There was a chill along the stone floors that covered the massive tunnel. The twoleg mechanisms and lights were more active than usual, flicking on and off and growling from inside the walls. The whistles of the wind from the vents above blocked out the noise from the medicine den behind her. She sniffed the thin-tar stains on the ground; they were buried amidst all the scents that came from the surface. She tapped her claws along it, no sound. She was careful when she lifted her head not to brush her cheek against her shoulder. She kept her long neck as far from her chest as she could. She even kept her legs from brushing against each other. The fur on her back was pressed flat; she did not even shake it. She took a deep breath before turning into the first den to her right, the familiar pile of fake-fur blankets still there. The twoleg light in the room was flickering on, but stayed out most of the night. The rattling from the vent near the den's entrance kept her presence a secret. But the blankets shifted about when she walked to the center of the den. The fickle light only gave Blackleaf glances of the older she-cat.
"I…"
The False Shadow's voice trailed off. The medicine cat kept herself quiet, waiting.
"I have some final words I'd like to get to my clanmates… please."
"What were you told?" Blackleaf's ears fell.
"Fleetheart told me that… Solestar was thinking of having me executed. If that's the case, I need you to tell my clanmates something. Windstripe will listen if you say it's from me."
"Windstripe is dead," Blackleaf mewed.
"Then what happened at the bridge yesterday was all true… Your littermate?"
"He won't give himself more than a quarter-moon before resuming his post."
"Then I guess this is the last time we'll have to speak."
Blackleaf shook her head.
"No, Blackleaf, it is." The False Shadow leaned into the blanket and coughed. "The blackcough isn't getting any better. After seeing what your clanmates who have it go through, the execution might be a mercy."
"You said not to talk like that," Blackleaf said.
"My death is certain. Yours is not. Besides, I've accepted that this is happening. I have regrets, and things to say. But it is my fault I can't say them. And the last thing I need is a guiltier conscious knowing that too much time around me might give you blackcough. Now, about those final words to my clanmates…"
"I'm getting you out of here."
The False Shadow gagged on something, coughing into the blanket again. Her soft eyes cautiously landed on Blackleaf. She was straight, her ears swiveling about and twitching at any noise.
"You'd risk your clanmates' trust for this?" the False Shadow said. "Because I will not let you take any action that will get you banished, or worse."
Blackleaf nodded. "I kept away from you, like you asked. But I see my comrades dying of blackcough now. I know how long you could last, and being starved and beaten for over a moon prior couldn't have helped. I can't let you die without any answers."
"What do you mean?"
"You know. About StarClan."
The False Shadow's ears perked up.
"We can get answers together."
"Your clan's patrols. You must have warriors walking around since we were caught. Right?"
"We can avoid them." Blackleaf peeked out the side of the den. "I've spent all day watching our sacred spot. Only the Axin Mess survivors ever go there. Leaftail can't follow me with his injuries. The patrols around the big twoleg nests were moved to the bridge in case of another surprise attack. And the wind is blowing north, so they won't scent us when we travel from here to the river. There are stairs at the end of this tunnel that lead straight up, and the way was uncovered by the twolegs when they brought the snake-monster. We can make it and, when we do, you can leave."
Her ears slowly fell, her expression softening.
"There's a thick sheet of ice that got stuck between the banks," Blackleaf whispered. "You would only have to make a small jump to get back to your side. I'm sure you can make it."
"It's not about my escape…" the False Shadow curled deeper into her blanket.
"Hey, I decided this on my own. I'm doing this as a medicine cat."
"Is it worth so much?"
Blackleaf retracted her claws and sighed. "I didn't think so this morning. But I'm seeing how my comrades are acting, how they're thinking. Their opinions of me are… I just want answers. I can't let my life be in vain because I was scared at what searching for answers looks like. And I have no one else to turn to."
The False Shadow yawned, stretching her forelegs and twitching her ears.
"Life is never in vain, Blackleaf."
She pushed the blanket from her shoulders; the smell she gave off curled Blackleaf's nose and forced her claws out. Her ribs were still showing, and the bald patches around her flank extended to the start of her tail and her hind paws. She hobbled when she tried to stand up the first time. Blackleaf peeked out of the den, waiting for a while with her ears facing towards the medicine den's back entrance. When the twoleg mechanisms started rumbling, she left the den and waved the False Shadow out. She kept her distance.
"I'm not certain what this will give me, but it beats just waiting to die," the older she-cat whispered.
In the light and out of her den, the False Shadow was nearly unrecognizable. Her long fur had several thin patches on it. The skin around her belly was pulled tight; Blackleaf cringed at how much it stretched with each slow step she took forward. Her eyes were strained but straight, bloodshot and puffy. Her claws tapped instead of scratched, dull from kneading and whittling on stone. The scent alone was enough to make the medicine cat's eyes water, but she took a step closer each time she saw the False Shadow stagger or slow. Blackleaf tried to focus on something else. They reached the large silverwood panels that blocked off the tunnel's monster entrance. The twoleg markings on them were unrecognizable against the scorch marks all over. Piles of ice-hard earth had found their way through every hole and blocked the entrance from both sides. But the spiral stairs to the right of it were fine. The False Shadow sat and took deep breaths. Blackleaf had enough and approached her.
"What are you—"
Blackleaf pushed herself under the tall cat's legs and propped up her chest.
"You won't make it up the stairs," Blackleaf whispered. "Let alone through the snow. The wind is pretty tough, and I won't let you die out there."
The False Shadow tried to resist, but stopped when she realized she could not overpower the medicine cat. She carefully pressed her back against the sick cat, avoiding pressure on her belly and waiting for her thighs to relax.
"You can leave here with your dignity," Blackleaf whispered, "not having to fumble through the snow or fall down these stairs. You're tall enough to walk with me, as long as you keep yourself on my back."
She purred as the False Shadow began to move her legs forward, somewhat mimicking her own. Blackleaf struggled from the weight, but kept her balance. Her racing heart carried her through the strain. The False Shadow groaned, pressing her head against Blackleaf's neck. The sick cat's breath sent shivers throughout her body; it reeked of bile and was much cooler than it should have been. But she kept going, careful to keep the tapping of her claws to a minimum on the silverwood steps. Each step she took seemed easier than the last. She eventually found rhythm with the False Shadow, and the two walked almost a normal pace.
"I spent some time digging away the ice on the surface," Blackleaf said. "It should be nothing but snow. Once we poke through, it'll be pretty cold."
"You're a good medicine cat," the False Shadow whispered.
Blackleaf froze; the older cat purred, moving her head up.
"You…"
"I'm not sure how often you hear it from your clanmates, but thank you. No matter what happens when we're outside, you're a hero to me. I'm sorry I ever thought otherwise. And I would be proud to have you as a clanmate. Or even as kin."
Blackleaf felt her heart racing, making no attempts to calm it. Energy surged throughout her body, her legs no longer buckling under the weight. She looked at the thin layer of snow at the top of the stairs and nodded, keeping her head high.
x
xxx
x
The weather had already taken a turn. The wind pressed the snowfall against the pair's side. The moon was barely visible amidst the thinner parts of the gray sky. Twoleg lights hardly lit their path, despite being brighter than ever before. The pair were crouched directly under one, the snake-monster path glistening behind them. They had already moved to the leftmost side of the structures, neatly aligned in rows of two. Their massive façades did not buckle in the slightest to the weather. They kept to the snow, keeping their claws off the gray-stone whenever they could. When they reached the side, Blackleaf lead the False Shadow to the narrow path that followed the length of the structure. She barely managed to spot the stairs and the sacred spot amidst the white pounding against them and the wall. Her eyes drifted towards the river; the ice was still. The lights on the other side did not come on, but the ones that lined the bank wall on their side did. The bridge was lit as well. Looking back, the pair saw several forms moving along the silverpath and towards the bridge.
"Are you concerned about your comrades?" Blackleaf said.
"I'd just… rather not think about fighting right now," the False Shadow said. "Besides, the snow is giving me a surge of energy. Maybe it's the fever."
"Then we should keep moving. I'll motion when I've found the stairs. It isn't safe for you to slide down."
Staying close to the wall, they padded as quickly as the False Shadow could. A pair of eyes glowed amidst a twoleg light far ahead. But they scattered the moment they noticed the two heading their way. Several sets of claws scratched as they fled, exposing their position in an alley between two nests.
"Why are they afraid?" the False Shadow said. "Ancestor clans accept strays."
"The recent fights at the bridge must have them on edge," Blackleaf said, glancing about the area. "And we're here at a time they aren't used to. We probably disturbed them trying to hunt."
Blackleaf aimed her nose to the air; she scented blood. Her ears fell as she looked past the bank to the bridge. Her ears tried to pick up any sounds, but they got nothing but wind and snow. She shook her fur and folded her ears back against her head. The structure was unmoving, the tail of the sky-monster was still prominent despite the weather. The snow had piled against the wall facing the river. She could not see the massive crevice that should have split it in two, nor the small holes or the scorch marks. Blackleaf stomped to her left; uneven ground. Pushing the snow away, she caught the raised lip of the stairs. They were completely covered by the sharp 'ramp' of snow that stretched along the raised path. She kicked a rock into it. It immediately sank.
"It'll be easier to slide down here," Blackleaf said. "The stairs are in front of where I'm standing. Go first. In case you get stuck—"
She turned around; the False Shadow was not there. Blackleaf ran her eyes and ears across the narrow path, then to her right and down the snow. A stray was staring at her from next to the river bank. She kept looking, making her way towards the sacred spot. She jumped down the bank and landed in the soft snow. Her paw throbbed and cracked when she sank. Scrambling to her paws, she ignored the pain and spotted a large lump of gray lying far in front of her. She winced each time she extended her leg padding through the snow. The trail left by where she stumbled down was quickly covered over. Blackleaf brushed the snow from her fur and slid herself her chest, hoisting the sick cat over her shoulder. She kept still for a moment and waited for a heartbeat. The pounding of her own drowned out any feeling from the other. The snow was thinner below the narrow path. She clawed her way through the weather and approached the large crack that split the sacred spot in two. Blackleaf rotated the False Shadow parallel to her body so they would fit through. She struggled to push her legs against the thick buildup, the injured one forcing her to pause. The sick cat mumbled something, shifting around. Blackleaf kicked forward more, putting both their weight on her injured leg. She growled and winced, but kicked through the block. A screech broke her focus, echoing from the direction of the bridge. It made her shiver, bouncing from the massive sheets of ice and never stopping even when it passed by. She only turned her ear to it and kept moving inside. Panting, she began navigating the piles of stone and broken walls that remained of the nest. The floor was stone in some parts and shattered in others, forcing her to slow down and stretch them both in certain parts. Even in the relative darkness of the inside, she knew exactly where to step. Focusing on the final turn, she kicked down snow buildup that blocked the way and pushed into a larger den.
Light immediately flooded her vision, reflected from the center. She limped to the far wall ahead and carefully set the False Shadow down. Blackleaf pressed her ear against her chest, and sighed. She pushed the medicine cat away and stirred to consciousness.
"You scared me," Blackleaf said.
"So much for my dignity," the False Shadow mumbled. "I guess the blackcough took away my strength. Or what was left of it."
Blackleaf's ears dropped at her words. She turned and sat, facing the center. The False Shadow gathered the strength to slide herself nearby, lying down and taking deep, deliberate breaths.
"It's magnificent up close," she whispered. "So much more than the rumors and stories."
The chamber was mostly clear of snow, save the buildup near the corners and center. The floor was covered in small, brown plots and dying green weeds. Some managed to make their way up the crumbling walls, catching all the sunlight they could. The leaves from them were picked clean. The wind was kept at bay, and the air was still inside. The roof sprinkled snow lightly across the floor, the brown and weeds still overtaking it. The sky-monster in the center shined a brilliant silver, even with little moonlight. It was pointed almost straight up, nose in the dirt and tail extending out the hole in the ceiling. Two small wings were attached to both sides of it, of which the rare twoleg symbol that adorned Fleetheart's medicine vests was still clear. Blackleaf lingered on it; a black 'X' shape with lines jutting from each corner, each line facing clockwise. Most of the light started there and ended at the base of the monster. Two large wings caught the rest and were broken against the crack in the center of the nest. The spot where the twoleg operator would sit was nearly indistinguishable from the rubble surrounding it. And the single nose that powered it was obliterated and hidden beneath the dirt. Parts of its once-spiraled cone lay scattered around. The echoes of distant twoleg activity and the rush of the wind seemed to melt away. Their fur lay still and their bodies were warming. Blackleaf sat herself closer to the False Shadow, resting against her side.
"I know Heidi would love to see this," the False Shadow said. "Either love or hate to see it… Even made of twoleg things, the Shadow's sacred site is amazing. It's lifted my spirits just being here."
Blackleaf flicked her tail, brushing against the False Shadow's several times. She looked over to see the medicine cat breathing quick and forcing her eyes center.
"Are you okay?" she said.
"I need you to clean a wound," Blackleaf mewed.
"All I see is—" The False Shadow paused when she saw the small, frozen drop of blood amidst the fur on her flank. "I'm just a warrior. I don't know what to do here."
"Warrior or not, any cat can lick a wound." Blackleaf's voice was breaking.
The False Shadow shook her head. "It was bad enough you carried me. Cleaning a wound, I'm certain, would transmit the blackcough. I'd have to—"
"I don't care. I just need it gone."
"Blackleaf, it's too risky—"
"Please! It's killing me."
"It's just a little scratch compared to—"
"If it isn't clean, I'll pass out. Please, just get rid of it!"
Blackleaf felt the frigid pressure of snow and dirt against the blood. Her flank quickly cooled, and her heart stopped pounding. The False Shadow brushed her tail to try and stop her shaking. Her head dipped, but she sighed and laid herself down next to the older cat, letting her head rest on the side of her belly.
"Is this what was bothering you a few days ago?" the False Shadow said. "Are you afraid of blood?"
She left her head against the ground and her focus on the sky-monster, taking in the quiet hum of the river just outside. The distant echoes of the twolegplace returned.
"Sort of," she said.
"I didn't clean it," the False Shadow said, sliding herself a tail-length away. "You've been too close for too long already. And it's just a scratch."
"As long as I can't see it, it's fine."
Blackleaf turned her head to the older cat, who was taking long, deep breaths. She rolled herself onto her back and stared at the clouds. They blocked her view of the stars, but left spaces for stray beams of moonlight to shine down and reflect off the sky-monster. Despite the echoes, the den was quiet enough for them to hear each other's subtle movements. They took it in for a few moments, taking in the cool air that kept fresh without a loud breeze.
"I… I should be saying this to Leaftail," Blackleaf said. "He's made such a big deal of me this past moon, ever since I became a medicine cat. He's my littermate, and he cares about what the clan thinks of me. But here I am with an UnderClan spy who won't even give me her real name."
The False Shadow cleared her throat. "Should I ask why you can't tell him whatever it is you're about to tell me?"
"I don't know. We didn't see eye-to-eye on StarClan's absence or importance. It drove us apart when we were growing up. Well, I kind of drove us apart. And all he ever wanted was answers. A way to understand, you know?"
"I do," the False Shadow said. "I was like that with my littermate when he became a medicine apprentice. Did he want answers to why it was so important to you?"
"I think so," Blackleaf said. "It started with a training accident. A pretty bad one."
The medicine cat averted her eyes, focusing hard on the tail of the sky-monster. The False Shadow nodded.
"You only have to tell me what you're comfortable with," she said.
"That wouldn't be fair," Blackleaf said, looking at her. "You deserve to know why. Or what, at least… Shadow apprentices train deep in the backlands, far from camp and any older cats. Plenty of hiding places and varied terrain for mock battles. It was newleaf, raining. We trained with our claws out; to teach us control. Leaftail's group ambushed us. In the fight, one of them cut my paw deep, and it started bleeding. I panicked. He scared the others off and demanded one of them get help… I don't know what came over me. But when he tried to lick the blood away, I attacked. Bit his paw, scratched his neck. He tried running away, and I stomped on his tail. A twoleg object beneath the mud ran right through it. I went back to groveling once I was sure he was down. I was covered in mud, a cut on my paw… and I just put a hole in my littermate's tail. When help came, he got it instead of me."
"My Stars," the False Shadow whispered. "What triggered it?"
Blackleaf shook her head. "I'm still not completely sure. I wasn't very friendly, even as a kit. I got into fights long before my apprentice training. I just felt like I should not die there. I could not die there. And I felt like I was. The rain, the mud, it made the bleeding look so much worse than it really was. All that was racing through my mind were all the ways it could make me sick, or never heal properly. Like I deserved to think about that. You've seen my littermate's tail. It never healed. Fleetheart and my mother came to his aid. They thought he was the training accident, when really it was something I caused. Leaftail gave me a look when he was being carried off. It wasn't anger, or pain. His eyes were low, but strong towards me. He kept his muzzle relaxed, and his ears alert. It was almost like he was asking why. And, when I looked back, I had nothing for him but fear… He never told anyone what really happened. I believe Fleetheart figured it out, but I never asked if she did or not. Solestar moved me to medicine cat training under Flyfoot once she learned of it. She still had high hopes for me, and said I was wiser than I was strong. She never asked what happened, or how Leaftail was injured, or why I was so upset. Solestar never made me confront it. So I never did."
Blackleaf waited for a response, turning her head to the sky-monster again. She went over the brown and silver outlining of where the twoleg would have sat, looking over all the dials and mechanisms inside, keeping her ears perked up. She heard rustling next to her; the False Shadow had sat up, but stayed her distance.
"I understand," she said. "I really do. That feeling of absolute certainty. Logic, perception, all of it just fades away for the feeling in your heart. Good or bad. Whatever or whoever put that feeling there doesn't matter… You've become important to me. I want to prove to you I understand."
Blackleaf looked into the sick cat's eyes, dark around the edges.
"I was born during the Great Sky War, long before Clementstar came and reorganized us into UnderClan. Our group's 'medicine cat' was killed by the sky-monsters, but she had already trained my littermate as an apprentice. I told you about how he rallied what remained of us into believers, despite never hearing from StarClan himself. One of those cats he rallied was me and… I trained under him as an apprentice, ending my time as a warrior."
"You…!" Blackleaf's eyes widened. "You're one of UnderClan's medicine cats?"
"I'm sorry I lied to you," the False Shadow said. "But everyone was tricked. I had already been seen in fights, but not him. I always left for our supply patrols, the Shadows none the wiser of my new role. But, with my death, UnderClan's future is certainly going to be bloody."
Blackleaf's ears folded back.
"Many moons went by. The twolegs rebuilt, the sky-monsters got faster and louder, and StarClan never contacted him. He began to lose faith, believing that the Great Sky War had taken them away from us somehow. His isolation, the self-loathing, the pressure he put himself under. He believed he rallied our clan to a dead end, and when the clan-born slowly stopped believing he felt he had given them false hope. He was already in a bad place. Leftover fear from the thunder and lightning the sky-monsters attacked with. Nothing I could do helped him. I failed to help him. He never showed it around me, and I admired him more for it. But he couldn't hide it forever… One night, a few moons ago, I woke up and he just wasn't there. He had given up on his life, not finding one clue as to what happened to StarClan. For a while, I was angry with them, then him, then myself. When Clementstar decided to spy for possible underground invasion routes, I begged to go for a chance to get some answers. He was right to say no. So, I snuck away with the group. With the mud and dirt, no one knew it was me until we were already in your backlands. We came close to being caught a few times, mistaken as strays probably. The apprentices among us had never surfaced, and the warriors were all from the deep patrols. The Shadows would've never expected a whole group had infiltrated. But they caught us. Near a twoleg monument one of your Axin Mess survivors visits. At least that was not my fault. But everything else that is about to happen to UnderClan is."
Blackleaf waited for the False Shadow to catch her breath. Her tail was curled around her shaking paws.
"Clementstar just assumed that as long as cats were being treated, that someone was ready to take the role. But there were no apprentices. And Blueclaw has always refused to take an auxiliary role in it. We were so busy searching for the Stars, recovering from the war— no. No excuses. I did not heed the tale of the Axin Mess. I failed the clan. I failed my littermate. And, even in this beautiful place, I feel nothing. I will be dead in less than a moon, one way or another, and I have nothing to show for it. No way to restore our faith, or our ancestral wisdom. We even ignore the warrior code… The guilt is not worth it, Blackleaf. I gambled the future of my clan to get to this spot, and I only got a reminder of my selfishness. I let this pursuit come ahead of my clanmates. My littermate let it destroy him. So much has been lost for those accursed Stars. I don't want you to be lost, too. Promise me that you won't let this, or anyone else, consume you."
Blackleaf nodded, her heart pounding. The False Shadow coughed into her shoulder, sliding herself a bit further from the medicine cat.
"There's one more thing," the she said.
Blackleaf faced her.
"My name is Dovewhisker."
The young cat's ears perked up. She slid herself closer, the False Shadow unable to back away fast enough. Blackleaf could not help herself; she flung herself towards the sick cat and buried her head in her chest, wrapping her shaking paws around her shoulders. Dovewhisker resisted for just a moment, before letting Blackleaf stay.
"I can feel it in your chest," Dovewhisker said. "Your heart is strong, and you haven't given up. You really are a good medicine cat. The Great Sky War has deformed the hearts and minds of everyone who lived through it. Everyone, Blackleaf. It is just as much a disease as blackcough, and just as dangerous."
She gently slid Blackleaf from her shoulders, careful not to get her paws anywhere near her muzzle.
"Someone will have to notice I am gone, eventually. Let me spend my final free moments looking up at the Stars. Thinking about the clanmates I let down, and the answers I failed to find. I will pray for them, and all the wayward cats of the world who might feel just like us."
Dovewhisker sighed, laying her head on the floor and closing her eyes. Blackleaf sat up, listening to the sick cat and watching her chest jerk uncomfortably around. She looked up and closed her eyes.
Please tell me, she thought. What is going on up there? Clan structure survived the Great Sky War, so where are you… Littlestar. Was it you who made me attack my littermate all those moons ago? Or was it me? Do you demand I survive, picking up where you left off? Did you give me this birth defect, give me Flyfoot and the others to guide me, Solestar to encourage me, or keep me isolated from my comrades with anger and… or is that all me? I keep them away. I make Solestar important to me. I am not you; I said it myself when I was with Wolfgang and Heavyclaw. But I feel like I am sharing your pain. The failure, the goal being so far out of reach. The fear of knowing what to do next, only able to look back at the damage you – both of us have caused. I am afraid of the damage I have caused, of losing my comrades' trust, and of dying without answers. But I shouldn't be afraid of making choices…
She felt her whole body begin to shiver, creeping up from her shaking paws. Her whiskers twitched every time she tried to work up the nerves to open her eyes. Blackleaf took deep breaths, her thoughts broken. She felt her claws creep back into her paws and her body fall still. She found her tail was intertwined with Dovewhisker's, slowly uncurling it and staring at the sick cat. Her breathing was shallow, but she was not asleep; Blackleaf kept herself quiet. Her fur made only subtle movements, and she could hardly see her ribs moving. But her face was relaxed. Her muscles did not shake, and her claws were retracted. Even her ears were still, amidst a crackling coming from the river. She nudged her paw a bit and held her breath, waiting for her to move. When she did, she sighed. The air around her seemed to grow colder the more she thought about where she was. The light around her dimmed; one of the holes in the clouds had covered. The brilliance in the sky-monster's silver disappeared along with it. She felt herself shaking a bit. Her ears fell, and she blocked out the second crack echoing from the river. Her head pressed against her chest, Blackleaf began to take deep breaths, forcing her eyes open and refusing to let her claws out. Dovewhisker's tail slid across her paw and rested there. Blackleaf looked down at it, her nerves easing. She reached out a paw to brush against it.
"Blackleaf?"
Her eyes darted to Dovewhisker's.
"Blackleaf."
Dovewhisker rose, stretching her back and turning around, keeping her tail against Blackleaf's paw.
"I think it's time," she whispered. "Is there anything else you wanted to say to me?"
Blackleaf felt her fur begin to crawl again. Dovewhisker kept brushing her paw against her, sliding it across her back as she stood.
"Blackleaf, turn around."
She recognized the voice, and turned to see Fleetheart standing in the new shadows of the den. The scents of unknown warriors had surrounded the sacred spot. Screeches and hisses in the distance perked her ears up.
"Feetheart," Blackleaf whispered. "Please. You don't have to tell anyone."
Fleetheart shook her head.
"Please!" she snapped. "She just wanted a chance. She's dying and condemned. I had to give her one."
"UnderClan had accepted her fate when they first saw her collapse," Fleetheart said. "They just attempted a rescue. Even if Shadows hadn't seen you get here, their warriors might have."
"The bridge was a ruse? They wanted our patrols occupied… but there's no way they could've known I would be here with her, on this night and at this spot."
Dovewhisker shook her head. "The apprentices might've remembered where I was kept. It was certainly a desperate rescue attempt. But, as their medicine—"
"No, wait—"
"It's alright, Blackleaf. Fleetheart already knew, I'm certain of it."
"I did," Fleetheart said. "Certain shades of brown and green were under her claws, and none of the other captive's. The kind that only comes from stamping around forests for a lifetime. There are none here, and the dirt is covered by snow. She would've been digging to find roots and frozen plants for medicine substitutes."
"And Clementstar just exposed his knowledge of a crossing," Dovewhisker growled. "He shouldn't have, but what else would he have done? Medicine cats aren't supposed to be captured. Or run away."
"Our warriors have already broken it." Fleetheart's ears flattened. "There's no way out now."
"Why does she have to die?" Blackleaf growled.
Fleetheart shook her head.
"Answer me! She hasn't done anything wrong."
"Yes, I have."
Blackleaf stared at the sick cat.
"I have done wrong. I came here, got sick, put others in danger, and let my clanmates down. There is no way out of this. I don't want a way out."
She continued stroking Blackleaf's back.
"This isn't fair," Blackleaf mewed.
"I know," Fleetheart whispered. "I won't ask for her name, or her reasons for coming here. But I can't let her go. I'm sorry."
Dovewhisker nodded, sliding her paw from Blackleaf's back. The young medicine cat backed away as she shuffled towards Fleetheart. She looked back for a while, over the sky-monster and the snow beneath it. Neither shined anymore, but she kept her eyes on it as long as she could. Warriors came through the small crack and quickly took positions at all corners of the den. They glared at Blackleaf; one even hissed at her. Fleetheart and Dovewhisker left the den together, slowly to let the sick cat stay conscious. The warriors followed behind them and left as quick as they barged in. All but two, who stayed close to the young medicine cat. She hardly noticed the scratch under her fur; She pressed her tail against it.