This was a painful chapter to write - I needed to decide what happened to Marshpelt. Would he survive? Would he die? His fate is revealed.

Also, what will the ThunderClan cats make of Appleheart's request? Read on to find out!

The ThunderClan cats stared at her, but Appleheart didn't care. There was no way she was going to leave Birchclaw now, not while he was injured so badly. She crouched beside him, her eyes flickering to where the other warriors stood as she ran her tail lightly over his flank.

Brambleclaw was the first to recover. His amber eyes burned angrily. "You are a ShadowClan cat!" he spat, his neck fur bristling. "There is no way you will be staying with Birchclaw!"

Appleheart leapt to her paws again. "And who are you to say that?" she yowled angrily. "You're not leader!"

Instintly, she knew she'd gone too far. She shrunk back as Brambleclaw took a step forward, unsheathing his claws.

"Firestar would say the same," he growled. "We don't know if we could trust you. For all we know, you could be a spy."

"That's unlikely," Cloudtail protested. "After all, we just saw how highly Birchclaw and Whitecloud think of her."

Appleheart swallowed. "I'm not a spy," she meowed, avoiding his gaze. "I just want to be with Birchclaw. I love him so much."

"Appleheart!"

Appleheart spun around, her eyes widening in surprise. "Toadfoot!"

Her brother raced over to her. "What happened?" he asked, panting. "I had to help Littlecloud get Marshpelt back to camp. I didn't have time to look for you."

"Who's this?" Brambleclaw enquired, his eyes still flaming.

Toadfoot glanced at the ThunderClan cats for the first time, and Appleheart noticed that his fur stiffened and his claws unsheathed into the dirt. "They've come to help me," she said quickly. "They're not going to attack."

Toadfoot glared at her, but he sheathed his claws and dropped out of his fighting crouch. Suspician still glinted in his green eyes.

Appleheart sighed, turning back to the ThunderClan cats. "Please?" she meowed. "Please just let me stay with Birchclaw until I know he's okay."

Brambleclaw opened his mouth to reply, but Dustpelt flicked his tail. "Maybe she's right," he meowed. "Maybe we can let her stay with us - just until Birchclaw's healed."

Toadfoot's eyes widened in shock as he heard what Appleheart was planning to do. "You want to stay with ThunderClan?" he hissed.

Appleheart met his gaze. "If Brambleclaw and Firestar let me."

"I'm sure Firestar will let you," Whitecloud added, moving to stand beside Appleheart. "As long as you do your bit to help us."

Brambleclaw struggled for a moment to get the words out. "Dustpelt, Cloudtail, Leafpool," he ordered. "Come with me."

Appleheart watched as the three cats followed him out of earshot, then turned back to Birchclaw. She lay down beside him, rasping her tongue across his ear in gentle strokes.

"Appleheart," Toadfoot mewed. "If they let you stay with them, what will Blackstar say? He'll excile you from ShadowClan."

"You don't have to do this," Whitecloud meowed on the other side of her. "I'd come and see you, tell you how he is."

Appleheart shook her head. "You don't understand," she whispered. "I couldn't bare being apart from him for so long." she glanced up, her eyes swimming with sorrow. "It's better this way. And if Blackstar exciles me, I'll try and get Firestar to accept me." She glanced at her brother. "What are you doing here?"

Toadfoot swished his tail in frustration. "I got Littlecloud," he meowed. "When we got to Marshpelt, I noticed you were gone. Littlecloud needed me to carry Marshpelt back, and then I came here to search for you. I thought you'd been attacked."

Appleheart's head shot up. "How is Marshpelt? Littlecloud's going to heal him, right?" A fresh wave of pain cashed through her as she realised she'd forgotten all about her injured brother.

Toadfoot averted her eyes, looking away. Appleheart's stomach did a backflip.

"No...he can't be..." she whispered, wishing the earth would swallow her up now.

Toadfoot pressed his nose against her neck fur. "It's not that bad; he's still alive," he reassured her.

Appleheart rested her head lightly on Birchclaw's back, breathing in his warm scent - distingusable even through the blood. "Thank StarClan," she breathed, but then saw the look on her brother's face. "But.. what's wrong, then?"

Toadfoot closed his eyes, a shiver passing through his pelt. "He - he has to join the elders now, Appleheart."

Appleheart froze. "What?"

Her brother turned to her, opening his murky green-brown eyes, andhis next words made Appleheart wish she'd never asked.

"His eyes have been torn out," Toadfoot said softly. "He's blind now."