Hooray, it's chapter 20! OMG, I have 111 reviews?!?!?! OH, SNAPPPP!!!! =) Thank you guys, so much, really. It means a ton to me that you actually like my writing.

Chapter 20

The next morning, Emberclaw awoke to find all five of her kits snuggled in the curve of her belly, Birchkit among them. The she-cat purred and rose to her paws, being careful not to wake the sleeping bundles of fur. Talonkit's tiny paws battered the air as he dreamed, and he accidentally cuffed Snowkit over the ear. She jolted in her sleep, but did not wake. Emberclaw purred again and padded out into the center of camp. There were many cats in the clearing, most of them near the medicine den, their ears turned toward the entrance, listening intently to whatever was going on, though all of them had their backs turned to the den, as if doing something completely different.

"Emberclaw!" the queen looked up as someone called her name. Looking toward Firestar's den, she saw Squirreltail bounding toward her, eyes bright with excitement. "Guess what!" she mewed when she had reached her sister. "I got Firestar's permission to take you hunting today! I mean, if you want to, that is."

Emberclaw nodded. "That would be great," she mewed. "Thanks. I need to stretch my limbs. Just let me tell Ferncloud to..."

"No!" The agonized yowl halted all action in the camp. Cinderpelt dashed across the clearing and exited the camp, Leafpaw and Firestar on her heels. Gasps and cries of shock rose from the Clan cats as they rose to their paws and filed into the medicine den.

"What's going on?" Squirreltail asked, cocking her head to the side in confusion. But Emberclaw already knew. Without a word, she darted into the medicine den, shoving away any cat who was in her path, until she stood beside Ravenpaw. The frail cat was twitching and foaming at the mouth. Pained moans escaped his barely parted lips.

"What's happening?" Emberclaw demanded, scanning the medicine den for anyone who might know the answer. No one replied. Emberclaw turned her head back to the loner, now being taken over by violent spasms that seemed to start in his chest and shoot to his limbs and neck.

"...H...Hel...Help," Ravenpaw groaned.

"What's going on?" Emberclaw demanded again, her eyes scanning the crowd. "Anyone?"

But everyone else was too busy going crazy to notice Emberclaw sitting beside Ravenpaw's dying body.

"Get him some water!" one voice cried.

"No!" another cat argued. "He's choking on something! Somone go step on his chest!"

"That'll just hurt him even worse!" a she-cat disagreed. "He can't be choking! Look, he's foaming from the mouth!"

"Momma," said a familiar voice. "What's happening?"

Emberclaw stared wide-eyed as Barleykit padded into view. He scanned the small semi-circle of space, where no cat dared to step.

"Nothing," Emberclaw snapped, rushing to her son's side. "Now get out of..."

"Ravenpaw?" Barleykit cried, his blue eyes wide with horror. "Ravenpaw!" the tom kit darted to the loner's side, burying his head in the loner's neck, now spattered with foamy saliva.

"Someone get him out of here!" one cat hollered.

"He won't budge!" Emberclaw snapped back as she tried desperately to get her son away from Ravenpaw.

"Momma," Barleykit moaned, his voice ridden with grief. "W-What's happening to him? What's Ravenpaw doing? Is he dying?"

"Barleykit," Emberclaw meowed firmly. "Get out. Now. You don't need to be here right now."

"Yes, I do!" Barkleykit snarled, whipping around to glare at his mother with eyes full of fire. "I need to save Ravenpaw."

Ravenpaw gave one last sputter, and his form went still.

There were gasps, and then an eternal gap of silence, until Barleykit turned once again to face Emberclaw.

"Is..." he mewed, his voice sounding sorrowful again. "Is he d-dead?"

"Yes, dear," Emberclaw meowed sympathetically, stepping forward to wrap her tail around Barleykit's quivering form.

"What's gonna happen to him now?" the kit asked.

"Well," Emberclaw began. "The camp will sit vigil for him, and then in the morning, the elders will..."

"No," Barleykit cut in. "I mean, is he going to StarClan?"

"I...I don't know, Barleykit," Emberclaw replied. "But, as far as I do know, Ravenpaw never did anything that would make him any less deserving of his place in StarClan."

"Barleykit," Glacierpelt's familiar meow rang through the den. He padded forward slowly until he stood at Emberclaw's side. She stiffened apprehensively, but the white warrior did not make a move. "Barleykit, my son, come here." He turned to Emberclaw, then meowed, "Do you mind if I talk to him for a while?"

Emberclaw narrowed her eyes, searching Glacierpelt's face for any sign of mischief. She found nothing but sincerity, and meowed, "Sure. But don't be long."

"Thank you," he meowed, dipping his head. Barleykit padded to his father's side, and the two of them padded out into the clearing.

"Emberclaw!" Graystripe darted into the medicine den, his eyes wild with a mix of emotions. "I'm so sorry about your loss, but you need to come down to the river, and quickly!" Emberclaw rose to her paws and followed Graystripe out of the camp. They darted through to forest, past the sandy hollow, through Sunningrocks, and arrived at the river a while later. Leafpaw and Firestar were dragging a limp figure onto the shore. The cat's soaked fur was black with water.

"Cinderpelt?" Emberclaw gasped.

Firestar nodded solemnly. "She drowned herself."

"Why?"

"Heart attacks were the one thing she never learned how to fix," Firestar explained as he licked his damp fur dry. "She had experienced only one before, with a loner named Casserole, and she couldn't help her."

"How do you know?"

"She said that right before she jumped in," Leafpaw cut in. "I had no idea she was suicidal."

Firestar shook his head sadly. "The Clan will miss her dearly," he meowed. "And so will I. Leafpaw," he turned to face his daughter. "Why don't you and Emberclaw go up to the Highstones tonight so you can recieve your medicine cat name."

"Yes, father," Leafpaw meowed, dipping her head. She turned without a word and darted off in the direction of the Highstones. Emberclaw followed, her head swimming with fear, anger, sadness, and guilt.

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

The two sisters reached Mothermouth just as the sun set.

"Why don't you come speak to StarClan, too?" Leafpaw suggested. "I don't want to be in there alone, anyway."

Emberclaw dipped her head in agreement, though she was wary of what StarClan would have to say to her, if anything at all.

Together, the two she-cats padded through the dark tunnel until they came to the Moonstone. Leafpaw immediately lay down beside the rock and pressed her nose to it. Emberclaw followed her example, and soon, a deep sleep came over her.

Emberclaw awoke a short time later, without a dream from her ancestors. Leafpaw was sitting at the entrance to the drafty tunnel, her tail wrapped around her paws.

"Hello, Leafpaw," the queen meowed, dipping her head.

"Leaftail," the medicine cat corrected.

"They gave you your medicine cat name!" Emberclaw cried. "Congratulations!" The queen licked her sister's ear in congratulations, then the two of them started back for camp.

It was just past sunhigh when they got back. The camp welcomed Leaftail with hearty congratulations as she padded wordlessly to the medicine den, now completely empty. Emberclaw returned to her den as well, exhausted from their journey.

"Hello, Emberclaw," Ferncloud meowed as the she-cat settled down in her nest. "I'm so sorry. Ravenpaw and Cinderpelt in one day. It's just horrible, isn't it? Did Leafpaw get her new name?"

Emberclaw simply nodded. She realized then that the den was empy save for the two of them and a napping Larchkit.

"Where are the rest of the kits?" Emberclaw asked, stifling a yawn.

"They volunteered to help clean out the medicine den," Ferncloud replied. "Aren't they just so sweet? They wanted to surprise Leafpaw when she came back."

"Leaftail," Emberclaw corrected. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm really tired, so I think I'm going to sleep for a while."

"Alright, then," Ferncloud meowed. "I'll go get the kits now. You have a nice rest."

"Thanks," Emberclaw mumbled as she dropped off to sleep.

When she awoke again, the sun was nearing the top of the sky. Birchkit and Talonkit were wrestling just in front of the queen, and to her left, Snowkit, Gingerkit, Larchkit, and Hollykit were grooming themselves. To her right, Nightkit and Barleykit were mewing to each other in hushed voices.

Snowkit was the first to notice her mother's awakening. "Mother!" she mewed, rushing to the queen's side and nuzzling her neck happily. "I missed you so much! You slept all night and all day, too! You must be starving! Me and Gingerkit'll go get you something to eat." Before Emberclaw could say anything, the two kits dashed out into the camp, heading for the fresh-kill pile. Emberclaw sat up and groomed herself thoroughly, straightening out knotted clumps of fur with her teeth. Soon, Gingerkit and Snowkit returned with a scrawny mouse. Emberclaw thanked her kits and ate quickly, then started off toward the medicine den.

"Leaftail?" the she-cat called warily, stepping into the den slowly.

"Back here," Leaftail called, her voice soft with poorly hidden sorrow. Emberclaw padded over to her sister's side.

"How're you doing?" the queen asked, placing her tail on her sister's shoulder gently.

"I'm alright," Leaftail meowed, sniffling lightly. "Barleykit and Gingerkit helped me sort out the herbs after Birchkit messed them up. I'm running low on heather, cobwebs, and goldenrod. I'll have to go out later today, or perhaps early tomorrow morning."

"I can go for you," Emberclaw suggested.

"No," Leaftail replied. "You've done too much moving around for a queen in the past day or so. You need to rest."

Emberclaw's limbs did fell sore, now that her sister had mentioned it. "Well," she meowed. "At least let me keep an eye on this place while you're gone."

Leaftail nodded in agreement. "I suppose so," she meowed. "I'll let you know when I'm leaving."

Emberclaw dipped her head in farewell to the new medicine cat, then turned and padded back into the clearing, where she was immediately intercepted by Glacierpelt.

"Hey," he meowed, his voice sober.

"What do you want?" Emberclaw snapped, her voice cold.

"I talked to Barleykit," Glacierpelt meowed. "A-About StarClan. I thought he should know what would happen to Ravenpaw."

"What did you say to him?" Emberclaw cried, assuming the worst.

"I just told him that different cats believe in different things," Glacierpelt meowed. "And that Ravenpaw believed in StarClan just like the rest of us, but just where he went was up to StarClan themselves."

"And what did he say?"

"He says that he thinks Ravenpaw was welcomed into StarClan."

"Well," Emberclaw sighed. "I suppose I should thank you. So, thanks."

"I want to apologize," Glacierpelt meowed suddenly.

"Excuse me?" Emberclaw asked, staring at Glacierpelt as though he were speaking in tongues.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for what I did to you in the past," Glacierpelt explained. "You don't love me, and you never did. I understand that. I suppose, at the time, I was just too naive to understand. I sincerely hope you will forgive me, though I assume you're not ready to do that yet."

"Well," Emberclaw meowed. "I think that was very mature of you, though I'll have to sleep on it. I'm not quite sure if I can forgive you."

"That's quite alright with me," Glacierpelt meowed. "Now, Squirreltail, Brambleclaw and I are going hunting, and I was wondering if you wanted to come. I'm sure you'd be very welcome."

"I'd like that," Emberclaw replied. "I was going to the day Ravenpaw and Cinderpelt..." the she-cat didn't finish her sentence.

"Well," Glacierpelt meowed as he spotted Squirreltail and Brambleclaw by the camp entrance. "We should probably go now." Emberclaw nodded, and together, the two of them padded over to join their Clanmates.

"Mouse dung!" Emberclaw spat as the mouse darted under a bush, just out of her reach. "I almost had it!"
"It's alright," Squirreltail meowed reassuringly. "You've already caught two finches. You're doing great."

"Thanks," Emberclaw meowed sheepishly as Brambleclaw's ears pricked.

"Squirreltail," he hissed. "Do you smell that?"

The ginger she-cat sniffed the air. "ShadowClan," she snarled under her breath.

"Why would they be here?" Glacierpelt mused.

"I don't know," Brambleclaw snapped. "Everyone, get down low. Hide under these bushes." The tom gestured with his tail to two small, icy bushes that still had a few leaves clinging desperately to them. Squirreltail and Emberclaw scrambled under one, while Glacierpelt and Brambleclaw hid under the other.

Soon, six cats stepped into view. One was a large white tom with huge jet-black paws. The second and third were dark ginger she-cats. Then came a small brown tom, a tortoisheshell she-cat, and a dark gray tom. Their eyes were cold and glazed, and they all moved with mechanical steps. Brambleclaw hissed under his breath and jumped out at the intruders.

"Brambleclaw?" the tortoiseshell she-cat mewed in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you that," Brambleclaw snarled ferociously. "What are the six of you doing here? Shouldn't you be back with your Clan?"

"Are you all alone?" Blackstar meowed contemptuously. "A young, inexperienced warrior such as yourself shouldn't be out hunting by himself."

Squirreltail snarled and wriggled out from under her bush, followed by Emberclaw. Glacierpelt emerged as well.

"Go back home, ShadowClan scum!" Glacierpelt spat.

"Glacierpelt," Brambleclaw warned. "Don't provoke a fight."

"They're on our side of the territory!" Glacierpelt snapped angrily. "We have a right to drive them back."

"We have come to see Firestar," the large white tom meowed firmly, obviously having no intention of turning back.

"And for what reason?" Squirreltail asked suspiciously.

"That is a matter I must discuss with Firestar alone," the large tom replied smoothly. "Now, will you take me to see him, or shall I have to fight my way through."

"I could use a good fight," Glacierpelt challenged, narrowing his eyes and wiggling his haunches.

"Glacierpelt," Emberclaw whispered reproachfully, placing her tail on her mate's shoulder.

"Let them come through," Brambleclaw meowed after a moment of thought. "Squirreltail, go let Firestar know that Blackstar is here with several ShadowClan warriors, and wishes to speak to him."

Squirreltail just stood there for a moment, as though uncertain of what to do, then finally turned and darted off.

Blackstar and his Clanmates started off toward the ThunderClan camp, Brambleclaw in front of them, Glacierpelt and Emberclaw at their flanks.

They reached the camp in no time, finding Firestar waiting in the center of the camp.

"Ah, Firestar," Blackstar meowed. "If you don't mind, I wish to speak to you in more private quarters."

"As you wish, Blackstar," Firestar replied, dipping his head. Together, the two leaders padded off into the ThunderClan leader's den.

Emberclaw seated herself by the fresh-kill pile, bathing in the pale sunlight. Shrewpaw and Whitepaw were sharing a vole near the apprentices' den, and Talonkit and Birchkit were play fighting outside the nursery. Emberclaw let her eyes close, hoping she would be able to take a quick nap.

The she-cat awoke again to find Firestar and Blackstar standing about a foxlength away from her.

"I'm sorry," Firestar was meowing. "But that is not a request I can grant."

"That's a shame," Blackstar meowed. "I suppose we'll just have to fight for it, then."

Firestar flattened his ears in anger. "I am not willing to fight over nothing. There will be no battle here unless absolutely nessecary."

"Fine then," Blackstar meowed as he turned and stalked toward the camp entrance. "But you'd better get smart and double your patrols and night guards. 'Cause there's gonna be some kind of trouble if I don't get any of this land." With that, he was gone.