Hello all! Thank you so much for all of the favs/follows! I'm not quite as pleased with this chapter, but... eh. It happens. I hope you can forgive its shortness. And to my reviewer!

Snowcrystal: Thank you so much for your help with those kits :D


Chapter 2

Stonepaw tore free of his attacker's claws with a screech, oblivious to the tufts of blue fur that fell to the bloodied stone beneath his paws. He tried vainly to shake the blood out of his eyes to launch a counter attack, but before his vision cleared a horrible cry split the air.

"RiverClan, retreat!"

Stonepaw staggered back a few paces as his Clan-mates struggled away from their adversaries. Retreat?

He saw Falconheart spit a last insult over his shoulder and plunge down the slope, followed closely by Rainclaw. The dark gray tabby warrior supported Timberfur, who staggered along at his side, leaving a steady trail of blood through the grass. Stonepaw hurried after them, his paws numb with shock. As he was about to splash into the river, his breath caught in his throat, only to escape heartbeats later as a strangled gasp. "Mistypaw!"

She'd hit one of the stepping stones, and was feebly trying to pull herself onto it. Stonepaw didn't have time to think. He raced through the shallows towards the stepping stones, cursing the pain and fatigue the battle had left in his body. "Hang on, Mistypaw!" He called hoarsely.

He was nearly knocked aside as Oakheart barreled past him. Their father took the stepping stones two at a time, then dove into the river just as Mistypaw slipped into the current again. He reemerged with her scruff clamped firmly in his jaws. Thank StarClan… Bluefur gave her son a rough nudge, urging him towards the stepping stones.

"Careful," she growled behind him, following closely in case he should follow his sister. They met Oakheart on the other side.

"Is she okay…?" Stonepaw rasped. Oakheart didn't speak, he only exchanged a dark glance with Bluefur and turned towards the camp.

"She needs to be brought to Brambleberry and Mudfur," Bluefur told as she herded him along ahead of her with her tail. Stonepaw didn't object to being treated like a kit—he could see his mother's paws trembling. She's terrified for Mistypaw…

They were among the last back to camp. Crookedstar sat at the roots of the Great Willow, taking Duskfall's report on the border patrol and battle as the injured lay throughout the clearing, licking their wounds clean while they waited for treatment. Timberfur was not among them, Stonepaw realized. And neither is Mistypaw.

"Stonepaw!" A flash of red fur announced Sorrelpaw's quick approach. His pale blue eyes were wide with concern. "Are you alright? What happened to Mistypaw?" His claws tore at the packed sand beneath his paws.

"I'm fine," Stonepaw sank wearily onto his haunches. "I'm not sure about Mistypaw. She helped me battle two ThunderClan apprentices, then disappeared into the fighting… the next time I saw her was when we were retreating. I think she fell into the river, but…" Stonepaw shook his head. He knew that Mistypaw wasn't the strongest swimmer; he could only assume that her injuries had caused her to fall from the stepping stones. "Oakheart pulled her out and brought her straight here."

With a low, irate growl, Sorrelpaw started licking Stonepaw wounds. "If only I'd been there…! We had just gotten back from training when Silverpaw got here and told Crookedstar that ThunderClan was on Sunningrocks. Leopardfur told me to stay here to guard the camp with Silverpaw and Shiverpaw when she got back from hunting." His tail lashed furiously, but his motions were gentle as he helped Stonepaw clear the sticky blood from his fur. Stonepaw sighed, forcing himself to stay upright and survey the defeated Clan. Mudfur moved from one cat to the next, Shiverpaw at his side with a large leaf wrap gripped gingerly in her teeth. She seemed stunned, her pale amber eyes reflecting how unsettled she was. Rainclaw and Oakheart seemed the most injured, though Oakheart kept shooing Mudfur away when the medicine cat apprentice attempted to tend to him. When he and Shiverpaw reached Stonepaw, the brown tom was still muttering about it.

"Alright, Stonepaw," he sighed, looking the gray apprentice up and down. "Where does it hurt?"

"He's got a nasty bite on his hind leg," Sorrelpaw offered.

Stonepaw nodded. "That's the worst of it, along with the scratches on my flanks."

Shiverpaw put her leaf wrap down, revealing a variety of leaves and berries, and a pawful of poultice that smelled like it would sting.

"Go ahead and rub that into the scratches," Mudfur told the small apprentice. "I'll take a look at that bite."

"I'm sorry," Shiverpaw murmured. She dipped a snow-white paw into the poultice and rubbed it tenderly into the scratches. Stonepaw let out a faint hiss, but didn't move. Shiverpaw flinched, but didn't stop until every scratch had been tended to. Mudfur applied a generous amount of the poultice to his hind leg, then wrapped it in cobwebs.

"Wait," Stonepaw raised a paw to stop Mudfur. "How's Mistypaw?"

The apprentice medicine cat rolled his eyes. "She'd swallowed a lot of water," he explained plainly. "Once she coughed it up it was just a matter of tending to her wounds like every other cat." With that he turned back towards Oakheart. Shiverpaw lingered long enough to touch her nose to Stonepaw's shoulder before following.

Despite his relief that Mistypaw would be okay, Stonepaw couldn't bring himself to feel happy. His muscles ached and his head was muddled, and before long the blue-gray apprentice sank to the ground and fell into a fitful sleep, aware of other warriors doing the very same thing. We lost Sunningrocks… The thought haunted his dreams. We lost…

Stonepaw woke in the apprentices' den feeling stiff and groggy. He couldn't remember when exactly he'd moved, only that it had taken both Sorrelpaw and Silverpaw to convince him to do so. Aware of the sunlight leaking into the den, he made himself stand. At first his legs screeched in protest, but as he stretched them one at a time and pushed his way out of the apprentices' den, they started to loosen up.

When his eyes adjusted to the sunlight, Stonepaw was amazed by how busy the camp was. Oakheart sat next to the fresh-kill pile, organizing patrols in Timberfur's place. Graypool and Rainclaw watched with poorly-concealed envy as the patrols were divvied up. It was apparent that their wounds were too severe for them to return to their duties straightaway. Sedgenose lay outside, looking equally envious as her three-moon-old kits tumbled and played outside the nursery.

Stonepaw joined the flock of cats around Oakheart with his ears pricked curiously.

"Ah, good, there's Stonepaw," his father's eyes flashed with warmth. "Duskfall, take him and Falconheart on the dawn patrol. Leopardfur, you have the sunhigh patrol, take whoever isn't out hunting; the rest of you are to bring in as much fresh-kill as you can. If we're going to take Sunningrocks back we need to be as strong as possible."

A murmur of affirmation rippled through their ranks. Stonepaw felt his own outlook brightening as his Clan-mates got to work around him.

"Hey sleepy-head," Sorrelpaw head-butted his brother. "Did you hear about Mistypaw?"

"No," Stonepaw blinked. "What happened?"

"She wasn't supposed to go to Sunningrocks," the red-furred apprentice snickered. "She's to take care of the elders until Oakheart relieves her."

Stonepaw couldn't stop his whiskers from twitching. He made a mental note to bring his sister an especially juicy fish if he could—she'd need the cheering up come meal time. Duskfall's yowl pulled him to the sedge tunnel. The blue-gray apprentice fell in step behind his mentor, letting his mind wander as they headed towards the WindClan border. We may have lost this time, but ThunderClan can't keep our territory forever. We will take Sunningrocks back!