The following morning, Fireheart was in the middle of sharing a meal with Sandstorm when Squirrelpaw burst into the camp, frantically yowling for help. Quickly, he sprang to his paws and raced over to his daughter. Her fur was fluffed up and her eyes were wide with fear.

"Squirrelpaw, what's wrong? What happened?" he asked urgently, placing his tail on Squirrelpaw's shoulder to try to calm her down.

"Dad, you need to come with me! Brightheart's in trouble!" Squirrelpaw cried.

"What happened?" Swiftrunner asked, racing over to them. He was joined a moment later by Longtail and Rainpaw.

"We went to Snakerocks because Brightheart wanted to take me to the Great Sycamore to work on my climbing," the ginger molly explained. "But when we got there, this–this massive dog came out and attacked us! I think there were more too, but I didn't get a good look before Brightheart told me to run back to the camp and get help."

Fireheart nodded and turned to the other warriors, all of whom were bristling with shock and worry. "Longtail, Swiftrunner, come with me," he ordered. "Squirrelpaw, go to the medicine den and ask Yellowfang for some thyme. Rainpaw, stay with your sister. We'll be back as soon as possible."

"I'll come too," Sandstorm meowed, bounding over to them. "If those dogs are still there, you'll need as much help as you can get."

"But Mom, what if you and Dad get hurt?" Rainpaw cried. "Those dogs could kill you!"

"We'll be fine, Rainpaw," Sandstorm meowed soothingly, gently licking the small blue-furred molly's ears. "We're only going to help Brightheart, and we'll be back before you know it. But we need to go now. Brightheart's in trouble, and she needs us."

Rainpaw nodded reluctantly and followed Squirrelpaw to the medicine den. Reassured that his daughters would be alright, Fireheart turned and led the patrol out of the camp. Sandstorm raced beside him, her pale green eyes flickering side to side as she scanned the forest for any sign of danger. Longtail and Swiftrunner followed a few paces behind, sniffing the air to see if the dogs had left Snakerocks.

When they arrived at Snakerocks, Fireheart knew instantly that something was wrong. The area was completely silent; there were no sounds of fighting anywhere. As he glanced around the area, trying to see if he could spot Brightheart, a salty, yet bitter scent wafted towards him. His fur stood on end as he recognized the unmistakable stench of blood.

"Follow me," he ordered to the rest of the patrol. "We're going to track the blood scent. Keep an eye out for any dogs while you're at it."

The rest of the patrol nodded and followed him closer towards the spot where the blood was coming from. As they padded closer to the source, they kept their eyes peeled for any sign of the dogs. But although their scent was still as fresh as ever, they didn't see anything.

Did they leave already? Fireheart wondered.

Suddenly, he heard Swiftrunner yowling from several fox-lengths away, "Fireheart! Fireheart, come here!"

The alarm in his voice sent the flame-colored warrior bounding over as quickly as possible. At once, Fireheart stiffened in horror. Swiftrunner was standing a few tail-lengths down the slope, hovering over a bloody mass of fur. It was Brightheart, and from where he stood, it looked as though she was dead.

Feeling sick, he padded closer to the younger warrior's body and sniffed at it, feeling a wave of relief when he saw the faint rise and fall of her flank. She was still alive. Now that he was closer, however, he could see the full extent of the damage the dogs had done to her. Her pelt was covered in numerous wounds, almost all of which would definitely scar her for life. But her face was the worst of all. One of Brightheart's ears had been shredded beyond repair, and there was a red, bloody mass where her left eye used to be.

"Great StarClan," Sandstorm exclaimed, coming to stand beside her mate.

Longtail raced over to them, stiffening in shock when he saw Brightheart. "Is she...?"

"She's alive," Fireheart answered. "But only just, and we won't be able to make it back to the camp in time if we carry her all the way there. Sandstorm, Longtail, help me carry Brightheart's body to the base of Snakerocks. Swiftrunner, run back to the camp and get Yellowfang. She's going to need to come to Brightheart."

Swiftrunner nodded and raced away in the direction of the ThunderClan camp. Once he was gone, Fireheart lifted Brightheart onto his back, settling her head on his shoulder. Sandstorm padded beside him to help support the injured molly, while Longtail took the rear. Careful not to disturb her, they carried Brightheart back down the rocky slope. As soon as they were a safe distance away from Snakerocks, they set her down gently. Her wounds were still bleeding, and her breathing had slowed considerably. If they wanted any chance of saving Brightheart, they would need to try to stop the bleeding until Yellowfang arrived.

"Longtail, go find some cobwebs. We need to get her wounds to stop bleeding," Fireheart ordered. "Sandstorm, see if you can find any marigold. I'll stay here and wait for Yellowfang to get here."

The two warriors nodded and raced off into the forest. Fireheart sat down next to Brightheart, scanning the forest to see if Yellowfang was on her way yet. Swiftrunner was the fastest cat in the Clan; surely he had reached the camp by now. He tried to tell himself this, but he couldn't suppress a pang of frustration. Brightheart was dying, and all he could do was wait.

Finally, after what felt like moons of waiting, Sandstorm and Longtail returned, carrying several cobwebs and marigold leaves with them. Silently, Fireheart took the cobwebs from Longtail and began to press them down onto Brightheart's injuries as Sandstorm chewed up the marigold leaves into a poultice. Carefully, she spat the leaves onto the ginger and white molly's pelt.

"I think that's the best we can do for now," Sandstorm meowed quietly. "We just need to wait for Yellowfang to get here."

Fortunately, they didn't have to wait long. Barely a few heartbeats later, Yellowfang came racing towards them, clutching several bundles of herbs in her jaws. Bluestar was with her, as well as Frostfur, Brightheart's mother. The white queen raced over to her daughter, her blue eyes wide with terror.

"Brightheart? Brightheart, darling, it's your mother. Can you hear me?" she asked frantically. She looked around at the others wildly. "What happened? Who did this to her?"

"Frostfur, I need you to stand aside so I can treat her," Yellowfang meowed gently.

"I'm not leaving her!" Frostfur hissed, baring her teeth at the medicine cat. "I'm her mother. You can't make me go anywhere!"

"And I'm her medicine cat. I'm ordering you to move," Yellowfang snapped. "Unless you want her to die?"

"How dare–?"

"Enough!" Bluestar interrupted. "Frostfur, Yellowfang is right. You need to move so she can have clear access to her patient. The more space she has, the better it will be for Brightheart."

Frostfur still didn't move. "If she dies–"

"She won't," Fireheart spoke up. "Yellowfang will make sure that she doesn't. But you need to move now. The longer we stand around arguing, the worse Brightheart is going to get."

The white-furred molly hesitated for another heartbeat, then nodded and moved aside to allow Yellowfang to get closer to Brightheart. As the medicine cat began treating Brightheart's wounds, Frostfur turned to Fireheart.

"What happened?" she repeated, her tail lashing. "How did she get like this?"

"She was attacked by dogs," Fireheart explained. "Brightheart took Squirrelpaw to the Snakerocks so they could practice her climbing at the Great Sycamore, but the dogs attacked while they were there. She sent Squirrelpaw back to get help while she fought the dogs off."

"Why didn't Squirrelpaw stay and help?" Frostfur demanded.

"She doesn't know how to fight yet, you know that. If she had stayed, the dogs would have killed her," Fireheart reminded the older warrior.

Frostfur lashed her tail. "She abandoned Brightheart when she needed help! What sort of Clanmate is she? A real warrior would never leave their Clanmate!"

Fireheart glared at her, baring his teeth. "And what good would it have done if she had stayed? If she hadn't run when Brightheart told her to, they would have both been killed," he snarled. "Would you rather lose two Clanmates in one day?"

"If she had just–"

"Don't you dare blame Squirrelpaw for this," Sandstorm growled, her claws sliding out as she glowered at Frostfur. "What happened to Brightheart is nobody's fault. Squirrelpaw did the best she could. She ran home and got help as quickly as possible."

"Easy for you to say!" Frostfur spat. "Your daughter is perfectly fine. My daughter is the one who got hurt!"

"Yes, being traumatized and in shock is definitely what being 'perfectly fine' means," Fireheart snapped back.

"All of you, calm down," Bluestar ordered, padding over to them. "Frostfur, I understand you're upset, but blaming others isn't going to help anyone. Go hunting and calm yourself down. We'll make sure that Brightheart is okay."

Frostfur opened her mouth to protest, but with one last terrified look at Fireheart, she turned and headed deeper into the forest. The flame-colored warrior exhaled slowly, turning away sharply. He knew he shouldn't be angry with Frostfur–if the situations had been flipped, he would be distressed as well. But after everything that had happened recently with Rainkit's death and Darkstripe's banishment from the forest, his patience had worn thin. With this latest disaster, he was too frustrated and angry to be sympathetic.

"Relax," Bluestar murmured to him, gently licking his ears. "Frostfur's just upset. She doesn't really blame Squirrelpaw, you know that."

"I know," Fireheart sighed. "I'm not actually mad at her. But everything seems to be going wrong lately, and I just...I don't know."

Eventually, Yellowfang finished treating Brightheart's wounds. Fireheart and Bluestar helped her carry the ginger and white molly's still-unconscious form back to the camp. Sandstorm walked beside her mate, her flank pressed against his. Longtail took up the rear once again as the group of warriors made their way back home.

StarClan, what trouble will you send us next? After the fire, Rainkit's murder, and another attempt from RiverClan to steal our territory, this is what we get? We get to see one of our Clanmates mutilated beyond repair? What did we do to deserve this? Why can't you just leave us in peace?

So yes, Brightheart's injury still happens, but not quite in the same way as in canon. And don't worry, she's still going to mentor Squirrelpaw because I'm not an ableist coward like the Erins. Yeah, that's right Erin Hunter, I said it.

Thanks for reading!

-TheShadowedWarrior