"Don't get so close to the edge!" Twistedtail scooped Smallkit towards her with one of her front paws. Over the past couple days, the path of stars had led them next to a gorge, which seemed only to get wider the farther they walked on it. Prey was getting scarcer and scarcer too. Twistedtail tried not to think about that.

"I won't fall! I'm careful!" Smallkit mewed. "Just cause your balance is messed up, doesn't mean everyone else's is!"

"Tsk, tsk, what would your mother say." Twistedtail gave him a light whack on the head.

"You never let me do anyyyything fun," Smallkit said.

"Fun and dangerous aren't the same thing, Smallkit," Twistedtail said. "Anyway, I can't let you do anything risky. If something happened to you, Reedstar would be completely destroyed."

Smallkit had nothing to say to that, and Twistedtail, while glad of the quiet, worried she'd gone too far.

"...can I at least go play with Robinkit and Sedgekit?" He squeaked out.

"When we stop to rest."

"It's lonely. It's lonely without Brightkit."

Twistedtail felt her heart wrench. RiverClan had been lucky, the luckiest of all the clans. They were right next to water. Almost everyone was able to avoid the flames. So how come they couldn't save one kit?

Brightkit hadn't gotten burned. They got her out of the fire, but she inhaled too much smoke, and without Shrewpelt's herbs, nothing could have been done. Twistedtail still remembered the yowl that tore its way out of Reedstar when she saw that her daughter was dead. And Twistedtail knew that it was only chance that Smallkit survived instead of Brightkit. It could have just as easily been him. It could have been both of them, she thought with a shiver. She wondered if Smallkit ever thought about this. She hoped not.

She scooped Smallkit toward her, but affectionately this time. She gave him a reassuring lick on the ear.

"You'll be less lonely when you're made an apprentice," Twistedtail said. "And you'll see Brightkit again in StarClan, someday."

Smallkit didn't say anything else, but he leaned closer to Twistedtail.

"Do you want me to carry you for a little bit?" She asked.

Smallkit gave a tiny nod of his head, and Twistedtail picked him up by the scruff. He was so tiny and light that it wasn't hard to carry him at all. He was so fragile. Twistedtail wanted to protect him more than anything, now that Reedstar couldn't. She hoped Reedstar would come back to him soon, but until then, she would keep him safe.

As the sky began to brighten and everyone prepared to stop, Twistedtail noticed Stonefoot, the clan deputy, slide back into the crowd, until he was walking beside her.

"You'll be a great mother someday," He said.

Twistedtail dipped her head. I can't talk right now, she thought, I have a sleeping kit in my mouth. What, are you blind?

Stonefoot smiled down at her, his dark blue eyes sparkling. He was tall, and heavyset, a formidable opponent in battle. That, and his steadfast loyalty, is what Twistedtail figured earned him the role of deputy. She didn't know him well, but maybe she should, if she wanted to be deputy one day.

"You're very beautiful, you know," Stonefoot said. Twistedtail's thoughts backpedaled. I don't want to know him that way! "Despite your...defect." He continued, glancing toward her tail.

Despite?! Her tail was bent and broken in three places (she had been born like this), and it was hard to move, but if she could, she'd be lashing it. It had caused her problem after problem, but it was hers, and part of her. No "despite"!

Stonefoot didn't seem to notice her amber glare, and moved closer to her. He was about to say something, when another warrior came up behind him.

"Stonefoot!" said Bearheart, her voice cheery. Her brown pelt was very different from Stonefoot's own blue-gray, but the heavy frame of her body and her blue eyes betrayed their siblingship. "You should go back to Reedstar! It's almost time to rest, and she might want advice."

"Um...yes, of course!" Stonefoot said "Thank you for reminding me, dear sister." And with another dip of his head, he walked back to his place by Reedstar.

"Sorry about that," Bearheart said. "My brother's a good warrior, but he's not a perceptive cat. Figured you would want a break."

Twistedtail nodded.

"We're stopping to rest!" Stonefoot's deep voice carried out of the rest of the clan, and they slowed to a stop. Bearheart walked away from Twistedtail, but glanced back over her shoulder.

"If you ever need anything, let me know, okay?" Bearheart's voice was a deep rumble like Stonefoot's, but it was warm where his was cold, and the smile she gave made Twistedtail want to smile, too.

Woodpaw had gotten very, very good at not feeling anything.

If he didn't think of himself as alive, just as a medicine cat, he didn't have to think about his mother and sister. If he just focused on herbs, on helping the others, on what StarClan might tell him, he could forget he felt anything at all. Least of all about his sister and his mother. Or the growing fear and confusion in Shadestar's eyes.

"Woodpaw?" She said now, and Woodpaw was snapped away from his thoughts."Are you listening?"

"Hmm?"

"It's time to stop walking and rest."

Woodpaw looked around, and saw that everyone was stopping. It seemed Shadestar had walked back into the crowd just to get him to stop. That should be Lilypetal's job, he thought, She's my mentor, not Shadestar.

Back when Woodpaw was still a kit, Shadestar had, in fact, wanted to be his mentor. She even taught him some battle moves in her spare time. But Woodpaw had always been drawn to the medicine den, to the smell of the herbs and the call of the stars.

That excited kit seemed like an entirely different cat; the fire had burned him away as sure as it had his family. The only thing left of him was his drive as a medicine cat. At least he could always be that.

"So it is," Woodpaw said, and he could tell he'd waited too long to reply. "I should go check on the patients with Lilypetal, then."

He brushed past Shadestar without looking her in the eye; he couldn't bear the concern on her face. It made him feel like he was about to break open, to feel again, and that would kill him, as surely as a bite to the throat.

"Woodpaw," Shadestar said from somewhere behind him. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," he said, not turning to face her.

…

"Goldendapple seems to be doing better," Lilypetal said. Woodpaw sat beside her, bone tired from tending to the wounded of both clans. He welcomed the feeling. Tiredness meant he might not dream.

Two WindClan kits had taken to visiting Goldendapple. It was allowed by both clans as a part of their alliance. They were visiting right now, and Woodpaw did see that Goldendapple looked more alive. Foxclaw sat away from them. Woodpaw could never read his expression, but he didn't seem upset.

"Foxclaw wants to have kits again right away," Lilypetal continued, her tail twitching. "Which is impossible while we're traveling, of course."

"He thinks that will fix her," Woodpaw said. "It won't."

"You're a perceptive little kit, Woodpaw." Lilypetal stretched out and yawned. "You'll be a good medicine cat one day."

Woodpaw was still watching Goldendapple and the WindClan kits. There was nothing wrong with her, not with her body, but her blue eyes were still distant and confused, and even when playing with the kits, Woodpaw could almost feel the unshakable sadness that wrapped her.

Maybe I should talk to her. Maybe we could understand each other. Since we– And that was dangerously close to letting himself feel again, so he stopped thinking it. But then; Maybe I could help her.

"Lilypetal," He said. "Do you know anything about healing minds?"

"What?"

"It seems like we should know. We're medicine cats, we're supposed to heal. Shouldn't we be able to fix something wrong in a cat's mind?"

"Is this about Shadestar?"

"What? No!" Woodpaw couldn't believe she'd said that. He'd been looking right at Goldendapple! "I mean about Goldendapple. And Foxclaw. And-" Me. He stopped, composed himself.

"ShadowClan's got a plague of batty cats, I see," Lilypetal said, amusement clear in her voice.

"I'm, being serious!" It seemed anger was a feeling Woodpaw could still bear. Lilypetal stood up to her full height and looked down at him.

"I don't know, Woodpaw." Her golden eyes were focused on him, for once. "I honestly don't. Things like that are in the paws of StarClan."

With that, Lilypetal walked away. Woodpaw watched her until she sat down next to Rainfrost.

Then he swept his gaze around the clearing where they resting. He saw all of the cats in it, terrified, wounded, still alive. He saw the space where his mother should be, the space between Goldendapple and Foxclaw, the space separating Shadestar from her clan. And he saw the space inside of himself, burned empty by the fire.

All right, he thought. Then it's on me to fix this.