Powerpaw immediately ran over to Leafstar. "Waterpaw fainted!" he yowled, his voice rippling sharply through all of ThunderClan.
This alerted almost every cat. Gasps of surprise answered his call.
"What happened?" Leafstar hissed, whipping her eyes back and forth across the cats in front of her.
"I-I don't know!" Powerpaw mewed, voice quivering with the shock of it all. "She-she was ch-choking me-"
"Choking you?" Leafstar echoed. "What… why?" The ThunderClan leader refused to believe that the medicine cat apprentice would do such a thing.
"I don't know… I-I told her that I had a belly-ache." he sputtered. "An-and she told me to lie down. I d-did, and she-" he broke off, trembling.
The Clan cats refused to believe this. But some were murmuring to each other in groups, casting confused looks at Waterpaw's body.
"Waterpaw!" a voice called from the nursery. It was Purekit, a kit who loved Waterpaw like a sister. Tears welled in her little blue eyes as she stared at her.
"Hey, hold on!" Leafstar shouted suddenly, as she observed Waterpaw more. "This mark… scored above her eye… it is fading…"
Cats began to crowd around, and indeed, the mark was pale. And getting paler still.
Purekit made a yelp, and a tear dropped on the ground. "Wake up, Waterpaw!" she mewed, prodding Waterpaw's tail with her paw.
No movement.
Purekit, in an attempt to try again, buried herself in Waterpaw's limp arms. She made herself comfortable in her cold, lifeless fur.
The body still didn't move. The mark got dimmer, and dimmer. Purekit watched this in curiosity. She raised a paw and touched it slightly with the tips of her pads. A static spark made her withdraw, but failed to rid her curiosity.
"Come on, I know you can do it. Wake up. You can do ANYTHING." she placed one paw on Waterpaw's.
Meanwhile, inside the mind universe, things were not looking well.
Charmpaw had her pinned down yet again. "As I said before," she hissed. "Remember me to StarClan!"
This was it, Waterpaw thought, she was done for! She gritted her teeth and prepared for the worst. But… nothing happened. She was about to question Charmpaw herself, but the yowl Charmpaw made told her it was not intentional.
What happened? Waterpaw thought. Blood welled from her fur and dropped onto the ground. She didn't notice nor care.
"Waterpaw," a voice whispered. "Waterpaw."
This made her turn around. "Who's there?" she shouted.
A small image of a kit was on the wall was behind her. A familiar one…
"A kit hopes for you." the voice responded. "This hope, this confidence in you that she possesses… use it."
That was when the voice left her. She was left to fend for herself.
The picture of the kit did not leave the wall… it stayed, and a small starlight shone on the tip of its tail. Waterpaw gazed at this for a long time, and she smiled her peppy smile. "Thank you, Purekit." she mewed in gratitude. All of a sudden, she felt ready to fight again. None of her wounds were heeled, but she felt the confidence needed to actually win. She swiped her tongue over her lip in determination.
But could she? Even with Purekit's help, could she?