A/N- Sorry for the wait, I won't bore you with a long Author's Note this time. ON TO THE FIC!

Disclaimer- Yes, I am 'Erin Hunter' (aka- Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, and Victoria Holmes). I am also J.K. Rowling, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R Tolkien, and Dr. Seuss.

Chapter 12- Saving Lives

"Swiftpaw, wake up." A deep voice whispered.

Swiftpaw lifted her head and blinked sleepily at the large dog in front of her. Confused, she realized that she couldn't remember ever seeing him around camp. She slowly stood and looked at him more carefully.

He was staring down at her with kind, intelligent hazel eyes. She had to crane her head up because he was so large, with a light gray pelt, making him look almost like a wolf…wolf.

"You're Wolfstar, aren't you?" she asked.

He nodded once and said, "You're needed. One of your clanmates is in trouble."

Alarmed, Swiftpaw pressed, "What? Who is it? Where are they?" but Wolfstar's gaze was fixed on something over her shoulder.

Whipping around, she noticed a bundle of white and black fur lying on the ground and her eyes widened.

"No," she whispered, "Not Whitefeather."

"Yes." Wolfstar murmured, "Remember this place, you must hurry, or she and her pups will die."

His warm, calming scent then faded and Swiftpaw woke with a jolt. Sprinting out of the den, she pictured the place in her mind and realized it was near the training hollow. Without stopping to think, she raced out of the gorse tunnel.

OOOoooOOO

Wolfstar padded through the trees to a large clearing with a clear, star-filled pool in the middle.

Settling down on the edge and wrapping his tail around his paws, he stared into it and asked, "What is she doing?"

The black and silver mastiff next to him started and looked at him, just noticing his appearance. Turning back to glare at the pool, she shook her head and said bitterly, "She's made a pup's mistake. Burningpelt hasn't been warned."

"Silverflame calm down. I know you worry about your sister's pup. I'll take care of it." Wolfstar said, standing. He then trotted quickly back the way he had come.

OOOoooOOO

"Whitefeather? Whitefeather where are you?" Swiftpaw whispered earnestly.

She padded through the undergrowth slowly, afraid to go faster in case she missed the queen. Getting desperate, she sped up to a trot anyway.

When she still couldn't find her, Swiftpaw began sprinting. She barely managed to stop when she spotted Whitefeather lying stretched out on the ground. She lay motionless except for the ripples running down her side every few seconds.

Swiftpaw's heart lurched when her nose was suddenly flooded with the choking smell of blood. With her heart pounding, Swiftpaw hurried to the queen's side. Her worst fear was confirmed when she saw a small newborn pup lying motionless next to Whitefeather.

Swiftpaw nosed the small creature gently. Her heart lurched when she realized it was breathing, barely. It seemed that Whitefeather had started to take care of it, but she had run out of energy halfway. Relying on instincts rather than her mind, Swiftpaw pulled the pup to her and began licking her furiously.

She heard a rustling behind her and was surprised and relieved to see Burningpelt rocket out of the bushes with Darkclaw and Ravenwing close behind. Nodding at Swiftpaw, Burningpelt trotted to Whitefeather's side and set to work.

Swiftpaw focused back on the pup and was overjoyed when it gave a faint squeal. She quickly wrapped her body around the small creature to keep her warm.

Turning her attention back to Whitefeather, she realized that her eyes were now open and some of her strength had returned. Darkclaw was licking her head and shoulders, all the while murmuring quietly to her. Meanwhile, Ravenwing and Burningpelt were stroking Whitefeather's side gently to help move the remaining pups.

When the next finally came, Burningpelt licked it furiously for a few moments, but it was too late. The small black and white pup had already taken his place in StarClan.

A little while later the third and final pup came. Ravenwing picked her up and began licking while Burningpelt fed Whitefeather herbs to help her strength and bring milk.

As soon as Whitefeather could walk, Ravenwing and Swiftpaw picked up the pups and they made their way slowly back to camp.

The sun was just emerging over the treetops when the small party emerged from the gorse tunnel into the camp. Whitefeather staggered into the nursery with Darkclaw's help while Burningpelt gently laid the dead pup in the center of the camp. Swiftpaw stared at him for a moment, and then quickly followed Ravenwing to the nursery.

OOOoooOOO

Swiftpaw was awoken a quarter moon later by a paw jabbing into her side.

Expecting to find Leafpaw, she kept her eyes shut and said, "What to you want?"

She sat up slowly and opened her eyes, she found Darkclaw sitting in front of her with an expectant look on his face.

Her eyes widened and she sputtered, "I-I'm sorry Darkclaw! I thought you were Leafpaw. She's always waking me up, so…"

"Its fine," he said gently, "I just wanted to ask you to come to the nursery. Whitefeather and I want to talk to you."

Swiftpaw nodded eager to finally have an excuse to see the pups. She trotted across the clearing after him and squeezed through the brambles that protected the nursery.

Once inside, she paused for a second to let her eyes adjust to the darkness. She looked around and saw Sunstripe lying in the nest closest to the entrance talking to Cedarheart, who had to stop once in a while to keep her pups from getting into trouble. Next to them, Dreamsong was asleep with her pups tucked into the curve of her stomach. At the very back of the nursery she found Whitefeather with her pups.

Whitefeather looked up as she approached and said, "Hello Swiftpaw. Sit down, I'd like to talk to you." When Swiftpaw had sat and curled her tail around her paws, she continued, "I never really got to thank you. If you hadn't come, I'm sure that me and my pups would be with StarClan right now. Also, we've decided to let you name one of the pups. They just opened their eyes, so it's time they had names."

Of everything Swiftpaw had been expecting, this was the last thing on the list. Shocked, she sputtered, "A-are you sure?"

Darkclaw nodded, and Whitefeather murmured, "More sure than I've ever been. Without you, we would have died. It seems right that you should have a part in their life."

Still shocked, Swiftpaw murmured, "Thank you."

She looked at the pups, trying to decide on a name for one of them. The first had a chocolate brown coat with a black muzzle and small black paws. She was tucked safely against her mother's stomach as she slept.

The second pup laid a little way away from her mother and sister. She was smaller than her sister, and had a dark brindle coat like her father, but her stomach and chest where white like her mother. As Swiftpaw watched, she lifted her head and blinked sleepily at her, revealing beautiful dark hazel eyes, another trait from her father.

"Hazelpup," Swiftpaw whispered, never taking her eyes off Hazelpup, she said louder, "This one can be named Hazelpup."

Whitefeather nodded and said, "Then the other one can be named," she paused, thinking, "Blackpup." She looked at Darkclaw, who nodded and padded out of the nursery.

Swiftpaw leaned down and softly licked Hazelpup between the ears, then nodded to Whitefeather and padded out of the nursery, pausing at the exit to whisper, "See you soon, Hazelpup."

A/N- YAY! Sosososososososososo sorry for the wait! Last weekend I had a soccer tournament and this weekend I had a basketball tournament, so it was hard updating. And my teachers seem to have been against me writing, because I was absolutely swamped with homework the past two weeks. Hope it was worth the wait!