The sun came earlier than Fireheart had thought, signalling his cue to step off the Skyrock and head down. Thunderflower had emerged from the elders' den, taking Brindleheart away for burial as Whitestorm followed. Fernpaw trudged after the pair.
"No training for her today." Dustpelt said, coming up to Fireheart's spot by the river.
"I agree. Perhaps you could send her to help Silverstream for a bit? StarClan knows that she needs the mothering."
"That's a great idea." Dustpelt mewed. "Did you see Cloudtail eating tonight?"
"No. He must've been with Brightpaw all night."
"Looks as if we've got some young love!"
"Who, you and Fernpaw?" Dustpelt turned scarlet.
"No, not me and Fernpaw, you mouse-brain!"
"Just checking." Fireheart chuckled. "I'll take a squirrel to him."
True to his word, he picked up yesterday's squirrel and a mouse for Cinderpaw and walked into the medicine den.
"You must be exhausted." He told Cinderpaw.
"I am." Her jaws gaped in a yawn.
"Why not rest?"
"I can't leave Brightpaw – what if she gets worse?"
"Cloudtail can watch over her while you rest."
"Yeah. Unlike you, I got some sleep last night."
"Alright." Cinderpaw told them.
"I brought you a mouse, and Cloudtail, I got you a squirrel."
"Thank you." His former apprentice said, curling around Brightpaw.
"Thanks, Fireheart." Cinderpaw yawned, retreating to her nest.
A weak rasping sound from Brightpaw made them all look up.
"Is she-" Cloudtail began, but stopped short as Brightpaw's eye snapped open and she jerked awake.
"The dog..." she mumbled, before she appeared to regain herself.
"Fireheart? Cinderpaw? Cloudtail? Am I in the medicine den?"
"You are." Cloudtail confirmed.
"Why can't I see? Cloudtail, why can't I see in one eye? Is it the bindings, or..."?
"Well..." Cloudtail started.
"Tell the truth. I will find out sooner or later. I'm not a kit."
Cloudtail sighed. "Fine. When the dog attacked you, it managed to take one eye and ear."
"I..." Brightpaw began, tears starting to well in her good eye.
"I know. I'm here." Cloudtail licked her cheek. "If it'll cheer you up in any way, we have a squirrel here."
"Want to share?" Brightpaw asked, fixing her gaze on the fresh kill intently.
"Sure."
"Fireheart, does this mean I can't stay?"
"You will always have a place in this Clan."
"But I'll never be a warrior."
"I'll train you, if that's what it takes." Cloudtail told her. "There has to be some way to do it."
"Thank you." She nuzzled him and he purred.
"Let's give them some space." Cinderpaw whispered, moving from the rock.
"But you're exh-"
"I can easily bask in the rocks. Besides, my parents and brothers will want to know."
They padded outside, where Cinderpaw staggered over to her parents. Fireheart, smiling, went up to Sandstorm, who was talking with Graystripe and Silverstream.
"Brightpaw's awake." He told them.
"Brilliant!" Sandstorm exclaimed. "Have her family been told?"
"Cinderpaw's over there with them now."
After a minute, Brightpaw, her face set in a small smile, padded out of the den, leaning heavily on Cloudtail for support. Whitestorm, Brackenpaw, Thornpaw, Frostfur and Lionheart rushed over, chattering to the young she-cat.
Fireheart decided that it was time to call a Clan meeting; both Cinderpaw and Brightpaw seemed to be flagging.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Rockpile for a Clan meeting!"
By now, all of the camp's cats had gathered there already, expectantly.
"Brightpaw is awake and will be recovering for a bit, but when she is ready both Cloudtail and Whitestorm will work with her to devise a method of fighting which will minimize the disadvantage posed by her eye. If, and when, this method is perfected, it will be valuable for the Clan at large to learn. If we see success there, we will assign warriors to come up with fighting strategies that might work to accommodate other often received injuries or conditions, such as fighting blind, fighting deaf or fighting without a limb."
"Brightpaw!" The crowd chanted.
"Tomorrow, I would also like a patrol to help me visit the rogues. We will be holding a meeting in two moonrises to tell cats about the Clan, and potentially get some cats to join. After the meeting we will start to mark the borders of our Clan."
"Meeting dismissed."
Fireheart leapt down from the Rockpile, grabbing a chaffinch that Bluestorm had caught while on patrol with Ravenflight, watching Cinderpaw and Cloudtail guiding Brightpaw to her nest in the medicine den. He had just finished it when Sandstorm came up to him, pointing at a trio of figures outlined in the moonlight.
"Intruders!" She hissed.
Fireheart unsheathed his claws, gathering Snowfur and Ravenflight. Together, the four of them bounded up the slope.
"Who are you, and what do you want?" Fireheart asked. Now that he was closer, he could see each cat's ribs.
"F-Fireheart?"
He looked closer. It was a brown tabby... she smelled familiar...
"Princess?" He mewed.
"Oh, it's really you! A patrol of SkyClan cats had told me that you and Cloudpaw went missing after a fire. I've been so worried!" Fireheart felt a twinge of guilt; since the fire he'd had too many things going on to visit his sister.
"We got a sign and we're making a Clan now. Don't worry, Cloudtail is safe. StarClan, he's even well on his way to having a mate!"
"That's wonderful!" She purred. "He got his... what'd you call it... warrior name!"
"Uh, Fireheart, if you don't mind us butting into this reunion, who is she and how do you know her?"
"Oh, sorry. This is my sister and Cloudtail's mother, Princess. Princess, this is my mate, Sandstorm, my friend Ravenflight, and my Clanmate Snowfur."
"What are we, canned chicken?" A voice asked from behind Princess.
"Oh, sorry. Fireheart, meet my daughters, Nami and Taylor."
"Nice to meet you." A brown tabby, very much like Princess, was identified as Nami, while a gray-and-white splotched she-cat was Taylor.
"Let's get some food into you and then we can talk more." Sandstorm told them.
"That'd be lovely." Princess replied. "We're not too good at hunting, being former housecats and all."
Snowfur led them to the fresh-kill pile, depleted as it was. "It's not too big now – everyone else has eaten and the patrols go out at dawn."
"It's more than we've had in three days." Princess replied, settling with a small bluebird and making sure her daughters picked out juicy prey as well.
"So what brings you here? I thought you were happy with your Twolegs." Fireheart asked.
"My housefolk's home burned down and the fire spread to Nami and Taylor's houses. We don't know what happened to our Twolegs. We just ran away."
"How awful!" Sandstorm remarked.
"Fire season, I guess." Nami remarked. "Either that or fate has just decided that it hates our bloodline."
"If that was so, we wouldn't have discovered them." Taylor pointed out.
"I guess you're right. It was a dry greenleaf, wasn't it?"
"It was that." Sandstorm remarked.
"Shall I call Cloudtail?" Fireheart asked.
"Thank you, that'd be lovely." Princess purred.
He made his way into the medicine den, where he tapped Cloudtail on the shoulder with his tail.
"What? Is it dawn or something?"
"You're not going to believe this, but your mother's showed up with two of your sisters."
"Really?"
"Would I lie about it?"
"I'm coming." He leaned down to Brightpaw. "I'll be back soon." Brightpaw grunted in acknowledgement, rolling over in her sleep.
"Have you confessed?"
"When you left the den."
"About time." He remarked, bounding out of the den with the white warrior hot on his paws.
"Cloudp-tail!"
"Mom!" He barreled into her, licking her cheek.
"Oh, I've been so worried!"
"Me too, mom. Have you eaten? You look half-starved!"
"I have. Do you remember your sisters?"
"Vaguely."
"Well, this is Nami, and this is Taylor." She gestured to each in turn.
"Nice to see you." Cloudtail told them.
"You smell of herbs. Was that the medicine den you came away from?"
"Yes. Don't worry, I'm not injured or ill... my mate got attacked."
"How awful! Is she...?"
"She's woken up and Cinderpaw thinks she'll be fine. She's just recovering. To prepare you guys... she was attacked by a dog. It took her eye."
"Her..."
"Yes. When she recovers, we'll work with her on one-eye fighting techniques."
Fireheart looked up at the night sky. "It's late. Would you like me to get you some nests?"
"That'd be great." Princess yawned.
"One more thing. If you're staying, we'll give you Clan names as well."