Disclaimer- I do not own Warriors, which is conceptualized a bit here.

The Fourth Challenge

Cloudpaw lay in a nest beneath the protective branches of the old, fallen tree that made up Littlestep's den. The medicine cat shuffled herbs beneath his paws, wondering what the disease that had clamped its claws around Cloudpaw was. Could it be what had been killing the birds in the forest? Littlestep sniffed the young cat's pelt, the putrid scent almost causing him to gag. Cloudpaw's amber eyes were clouded and looked similar to Mousecloud's, the old elder was barely able to see due to it. If Cloudpaw lost his sight, even the majority of it, from that sickness then he would become an elder without ever experiencing the joy of being a warrior. At least, Littlestep assumed it was joyous. He was pretty content as a medicine cat.

Cloudpaw shivered, his long, white pelt shone with sweat and clung to his thin body. Littlestep had given the apprentice feverfew, with hopes that it would help with his chills. Then the cat began to retch and throw up. Littlestep was beginning to feel at a loss. What was it that was ailing him? It wasn't an infection in his chest... That disease had run through the clans a while back, bringing them to the small numbers they were. Illnesses were dangerous and more likely in an overcrowded camp. Not with so few numbers like they were. Littlestep just didn't understand this sudden outbreak. Where had it come from?

Amberclaw seemed to be losing her nerve. First, she had a illegitimate litter of kits and now her apprentice seemed to be down for the count. Littlestep had to give her some thyme to help her calm down and sleep. The she-cat was simply hysterical. The medicine cat himself was beginning to feel overwhelmed. Cloudpaw's condition only seemed to know one route, and it was the one that only became progressively worse for the tom. Graykit popped into the den a couple times asking if he needed any help, but Littlestep was more keen to send her away than to allow her to be around Cloudpaw for too long. Even if the kit wanted to be his apprentice, he couldn't allow her to become sick. Graykit was more prone to illness at her age, and she simply refused to acknowledge that. It was constantly sending Littlestep over the edge.

"Littlestep... Am I going to die?" Cloudpaw called from what was becoming his nest in the den. Littlestep stared at the apprentice for a long time, not knowing at all what to say to Cloudpaw. He didn't want the apprentice to give up, but things weren't looking good for him either.

"I don't know," Littlestep answered slowly. Cloudpaw groaned and fell into a fit of coughs. Littlestep hurried off, finding some tansy for the apprentice. The herb would help his cough as long as it was supplied in low doses, otherwise it would do more harm than good. Littlestep just hoped Cloudpaw wouldn't empty the contents of his stomach in the den before the herbs could do any good. Each time that that happened, Littlestep and Cloudpaw lost a little hope.

"Eat this, it will help with your cough," he told Cloudpaw gently. The tom nodded to Littlestep slightly and dutifully consumed the tansy. His cloudy, amber eyes seemed to gaze straight through the medicine cat. Littlestep watched in silence. The medicine cat's pelt was dirty, and his eyes were filled with endless worry for the young cat. So far it seemed to be a rather contained sickness. Only Cloudpaw had it, but if Littlestep knew anything, he knew it was bound to spread to another cat soon. Thus, he had to find the cure and soon.

Lilypool visited Cloudpaw on the third day. Her blue-green eyes full of worry for both the apprentice and Littlestep. The beautiful, gray she-cat had a big heart and offered to help the medicine cat out. He barely managed to even attempt to turn her down. Littlestep could barely keep his eyes open for long, and when he did manage to drift off, his mind gifted him with vivid nightmares. He was drowning in worry and fear. StarClan help them if he couldn't find the cure.

"Littlestep, you need to sleep," Lilypool meowed to the black tom. He acknowledged her with a slight nod of his head, but didn't move to go and sleep. Lilypool sighed and began to groom the medicine cat's pelt. At least he could be clean. She couldn't believe how he was falling apart under the stress. Littlestep had always seemed so calm and collected, no matter the situation. He always knew what to do, but with this strange and unknown illness, he was simply falling to pieces. Lilypool hated to see him like this, it hurt. She never even understood why it hurt her so much. She just didn't want to see him suffering. Lilypool really cared about Littlestep. She couldn't help it. The tom was just so gentle and kind. He was handsome and knowledgable as well, a cat she could look up to and trust.

Littlestep shivered under Lilypool's touch. A guarded glance was sent to her. She only gave a soft purr in reply. Lilypool couldn't explain how simply sharing tongues with Littlestep made her heart race. She simply enjoyed his company. He was the clan's medicine cat after all. Though it irritated her to think that she had to share the tom with other cats. Littlestep was too wonderful to share in her opinion. Lilypool tried to dismiss her thoughts and focus upon cleaning the black tom's pelt, but her mind had a tnedency to wander. Cloudpaw yowled in his nest, and Littlestep jumped to his aid.

"Cloudpaw!" he cried. The apprentice writhed in his nest for a moment before throwing up again. The tansy leaves barely digested in his stomach. Cloudpaw coughed miserably. The cat couldn't hold anything down, not even the herbs that were supposed to help him. Lilypool watched, looking a bit distressed. Littlestep dismissed her, his shoulders hunched over heavily. Why couldn't he help the apprentice? The herbs he was giving him were supposed to help!

On the fifth day, Lilypool fell ill as well. This sent Amberclaw over the edge. She was wild with worry and miserable. Falconstar was beginning to think that they might be having an outbreak of a bird-induced disease. He was beginning to consider moving the sick out of the camp. Littlestep protested passionately against it though. He barely managed to stop the leader from decreeing it.

Littlestep looked over Lilypool, a certain gentleness glowing in his guarded yellow-green eyes. He gave the two cats poppy seeds at night, but they still thrashed and yowled in their sleep. He feared that Cloudpaw was nearing his end, and Lilypool was chasing right after him. Littlestep forbid Graykit from coming near his den, even if she wanted to help. She was a kit and could catch disease all too easily. The black tom felt like he was running out of options. What if the two cats died?

Littlestep gave Cloudpaw some stinging nettle seeds with hopes that they would be able to remove the poison from Cloudpaw's belly. Maybe there was only something bad in the food. Lilypool had eaten with the apprentice once or twice. The two were good friends. As all the possibilities ran through the medicine cat's mind, he never thought to consider that the more time a cat spent around either of the cats, the more likely they were to fall ill. Due to the fact that it was leafbare, it was all too easy for disease to plague the clan. Falconstar had been good to suggest removing the trio from the camp.

Within a few days, Graykit and Littlestep were ill. Littlestep battled his sickness much more ferociously than the rest, just to deliver herbs to the others. Littlestep was miserable though. His entire body felt like it weighed as much as a couple foxes. He could barely make himself leave his nest and tend to the other three sick cats. The four were moved out of camp despite Miststream's protests. Her kit was barely weened off milk! Falconstar couldn't risk the health of the rest of the clan. It was leafbare, and it was unavoidable.

Littlestep and Lilypool did their best to create a makeshift den for themselves. Cloudpaw was too weak to help, and he was withering away in his nest. Graykit was constantly crying out in pain or just for her mother, who she felt like had abandoned her. Cloudpaw seemed to improve under a mixture of feverfew and stinging needle seeds. The apprentice's eyes cleared, and he was able to help Littlestep treat the others. Lilypool, however, seemed to reject the remedy. She wouldn't stop retching, even if there was nothing left in her belly to throw up. When Lilypool wasn't throwing up, she was whimpering in pain or thrashing about in her sleep. Littlestep would sleep as close as he could to her because she called for him in her sleep, and she was just so cold. He adored the she-cat, despite the warrior code. He wanted to at least cure her.

Littlestep was constantly trying new treatments in hopes of curing her enough to allow her to eat and sleep peacefully. Finally, while Littlestep was sleeping, Lilypool's fever broke, and she was led onto the path of recovery as if StarClan had come and helped her out of the sickness's strangle hold.

Littlestep called it bird sickness. It wasn't proven that the sickness and the birds were connected though. Littlestep cared little for that detail, however. It had thrown the clan all out of sorts and was definitely going to be a deadly disease. The clan would have to tread carefully until leafbare was over, and the birds returned from the swing of death.

The small troop stayed away from camp a day longer before finally returning. Miststream greeted her kit with the utmost enthusiasm while Amberclaw returned to her much more loving self out of relief. She seemed to have completely severed her kits from herself. Littlestep stared on almost stoically. Spiderkit tussled with Blazekit while Squirrelkit welcomed Graykit back. Tigerkit just slept happily. The kits were all good. Why couldn't Amberclaw just accept them as her responsibility like most mothers? The whole predicament just stressed him. It could blow up in their faces if they kept it quiet for too long, but that also meant challenging Falconstar's honor. It was all just so troublesome. Littlestep fell into his nest with a sigh and tried to catch up on his sleep. He had too much on his mind, and not to mention Lilypool. He couldn't help it when his eyes lingered on her lithe form. She was so beautiful in his eyes, but most toms would agree upon her beauty. Lilypool was graceful and a good warrior. She was admirable. Littlestep was a bit ambivalent about his feelings toward her. Were they platonic or romantic? He hoped it wasn't the latter. Then he would find himself in quite a spot.

...

A beautiful calico lay in the nursery of SandClan, her belly large and heavy with kits. Her green eyes sparkled as she thought of the kits father. He may have been a tom from another clan, but he loved her and their kits. She loved him so much and was proud to be the one he chose to bear his kits. She couldn't wait to name them with him.

Gosh, my phone app for the Warriors series saved me in this chapter. I would have been lost to name the herbs I mentioned here otherwise. Heh. I hope you enjoyed regardless of my bumbling attempt to sound like I know what I'm talking about.

Amberclaw seems to have recovered here, we'll see about that. She is a bit ambivalent about her kits. I guess she'll figure it all out eventually. She does not want them though. She is kind of disgusted with them, due to their tendency to remind her of a certain incident.

I know, no deaths. It was a Christmas miracle, just as the prompt called for. I eluded to the next one here with the last paragraph. We're going to travel off to SandClan. If you didn't catch how it connected to the next prompt, and you happen to know what it is... the Queen's name is Applepetal. That might help.

You might want to drop me a review~ *hint hint, nudge nudge*

~AS

**edit**

Yay! Another successful edit~ Now to get on with the next couple of chapters... Hrm. We'll see what I do with those! The thirteenth challenge though... It might be a bit difficult. D: Oh well though.