Chapter 4

Amy stepped cautiously through the bramble entrance. The entrance was woven out of brambles, it wasn't naturally there, she noticed.

In the center of the hollow stood a pile of dead animals. She would have been disgusted if she didn't know these cats were wild. They had to catch their own food.

There were four dens on the ground, two of them in the rock, hidden by some plants, and the other two built under bushes.

These cats were amazing, she concluded. Just wait until the Doctor sees them.

"One second, wait here." Firestorm told her. "I'll go get Petalstar." The moon was high up ahead, and Amy watched as she jumped up ledges then disappeared.

"'Wait here'? She really told me to do that?" She muttered to herself, looking around. She creeped around the hollow. When she passed one den she caught the smell of something minty. She also heard movement inside of it. She was about to peer inside, when she heard her name at the other end of the hollow.

"Amy!" She heard Firestorm say. She turned her head sharply and trotted away from the den. She saw the flame cat climbing down the rocks that probably led to whoever Petalstar was. A tortoiseshell cat was climbing down behind her.

She waited at the bottom of the rocks for them.

They reached the bottom of the rocks and the tortioseshell cat stepped forward to Amy. She dipped her head.

"I am Petalstar, leader of ThunderClan. I have heard from Firestorm that you have a sick cat in need of care." Amy nodded.

"That's right." She said, uncomfortable under the leader's gaze.

"Then let us wake Brightpoppy." She nodded to Firestorm and the flame cat walked to the den Amy had smelled the mint at. She focused her gaze on Amy again. "We will be on our way soon."

Firestorm came out of the den with two bleary eyed cats with leaves in their mouths.

"Let's go." Petalstar said as they made their way out of the hollow.

MEANWHILE...

Brightheart finished tucking the moss under the Doctor, when she heard a rustling. It was coming from behind her. She turned quickly and stood still, afraid of the monster coming back.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it was just Amy and Firestorm returned with Petalstar, Brightpoppy and Mintpaw. She stepped aside for Brightpoppy and his apprentice.

The two medicine cats rushed up to the sick cat, quickly administering the fever few and other herbs they were carrying. They worked quickly, knowing that his fever was bad and they needed to get it done quickly.

"How is he?" Amy asked the medicine cats, hovering next to him, obviously concerned for him. It was just rolling off of her in waves. Brightpaw could tell that all the other cats could feel it too.

"He'll make a full recovery." Brightpoppy told her, stepping back from the Doctor to let Amy through. "But what he needs now is rest." The tom looked to Petalstar. "He probably shouldn't be moved until morning, and probably won't be awake and lucid until after tomorrow. Also, with cats missing we probably should have a warrior stand guard." Amy perked up at the comment about missing cats, her ears flicking forward. She almost seemed as if she knew something.

"What about missing cats?" She asked Petalstar. The tortoiseshell cat looked at her with distant eyes.

"Around a moon ago, cat started disappearing. The first three went right before the gathering. We've lost two more since. It's happening in all four clans. And StarClan is silent." She said softly.

Brightpaw was going to tell them about the dark figure she had seen, when they all heard a groan. They looked around, searching for the source of the noise.

Brightpaw's eyes settled on the bushes, which were shaking once more. She almost let out a groan.

Stupid bushes. Stop shaking. She thought crossly.

This time it was no friendly cat that appeared out of the bushes. It was the dark figure again, rising up out of the foliage. All the cats besides Brightpaw took a step back, not knowing to keep still.

"I think I just discovered the source of the missing cats," Amy said nervously.

She knew she was going to have to say something or all the cats would take off running. Mintpaw was already thinking about it, slowly inching away from it.

"Don't move!" Brightpaw mewed softly, but loud enough that everyone could hear. They all looked at her.

"Why not?" Amy said, her eyes still on the dark figure that was slowly moving towards them with every sound they made.

"It came earlier and he woke up and saved me." She hissed quietly at her. "Now keep still!" Amy did as she said, but the others were still unsure. Luckily the dark figure didn't stick around for very long that time. There was an audible sigh of relief from every one.

Amy ran to Brightpaw. "He woke up? What did he say?" She said excitedly. Brightpaw shifted uncomfortably. Every one was looking at her.

"Well, just that you shouldn't move when the dark figure comes and that he's the Doctor." She said quickly. They all just stared at her for a moment, then looked away. Petalstar cleared her throat.

"Firestorm?"

"Yes, Petalstar?"

"Please stay with the Doctor and Amy for the night." The warrior dipped her head.

"Of course."

"I'll be back at sun up with more warriors to move him to the camp." With a flick of her tail, Petalstar signaled for the rest of the group to come with her. They slowly padded away into the night.