I'll continue to update this even though I feel like no one's reading it, I guess.
Note: It's late leafbare (End of February)
"Saltstar!" Emberheart burst into her den, panting. "Orangekit is missing!" he mewed frantically.
Saltstar sat up from where she had been grooming herself. Emberheart was the kit's father; he looked very distraught. His good ear was twitching madly.
"How long ago did Snowstorm realize he was gone?" she asked, padding out into the brisk leafbare air, Emberheart at her heels.
"As soon as she noticed, she told me. I immediately came here and told you." he replied. "We have to find him!" His mew rose in pitch.
Saltstar called to Nightsky, the best tracker in the Clan. "Nightsky," she informed the black she-cat, "Orangekit has gone missing. Since you have the best nose of all the cats here, I want you to try and find him. Emberheart and myself will come and try to help however we can." Emberheart nodded vigorously.
"What's going on?" Acidclaw padded out of his den, Honeypaw, his apprentice, beside him. He turned his sightless eyes on the group gathered in the clearing.
"Orangekit is gone!" Emberheart sounded more desperate every heartbeat that passed.
The medicine cat seemed to be thinking for a minute. "I should come."
"No," the dark orange tom protested. "It's too dangerous." Saltstar knew he was thinking that the blind cat would slow them down.
Acidclaw chuckled. "I'm tougher than I look, Emberheart. I'm coming," he meowed firmly.
Saltstar dipped her head to him. "Thank you, Acidclaw."
Emberheart shifted from paw to paw, obviously wanting to get going. Nightsky picked up Orangekit's scent near the bramble tunnel, and the four cats ran quickly though the forest, their paw drumming on the snow.
As they ran, she thought about Curse. They had been meeting each other, every other moonhigh, for about two moons now. She knew the Clan suspected what she was doing, thanks to Sandpaw. The apprentice had told every cat who would listen about the loner. The cats had eventually put the pieces together after a few of them caught Saltstar sneaking out. As Clan leader, she didn't need an excuse for leaving at night, but that didn't stop the cats from becoming suspicious.
Nightsky stopped, nose to the ground, at the ShadowClan border. "He went this way," she stated, raising her head. Emberheart stared, dumbfounded, while Saltstar felt the same on the inside. How did the kit even get this far?
"Well, I guess we have to go find him then," Acidclaw meowed, shouldering his way through the undergrowth, snow showering off the bushes. Saltstar began to protest, but Emberheart quickly followed the medicine cat.
"Come on!" he mewed. She sighed, then followed.
They padded warily through ShadowClan territory, glancing nervously over their shoulders. Only Acidclaw remained calm, fixing his blind gaze ahead of him. Even Nightsky stopped every few pawsteps to carefully scent the air, searching for Orangekit's scent.
Finding him wasn't too hard. They followed the fear-scent that clung to every tree they passed, and after searching they found him, huddled under a snow-covered bush. Emberheart ran up to him, licking him all over, then stepped back to let Acidclaw examine his kit.
"He's not hurt, just cold," he concluded after nosing him. "But we should still get him back as soon as we can, before he freezes." Emberheart nodded and gently pickd up the kit by his scruff.
"I can walk, you know!" the kit protested, but shivered and let his father carry him.
They passed the ThunderClan border, and the group relaxed as soon as they set paw in their own territory. Saltstar bit her lip as they passed the place where she and Curse had been meeting, a group of trees packed close together, then gasped when she saw glowing amber eyes in the shadows.
"Uh... go on ahead without me," she stammered to her Clanmates. "I want to do some hunting." Nightsky and Emberheart nodded and padded off, Emberheart still carrying Orangekit, but Acidclaw stayed, his sightless gaze burning a hole through Saltstar.
"You have to stop this," he mewed quietly.
"Stop what?" she asked innocently, hoping he wasn't going to say what she thought he was.
"Seeing that loner. I have a feeling that something very bad is going to happen if you continue," he warned. The amber eyes narrowed.
"I... Shouldn't you be getting ready to visit Highstones tonight?" she asked, quickly changing the subject. It was almost sunset, anyway.
Acidclaw smiled, almost a sad smile. "Alright." He dipped his head. "Goodbye, Saltstar." He sounded sad as he padded away.
Saltstar bounded into the trees as soon as he was out of sight. Just as she thought, Curse was standing there. He tried to touch noses with her, but she ducked away. The loner shrunk back, hurt and confusion in his eyes.
"Hello," he greeted curtly. She sighed, hoping she was doing the right thing.
"I can't do this anymore!" she burst out. "I can't keep betraying my Clan, and I'm pretty sure almost everyone already knows." Curse just kept staring while she talked. "This is the last time you'll ever see me," she meowed quietly, not looking into his eyes. Hurridly, she touched noses with him, and pelted away through the forest, leaving Curse and her love behind.
Acidclaw nosed his way through the tunnel at Highstones. He could feel Honeypaw's pelt brushing his, and could hear the breathing of the other three medicine cats. They wound through the tunnnel until they reached the Moonstone. Acidclaw could almost see it.
The cats halted. Before they bent down to touch their noses to it, Acidclaw cleared his throat.
"Before we share tongues with StarClan," he began, "I would like to hold a speacial ceremony." He heard Honeypaw draw in her breath. "Honeypaw has been my apprentice for a long time now, and it is time she was made a full medicine cat." His apprentice was trembling with excitement. "I, Acidclaw, medicine cat of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to accept my apprentice as a medicine cat.
"Honeypaw, from this moment on you will be known as Honeyfrost." Acidclaw rested his head on Honeyfrost's head, and she licked his shoulder.
"Now," he mewed. "Time to share tongues." He heard the other medicine cats shuffle around to lay down on the stone floor. Acidclaw did the same, touching his nose to the cold stone of Moonstone. The floor fell away from him, and he felt like he were floating in darkness.
Then shapes began to form before him. Thunderstar, first leader of ThunderClan, appeared before him. Acidclaw blinked. What was so serious that Thunderstar would have to show himself to him?
"Acidclaw," Thunderstar began, raising his mighty head. "I have come to warn you of dangers yet to come." The orange cat stared at him with unblinking amber eyes. "Today you tried to stop it, but to no avail."
"What's the warning? What do you have to tell me?" Acidclaw asked, curious and yet dread was clawing at his heart.
"A Curse has been laid upon Saltstar" Thunderstar rumbled, before fading away.
Acidclaw blinked; darkness surrounded him once more. He was laying on the cold stone floor beside the Moonstone. Honeyfrost was stirring beside him, and the other medicine cats were doing the same.
Thunderstar's warning could only mean one thing: Saltstar could not see Curse ever again.
I KNOW I got the medicine cat ceremony wrong, I just know it. Sorry to the total of 8 people who have read this chapter as of January 9, 2010. I know, it's pathetic.