Chapter Ten

Flowerpaw crashed through a dead bush, wincing as she felt thorns scrape her pelt. She could smell Pebblekit, and knew that he was near, but she couldn't see him anywhere. She looked around, trying to ascertain where the noises had come from.

"Up here," mewed a tremulous voice.

Her eyes moved upwards to a large maple tree. Pebblekit sat on a high branch, his eyes wide with terror. "I came up here to escape the coyote," he meowed, "but now I'm stuck."

Deerleap appeared behind Flowerpaw. "Thank StarClan," she murmured. "One dead kit is enough for today." She looked at Flowerpaw. "I'll get him. You go back to camp and tell Cloverstem that her kit is safe."

Flowerpaw dipped her head and trotted away, her tail dragging along the ground. I can't believe I caused this, she thought. She didn't know how she'd ever look Appleflower in the eyes again.

When she reached the camp, she entered slowly, unsure how she would be received. She saw Finchstripe give her a hateful glance from across the clearing, and her skin crawled. She made her way to where Cloverstem sat with Fawnkit and Thistlekit by the nursery, avoiding the center of camp, where Appleflower crouched, grieving her dead kit. "Cloverstem?" She sat down next to the charcoal gray she-cat. "Pebblekit is fine, just scared. Deerleap is bringing him back to camp."

Cloverstem breathed out a deep sigh. "I knew he was alright. I would know if something happened to him." Betraying the worry behind her brave words, she pulled her other kits closer to her with her tail.

"How did Hazelkit die?" Fawnkit looked up at Flowerpaw with large green eyes.

Flowerpaw licked the kit's head. "A lone coyote attacked them. Don't worry, it can't get into the camp."

"I'm not scared," declared Fawnkit. "I'll be an apprentice soon, and then I'll kill it for revenge!"

Thistlekit huffed. "Fawnkit, you can't kill a coyote." Flowerpaw thought that he looked a lot more defeated than his sister. The light gray tabby tom was hunched over slightly, and kept shooting pained glances towards Hazelkit's broken body.

The smaller kit lashed her tail. "I'll show you."

Flowerpaw turned and left them to their bickering, padding towards the apprentices' den.

"Flowerpaw!" The voice was unmistakably Sparrowstar's. "We need to talk."

She closed her eyes for a heartbeat, steeling herself for the inevitable berating that was sure to come. I deserve it, she thought gloomily. She walked to Sparrowstar, who beckoned for Flowerpaw to follow her into her den.

The dark brown she-cat sat in her nest, her emotions unreadable. "I know that this wasn't what you meant to happen. But it did, and you must be held accountable."

Flowerpaw felt her heart sink in her chest. What's going to happen?

"Appleflower has told me that she does not want you judged too harshly. However, other members of the Clan have made different opinions clear."

"Who?" Flowerpaw posed the question even though she already knew who at least one of them was. Finchstripe.

"That's irrelevant," meowed her leader. "The point is, your actions have consequences. In this case, deadly ones. Soon, your brothers will become warriors. You will not. Instead, you will be apprenticed to the medicine cat, to learn the ways of healing instead of destruction."

"What?" Flowerpaw's jaw opened and closed in disbelief. "No. That's ridiculous. I made one mistake that I thought would be harmless, and you decide that I'll never become a warrior?"

Sparrowstar narrowed her icy eyes. "You dare question your leader? Other concerns have been voiced to me about you, unrelated to this. I have made this decision after careful consideration. You either do this, or leave the Clan."

Flowerpaw dug her claws into the dirt in anger. "Fine," she spat. She didn't want to say anything that would get her into even more trouble, so she left, Sparrowstar's words ringing in her ears.

Vinepelt was mixing a poultice of herbs when she entered his clearing, readying them for Rosekit, who sat on the grass near him.

"Apparently I'm your apprentice now," Flowerpaw grumbled, feeling an odd numbness in her paws.

"I heard," replied the black tom mildly. "Here, put this on Rosekit's side."

She picked it up without really thinking about it and pressed it to the kit's ribs, trying to cause her as little pain as possible. "It's not even that being a warrior was all that important to me," Flowerpaw meowed, voicing her thoughts out loud. "I just can't believe she took an accident I made and decided to completely change the course of my life."

"There were other factors," Vinepelt said, his back to her.

"So tell me what they were!" Flowerpaw exclaimed, making Rosekit flinch away from her. "I'm sorry," she meowed to the kit, "I shouldn't have yowled."

Vinepelt came over, giving her a scathing glance as he gave Rosekit a poppy seed. "We're going to have to work on your bedside manner," he joked. "I'll tell you what they were in my own time," he said more seriously. "They're too complex for you to understand right now."

I was supposed to be a warrior, Flowerpaw thought. Now I'm being treated like a kit. "I suppose you'd better start teaching me about herbs," she meowed resignedly.

"Don't sound too excited," responded Vinepelt, heading for his den.