Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors.

Chapter Eight: Murmurs and Whispers

"And then the leaders started fighting, so they decided to end the Gathering there and head home," Branchpaw finished.

Vixenpaw blinked, then sighed and shook her head. "I wish I could have been there," she meowed wistfully. "It sounds like it was so much fun."

"It was," Branchpaw agreed. His jaws parted slightly as he fought back a massive yawn. The cats who had attended the Gathering had arrived home well after moon-high the previous night, and even though he'd gone right to sleep, the brown tom hadn't woken up until mid-morning. Although Vixenpaw and Icepaw had both insisted that they would still be awake when the Gathering attendees returned to camp, they had been fast asleep by the time that Branchpaw crawled into his nest. Instead, they'd swarmed him as soon as he woke up, eager to question him about his experiences.

Now all the apprentices except for Blackpaw, who was out training with Falconstar, were gathered in a circle in their den, settled comfortably in their nests. The sun was high in the sky, sending shafts of pale gold in through the mouth of the den, but its warmth did more to lull Branchpaw into a state of relaxation than its light did to stir him awake.

"Steady," Icepaw mewed, reaching a paw across the space between the five apprentices to nudge his foreleg. "Don't fall asleep on us just yet." Her cerulean eyes sparkled with a teasing light.

Beside him, Stormpaw yawned, which only made Branchpaw more tired. "We can't help it," the gray apprentice murmured sleepily. "We were awake for most of the night."

"So were we," Vixenpaw put in, giving them a meaningful look. "Waiting for the two of you to get back. But unlike you, we didn't have an exciting experience to keep us awake, so we eventually fell asleep."

Flamepaw mumbled something unintelligible from beside her, which made everyone turn their attention to the ginger tabby. He gazed around the group for a moment, then looked at his paws when his brother's eyes met his. Vixenpaw sighed.

"So," Branchpaw mewed after a heartbeat, struggling to keep his eyes from crossing with exhaustion. "Anything else interesting that we should discuss?"

"That depends," said Vixenpaw. "Did you hear the gossip yet?"

"What gossip?" asked Branchpaw, suddenly feeling more awake.

"Well, that answers my question," his sister meowed.

"It doesn't answer mine," Branchpaw replied, prodding her with one claw. "Come on, now you've made me curious. Spill."

"Ooh, can I tell it?" Icepaw asked eagerly. "I never have any news to share."

"Go ahead, then," said Vixenpaw, tucking her paws beneath her and slitting her eyes with amusement.

"Okay, okay." The mottled white she-cat turned to the brown apprentice, her tail twitching with excitement. "Honeyflame's moving to the nursery!" she meowed, clearly thrilled. "She's expecting kits! That means Stormpaw and I won't be the youngest cats in the Clan anymore."

"That's great," Branchpaw meowed, genuinely pleased. It'll be nice to have more friends, even if they're a bit younger than us, he thought. Well, actually, by the time they become apprentices, my littermates and I will probably be warriors. An even more exciting thought flitted through his mind. Maybe we'll even get to be their mentors!

"Cool," Stormpaw said, seeming a bit more awake now as well. He shook himself a little, then got up and stretched. "What do you think about it all, Flamepaw?" he asked, kindly offering the ginger tom a chance to add something to the conversation.

Flamepaw jumped slightly. "What?" he meowed, clearly distracted. "Oh, um, it's good news, I suppose…" He trailed off into silence, shuffling his paws in embarrassment.

Vixenpaw gave him a sharp look, but Branchpaw felt more pity than anything for his brother. The smaller tom just seemed so awkward in a group. Branchpaw himself couldn't imagine not feeling at ease among his fellow apprentices, so Flamepaw's discomfort around other cats was a foreign problem to him, distant and difficult to understand. But he was trying.

"They've got to be Pineclaw's kits," Icepaw meowed, drawing them back into the conversation. "Honeyflame spends practically all of her time with him."

"I know," Vixenpaw replied, warming to the topic. "And besides, have you seen him strutting around, proud as a pigeon? I don't recall anything else happening that could have made him act like that."

"I don't know," meowed Branchpaw, pretending to be skeptical. "Pineclaw is a show-off about everything." His whiskers quivered as he held back a snort of amusement.

Stormpaw purred. "I still think Icepaw and Vixenpaw are right, though," he meowed. "There's no one else that it could be. Honeyflame is sort of independent. She doesn't spend all that much time with any other cat besides Pineclaw."

"That's true," Branchpaw conceded.

There was a sudden movement outside the den, and Vixenpaw jumped behind Flamepaw. Branchpaw gave her a quizzical look. "What are you doing?" he asked.

His sister flattened her ears and ducked further behind their brother, so that she was hardly visible from where Branchpaw was sitting. "That wasn't Hazelclaw, was it?" she asked in a low voice.

Stormpaw peered through the mouth of the den. "No, it was Cloudfur."

"Are you hiding from your mentor?" Icepaw asked, looking shocked.

"Well, yeah," Vixenpaw meowed a bit sheepishly. "She assigned me to cleaning out the elders' den every day for half a moon, you know, as punishment for the whole Snakerocks incident. I haven't done it yet today."

Branchpaw twitched his ears awkwardly. He still hadn't been given a punishment, but he knew it was coming. The suspense was starting to get to him.

"Why don't you just do it to get it over with?" Flamepaw inquired.

A stubborn light entered the she-cat's eyes. "I don't feel like it," she meowed in a sulky tone. "I just cleaned it out yesterday and my paws still feel grimy, even though I washed them in the river."

"I'll do it for you," Stormpaw offered.

Vixenpaw eyes widened in disbelief. "Really?"

The gray tom nodded.

The ginger she-cat's tail shot up. "Thank you so much!" she exclaimed.

Stormpaw shrugged, seeming a little embarrassed. "It's no big deal," he murmured. He turned and headed out of the den, the thorns in the opening tugging a little at his dappled fur as he went through.

Vixenpaw sighed with relief. "Thank goodness we have a nice denmate," she meowed. "I don't know what I'd do without him."

Branchpaw suddenly heard a low rumble. It took him a few heartbeats to figure out that it was coming from Flamepaw. He turned to face his brother in shock. "Don't you dare take advantage of his kindness," Flamepaw growled.

Vixenpaw, too, seemed taken aback. Her ears flattened as she stepped away from him. "Geez," she muttered. "Calm yourself, Flamepaw. I didn't mean it like that."

"You better not have," the ginger tabby meowed sharply, glaring at his sister. Branchpaw was astonished. He'd never seen Flamepaw act so angry.

Icepaw looked from one orange cat to the other, her ears twitching warily.

The atmosphere in the apprentices' den had been calm only moments before, but now it was tense and strained. Feeling uncomfortable, Branchpaw decided it was time to head out. He got to his paws and exited the den.

The pattering pawsteps behind him told him that someone else had followed him out. He turned to see Icepaw trotting after him.

"Hey," he meowed.

"Hi," the younger apprentice mewed. "Where are you going?"

Branchpaw shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted ruefully. "I didn't think that far ahead."

"Just wanted to get out of there?" Icepaw asked.

"Pretty much."

Icepaw took a few steps forward until she stood beside him. "Mind if I join you?"

He looked at her for a moment, taking in her bright eyes and hopeful face, then shrugged again. "I don't mind," he meowed. He felt an odd sensation in his stomach, something a little bit like the fluttering of a butterfly's wings.

But just what it was or where they were going to go, Branchpaw never found out. Just as Icepaw opened her mouth to speak, there was a loud shuffling noise as someone scrabbled down the pebbly slope into camp. Both apprentices turned to look at the newcomer.

It was Blackpaw. His sides were heaving as he fought for breath, and his eyes were wild with fear.

Branchpaw's stomach plummeted. He rushed toward his rival, Icepaw quick on his heels. "What happened?" he gasped.

"Get out of my way!" Blackpaw snapped, barging past them. Branchpaw took a step back to avoid most of the impact, but Icepaw was shoved back with such force that she stumbled and yelped. Anger began to burn deep in Branchpaw's chest. Hitting him was one thing, but slamming into his friends was quite another.

"Hey!" he spat at his adversary. "Leave her alone!"

But Blackpaw ignored him, his eyes flitting around the camp. Cloudfur and Featherwing, who had been sharing tongues near the fresh-kill pile, paused their grooming to look up at the fighting apprentices. Honeyflame and Pineclaw emerged from the medicine den, closely followed by Nightwatcher. Tigerfang stalked out of the warriors' den, his tail lashing irritably.

Blackpaw swallowed hard, then turned on the other two apprentices. "Where's Hazelclaw?" he demanded sharply.

Branchpaw bristled, prepared to tell the older apprentice that he'd better fix his attitude, but Icepaw stepped forward before he could say a word. "I don't know," she meowed anxiously. "What do you need her for? And where's Falconstar? Weren't you out training with him?"

But Blackpaw just shook his head, panting. By now he was visibly shaking. As much as Branchpaw hated him, he felt twinge of worry in his stomach. What on earth could have happened?

Tigerfang eyed the dark-furred apprentice for a moment. "Hazelclaw!" he called over his shoulder as he got to his paws and walked briskly toward them. He stopped in front of Blackpaw, giving him a severe look. "What happened?" he demanded. When the younger tom didn't reply, Tigerfang narrowed his eyes. "Speak."

Branchpaw couldn't believe his ears. How could his father be so cruel when there was clearly something wrong with Blackpaw? "Stop it!" he burst out. "Can't you see that he isn't well?"

Tigerfang swung his head around to glare at his son. The warrior's fierce amber eyes seemed to pin Branchpaw in place, burning him with the heat of his fury. Beneath the anger, there was a hint of scorn. The apprentice's chest tightened and he cursed himself. Oh, why did I say that? he wailed inwardly. I was just beginning to impress him, and now I've probably ruined everything!

Hazelclaw came bounding up beside them. Her blue eyes flashed with alarm, but her voice was calm when she spoke. "Are you all right? What happened?"

"F-Falconstar took… me training…" Blackpaw gasped. "We were h-hunting… out in the f-forest, and… and…" His stuttering was growing worse as he continued to speak.

Cloudfur hurried across the clearing and pressed herself against the apprentice's side. "Shh," she whispered soothingly, stroking his spine with her tail-tip. Her eyes were round with worry. "It's all right."

Nightwatcher appeared with herbs in his mouth. He placed them on the ground in front of Blackpaw. "Eat these," he meowed quietly. "They'll make you feel better."

Blackpaw nodded shakily, then bent down to lick up the herbs. He wrinkled up his nose at the taste, but he ate them all. Cloudfur licked his ears comfortingly, like he was still the tiny kit that she had helped raise in the nursery.

Hazelclaw watched him with concern. Nightwatcher grew tense beside her, his apprehension clear in the set of his shoulders and the dark look in his eyes. His raised his head, looking toward the entrance of the camp with an uneasy expression. Even in the midst of all the chaos, Branchpaw suppressed a shiver as he wondered what the medicine cat could be thinking.

Blackpaw finished swallowing the herbs and cleared his throat. "We were out training," he rasped, coughing a little. "Falconstar was showing me a new hunting technique, when all of the sudden he accidentally stumbled upon a fox's den. H-he tried…" Blackpaw paused to take a gulp of air and to steady his voice. "He tried to get away without a fight, but the fox had kits, so she was furious. She attacked Falconstar, and…"

Hazelclaw gazed at him, her eyes dark. "And…?"

Blackpaw swallowed hard. "I think he's dead."

Cloudfur gasped in shock. The silence that had held the camp only moments before was replaced with a flood of noise. Blackpaw jumped, shrinking back against Cloudfur's side.

"Be quiet, everyone!" Hazelclaw ordered, raising her voice to be heard over the din. "Try to stay calm. We'll take care of this."

The murmuring subsided a little, but the cats were still stricken. Pineclaw drew Honeyflame nearer to him with a sweep of his tail. Vixenpaw and Flamepaw had emerged from the apprentices' den and were staring with stunned expressions. Tigerfang's eyes softened slightly as he gazed at the shivering apprentice, though his strict demeanor didn't change.

Nightwatcher straightened up. "We need to go find Falconstar and see if… he can be saved." He turned to Cloudfur. "Look after Blackpaw," he ordered. "Get him to the medicine den and make sure he gets settled in one of the nests there." He spun around to face the nearest cat to him, which happened to be Icepaw. "Help your mother."

Looking flustered, Icepaw nodded.

The medicine cat turned to Tigerfang. "Grab some cobwebs from my storage," he meowed. "And I'll need your help getting our leader back to camp."

"Right," Tigerfang meowed, nodding. He turned and raced for the medicine den as quickly as he could. Nightwatcher bounded away into the forest.

Hazelclaw watched him go for a moment, then turned to the group of cats assembled before her. "Do as Nightwatcher said, please," she meowed. "I have to address the Clan."

Cloudfur nodded, then helped Blackpaw to his paws by letting him lean on her shoulder. Icepaw trailed along on the other side, looking concerned and a little frustrated.

Finding nothing else useful to do, Branchpaw padded after them, falling in alongside Icepaw. She glanced at him, her eyes troubled. His heart twisted with sympathy. Reaching over, he licked her ear soothingly. She shivered slightly, but though she didn't say anything, some of the tension seemed to leave her.

Cloudfur and Blackpaw entered the medicine clearing, then the medicine den, closely followed by the other two apprentices. There were a few nests premade for patients; Cloudfur settled Blackpaw into the nearest one. Branchpaw tried to help, tucking the moss around his denmate's sides to make him more comfortable, but he had the feeling that he was mostly just getting in Cloudfur's way as she tended to the black tom.

Nightwatcher's medicine seemed to be taking its effect on Blackpaw now; his trembling had subsided and his eyes were beginning to droop with exhaustion. Cloudfur licked his ears, purring softly until he drifted off to sleep.

"Do you need our help?" Icepaw whispered.

Cloudfur watched Blackpaw for a moment, then shook her head. "You can go," she murmured. "Listen to Hazelclaw's speech for me."

To avoid waking up the sleeping apprentice, Branchpaw and Icepaw simply nodded. They turned and padded out of the den and into the rest of the camp. Branchpaw's pelt itched slightly with frustration that he hadn't been able to do more to help, but he knew that the best thing to do now was to leave Blackpaw alone.

When they emerged, Hazelclaw was standing on top of the Highrock, looking down over the gathered cats. "From now until the fox that attacked Falconstar is driven out, no cat shall be permitted to leave camp unaccompanied," she was saying. "Warriors must find at least one other warrior to accompany them, and apprentices at least two. Am I clear?"

A murmur of assent passed through the ThunderClan cats. By now, Gingerpelt, Snowfall, and Graywhisker had returned from their border patrol, and Wolftail, Sandfoot, and Ravenflight had gotten back from hunting, so the camp was a lot more full. Rainwater had also come out of her den and was sitting near its entrance.

Branchpaw and Icepaw sat down beside Stormpaw, who was seated off to one side. The gray tom's paws were still soiled from cleaning out the elder's den, which explained why he wasn't sitting with the rest of the crowd.

Icepaw wrinkled up her nose. "Aren't you going to clean those?" she whispered.

"Of course," Stormpaw whispered back. "I was going to go to the river to wash them off, but now I can't go by myself."

"Ask someone to go with you, then," Icepaw muttered.

"But Hazelclaw's in the middle of giving a speech," he protested.

Wolftail glanced at them over his shoulder. "Be quiet," he meowed sternly.

Branchpaw opened his mouth to apologize on behalf of his friends, but before he could say a word, Nightwatcher and Tigerfang appeared at the top of the rocky slope. They were supporting Falconstar between them. The gray tabby looked exhausted, but he was clearly alive.

Icepaw gasped.

Hazelclaw turned to face the medicine cat and the leader. Relief washed across her face, visible even from a distance. She dipped her head to the rest of the Clan, then jumped carefully off the Highrock and raced across the camp to meet her colleagues.

"How is that possible?" Branchpaw turned to face his friends in shock. "Blackpaw said that Falconstar was dead!"

"Blackpaw said he thought that Falconstar was dead," Icepaw corrected, but she, too, seemed amazed. "I guess he wasn't."

"But I don't think Blackpaw would make a mistake like that," Branchpaw said. He shook his head, suddenly very confused.

Nightwatcher bounded across the clearing to his den, probably to fetch more herbs, while Hazelclaw took over for him helping Falconstar. Together, Tigerfang and the deputy guided their leader up the slope to the Highrock and into his own den. He'll be more comfortable there than in the medicine den, Branchpaw thought.

Icepaw leaned closer to the brown apprentice, brushing against his side. "We can talk to Blackpaw about all of this later," she whispered in his ear.

Branchpaw looked around, but no one else seemed to have heard her. "Okay," he agreed.

The sun had begun its decent and nearly reached the treetops by the time the apprentices got a chance to speak with Blackpaw. While Branchpaw and Icepaw shared their idea with Vixenpaw and Flamepaw, the chaos in the camp had slowly died down, replaced with an uneasy silence. Cats had gradually stopped pacing back and forth, retreating to their dens for a while. On a normal day, the warriors would be trailing in and out of camp from time to time, but now everyone was seeking safety in numbers, and few cats were going anywhere.

Stormpaw had asked to go to the river to wash his paws, and Hazelclaw had decided to kill two birds with one pounce by sending him with a formal patrol to the RiverClan border. "The Clan is weakened enough by having an injured leader," she had said. "It's especially important now to make sure that the other Clans keep to their own territories." The patrol still hadn't returned yet, but the others agreed that they couldn't wait for Stormpaw to get back before making their visit. Nightwatcher had recently gone to check on Falconstar, and discovered that he was running short on an herb that the leader needed. Now he was out in the forest with Gingerpelt as a guard, giving them the opportunity to sneak into his den without being caught. They hadn't been strictly forbidden to go inside, but the medicine cat had even asked Cloudfur to leave after Blackpaw had fallen asleep, so they assumed that he wouldn't be pleased with them if he found them snooping around.

One by one, the apprentices snuck into the medicine clearing. When Icepaw, the last of them to arrive, came hurrying in, they made their way into the den together. The sharp scent of herbs filled the air around them.

Blackpaw was still curled up in the nest nearest to the entrance, his chin resting on his paws. His side rose and fell slowly, his breathing shallow with sleep.

Branchpaw moved closer. Reaching out one paw, he nudged Blackpaw's shoulder gently. "Hey," he whispered. "Wake up, Blackpaw."

The older apprentice shifted slightly, but didn't wake up.

Icepaw prodded him a little more forcefully. "Come on," she hissed.

Blackpaw's ears twitched and he opened one eye. Upon seeing Branchpaw, he closed it again with a groan.

"Come on, don't be like that," meowed Vixenpaw. "We came to visit you."

Blackpaw covered his face with one paw. "What do you want?"

The other four apprentices exchanged glances. "Well," Branchpaw said finally, trying to make his voice as mild as possible, "we wanted to ask you about what happened earlier today." If only Stormpaw were here, he couldn't help thinking. He would know how to talk to Blackpaw without upsetting him.

"If you answer our questions, we'll leave you alone," Icepaw added.

The black tomcat sighed. "Fine," he muttered, but there was less venom in his tone than usual. More than anything, he just sounded tired.

"Okay," Icepaw meowed. "What exactly happened to Falconstar? I mean, you already said that he was attacked by a fox, but we want to know the details."

Blackpaw's brow furrowed with concentration as he tried to recall the event. "Everything's a bit of a blur now, but I remember the fox jumping out at him from the bushes. He tried to back away slowly, but it just kept attacking. It was using both its claws and teeth; I think it was really desperate to chase him away. Falconstar tried to fight back after he got scratched up a bit. At that point, it was self-defense. The fox lunged at him, and… I'm pretty sure it got him in the neck. That's when I thought… that he died."

"Did you see him fall to the ground, or was it just that you thought the fox killed him because it wounded him in the throat?" Branchpaw asked.

"He kind of staggered," Blackpaw explained. "I didn't see much of what happened after that, because I was already running to get help. But when I glanced over my shoulder one last time, I saw him crumpled at the fox's paws with b-blood pooling around him." The apprentice swallowed hard before he continued. "I was so sure that he was dead. I didn't think any cat could lose that much blood and survive."

"Are you sure you weren't hallucinating?" Vixenpaw asked skeptically. "I didn't see any wound on Falconstar's throat at all, and even if he did lose that much blood and somehow survive, I seriously doubt that he would have been able to make it back to camp like that. I mean, if he was as badly hurt as you say he was, wouldn't he be too weak to walk, even with help?"

"I was not hallucinating!" Blackpaw snapped. "I didn't just imagine it. And I'm not lying, either, if that's what you think," he added, his tone guarded.

"No one said you were lying," Icepaw protested.

"Yeah," Branchpaw agreed. "We're just trying to figure all this out."

"Hold on," Flamepaw interrupted, and the action was so uncharacteristic of him that Branchpaw was immediately paying attention. "If Blackpaw said that Falconstar was badly wounded to the throat, and he's positive that it really happened… but Vixenpaw insists that she saw no injury on Falconstar's throat… maybe we're missing something."

Branchpaw tilted his head to one side, intrigued. "Go on," he meowed.

"Maybe that old legend about leaders getting nine lives is real," Flamepaw said.

The medicine den was silent for a few moments. Then everyone started talking at once.

Flamepaw leaned back, his ears flattening. "One at a time."

"Sorry," Branchpaw meowed.

Icepaw murmured an apology as well. Vixenpaw took this as an invitation to speak first.

"That's a load of nonsense," she burst out. "Cats with nine lives? That's impossible. Not trying to be insensitive here, but once you're dead, you're dead. Nothing can bring you back to life."

"Maybe not," Flamepaw meowed quietly. Branchpaw was surprised by how steady his voice sounded. "Certainly not out of the question if StarClan is real."

"But StarClan can't be real," Icepaw meowed, clearly confused. "No one believes in them anymore. Everyone I've ever heard talk about StarClan says that they're just a myth."

"Just because everyone thinks the same thing doesn't mean it's right," Flamepaw insisted.

Blackpaw twitched his ears uncertainly. "If we were having this conversation this morning, I would have said that those were just elders' tales," he meowed. "But now I'm not so sure."

Branchpaw shook his head, baffled. He honestly didn't know what to think about all this. StarClan, real? he thought. That impossible. If StarClan cats really existed, someone would have seen one by now. Not counting medicine cats, whose dreams of them are certainly just dreams. An uninvited thought flitted through his head. But what happened to Falconstar shouldn't be possible either.

Vixenpaw snorted. "Look at you four," she meowed. "I can't believe you're actually considering that StarClan could be real. Come on. Spirit cats that live in the sky? Does that even sound believable?"

"There's no proof that they aren't real," Flamepaw argued.

"But there's nothing to suggest that they are real, either," Vixenpaw insisted.

"What about what happened to Falconstar?" Flamepaw meowed persistently. "You can't just dismiss that."

Branchpaw was speechless. This was the second time in one day that quiet, timid Flamepaw had directly challenged their confident, strong-willed sister. I never thought he had it in him, Branchpaw thought. Maybe the idea that StarClan is real isn't so far-fetched. The thought of Flamepaw standing up to Vixenpaw was almost as difficult to believe as the proposal that the spirits of dead cats walked among the stars.

"Well, I didn't really get a good look at Falconstar," Vixenpaw amended. "His fur could have been covering up a wound, especially if it wasn't very wide and it had already stopped bleeding. But there's still no way that it could have been as bad as Blackpaw said it was, and there's still no way that he has nine lives."

Flamepaw's fur bristled. "Why won't you at least consider it?" he asked, clearly fighting to stay calm and reasonable. "It's not that preposterous. Where would the legend have come from if there was no proof for it?"

"I think the old leaders made it up to get their Clans to stop worrying about them whenever they went off into battle," Vixenpaw meowed. "Think about it. That makes logical sense. The concept of having nine lives doesn't. If cats could have nine lives, wouldn't we all have nine lives?" Her voice softened as she continued. "I know you're a philosophical cat, Flamepaw, and there's nothing wrong with that. But not everything has a deeper meaning. Some things are straightforward, plain and simple. You can't find something more in them when there's nothing more to be found."

Flamepaw flinched. "Stop being so condescending, Vixenpaw. You don't understand me as well as you think you do."

Branchpaw was horrified. He'd never seen his littermates clash this badly before. Some part of him wanted to interrupt, to stop their fight, but when he opened his mouth, he could find no words to speak.

Icepaw looked from one ginger cat to the other. "There's no need to fight about it," she said, sounding wary. "There's no way to actually know for sure if StarClan is real or not. So is it really worth fighting over?"

"I guess not," Blackpaw muttered. "But I'm just telling you what I saw, and I don't like what Vixenpaw's suggesting."

Vixenpaw rolled her eyes. "My goodness," she meowed. "I am not trying to attack you or accuse you of lying. Why do you have to be so defensive all the time?"

Branchpaw was interested to know the answer to that question, but just as Blackpaw was opening his mouth to retort, Nightwatcher came stalking in. The medicine cat was a dark cloud of barely suppressed fury. His blue eyes were smoldering with anger and his hackles were bristling. As all the apprentices stared at him in a mixture of shock and horror, his lips curled back to reveal sharp white fangs. "Get out," he ordered.

"B-but," Icepaw protested.

He glared at her, and she shrank back in fear. "Blackpaw is supposed to be resting," the tomcat hissed. "You are not supposed to be in here bothering him. This is not a kit's game; you should know better than to disturb a cat who's ill. If your mentors never taught you that, then I'm going to have a serious talk with them about their teaching skills." With each word, his voice was getting more and more furious, and his claws were sliding farther out of their sheathes. Branchpaw stared, unable to tear his eyes away from the enraged medicine cat. "If you expect Blackpaw to recover any time soon, then you'd better get out of here and let me do my job! I'm telling you once; if I have to tell you again, I'll rip off all your pelts and make you line Rainwater's nest with them! And I am not joking! Am I clear?!"

Even Vixenpaw looked frightened by now. They all nodded shakily. Branchpaw's legs felt as though they were dissolving into water beneath him. If there was any cat that he could believe would actually carry out that kind of threat, it was Nightwatcher.

"Good! Now go," Nightwatcher spat. "And don't come back unless there's actually something wrong with you."

Branchpaw, Flamepaw, Vixenpaw, and Icepaw hurried out of the medicine den as quickly as they could, their argument forgotten. Flamepaw and Vixenpaw seemed merely subdued, with an unusually serious aura about them, but Icepaw was visibly shaking. Branchpaw pressed himself against her side, hoping to comfort her. "It's all right," he meowed soothingly.

Icepaw leaned into him, still shuddering a little.

"Nightwatcher wasn't trying to be cruel," Flamepaw put in unexpectedly. "I think he was just frightened. He was probably worried that Blackpaw was going to die; the shock of witnessing what happened to Falconstar could have killed him, and getting him riled up by arguing with him certainly wasn't helping."

Now it was Branchpaw's turn to shiver. "I… I didn't think of that," he confessed. The realization made some strange feeling rise in his chest. It took him a moment to recognize it as a mixture of pity and guilt.

Suddenly, there came the sound of paws scrabbling on loose stones. The image of Blackpaw rushing into camp flashed behind Branchpaw's eyes. In fact, he was getting a horrible sense of déjà vu; standing in the middle of camp, with Icepaw right beside him, it felt almost like he was reliving the earlier events of the day.

His heart heavy with dread, Branchpaw forced himself to look up. Inexplicable relief washed through him as he saw that it wasn't the black-furred figure from his memories that came scrambling down the slope, but Stormpaw. The brown apprentice's momentary respite was followed by a stab of anxiety. What happened now?

Hazelclaw came streaking out of Falconstar's den, her tail fluffing up with fear when she spotted the ash-colored apprentice standing alone at the base of the slope. "What's going on?" she demanded, coming to a stop in front of him.

Stormpaw took a deep breath. "There are RiverClan cats on our territory!" he announced.

A/N: And that's it for this chapter. :) I'm hoping to have the next one up sometime later this month, but that all depends on when I finish it.

A note regarding characters: I'm so glad I didn't put more than six apprentices in ThunderClan. It's actually really hard to include them all in group conversations without any of them being neglected. Writing that scene in the medicine den felt so chaotic, even though only five of them were there! Poor Stormpaw always seems to be the one left out. Don't worry, Stormpaw, I'll make sure you get your parts later.

Thank you all again for reading. ;)