"And she just walked away, Brightstar," Squirrelwhisker was saying inside Brightstar's den. Marigoldpaw sat just outside of it, where Squirrelwhisker had told her to. "She told me she didn't care and she left."

"Did she say where she'd met the Caveclan cats from?" Brightstar mewed. Her tone was simply inquisitive, not annoyed or anything.

"We didn't get the chance to ask," Squirrelwhisker sighed.

"I'll ask her later," Brightstar assured them. "Is there anything else?"

Squirrelwhisker's voice hushed, but Marigoldpaw heard them anyway. "Brightstar, I don't know what to do. I gave her as much time to grieve as I could, but at this rate she won't be ready for her warrior name for moons." Marigoldpaw's tail lashed. "She doesn't listen to me anymore, and.. I think she may hate me." The sorrow in Squirrelwhisker's voice made Marigoldpaw scoff.

"I'm sure she doesn't," Brightstar mewed gently. "Everyone grieves at their own rates, and Marigoldpaw didn't just.." She stopped talking for a moment, then continued, "Perhaps you should talk to Poppyface. Maybe Marigoldpaw's mother can make her see reason. For now, I'll give Marigoldpaw her punishment."

"Thank you, Brightstar. I'll think of what to say to Poppyface tonight. And.. Well, I know she hasn't been the easiest to get along with lately, but I am fond of Marigoldpaw," Squirrelwhisker mewed. Marigoldpaw's claws dug into the stone under her paws. "I hope she comes around soon."

"So do I," Brightstar agreed. "I'll talk to her now, Squirrelwhisker. Thank you for bringing this to my attention." Marigoldpaw heard the shuffling of paws and Squirrelwhisker exited the den. They looked sadly at Marigoldpaw, who only glared back. With another sigh, Squirrelwhisker padded away. Brightstar walked out of the den a moment later, sitting down just outside of it.

"Hello, Marigoldpaw," she mewed evenly.

"Hello," was Marigoldpaw's curt reply.

"Will you tell me what the fuss at the border was about?" Brightstar inquired.

Irritation stirred in Marigoldpaw's throat and coated her mew. "I met Oriolepaw a couple of days ago, after.. After my run. I'd wandered into Caveclan territory. We talked for a little bit, she showed me the way back, and I left. That's all."

"Crossing the boundaries is a serious crime unless going to the Vale or the Moonclaw," Brightstar pointed out. "And you've done it twice in only a few days. In front of a border patrol, nonetheless."

"She needed my help. She called for me specifically. I was invited, and so I didn't break the rules." That time, anyway, she added to herself. Besides, I bet you broke the rules all the time as an apprentice, she thought bitterly.

"Squirrelwhisker says there were three other cats with your Oriolepaw," Brightstar mewed. "What could you do that they couldn't?"

What does it matter? Marigoldpaw wondered. The irritation she felt stirred and ignited into frustration. Sarcastically, she mewed, "She sees the future and got stuck. I'm the only one who can wake her up."

Brightstar sighed. "Marigoldpaw," she mewed warningly, "You are being very disrespectful. But I can see I won't get anything else from you today. Your job is to clean every den- yes, every den- alone. You'll also go to bed hungry."

She didn't want to eat anyway. "Fine," she mewed, tone only a degree from spitting. "Can I go?"

Brightstar inclined her head and Marigoldpaw got up, tail lashing, to stalk away. She passed Lightcloud, who opened her mouth to say something, but Marigoldpaw blew past her too quickly for her to get any words out. I don't care, she thought furiously. Whatever you have to say, I don't care.

She took the warrior's den first, heedless of the couple of cats napping in there. She tore apart nests recklessly, shoving the moss and grass outside onto the ledge without caring. The cats sleeping in the den could change their own moss. She didn't care. She didn't.

She let the moss fall off the ledge to land at the base of the cliff and went down herself, taking a more precarious route to the bottom than the slope. A cache of moss was nearby, and she ripped up pawfuls. Most of it shredded into pieces too small to properly bundle up and Marigoldpaw had to take a moment to calm down.

She shoved furious energy she felt into pacing, trying to tired herself out so she could get cleaning the dens over with. When pacing did nothing, she tried ripping up long stalks of browning grass.

"Are you okay?" Lightcloud mewed behind here.

"Here to kitsit me?" Marigoldpaw sneered, not bothering to turn around.

"Squirrelwhisker did ask me to watch you, but that's more for safety than anything," Lightcloud said. She sounded hurt.

Marigoldpaw muttered a "whatever," under her breath. To her credit, Lightcloud didn't bother trying to make conversation. Marigoldpaw's anger turned into embarrassment at having an audience, even if it was only one cat. Though frustration still grasped her, she pushed it down and concentrated on collecting bedding.

When she turned around, Lightcloud was brushing moss and the grass Marigoldpaw had ripped up into piles. "You shouldn't be helping me," Marigoldpaw mewed. "Brightstar said I had to do this alone."

Lightcloud shrugged. "I won't tell if you don't," she said, not looking at her friend.

Marigoldpaw huffed through her nose and didn't fight the issue. She focused on collecting more bedding, and when there was enough for now, she and Lightcloud carried it up to the plateau together, taking several trips. Lightcloud didn't help her any more with the actual cleaning, just gave her a long look and left. Marigoldpaw let her leave with a mumbled "thank you."

She finished the warrior's den, pushing the last of the moss out. The sleeping warriors had,

by then, woken up and left, leaving Marigoldpaw in relative peace. She threw in moss at random, barely bothering to claw it loose first, and then strewed grass in, making sure to spread it as evenly as she could. Given that she didn't really care, it was a remarkable effort. Her attention, however, had less to do with a sense of duty, and more that she didn't want to be forced to do it all over again.

She left the warriors den, telling herself that they were grown cats who could make their nests up themselves, and moved onto the nursery. Dawnheart and his Carpkit occupied the den still, though Carpkit was getting bigger and bigger each day. But they weren't alone in the den anymore; Palegaze had moved in, and it was only a matter of time before Brightstar joined them as well.

They looked up as Marigoldpaw entered the den. There was a tense moment and Marigoldpaw remembered that queens really didn't like to be disturbed by any outsiders. "Fresh moss," she muttered instead of walking in deeper.

Dawnheart nodded at her. "We'll take care of the rest, thank you," he mewed. Marigoldpaw took a moment to drop several bundles of moss and grass into the entrance of the den and then left.

Next was the elder's den. Hailnose, Sorrelflower, and Herontail tried to make conversation with her, but eventually stopped when the only response Marigoldpaw gave was short, one-word answers, if she responded at all.

She didn't have enough bedding for the elder's den. "I'll be back," she muttered as she backed out of the den. Hailnose murmured a farewell that Marigoldpaw only barely caught. She took the short route down the plateau again, and this time no other cat joined her.

She was carting more moss up to the medicine den, setting the bundles down outside before going in, when Larkheart stopped her. "Marigoldpaw," he murmured. His eyes were trained on her paws. "Didn't I say to take it easy?"

She'd been leaving smears of blood again, the cracked wounds on her paw pads having reopened. She hadn't even noticed. They did sting a little, now that she thought about it. She shrugged. "Doesn't matter," she mewed. "I need to clean your den."

"You need to rest," he mewed gently. "Come in so I can treat you. You can finish cleaning the dens tomorrow. Don't worry, I'll tell Brighstar and Squirrelwhisker."

"It's fine," she insisted.

"Didn't your mother teach you not to question your medicine cat?" Larkheart mewed. Irritation twisted in Marigoldpaw's stomach again, but she followed him inside his den anyway.

"Hi, Marigoldpaw," Briarpaw mewed from inside the den. "Cracked paws again?" They'd been a medicine cat for ages but hadn't gotten their name; Marigoldpaw had heard it was because they didn't want it yet.

Larkheart nodded at the herbs his apprentice had brought out. "Very good, of course," he mewed, and together they chewed the leaves to apply to Marigoldpaw's pads.

The entire process felt like a waste of time. Marigoldpaw just wanted to get cleaning the dens over with. She didn't want to have to keep working tomorrow.

The medicine cats made up a nest for her out of the moss she'd brought for them and stored the rest of the material in a corner of the crevice that made up the den. "Don't move," Larkheart reminded her. Marigoldpaw sneered at his back but listened. She'd rather be laying down anyway.

Briarpaw and their mentor bustled around the den sometimes, but mostly they just sat and reviewed herbs. It seemed unneeded; Briarpaw got them right every time. And anyway, Marigoldpaw couldn't sleep with them yattering.

Eventually they quieted and the only sounds Marigoldpaw heard was the quiet shuffling of Briarpaw and Larkheart messing with herbs. Exhaustion settled over Marigoldpaw in place of anger and resentment, mixing with the gentle swishing sounds in the den to lull Marigoldpaw to sleep.

/

As the sun rose over the badlands, Oriolepaw awoke. She sighed soundlessly and locked eyes with Duskfang, her faint friend. He looked away a moment later, and Oriolepaw took the time to slip out from between her mothers. They'd slept with her in the apprentice den that night, just to keep an eye on her. Oriolepaw appreciated the gesture, but it made sneaking out a little harder than it should have been. I'll be back soon, she thought at them. In her absence they snuggled closer to one another. Oriolepaw looked at them for a moment longer and then followed Duskfang out of the den and down the tunnel.

Her vision hadn't told her how soon she needed to be at the Cliffclan border, but it was better to arrive early than late. She didn't mind waiting, after all.

/

When Marigoldpaw woke up, she knew immediately that she'd slept too long. Her body felt sore from laying in the same position the whole night. As she sat up, the dried herb mixture coated on her paws flaked off. They didn't feel much different, but they hadn't even hurt in the first place.

Larkheart and Briarpaw were still dozing in the back of the den. Marigoldpaw got up quietly so she didn't wake them, and picked up as much of the moss as she could carry. She'd do Brightstar's den first thing. The leader should be awake by now, and by the time she was done, Larkheart and his apprentice might be awake.

Her goal in mind, Marigoldpaw headed out of the den and up to the plateau. Brightstar was just walking out of her den, yawning widely. She flicked her ears at Marigoldpaw as she came up, and nodded to give her permission to enter her den.

Marigoldpaw walked in and pushed the old bedding out of the way before starting on the new nest. She had to exit once to go get some grass, but as it was only one nest the entire process didn't take too long.

She was pushing the stale bedding off of the side of the cliff when she heard Squirrelwhisker's voice. "..don't know what's gotten into her," her mentor was saying. "She won't listen to me. Do you think you could talk to her?"

Marigoldpaw crept closer to the source of the sound. Her heart was suddenly pounding in her chest. She peeked over the edge to see Poppyface and Squirrelwhisker standing on the ledge of the warrior's den.

"I don't know what you expect me to do about it," Poppyface mewed. She seemed disinterested in the conversation.

Squirrelwhisker looked a little taken aback. "She's a good kit," they mewed, words uneasy. "Maybe you could just.. Tell her she should be working harder."

Poppyface's ear flicked. "You think that would really work?" she mewed. Marigoldpaw's breath left her chest at her mother's tone.

"Well I-" Squirrelwhisker started. They were cut off as Marigoldpaw landed next to them, having launched herself off the plateau. The impact jarred the bones in her legs but she didn't care.

"Why do you hate me?" she shrieked at her mother. "What did I do?"

Poppyface blinked at her. "I don't know what you're talking about." Her voice was flat.

"You do! You know exactly what I'm talking about!" The utter passivity of her mother's body language infuriated her. "You never talk to me anymore! You never look at me! What did I do to make you stop loving me?" Poppyface simply shrugged and Marigoldpaw physically jerked in fury. "What did I do, Poppyface? Tell me! Tell me right now! Why do you hate me?! Ever since- Ever since Hawthornpelt died-"

Poppyface's ears pinned back. "He shouldn't have died," she hissed, so low that Marigoldpaw barely heard it.

"Of course he shouldn't have! You think I want him dead? You think I'm not as sad about it? But you still have me, Poppyface! You still have one kit! Why won't you act like it!" Marigoldpaw's voice had risen so she was screaming, and she sensed, distantly, the stares of nearly the entire Clan.

"I would rather him," Poppyface mewed. Her voice had returned to that flat quality that had filled Marigoldpaw with anger, but the words this time shoved every ounce of rage out of her.

"You don't mean that," Marigoldpaw whispered. She repeated, "You don't mean that," waiting for Poppyface to take it back, to say she was sorry, that she hadn't meant it, but her mother simply looked at her.

Marigoldpaw heard Squirrelwhisker's sharp intake of breath beside her. She heard the buzzing murmur from the warrior's den. She heard Brightstar say her name. She heard. She heard

She heard the wind whisper, Marigoldpaw, more clear than any of the rest. She heard it again, heartbreaking in the clarity and the tone, Marigoldpaw. The anger rushed back in, searing in its intensity, swamping her, moving her to action. Marigoldpaw's claws lashed out. She hit Poppyface directly on the side of her muzzle, scoring deep cuts into her flesh. For the first time in a moon Marigoldpaw saw her mother with an expression other than indifference.

With blood on her claws, Marigoldpaw turned and leapt off the ledge, heedless of the shouts and calls behind her. She hit the ground running. For the second time in less than a quarter moon, Marigoldpaw ran from her problems.

Oriolepaw, the wind told her, urgent. Oriolepaw.

This time she listened.