Here's the new chappie, Littlecloud&Cinderpelt, taking place in Rising Storm and then carried over to later, after The Darkest Hour. It was suggested by I Be Guest andSafari Dawnheart. Here you go...

Littlecloud's small body shook as he hacked, coughing and choking and spluttering. His nose was running and his head throbbed. He felt exhausted from the mere struggle of trying to stay awake and alive.

"Littlecloud." The soft mew didn't register at first, and he finally opened his bleary eyes. She stood over him, horror in her gaze. "Littlecloud! Are you okay?"

"I'm...all right," he wheezed. "How's White-" he coughed- "Whitethroat?"

"Okay." She seemed reluctant to go into more detail. With her forepaw she pushed a bundle of berries towards him. "I just got these. Try them. They might help."

"More?" he mumbled.

"Yes. Yellowfang said that there wasn't any cure, but...just try them, Littlecloud. They might work."

He gazed up at Cinderpelt. She had tried so hard to help him and Whitethroat. Others would have dismissed them as a lost cause- all of ThunderClan had- but not the young medicine cat. There was a thin hope in her stare as Littlecloud bent and chewed the berries, swallowing with difficulty.

"I should be getting back to camp," she meowed. "Will you be all right?"

"Yes." Littlecloud didn't know if it was true, but he didn't want to keep her there when she could get caught. "We'll be okay."

He twitched his tail feebly at where Whitethroat lay, a miserable scrap of black-and-white fur. Cinderpelt leaned forward, her muzzle brushing the tip of his ear, not close enough to risk getting infected with the illness, but enough to offer comfort.

"See you."

He was too weak to reply, but his eyes were trained on her as she left him, watching her hobble awkwardly with her twisted leg. All the while he was wishing that he could be beside her, helping the crippled she-cat continue on, instead of the other way around.

&&&

"That's right."

Cinderpelt's sky-blue eyes watched him as he chewed up berries the way she had shown him, to make a poultice that would cure the sickness. Soon he would return to ShadowClan to deliver it to Nightstar and the others. Littlecloud marveled at how his strength was coming back, and how his cough had nearly disappeared. He was beginning to feel like a warrior again...but there was something marring that feeling, and it wasn't sickness.

"Hey, Cinderpelt," he meowed as he spat out the berries, "What's it like, being a medicine cat?"

Cinderpelt's tail curled up. "It's great!" she declared, and then went on, "Well, I'll never know what it's like to be a warrior, but I love being a medicine cat. It's a feeling...like you're answering a calling that came from inside you- or perhaps StarClan themselves. It's hard to explain, but it's wonderful."

Littlecloud listened, enraptured, and wondering if he would ever know of such a feeling. He had become a warrior too young, forced into battles by Brokentail. He still flinched away from fights, simply because they reminded him of all he had suffered as an unwilling apprentice.

The tom stared down at the berries. They had saved him. These odd little shriveled things had kept him from joining StarClan. It was a marvel to him, and he found himself wanting to know more about them, to save more cats with them.

He jumped to his paws. "I should be getting back to ShadowClan," he commented, suddenly excited at the prospect. "Before more cats die."

Cinderpelt nodded. "Yes, you should." Was that a gleam of regret he saw in her eyes? "If you run into Whitethroat-"

"I'll try to convince him to come back with me. I don't know how much good it'll do, though." Littlecloud shook away his sorrow. His friend had left the day before. He didn't want to go back to the ShadowClan camp out of fear of catching the sickness again, even though Littlecloud now had the herbs to cure them.

Cinderpelt passed him a leaf full of the berries. "You know where to find more if you need them."

He nodded, taking the leaf in his own jaws. He stretched his paws out in front of him and set off back for home, back to the marshes where the frogs that he loved to chase lived. Something snagged in his heart for a couple of moments, though, and for a second it crossed his mind that he might be leaving something behind.

&&&

Cinderpelt was quiet on the way to the Moonstone. Littlecloud walked beside her behind all the rest of the medicine cats. Barkface. Runningnose, and Mudfur quietly padded along, discussing the uses of lavender. Cinderpelt's ears were pricked towards their conversation, though it was clear she was thinking about something else.

Littlecloud was full of pride to be walking among them. On the last visit he had become a full medicine cat, and he now padded as an equal with the other healers. He was especially glad to be beside Cinderpelt. He had realized his feelings for the she-cat so long ago; not long after he himself had become Runningnose's apprentice. He had promised himself that he would never say anything about them- both because he didn't want to cause discomfort between them, and out of the hope that they would just fade away. But he had realized that that wasn't about to happen, and he wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not.

"The sky is clear," Cinderpelt mused. "StarClan must be ready to speak to us tonight."

"Yes," agreed Littlecloud. He glanced at her. "Has Sandstorm had her kits yet?"

Cinderpelt nodded, relief clear in her expression. Littlecloud knew how much she feared the birth of kits, ever since the RiverClan queen Silverstream had died in her care. "Two she-cats. One looks exactly like Firestar- and I'll be surprised if she doesn't turn out the hero that he is. The other..."

Littlecloud pricked up his ears. The humor had died from her voice. "What about her?"

"Her name is Leafkit," Cinderpelt meowed. "Firestar says that StarClan themselves chose the name. I can't help wondering if it doesn't mean something."

"But what?"

"Some herbs are leaves," Cinderpelt murmured. "And...Firestar is often visited by Spottedleaf in his dreams."

"Wasn't she ThunderClan's medicine cat before Yellowfang?" queried Littlecloud.

"Yes. If Spottedleaf chose her name- it makes me wonder if she may turn out to be a medicine cat."

"Well, there's nothing wrong with that," Littlecloud mewed cheerily. "She's Firestar's kit- StarClan knows she'll be bright enough for the task."

"Yes, you're right." Cinderpelt's fur lay flat and her eyes shone at him. "Thanks, Littlecloud."

He nodded, and he held her gaze for a long time, trying to decide how deep the affection for him ran inside her. "Cinderpelt, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. Anything."

Littlecloud opened his mouth, ready to confess his feelings, to throw himself out there to see what would happen. Then he realized what it would mean in the end- what the chances of her responding positively were- and he closed it again. "Um...all the juniper is dead in our territory. Do you know what else I can use for bellyache?"

She reeled off a list of a couple of substitutes, but Littlecloud wasn't listening anymore. He felt cold inside, and bitter at his own cowardness. He fell behind as Cinderpelt joined the other medicine cats, with his tail trailing and his ears flat.

Cinderpelt's fur was turned silver in the moonlight, and her eyes shone with spirit. She looked like a cat from StarClan, and Littlecloud's ears twitched.

Her paws- and mine- are on the path of a medicine cat, he thought. How could I ever forgive myself if I made her rethink it all?

So he would settle for being her friend, even though the ShadowClan tom knew in his heart that he would never forget his feelings for her. Not even if he ever wanted to.

Yeah, I think Littlecloud had a bit of a crush on Cinderpelt, and he just never told her, since it would screw up the med. cat thing. But anyway...Reviews are appriciated!