"Now, come on," Twigpelt said. "Let's get back to our patients."

"Are you kidding me?" Moonpaw said. "You refuse to stop the battle that is going to kill us both, and now you just want me to go back to doling out bits of catnip and wet moss?"

"Someone has to take care of them. And what else are you going to do?"

Moonpaw shook her head, trying to wrap her mind around this nonsense. "Um, try to avoid death?"

Twigpelt flicked his tail, eyes narrowed. "How?"

"Um..." Moonpaw glanced upward. "Tell Brackenstar what Branchtail is planning, I guess."

"Great, great. See how that goes for you. Go ahead, stop the battle SkyClan needs. But once you're done, please report to the medicine cat's den."

Moonpaw let out a hiss. "We're going to die we're going to die we're going to die, don't you get it...?" She expected no answered and received none. She dashed off to camp ahead of Twigpelt, her paws churning up the old leaves and frost on the ground. Report back to the medicine cat's den... yeah, right, exactly the thing to do on Doomsday.

Stupid Twigpelt.

She flew through the entrance, spotted Brackenstar too late, attempted to stop herself, and crashed into him.

"Sorry!" he spluttered, jumping back, even though it obviously wasn't his fault.

"Sorry," she echoed.

"Did you get the herbs that Branch-" He looked down and noticed that Moonpaw wasn't carrying anything. "Oh. What happened?"

Moonpaw tried to think of some lie to defend Twigpelt and Branchtail's phony story about how they were meeting with Branchtail to collect herbs, not to discuss secret battles. Then she remembered that there was hardly any point if she was just going to reveal the battle anyway. "Um, can I speak with you?"

"I was about to go hunting. Is it important?"

"Kinda..." Could Moonpaw really betray Briarpaw and Branchtail's trust like this? But what other choice did she have? "Brackenstar? If something would really help the Clan, but would really harm a few individuals, and harming the individuals would harm the Clan, should you do the thing that would help the Clan?"

Brackenstar blinked. "So, how're things going over in VagueClan?"

Moonpaw wrinkled her nose. "Like you've never been vague."

"I know, sorry. It all depends on which one would help the Clan the most. Cost benefit analysis, you know."

"So, how are things going over in WeirdTermsClan?"

"Show some respect to your leader. I just mean to weigh the costs and the benefits and decide which is better for the Clan. And don't just make Clan-altering decisions yourself; tell me what you're deciding on."

"Er..." Was having the battle better than saving two medicine cats and a warrior? What if she could have both? "Brackenstar..." She couldn't do it. She couldn't tell on Briarpaw. Somehow this immediate fear of betraying a trust was stronger than the fear of dying in a few hours. That didn't make any sense. Why didn't Twigpelt simply tell Branchtail about the prophecy when he had the chance?

"Silver!" Twigpelt snapped, padding into camp. So, he had caught up. "If you're done spreading-"

"Shut up," Moonpaw hissed.

"Rudeness will get you nowhere."

Seriously? "Well, you seem determined to make sure I get nowhere. Becoming a medicine cat's apprentice brought me nothing but trouble."

Brackenstar stepped in front of Moonpaw, blocking her view of Twigpelt. "Um, is there something going-?"

Moonpaw dodged around him. "I wish I hadn't switched. Then I'd be a warrior by now."

Twigpelt rolled his eyes. "Be that as it may-"

Couldn't he at least give her concerns a bit of respect? "What's wrong with you?!" Moonpaw lashed her tail back and forth. "I'm done!"

She raced out of camp faster than she had entered.

"Yes, run away from camp, that'll help!" Twigpelt yowled.

"You should talk!" Moonpaw called back. She had endured enough of handing out herbs to coughing cats, enough of hanging around pointlessly, enough of Twigpelt's hypocrisy. And now they were going to die on the same day - could she not even escape from him in StarClan? Did StarClan accept whiny apprentices and disloyal full medicine cats, anyway?

Well, at any rate, she wouldn't die a medicine cat's apprentice.


Bleh, I guess this chapter's good enough. Arg, I need to go to bed... once again, updating within a week. If you can think of anything to say, please review.