I'm going to be a father! Sweettooth thought again. Sweettooth was out on a fishing patrol together with Owlnose and Podlight. So far they have caught a very good amount of carps, chubs, and minnows.

Sweettooth was about to settle with one last fish for this patrol when suddenly, Sweettooth saw a huge carp in the water coming towards him.

Careful to keep his shadow away from the river, Sweettooth waited patiently at the bank as the fish was peacefully swimming.

At the switch of a heartbeat, the fish urgently changed direction and started swimming fast away from Sweettooth.

Recognizing the fading opportunity, Sweettooth leaped inside the water and stretched his paws forward. Sweettooth hoped to get a grip on the fish and pull it towards him for a finishing bite, but as Sweettooth landed his fore-pawson the fish, their claws unsheathed, he felt one of them cut through meat and reach bones, while the other met hard scales.

The fish was now flailing helplessly as Sweettooth had one paw inside it and another paw preventing its escape. A few heart beats later, the fish went limp and Sweettooth recognized it was dead.

"What are you waiting for Sweettooth?" Podlight's urging voice reaches Sweettooth's gray ears. "Give it the killing bite."

"But it's already dead." Sweettooth meowed, puzzled at the simplicity in his kill. Sweettooth began to drag the huge fish up the bank and examined the injury inflicted by his claws as Podlight and Owlnose joined him. "Look at this, this fish has scales on this side but no scale on the other one. That must be how my claws got through and killed it."

"And its scales are large, silver, and shiny, and all different from each other." Owlnose added. "It looks like a carp but it's bigger. And everything that's going on with it's scales, it's just weird. Sweettooth, do you think it is a sign from StarClan?"

Sweettooth didn't manage to process the question, he was too busy looking at a large, mirroring, scale that looked like two hills, joint at their bottom in a point.

It's like two fish, side by side, with their tails twined together. Like two separate beings joint to one. Like Shelldawn and me.

"Owlnose," Sweettooth turned to the father of his mate after tearing away the mesmerizing scale he was eying. "May I give this scale to your daughter?"

"Of course Sweettooth," Owlnose replied. "But why ask me?"

"It just felt right." Sweettooth meowed before finally thinking about the brown tabby's earlier question. "I don't think it's a sign from StarClan. I think it's just a carp who was born different. Like a cat who was born blind or with a limp, this carp was born without scales."

"Well," Podlight meowed, picking up the pile of fish he gathered. "Let's just hope more of these would come. I might even find a special scale to give for a special cat."

"You need to find that special cat first." Owlnose meowed in a stinging tone.

"Let's take these back to camp." Sweettooth interrupted the conversation. "The queens and elders would be waiting for us."

The three warriors took their catches back towards camp. Sweettooth began crossing the stepping stones first, with a fish his size in his jaws.

After finally dropping the fish on the other side of the stream, Sweettooth could see cats milling urgently around the camp, conversing in hushed meows.

"What—" Sweettooth began meowing before seeing Mothwing, an elder, hurrying from the medicine den to the leader's den, and back again.

Sweettooth carried his giant catch and the charming scale straight to the nursery. Reaching the entrance, Sweettooth dropped the fish and placed the scale firmly in his jaws. The scale was larger than the usual scales of a carp, it was big enough to cover half of Shelldawn's throat.

"Shelldawn," Sweettooth called from outside the nursery. "Are you there? I brought a huge carp for you, Mistfeather, and the kits."

The entrance to the nursery rustled as both Oakkit and Stormkit shot out of it like a trout leaping from the surface of the water. "Wow, Sweettooth did you catch that alone?" Oakkit asked.

"Why are some scales missing?" Stormkit added.

"Is it a sign from StarClan?"

"Can we carry it inside?"

"Please!" Both kits meowed in unison.

"If the queens allow it—" Sweettooth meowed before being answered immediately.

"We allow it." Shelldawn's beautiful voice rang from inside the den. "And we allow you to come in as well."

Sweettooth gave the fish a few nudges to help Oakkit and Stormkit drag it inside the den and padded inside himself.

Shelldawn was lying in her nest, her belly flopped in front of her. "Is that a scale?" The expecting queen asked excitedly. "Oh Sweettooth, it's beautiful."

Sweettooth padded over to Shelldawn's nest and sat next to it. "I'm glad you like it." Sweettooth meowed, just as excited as his mate "I think it looks like two fish twining their tails. What do you think?"

"I can see the fish!" Shelldawn squealed happily. "It's really lovely."

"I'm giving it to you." Sweettooth began meowing lovingly, putting the scale inside Shelldawn's nest. "It is a promise from me to always protect you, like scales protect the fish who wear them."

"Thank you Sweettooth." The silver tabby meowed. "I wish I could wear it on me."

"Maybe you can," Sweettooth was excited to help his mate. "We can use—"

"Sweettooth," Shelldawn interrupted. "Rest now, you don't need to fuss too much over me. Let's eat, there's some gossip you ought to hear."

Sweettooth and Shelldawn padded together a few steps to where Stormkit and Oakkit were taking small morsels from the fish and sat down to eat.

"Your eating manners have improved." Mistfeather complimented her kits. "Go to the nest, rest and I'll join you shortly."

"Okay Mistfeather." The two kits meowed, sounding reluctant at the idea of resting, and followed their mother's orders.

"So, Sweettooth," Mistfeather began, an intrigued hint in her voice. "The gossip Shelldwan meowed about is that Willowshine is sick."

Sweettooth nearly choked on his morsel. Instead of talking through a mouthful of prey, Sweettooth glared questioningly at the nursing queen, fearing what she might suggest.

"Mothwing is an elder and can't replace Willowshine by herself," Mistfeather resumed. "every cat is expecting you to become a medicine cat."

Fish-bones.

"But I'm about to have kits," Sweettooth objected. "How can I be a medicine cat?"

"You won't be a full medicine cat." The pale brown-and-gray queen opposed Sweettooth's claim calmly. "You'll just take over for now, once Willowshine returns to health she'll probably let you go."

"But what if she won't?" Sweettooth shared his fears of Willowshine. "She's been trying to make me a medicine cat apprentice for more than a moon now. That would mean I won't get to be with Shelldawn or my kits."

"Sweettooth calm down," Shelldawn's voice calmed Sweettooth down. "I won't let that happen. You are lucky to have an opportunity to explore what it's like being a medicine cat without having to commit to being one. You would also be able to deliver our kits."

At the kits' mention, Sweettooth thoughts mellowed. "They're going to be so beautiful." Sweettooth meowed happily. "I'll take the position if the clan needs, but as soon as Willowshine gets healthy, everything goes back to normal."

Mistfeather gave the expecting couple a nod and went to her nest, cuddling beside her kits. Sweettooth resumed eating the fish silently, cherishing every moment he could before he left the nursery.

Sweettooth finished eating, gave Shelldawn a loving nod, and exited the nursery. As he left the warm, milky den, Sweettooth noticed many eyes of his clanmates resting on him expectantly.

Sweettooth walked over to the bramble thicket that lay on a tree by the stream. Getting closer to it, Sweettooth could smell the foul stench of sickness. Sweettooth entered the den.

"Sweettooth?" The small medicine cat rasped through many bouts of coughs. "Are you ready to be a medicine cat?"

No.

"Don't scare him already." Mothwing scolded the sickly medicine cat, turning to Sweettooth to continue. "You'll be fine, I'll do most of the work, you only need to help. You can start by sorting the herb store. Get rid of what's rotten and tell me what's missing while Willowshine tells us any ongoing cases we need to take care of."

Sweettooth padded over to the store of herbs while Willowshine began listing the unfinished tasks she had before getting sick. "I give Reedstar the traveling herbs mixture every few sunrises." Willowshine rasped, her nose running. "He can't swallow it without heather nectar, which we don't have because Sweettooth brought a kit instead. Seriously Sweettooth, what were you expecting me to do? Did you want me to give Reedstar the kit and tell him to swallow it?" Willowshine asked Sweettooth in a mean demeanor

"I've told you already, the heather was as bad smelling as you are." Sweettooth reminded the gray tabby. "I'll find another way to help him swallow. I can try to crush minnows, sucking on their oily mash might be like secreting heather nectar straight to the patient's mouth."

Mothwing and Willowshine were left in silence until Willowshine grunted. "Fine, do that." Willowshine rasped angrily, but calmed down and continued. "Nightsky had a big thorn in her nest a sunrise ago, I've put some marigold on the scratches but check on her anyway. Curlfeather has New-Leaf sniffles—"

Sweettooth stopped listening. I won't remember these names anyway. I'll pick it up as I go, how hard can it be?