Chapter 19

Emberclaw dashed through the forest, Thornclaw at her side, eager to find and rescue Ravenpaw. To keep herself distracted from the horrible reality that she may never see Ravenpaw again, she went over her apology in her head until she could have recited it in her sleep.

"Ravenpaw, straight ahead!" Thornclaw called. Emberclaw shook her head and skidded to a stop on the ice beside Ravenpaw's battered figure.

"Kite?" Ravenpaw coughed. Emberclaw gazed down upon her friend, pity flooding her heart, but she could do nothing about it.

"Y-Yes," Emberclaw stammered. She wanted to tell him that she had taken on a new name, but decided that he could call her what he wanted. "What happened? Where are you hurt?"

"My back paws, my chest, and my tail hurt the most," Ravenpaw informed the queen.

"Cinderpelt's here," Emberclaw mewed, licking Ravenpaw's ear reassuringly. "Don't worry. We're going to make sure you get better as quickly as possible."

Cinderpelt stepped forward and crouched beside the weak loner, sorting frantically through her herbs. She chewed them up into a pulp and spat them onto the open wounds on Ravenpaw's flanks, legs and tail. He winced in pain, and Emberclaw flinched, wanting so badly to turn and flee, but finding herself too weak to listen to her screaming limbs; it was fear and despair that kept her rooted to the spot.

"His hind legs are shattered," Cinderpelt reported. "Even if we can save him, there's no way he'll be able to walk again."

A heartbeat later, Firestar, followed by Graystripe, Brambleclaw, Leafpaw, Squirreltail and Mousefur darted onto the narrow, icy ledge beside the Thunderpath.

"How bad is it?" Graystripe asked worriedly as he examined his old friend's crippled body.

"Back legs are shattered," Cinderpelt repeated. "A few minor wound; one large split in his flank. No broken ribs, but his tailbone is snapped in the middle. It's a clean break, though, so it should be able to heal. Can't say the same for his legs, though." The medicine cat worked diligently as she spoke, pressing cobwebs into the wounds and trying to splint his legs and tail with reed-like plants.

Once she had finished the last splint, Leafpaw asked warily, "H-how will we g-get him b-back to camp?"

Cinderpelt thought for a moment, then replied, "Graystripe, Brambleclaw, Firestar, Thornclaw; I need you four to take Ravenpaw back to camp. Be slow and careful. Emberclaw, Leafpaw, Mousefur, head on back to camp and tell the Clan what is happening, but not too much. Just tell them that Ravenpaw is returning to ThunderClan for a while and not to worry about him when he arrives."

Leafpaw and Emberclaw nodded and dashed off, followed by a slower, less enthusiastic Mousefur.

It wasn't long before the three of them arrived in camp. Brightheart and Cloudtail were sharing a meal by the fresh-kill pile, Sootfur, Rainwhisker, and Brackenfur were leaving for a hunting patrol, and Shrewpaw, Spiderpaw, and Whitepaw lay lazily outside the apprentices' den.

"Hey!" Mousefur yowled. All action in the camp immediately stopped. Every head shot up and stared at Mousefur, eyes wide. "We have something to say!" She bounded up onto the Highrock, followed quickly by Leafpaw and Emberclaw.

"Cats of ThunderClan!" Emberclaw meowed. "We would like to announce that Ravenpaw, the loner who was once a part of our Clan, will be coming to stay with us for a while." Gasps and murmurs rippled through the gathering crowd of cats.

"Yes," Leafpaw went on. "We must warn you, though, he is in very bad shape, and you mustn't make a big deal out of it. Cinderpelt and I are taking care of it." More murmurs and questions rippled through the crowd as the three she-cats leapt down from the Highrock.

A moment later, the whole patrol, Ravenpaw's broken body with them, slipped through the entrance tunnel. Yowls of shock and horror rose into the air, mostly from older cats that knew Ravenpaw. The apprentices skittered away into their dens, and Birchkit, Hollykit, Larchkit, and Emberclaw's kits poked their heads out of the nursery den to see what was happening, their eyes bright and eager. The patrol crossed the clearing without a word and entered the medicine den, trailed by shouted questions.

"What's happened to Ravenpaw?" Frostfur demanded.

"Is he dead?" Dappletail cried.

"Who's that?" Shrepaw asked.

"Can I touch his leg?" Talonkit begged.

Emberclaw returned to her den, followed by Ferncloud, who had been visiting Dustpelt in the warriors' den.

"You are to stay inside," Emberclaw ordered her kits. Ferncloud gathered the eight kits together and shooed them into the back of the nursery.

"You may all play here until we tell you to come out," she meowed sternly. "Emberclaw, let's go see if we can help out in the medicine den." Emberclaw nodded, and the two of them crossed the clearing and entered the medicine den. The den was buzzing with low, hushed conversations, mewing, shouting, and rustling.

"Where's Ravenpaw?" Emberclaw demanded.

"In the back," Cloudtail replied, his voice bitter. "Cinderpelt's only letting in certain cats to see him, but she let us all stay out here."

"Do you know if we can go back there?" Emberclaw asked, gesturing with her tail to Ferncloud.

"I guess so," Cloudtail shrugged. "If she doesn't want you back there, she won't make a secret of it."

"OK," Emberclaw nodded and led Ferncloud into the back of the den, weaving through the crowd of arguing warriors and apprentices.

"Kite," Ravenpaw rasped when the two queens entered the back of the den. "Come here, please."

Emberclaw swallowed and stepped forward warily. "Look, Ravenpaw, I am so sorry! I never meant to be so-"

"Don't worry about it," Ravenpaw meowed, cutting the she-cat off before she could finish. "I…I forgive you. I realize that there's not much time left for me on this planet, so I wanted to apologize to you."

"Me?" Emberclaw repeated in shock.

"Yes," Ravenpaw rasped. "I know what Barley told you. I know how you feel about me, and I also know that love has no boundaries. Your friend Odin told me that. I realize that I shouldn't have done that to you, and I truly am sorry. Please, please do forgive me."

"You already are," Emberclaw whispered.

"Alright," Cinderpelt meowed, pushing the ginger queen back to stand beside Ferncloud. "That's enough talking for this old cat. He needs to save his strength if he wants to make it out of here alive. I think you two should leave now."

Emberclaw shot a desperate glance at her father, who was sitting by Ravenpaw's side.

"You have to listen to her, dear," he meowed simply. "She is the medicine cat. You don't want him to die, do you?"
"I suppose not," Emberclaw sighed, then turned and padded out of the den with Ferncloud on her heels.

"I'm truly sorry about him," Ferncloud mewed apologetically. "He doesn't look too great, does he? I sure do hope that he makes it."

"He will pull through," Emberclaw meowed firmly, mostly in assurance to herself. "How about you go and check on the kits? I'll grab something from the fresh kill pile for all of us to share."

Ferncloud nodded and darted off as Emberclaw plodded over to the fresh-kill pile wearily. She selected a scrawny mouse and two finches, which were considerably plump, considering the season. The queen trotted back to the warm nursery, where the eight kits huddled around Ferncloud as she explained what was going on in the medicine den.

"…and he may never be able to walk again," she was meowing as Emberclaw set the fresh-kill on the ground.

"Awesome!" Talonkit and Birchkit cried in unison.

"Ew," Snowkit muttered. Gingerkit and Larchkit murmured in agreement.

"Can we go see, mother?" Nightkit asked, turning to face Emberclaw as she sat down to groom herself.

"Certainly not," the she-cat snapped. "Ravenpaw's in bad enough shape as it is. I'm quite sure he doesn't want eight nosy kits running around bothering him."

"I wouldn't go," Hollykit mewed.

"Me either," Larchkit mewed.

"Yeah," Snowkit agreed.

"I think it's gross, too," Gingerkit meowed.

"Well," Ferncloud meowed. "I think we're done talking about this for now. Let's eat. Emberclaw brought us some great food."

"Great!" Barleykit and Nightkit mewled excitedly. The two of them darted forward and dragged one of the finches over to a corner. Talonkit, Birchkit, and Larchkit followed them hungrily. Snowkit, Gingerkit, and Hollykit shared the other finch, and Ferncloud and Emberclaw munched on the squirrel.

"I can't wait until these little bundles of fur are apprenticed," Ferncloud sighed. "You know, Firestar's considering holding them back from apprenticeship until your kits are six moons."

"Why is that?" Emberclaw asked.

"Well," Ferncloud replied. "They're about the same age, only a few dawns apart, after all, but Firestar's so tired of them causing all this trouble. And besides, he wants to give all eight of our kits apprentice names at the same time. He says it would save him a lot of time. But he's having a bit of trouble finding mentors for the kits."

"Well," Emberclaw meowed. "There's Brambleclaw. I'm sure he wants an apprentice. And Squirreltail, though she's just been made a warrior."

"Birchkit wants Sootfur as a mentor," Ferncloud meowed. "And Larchkit was saying something about Rainwhisker. Then there's Cloudtail and Graystripe. But Firestar could mentor one, too."

"Hmm," Emberclaw mumbled around the chunk of squirrel she was chewing. She swallowed, and her eyes scanned the back of the nursery, where the kits were fighting over who got the largest piece of finch.

Ferncloud purred. "They sure know how to keep themselves amused, don't they?" she meowed.

"Kits will be kits," Emberclaw agreed.

---------------------------X

Night fell quickly, and it snowed once again. The cats that had spent all day crowded inside the medicine den, trying to speak to Ravenpaw, were eventually herded out by an irate Cinderpelt and a weary-looking Firestar. The kits played in a small lump of snow just outside the den, occasionally wandering away to join the apprentices in their games.

Ferncloud turned in early that night, leaving Emberclaw sitting in her nest, wide awake, staring idly across the clearing at the frolicking kits, wishing that she still had their innocence, their playfulness, and their youth.

You're still young, Emberclaw reminded herself. You're only fourteen moons old.

The thought disturbed Emberclaw. In just two short moons, her life had gone from satisfying to a strange, foreign life in a place that felt only vaguely familiar to her. She had spent most of her life in ThunderClan in the nursery, so it only made sense that she ended up in there for another six moons. She still needed to complete the cycle, right?

And then, she would start real warrior training. The idea didn't excite her, nor did it frighten her. She was more or less neutral, though she preferred going straight to warrior status without any silly 'training' sessions. The only significant downside to the matter was that Glacierpelt and Sootfur would be her mentors. She wondered idly how she would be able to survive.

Eventually, the kits grew tired of the cold and wandered back into the nursery one by one. Since Ferncloud was already asleep, Birchkit, Hollykit, and Larchkit came to Emberclaw. She groomed each of the eight kits thoroughly, got them two large mice from the fresh-kill pile, then sent them off to sleep. Birchkit and Talonkit protested about having to sleep with their mothers. They both wanted to sleep in a separate nest. Eventually, other kits joined in their protest, until all but Snowkit and Gingerkit were begging to spend the night away from their mothers. Emberclaw agreed and padded off to the medicine den to fetch them some moss.

"Cinderpelt?" Emberclaw called as she entered the medicine den. The medicine cat was working busily at tending Ravenpaw's wounds and fixing his splints, while Leafpaw arranged more moss under his nest, obviously trying to make him more comfortable.

"What is it?" Cinderpelt snapped irritably, not looking up from her work. From where Emberclaw stood, she could see Ravenpaw's eyes light up with joy when he noticed her. The she-cat groaned inwardly. She wanted Ravenpaw to be happy, but she didn't want him to feel so attached to her.

"I-I was wondering if I could get some moss for the kits," Emberclaw stammered. "See, they want to sleep a-away from us t-tonight, and I was thinking I could m-make them another n-nest."

"Quit stammering," Cinderpelt snapped. "It's getting rather annoying. Leafpaw!" Emberclaw's sister stopped what she was doing, and stared at her mentor obediently. "Get some nest for her and get her out of here."

Leafpaw nodded and dashed off, leaving Emberclaw alone with Cinderpelt and Ravenpaw.

"What's with the sudden mood swing?" Emberclaw demanded.

"I'm just annoyed," Cinderpelt sighed. "It's been a long day, and I don't know if I'm doing this right. Your sister is very talented in this field, but I'd rather do this on my own, so I just have her gathering herbs and tending to Ravenpaw's needs. I wanted to let her help, but my pride tells me not to."

"Well," Emberclaw meowed. "You want to save Ravenpaw, right?"

Cinderpelt nodded.

"Then I say, let her help out. She's gonna be a medicine cat someday, and she needs to practice."

Cinderpelt was about to speak, when Leafpaw padded into the room, carrying a wad of moss in her jaws. She dropped it on the ground at Emberclaw's paws.

"Here," she mewed, sounding a bit crestfallen. Had she heard what her mentor had said? Emberclaw didn't ask. Instead, she mewed her thanks, gathered up the moss, and left.

The kits were waiting impatiently in the nursery when Emberclaw returned.

"Finally!" Birchkit cried as Emberclaw began setting up the nest, making sure it was wide enough for all eight kits to fit in. "Where were you?"

"Don't speak to her like that!" Gingerkit snapped. "She's a queen, for StarClan's sake! She deserves better respect than that."

"You can't tell me what to do!" Birchkit protested.

"Yeah!" Talonkit agreed.

"Just go to bed," Emberclaw snapped.

The kits groaned and protested at first, but eventually, they all crawled into the nest and went to sleep. Emberclaw did the same, drifting off to sleep just after moonhigh.