A/N: Hi there! I'd like to give special thanks to GummyBear01 (guest) for bumping up the reviews to 39! Amazing, huh? Just like this chapter is going to be.
Chapter XVI
It was mid-leaf-bare when the rainstorms started. It was like greenleaf all over again. First came the rain, and then the thunder which blasted into everyone's ears.
Today, Cinderpaw was again planning on visiting Smokekit, who was now three-and-a-quarter moons old. She woke to the sound of the rain pattering steadily. Dawn was in full bloom, and a sliver of sunlight warmed her body. Only herself and Shadowpaw were still in the den.
She struggled to get out of her nest and pawed her way up to the surface. The young cat licked her fur self-consciously, then got going to the medicine den. No doubt the apprentices' schedule would be exactly the same as yesterday.
"Cinderpaw?" A miniscule, almost unnoticeable voice meowed. Cinderpaw turned her head in astonishment and found a tiny light gray tom behind her, a few tail-lengths away. "Smokekit, go back to your mother." Cinderpaw said, trying to usher the small kit back into the nursery.
"No! I want to go with you, Cinderpaw." Smokekit meowed. Cinderpaw sighed. This was to be expected; after all, he was only a small kit. "Fine." They walked side by side across the camp to the entrance.
"I know." Smokepaw meowed after a silence. "You know what?" Cinderpaw asked inquisitively. "About… things. Like Firestar, and the War-"
Firestar? The Firestar? The Great War that Fawnberry had talked about, said it was the turning point of her life? Cinderpaw laughed; a hearty, amused laugh. "Your mother's been telling you this, right?" She said affectionately. "No, it's real." Smokekit insisted. "I had a dream, and a starry cat came to me and said that I had power."
Cinderpaw stopped laughing. "Power?" She asked. "The cat said that I would help the Clans through danger, that I knew things from before I was born." The kit looked up at Cinderpaw.
The apprentice was about to reply, when Cloudfall ran into the camp, his eyes wild. "Get Goldenfern and Blazepaw!" He yowled. Feathersky, Petalflight and Hawkeyes followed, worried looks on their eyes.
"What has happened?" Rosestar rushed forward. "Brindlepaw is injured!" Petalflight replied, already beginning to lead the medicine cats out of camp. "My sister!" Cinderpaw bolted towards the leaving cats, leaving Smokepaw behind.
"What- happened- to my sister?" Cinderpaw panted as she ran alongside Petalflight. "She fell from a tree." Petalflight meowed in a rush. "She'll be alright." Cinderpaw heard Blazepaw's voice from behind her.
Cinderpaw fell behind, too afraid to see her sister's injuries. "Here." Petalflight stopped and Cinderpaw dared herself to take a peek. Brindlepaw's fur was matted with blood that covered her once-pretty pelt. Her amber eyes were glazed over.
Goldenfern and Blazepelt inspected her, then faced the anxious cats. "We need to bring her back to camp. She has a broken leg and many other injuries." Cinderpaw started to say something, but Goldenfern's next sentence shocked Cinderpaw into silence.
"She could die."