of the character's actions). Stoneheart may or may not have been initiated and received guidance.

Also I am thinking of doing a separate thing for Petalpaw, like what happened to her in a short little book. Kind of like those Warrior comic books but in writing and fan fiction form. I am thinking about it, but I need some help in making it, so please give me support through comments/or PM me for ideas. And GummyBear01, I love your idea, but I cannot let Petalpaw join ThunderClan under a fake name, since RiverClan would recognize her at the Meeting, of course. And then we would have a war on our paws, and I don't want to do that for Petalpaw.

Anyway, comment! (I found a word!)

-Lilith

I found Ravensong right in the nick of time.

"Where are those herbs?" He asked impatiently, growling under his breath as he looked for me. When he saw me scrambling down the slippery rocks towards him, he hurried to me to take the herbs from me. As he tried to run (kind of a hobble since he was elderly), he slipped his way down to Mapleleaf, whose stomach was rippling as her kits prepared themselves.

"How much longer?" Quietpaw asked, worried about giving ourselves away.

"Shouldn't be too long. She's nearing the final stages of kitting, which is good. I need a few of you to lick the kittens when they first come out."

Nuthatchpaw recoiled. "Lick them? After passing through her? No thank you." She said, disgust in her voice.

Rushpaw rolled his eyes. "Quietpaw and I can do it." He said.

We watched as they stationed themselves on either side of Mapleleaf, watching her calmly as she writhed on the moss. Suddenly the branch in her mouth snapped, her teeth cutting through the soft wood as she spat it out and let out a loud moan of pain.

Shrewpaw scrambled around for another stick, but I was quickest: I hurried to her side and placed another stick in her mouth, this one thicker and sturdier. She gazed at me, immense pain in her eyes as she accepted the stick, but I knew that she was thanking me.

"Thank you for your help, Twigpaw, but shouldn't you go back to your clan?" Ravensong murmured after a long minute.

"Probably. But I won't unless I'm not needed here anymore. This was my plan, anyway." I admitted.

"For Mapleleaf to go into labor here?" He asked.

"Not that, no. I meant that it was my plan to get the apprentices and the kits and the queens out of the camp before they could get hurt. Hazelpaw managed to save you, which is a good thing, but I only wish we could've gotten the medicine cat." I say, wishing that I had saved them all. "He needs to be able to treat all the other wounded warriors."

To my surprise, Ravensong laughed. "Don't worry about Mintleaf: he was a warrior before he became a medicine cat. He knows how to handle himself."

That surprised me. Weren't medicine cats supposed to be called when they were apprentices? Not when they were warriors? It didn't seem right to me.

Ravensong read my expression. "It actually wasn't really a calling for Mintleaf: when our last medicine cat, Blackfeather, died, we were in desperate need for a cat to take her place. She didn't have an apprentice, you see: she died at a young age, so it wasn't necessary at the time. Anyway, we were scurrying around for a cat to take her place, so we desperately started with the cats that knew her the best. Mintleaf spent pretty much every day with her if he could and was familiar with the herbs and StarClan, so we asked him to be our medicine cat. He agreed, but I think he did because he knew that he was in his best friend's footsteps."

I always thought that medicine cats were solitary except for their apprentices: that they didn't have many friends. Sure, I knew that Goldenpaw was friends with us, but we hardly ever saw her. And Daisyleaf had to be acquainted with Blazingstar and Streamtail, since one day she would be serving them. I felt a pang in my heart when I realized that soon, that would be Goldenpaw. She would be getting visions and prophecies from StarClan, she would be best friends with the leader and the deputy, and, eventually, have her own apprentice. My feisty golden-furred friend would be a medicine cat until she died.

"What about you?" I asked, trying to turn the direction of my thoughts. "How do you know so much about herbs and medicine cat stuff?"

He smiled at that. "I once was a medicine cat apprentice. Back then, our medicine cat was Shadenight, and he was looking for an apprentice. I wanted to be a medicine cat from the start, so I asked him to take me under his wing. It wasn't until a few moons later when I realized how unhappy I was: the herbs and my mentor wouldn't make up for the loss of my friends. I barely saw them. So I told Shadenight that I was unhappy and he let me go, and soon my littermate, Blackfeather, became the next medicine cat." He said, his eyes becoming dreamy as he remembered what happened.

Suddenly the air changed. It was suddenly charged with nervousness, worry, and anxiousness. And silence. Glancing at Mapleleaf, we were pleased to see seven kits curled into her side. As Quietpaw and Rushpaw hurried to lick their fur and warm them up, the exhausted queen sleepily opened her eyes to gaze down at her own flesh and blood.

"I think you should go. You're help isn't needed anymore." Ravensong said, and I knew he wasn't trying to sound mean. Just telling me that I had fulfilled my duties.

"No." The queen's weak voice made me turn in shock. "I want you here when I name my kits."

I sat down beside her as she turned herself so she could see her kits clearly in the pale moonlight.

"The one farthest from me will be named Silentkit. The little tom next to her will be named Swiftkit." She said, looking at Rushpaw and Quietpaw. "And then the little she-cat next to him will be called…Palekit." She said, taking in Hazelpaw's ice blue eyes. "The smallest tom next to Palekit…Patchkit." She said, taking in the mixture of Nuthatchpaw's pelt. "And the last two toms…" She drifted off, gaze moving from Nuthatchpaw to Ravensong and me. "Nightkit and Leafkit." She looked at Shrewpaw, the only cat who didn't have a kit named after him. "And the last she-cat will be named Mousekit."

I could tell that everybody was satisfied. Hazelpaw leaned forward to nudge Palekit, and I watched as each one of us took turns sniffing our own kit, careful to not put Mapleleaf into any more pain as we gazed at the little bundles of fur. Leafkit was pretty small and a mix of brown with huge white splotches for fur. He let out a small mew as I breathed onto him, amazed at the little kit. I wanted to save this moment forever, knowing that I hadn't just saved eleven cats, but really eighteen. We all stood aside as Blackfire and her kits came closer to congratulate and see the queen and her kits.

Looking up, I stared up at the sky. The dark night was becoming a softer color, a pretty violet shade in some places and a soft glowing pink and orange in the east. I had without a doubt in my mind that my clan was probably looking for me.

"I ought to go before somebody catches me." I say, wishing I could stay here forever. I felt at home with the two queens, the elder, and the other apprentices. They now saw me as one of their own for my actions. "Please don't say anything about this to anybody." I pleaded.

"Of course not. We'll lie and say that Hazelpaw rescued us." Shrewpaw snorted. "We may be ThunderClan cats, but we're not as fur brained as everybody thinks we are."

I nodded before saying goodbye. "It was nice to meet you all." I say, and then hurry up the slope to hopefully merge with my own clan.

After a moment, I realized I had no idea where I was going. Turning, I started heading towards the WindClan territory, hoping that I could merge with the clan once we passed over the border. But when I got there, I realized that their scent was slightly stale. They had been here sometime before.

Rushing over the WindClan border, I hurried through the heather, ignoring the wounds that were forming on my paws as I struggled to find the camp. After a while, I finally located it before slipping inside.

Luckily, RiverClan was still here. They were all gathered in the center of the camp, trading stories and treating wounds, acting like a clan. It was scary to see them not arguing, not fighting, just acting like good friends.

I spotted Thymepaw on the outside of the group. Sneaking up to her, I waited until I was right behind her before speaking. "Hey." I murmured quietly as she gasped and whirled around, fur puffing up in a flash.

"Oh, it's you." She said before smoothing her fur down. "Where were you during the fight?"

My mind scrambled for a minute before I remembered the cover story I had come up with on the way to the WindClan camp. "Warring with some of the ThunderClan apprentices. We fought mostly in their den, so I don't blame you for not finding me."

"Oh." She said, and then her gaze shifted from me to Stoneheart, who was coming through the camp entrance. Unlike me, he wasn't bothering to keep quiet as he dragged something backwards through the entrance, making his fur catch on the thorns lining the entrance. He growled and struggled to release his fur until somebody rushed over to help him.

We all watched anxiously to see what he was dragging. Slowly, the object came into view. Snow white fur. A sleek tail and legs. Muscled body. And finally, the smooth head of a she-cat.

Ivoryheart.

She wasn't moving at all. Even from here, I could tell that her chest wasn't rising and falling with each breath. I could easily see Stoneheart's eyes, which were stricken with shock and grief and despair.

It was obvious to see.

Ivoryheart was dead.

So to make up for the horror in the last chapter, I added some sweetness in this one.

Comment!

-Lilith