Brightkit yawned and stretched, awakened by sunlight breaking through cracks in the nursery's wall. She nestled back into Sorrelflower's fur, determined to get more sleep.
"Help! We need Smallfeather!" A terrified mew sounded from the clearing.
Brightkit leapt to her feet and rushed to entrance of the nursery. As she was peering out, Sedgekit came beside her, his ears perked.
The warrior from yesterday, Snowclaw, was standing over a dark brown shape. His eyes were wide with fear and he lashed his tail anxiously. "Get Smallfeather!" he yowled. Just then, a smaller, lithe cat darted out of the medicine cat's den, his mouth full of herbs.
He placed them on the ground and began inspecting the unconscious cat. "What happened?"
Snowclaw shook his head. "I don't know. I was out hunting and I found him lying unconscious below Sunningrocks."
"Does that mean RiverClan did this?" Sedgekit meowed to Brightkit.
Smallfeather continued checking over the injured cat and Brightkit could see blood gushing from a wound in his head.
Sorrelflower scooted in front of the kits and nudged them to back of the nursery, as more clanmates began to seep into the clearing. "You don't need to see this, kits." She wrapped her tail around them, her body blocking the view of the clearing.
Still, Brightkit could hear the chorus of mews that echoed her brother's question.
"Sunningrocks? Does that mean RiverClan is to blame?"
"Tawnystar, should we treat this as a declaration of war?"
"Don't be ridiculous; RiverClan would never attack a medicine cat." Brightkit recognized Smokefoot's voice.
It's the medicine cat! No way would a Clan harm a medicine cat, even if they were on enemy territory, unless they wanted to start something. Brightkit pressed into her mother's fur.
Tawnystar's meow resonated above the clamor, "We cannot know anything yet. It is possible RiverClan attacked Pinetail, but we have no evidence to suspect so. It could have been passing rouge, or an accident."
The Clan's anxious questioning did not stop, and one cat cried, "Obviously, RiverClan wants war!"
Tawnystar continued, "There is no reason to believe that! Now, Smallfeather, take Pinetail to your den. I suggest the rest of you all return to your duties."
The frantic murmuring slowly gave way to the usual sound of camp, albeit more hushed and uneasy.
Brightkit glanced up at Sorrelflower. Her face was dark with worry, before she blinked and looked down at the kits.
"Kits, would you like to listen to elders? I hear they tell the best stories before sunhigh." Her mew was cheery, but Brightkit could sense her apprehension.
"We'd love to listen to the elders," Brightkit meowed as happily as she could. "Wouldn't we?"
Sedgekit had been trying to peer around Sorrelflower during the event, but now he stared at the ground, looking very small. "Sure."
Brightkit stood and, once she knew Sedgekit was following, exited the nursery.
The camp's mood was somber, and not without good reason. If RiverClan hurt the medicine cat, that's bad news for the whole clan. I just hope Pinetail gets better, and then he can explain what really happened. Even with the chance of it being an accident, Brightkit felt that things were about to get worse for the Clan.