Disclaimer: really, the fact that it's labeled "Disclaimer" should give you the idea already. Okay, I don't own any of this except Pantherpaw and everything about her... and the plot... yeah.

A/N: Yay! I'm back! At least it didn't take me a month to write this one! Actually, I wrote it around midnight (a magical time, indeed), but I waited until I had woken up (whether that was morning or not) to post this one, so… w00t! I think this one kinda sucks, actually (I mean, she's in the medicine cat's den! When is that not boring?). But on with the chapter!

OoOoO

I groaned, and a strange scent wafted into my nose.

"Do I smell… flowers?" I mumbled, with much effort.

"Sh, Pantherpaw," a deep voice reassured me. "You're gonna be just fine."

"What are ya talkin' 'bout?" I asked groggily, my eyes still closed. "Of course I'm fine!"

"Sharpclaw, don't say anything. She obviously doesn't remember yet," a sweeter voice meowed.

I began to force my eyes open—it was quite painful, in fact— and tried to look around without moving. Two cats loomed over me, both looking concerned. A dark ginger pelt seemed to be pacing farther away.

"I-I'm sorry, Leafstar," I coughed out. "I know that was a… bad thing to do."

"It's alright, Pantherpaw. I believe you did what you did with a cause," the tabby leader mewed calmly.

"But it still wasn't good!" I protested as I attempted to sit up. Agony shot through my entire body, and I collapsed back onto the moss nest.

"Stop moving! You need to rest, not run around!" the ginger in the back snapped.

"Sharpclaw!" Leafstar scolded at the same time Echosong comforted me with, "That's just Sharpclaw showing that he cares."

"You say whatever you want. I'm going out."

"What about your paw?" I called after him. He didn't respond, and I shot a confused glance at the she-cats next to me. "What happened to me, anyway?"

"All I know is that you had a huge, very deep mark on your side. How did you not notice it before?" the tabby medicine cat meowed.

"I-I don't know," I replied, my strength returning quickly. "I guess it was when I fell on some rocks when I was leaving Leafstar's den."

"I did notice something on the rocks, but I didn't think it was important," Leafstar mewed thoughtfully.

"I guess that was either fur or blood. I think I was too angry to really pay attention to anything. Did you realize anything was wrong, Echosong?" I murmured the first two sentences.

"I believe Sharpclaw did," she recalled. "I don't think you saw anything, but I was pretty sure he thought something was up last moon."

"Last what?!" I yowled. I flattened my ears when the echo in camp reached the den.

"I had to take time to find out what happened. You might have been bleeding on the inside, too, but I don't know if that's possible," Echosong explained. She added, with a much brighter voice, "Besides, you're all better now, Pantherpaw. You still need rest, but I'm sure Leafstar wouldn't mind if I taught you something about herbs?"

Leafstar's whiskers twitched. "Of course you may, Echosong. Meanwhile, I have a deputy to find." As she was padding out, I could have sworn I heard her mutter "Again."

"Okay, Pantherpaw, this plant is marigold. It helps keeps wounds from being infected. I used it on your cut. Oh! This is a juniper berry. They…."

I remained as focused as I could on Echosong's lesson, but I wasn't sure if I would remember all of the herbs. I was a little shocked when she began teaching me about how to mix herbs to heal cats even better.

"…so when you put—" she was explaining when I interrupted.

"When are the rogues meeting?"

"What? Oh, that's tonight."

"Tonight?!" I gasped, leaping to my paws. Doing that was a mistake. I crumbled back down, and rolled over to a more comfortable position.

"Yes."

"But you said Sharpclaw's paw wouldn't be better until the meeting!"

"I also said I hoped it would get better before then. He spent all his time in here watching you, instead of keeping you out of trouble."

"But it couldn't have been a moon ago when I met Tangle?"

"Moon? Did I say moon? I was teasing. Of course you haven't been asleep for a moon."

"So… how long, then?"

"I'm afraid I couldn't tell you. You could ask Sharpclaw, but he wouldn't tell you."

"Why can't you tell me?"

"Leafstar."

That certainly ended our conversation. I gazed around as well as I could.

"So..." I began, trying to start a conversation after several awkward, silent minutes. "When do you think I'll be able to move again?"

"Do you mean can or may?"

"I don't understand."

"You probably can move around in a few days, but you may move in a quarter moon, after I'm absolutely sure it's not infected," she told me.

I sighed. "What am I supposed to do until then?"

"Sharpclaw visits often to have me check his paw," Echosong replied, hinting at something more.

"I don't like your tone," I retorted, pretending to take serious offense.

"You're right—medicine cats don't know about romance or love."

I gulped and closed my eyes. Sharpclaw had once told me that medicine cats can't have mates. If the medicine cat noticed something, what did the rest of the Clan think? I was afraid to know.

"Hey, Echosong, I think I have a thorn in my pad," Sharpclaw announced as he limped in.

"Show me the paw," she commanded.

The dark ginger tom lifted his paw and let her inspect it.

"There's nothing there."

"I could have sworn I felt something!"

"I can only guess what," Echosong groaned. I think I saw her wink at me, but I'm not sure. Was she trying to put the Sharpclaw and me together? That would be very odd. No, I think she was just hinting that our relationship was deeper than a mentor/apprentice relationship normally was. I wasn't sure if I liked that she was thinking like that.

The idea was okay.

What?! No, it was not okay! What do I mean "it sounds okay"? The whole thing was making me uncomfortable. Maybe I shouldn't have joined SkyClan at all.

"I think I should stay in here, though, just so you can make sure," Sharpclaw finished what I presumed was a monologue or something.

"I think that's for me to decide." She yawned.

"I believe you're too tired out taking care of Pantherpaw, so—"

"Absolutely not!" Echosong stretched out the syllables in "absolutely." What was she going for? "You don't know the medicines she needs!" Of course. A classic cover-up. The "you-lack-something-necessary-for-this" excuse.

"Oh. Well, I should still stay here. Pantherpaw is bored out of her mind, and it's only her first day awake here."

"Sharpclaw, it's only been two hours. Don't you have a meeting to go to, anyway?"

"Yes," he muttered, seeming a little dejected. Who was this cat, and what did he do with Sharpclaw? This was way out of character for him!

"You better keep those rogues in line," I mewed. "You wouldn't want any of them to come to the camp and attack us."

"No rogue's going to get past me!" he growled fiercely. "The Clan comes first!"

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Rockpile for a Clan meeting." Leafstar's call rang around the camp, and I could visualize in my mind cats leaking out from several places.

"I have to go," Sharpclaw announced, somewhat unnecessarily, as he padded out of the den.

Echosong didn't leave; instead, she sat by the entrance, but her body faced me a little and her head was tilted to be able to watch me. I think she was worrying too much, but maybe she wasn't.

"The cats who are coming with me to the meeting are Sharpclaw, Sparrowpelt, and Cherrytail. The other cats will stay here, with Patchfoot in charge. By dawn, the numbers of SkyClan will certainly have doubled!" There was much cheering at the end of her final statement.

I could hear the cats trotting away from camp—and the den—and I was glad I was in a position to watch them for a little while.

"Well, let's hope she's right about our numbers. We only have four warriors, do you know? Rainfur died, Shortwhisker—Hutch, I should say—left to go back home, and Firestar and Sandstorm aren't around to help us anymore."

"Firestar and Sandstorm?" I asked curiously.

"They made a long journey and helped us rebuild SkyClan. We were all rogues and kittypets at one time, too, you know."

"Can you tell me more about them, please?"

"Well, since you said please… But I wasn't here the entire time, so I don't know the story as well as some other cat. Sharpclaw would be the best one to ask about it because he—and Clovertail, of course—were the first cats to meet Firestar and Sandstorm, aside from Skywatcher. I'm sorry to tell you that Skywatcher died before the other Clan cats left."

"Other Clan cats?"

"Yes. Firestar and Sandstorm are from the Clan ThunderClan. There are other Clans besides them, too; RiverClan, ShadowClan, and WindClan. SkyClan used to be there, too, but our ancestors were driven out long ago."

"Yours."

"Excuse me?"

"You said 'our ancestors,' but I think you meant they were your ancestors."

"You don't know that," she replied, moving to sit next to me. "You also could be related to them, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, sure."

"Alright. Where was I?"

"SkyClan was driven out long ago."

"Right. Well, Firestar had a sign from the cat who was leader of SkyClan at that time. His name was Cloudstar."

When she said the name "Cloudstar," my memory clicked. The story was eerily familiar, but I couldn't recall where I had heard it before. Cloudstar, I knew, was that cat that came to me in my dreams. He spoke of Firestar, and being driven out.

"Uh, Echosong?" I cut in.

"Yes?"

"May I please have some poppy seeds for sleep?"

"Of course; but you know Pantherpaw, you can't tell sleep when to come or go."

"I know, but I really need to sleep right now."

"Alright, just hold on a heartbeat," she replied as she pulled out a leaf. "You know what to do."

"Thank you," I mewed as I licked up the tiny seeds. "I need these."

"Should I wake you when the cats come back?"

"Yes please," I whispered, my eyelids drooping already. "Thanks, Echosong."

My eyes flew open, and I was weary no more. I was in the middle of a forest with trees. The trees had tall branches, I noticed, but I felt I could easily jump onto one.

"Cloudstar?" I yowled. "Hey, Cloudstar! I've got more than a few questions for you, Cloudstar!"

There was no reply.

"Is anybody around?" I howled.

Again, there was no reply. The forest was strangely silent. Not a bird sang, there were no squirrels scurrying up and down trees, no mice nibbling on a snack, no voles by a river, no fish in a stream. The forest was… dead. I did the worst possible thing—I panicked.

My cries became more desperate as I leaped from tree to tree, searching for something other than woods. After a while, I climbed to the top of a tree and tried to gaze out, but something pushed me, and I lost my balance. I toppled to the ground, feeling crushed physically. My pain from the waking world returned, and I felt flames all around me. The outline of a cat appeared on a branch.

"Cloudstar?" I asked weakly.

"No," a sinister voice snickered. "Nobody's going to save you, little kit. Nobody can. Nobody even wants to. You are all alone here, all alone in the sea of flames." The words sounded as if the speaker was standing right next to me.

"Who is it?" I screeched, fear engulfing me. "What's happening?"

"And your precious Sharpclaw won't come. He's not coming to help you. He won't come. Sharpclaw can't. If he were alive, anyway, and I know he wouldn't. I could see it coming. Aren't you happy that I saved you, Panther? Aren't you joyful that I pulled you away from the rejection you'll get from him?" the cat hissed mercilessly.

"No…. No, you can't be!" I yowled. "You can't be back!"

"Oh, but I am. And I am coming for you, my dearest Panther. Remember the sea of flames. Remember the fire." The voice faded, but I was still terrified and writhing on the ground in agony.

"Stop it!" I cried. "Stop it! Cloudstar! Sharpclaw! Somebody! Help me, please!"

"What are you talking about, Pantherpaw?" Echosong's sweet voice rang in my head, but it seemed so far away, so distant. The shadow of the horror still stood above me. The fire was still surrounding me.

"Go ahead and wake up. We'll see each other again. Be happy that you still have time… for now." The shadow thinned and disappeared.

I forced my eyes open to see Echosong prodding me. Her green eyes were full of worry, and I heard Leafstar speaking in the clearing.

"These are now the new members of SkyClan!" she was ending.

"SkyClan! SkyClan!" the cats chanted.

"Because there are so many of you, nobody will have to sit a vigil. Apprentices follow Cherrytail, and warriors follow Sparrowpelt. You are dismissed."

"Hey, did you see how many cats came? Almost every cat there—Pantherpaw! What happened?!"

"He's back," I whispered, a. "He's back, and he's coming."

"What? Who's back? What are you talking about Pantherpaw?"

"I always wanted to keep my past hidden and locked away, but since… he's coming," I shuddered at the word "he", but continued, "coming to attack SkyClan, I guess I have to tell you."

OoOoO

Oooooo. Who's coming? Why? What is Pantherpaw trying to hide? What is Pantherpawreally like? You'll have to find out in the next chapter! But… I'll be nice. I'll give a preview. (even if it's a tiny thing)

"Yes, he did. He was fear for me. If I thought of fear, I saw his face, I heard his voice. He is the reason… the reason I can't be with my mother anymore."

"Why?" Sharpclaw inquired. "What happened?"

I shivered. It wasn't a story I wanted to tell. "Should I leave out the specific details?"

There! I know, really crappy (not to mention, boring stuff. Medicine cat den always is, but it is important), but… as of now, it is 12:46 AM as I am typing this. Yay staying up late/early!

Yeah. Yay obvious villains! Or is it? Hmmm… Is he just a memory, a nightmare? Or is he really coming? Yay! Okay, that was a lot of "yays" in one author's note. I finish now with…. Thank you reviewer(s)! You guys are still great:D

One more thing (I know, I just won't go away)... sorry that this chapter is really bad, with a really bad cliffhanger and preview. That was a really short preview! Wowzers. Or Jinkeez. Whatever. w00t! I'm done now. :)