A/N - Holy… I just realized the last chapter pushed us over 100k words! I'm glad I've been able to keep with this story for so long haha - here's to 200k! :D

Disclaimer: Warriors is owned by Erin Hunter/HarperCollins Publishers LLC

…

The Mark

…

The bright light of a full moon lit the sky above the moors. A breeze of wind swept across the fields of grass, and on a well-trodden path streaming through, three cats could be seen.

A ginger tom lay on the ground, unmoving, while two other cats leaned over him.

The black one was hunched over, working furiously on the one who lay in the grass. Her smaller, dark gray companion stood by her side, copying her movements. They both pressed down on the tom's face with leaves, albeit the dark gray one was much slower - having had much less experience.

The younger she-cat's mouth was agape, almost panting slightly. Her words were spoken with some difficulty.

"H-he's bleeding everywhere, Yellowfang. I–"

The older she-cat growled, not peeling her eyes away.

"Just keep packing it on, and less talking!"

The smaller she-cat gulped, giving a sheep nod. Suddenly, the sounds of paws beating across the path could be heard in the distance. A group of cats soon crested the hills, offering a small bit of encouragement to them both. Help was on the way.

The older she-cat let out a brief sigh of relief before curling her lip again in concentration. She growled with conviction as she kept packing leaves onto the tom's face, all the while muttering to herself.

"Fireheart, stay with me. Please stay with me."

The younger she-cat beside her had seemingly slowed down. The older she-cat's determination was enough to drive her to the sidelines - in the effort to not get in their way.

"H-he's gonna be okay, right?" she said in a craggy, worried voice.

The older cat just shook her head, clenching her teeth anxiously.

"I don't know, Cinderpaw. This-" She finished matting the tom's head with a set of leaves. The blood just kept coming, soaking a den's worth of them. She turned to grab more with a desperate exhale.

"Stars. This was not how it was supposed to go…"

Fireheart's consciousness took its time coming back to him. When his senses came back finally, he first felt his head pounding furiously. Like being swept under a raging rapid, and having the waves beat you over and over again.

Fireheart groaned as he tried opening his eyes. His vision was dark, he quickly realized. There was no semblance of light, although he could feel something cover his face - his eyelids brushed against it when he blinked.

His head kept throbbing as he raised it.

Alarmed, he tried looking around, but whatever was covering his eyes did not come off then. Fireheart could feel his heart start to race. He was practically staring into a void, but still, he could hear things… smell things. His senses worked, so why was he blinded?

And as he twitched his nose, a foreign scent entered it. It was not like ThunderClan or WindClan, but rather foul and putrid. He reeled back, disgusted by the smell. However, he couldn't help but notice a sense of familiarity with it…

He raised himself on his front paws, ignoring the small sting of pain.

"Y-Yellowfang?"

Fireheart could hear sounds coming from around him. They were muffled - he assumed he was inside some sort of den since a breeze could be heard as well.

His fear only elevated when he received no answer.

"Yellowfang!" He shouted now.

He remembered - she was the last cat he saw before… that dream.

Sounds of leaves rustling could be heard beside him, making the ginger tom perk up suddenly. He hissed in surprise before the sound of a familiar voice entered his ears.

"StarClan's sake, kit! I'm right here!"

Fireheart let his hackles stay raised for a moment - processing the voice.

He lowered them soon, realizing it was only Yellowfang. He could not see her, but her unique scent now found its way into his mouth, making him breathe with relief.

"You're awake… Hah, that's good," the she-cat said, sounding relieved also.

"Yellowfang, I-" Fireheart began, waving his head around worriedly. "I can't see!"

"Stop shouting!" the old she-cat scolded. "Breathe slowly…Can you do that for me?"

*huff* "I… okay."

Fireheart did as she said, taking slow, deep breaths.

"That's better," Yellowfang grunted.

"Yellow-"

"Don't… talk right now."

Fireheart clamped his mouth shut with a soft whine, allowing Yellowfang to continue.

"There are a few things you need to know," she told him. Fireheart stared in her direction, listening intently. "First, we are in ShadowClan's medicine den."

Fireheart visibly flinched. So that must have been the foul odor he thought he recognized.

"But… we were at the Moonstone," he said, sounding troubled. Yellowfang could be heard stepping closer to him.

"Yes, we were," she murmured. "But, we are here now. From what I've heard, it sounds like StarClan sent them a message."

A message? From StarClan? He pondered before a sudden wave of pain wafted through him.

"Ugh, it huurts," he groaned.

His face was tingling with pain. Whatever was covering his eyes didn't make him any more comfortable either. He lifted a paw, trying to feel it. The gauze of sorts had the dry texture of oak leaves - at least Fireheart assumed that's what it was, judging by the few pokes he got in before Yellowfang suddenly jabbed him.

"Don't touch it!" she snapped. "Ugh, have I taught you nothing? That pain is just the herbs doing their job; a lot of horsetail had to be used."

Fireheart pawed the ground anxiously instead of the covering around his head. "Are there… leaves on my face?"

"What else does it feel like?" Yellowfang replied. "We ran out of cobwebs, so we had to scour for dried leaves to cover your wounds."

Wounds… Fireheart picked up on her words, quelling the urge to rub his face again. …Horsetail is also used on scratch wounds, like dock.

His knowledge of herbs allowed for a twisted picture of himself to be painted in his mind. He remembered - though it was fuzzy - a sharp, red claw crashing down upon his muzzle before his mind seemingly went blank. Thinking about that, his worry only grew. Just how bad was this injury?

"And, that brings me to the other thing," Yellowfang said. A noticeable pause prompted Fireheart to look at her.

"You... had an incident at the Moonstone, Fireheart."

Fireheart felt a knot in his stomach as his fears were confirmed. He dreaded the idea of sustaining any type of injury, but the added layer of obscurity made it even worse.

"...What incident?"

Not an immediate answer was given, only making him grow more concerned. Yellowfang finally spoke after a moment.

"Tell me, can you remember anything?"

"I…" Fireheart stopped.

Yes, he could. His mind wandered back to the confines of his memory, where it suddenly all came crashing back to him. In that dream, in that unnerving forest, were strange, muddy cats - with one that looked like Tigerstar; weird dark tendrils that strangled his body; something about a curse?

It was so much to take in… he couldn't even remember what he felt at that moment. He knew there was pain and fear. However, like hearing a bolt of lightning, or a monster roaring past - it was a sensation that memory could not do justice. Something that could only properly be experienced the very moment it occurred.

Should I tell her about that? Fireheart wondered, before quickly shooting the idea down. She will think I'm insane - medicine cat or not. What kind of cat has a dream like that?

He raised his head, now realizing he hadn't said anything for a solid couple of seconds.

"I remember… you saying it was okay to rest, and… that you would wake me when the time was right."

Though he couldn't see her because of the gauze, Fireheart knew Yellowfang was giving him some sort of weird look. He heard a grunt.

"Alright. It seems you have no memory problems."

"Yellowfang," Fireheart started before doubling over. "Ugh, why do I have to wear this? It's so irritating-"

"Don't scratch at it," Yellowfang grumbled, stepping on his paw before he could raise it again. He whimpered, causing Yellowfang to sigh.

"Alright, you know what? Hold still and I'll take it off. Your face might just be healed enough," she said.

Fireheart could feel his spirits lift a little, but he did not like the way she sounded.

What had needed to heal?

He lay down, allowing the old medicine cat to grip his head with her claws. He felt a little bit of pulling before the mask of leaves suddenly was torn off his head.

Fireheart blinked his eyes open, ignoring the irritation it caused in favor of getting a good look around him. His eyes recoiled at the harsh bits of sunlight creaking into the den, but since they were in ShadowClan, he was quick to recover.

Yellowfang stood before him with the clump of leaves at her paws, bloodied and torn. Her eyes lay steadily on him as if she was observing him. Fireheart blinked again, looking around - finding that they were alone in ShadowClan's medicine den. He was surprised, since last he heard they were suffering from a disease. Although, he figured the lack of disease scent, as well as cats, was a good thing.

Suddenly a wave of discomfort hit him once again. The pain in his head grew, coming in waves like before. He lifted his paw, adamant about soothing the discomfort, but was stopped by the flick of a tail.

"Stop that! I said you shouldn't be pawing at it," Yellowfang said, only eliciting another groan from him.

"It hurts…" he complained, his tone reflecting his irritation.

"And it's going to, at least for a while. You're just going to have to deal with it," she retorted. "It looks like you don't have to wear any cobwebs from now on, but for the next day or two, you can not lick or touch your face. Understand?"

"Alright, fine, but-" Fireheart started, forcing his paw to stay on the ground. He looked at her.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

Yellowfang had yet to tell him the reason he was brought here in the first place. Fireheart worried she knew, but didn't want to tell him, or rather, she did not know and didn't want to admit it. He couldn't choose which sounded worse.

"I think we should take a little walk, Fireheart." was all she said.

Fireheart stared back as she headed for the exit, signaling for him to follow. Fireheart felt the dread growing in him. What was so bad about this that she couldn't tell him?

As he exited the den with her, he was quickly greeted with a much more potent stench of what he first scented earlier. The rank smell of ShadowClan - a scent he had been made familiar with after he and his clanmates helped drive Brokentail out of their camp.

Looking around, Fireheart could see everything was as it was since the last time he was here. Although, there appeared to be even fewer cats than before - all ones he couldn't recognize - and a somber mood seemed to hang in the air. The disease must have been worse than what they made it out to be…

Fireheart followed close to Yellowfang, trusting she knew where she was going in a place more unfamiliar to him. He peered around at a few ShadowClan cats warily, noticing their attention had been drawn to them.

Fireheart looked right back at them and was surprised to see them cower away. He was no stranger to glares, of course, but that reaction wasn't expected. These cats' glares seemed to hold more than just spite; They were fearful. Intimidated, even.

And what were they staring at?

Fireheart caught on quickly to how they didn't seem to be making direct eye contact. Instead, they almost met his gaze. They were looking at his head, but not meeting his gaze.

"That's what happened to him? He looks horrid!"

Fireheart darted his eyes around, seeing two cats talking with their backs turned to him. Their fur was on end.

"Was it a dog?"

"No, I heard it was StarClan!"

Fireheart shook his head, turning away. That only made him more confused.

What are they talking about?

He could hear the hushed whispers continue as Yellowfang suddenly came to stop. Fireheart looked ahead, seeing a cat with a pelt of ginger not too unlike his standing in their way.

"Where are you two going?" they asked with a biting tone of authority. Their sudden appearance didn't seem to faze Yellowfang, though, as she simply sniffed.

"A walk, Russetfur," she grumbled. "Don't you ever get stiff joints?"

This she-cat, Russetfur, didn't seem too entertained by her remark. "Someone should go with you," she said, looking at Fireheart in particular.

"I know my way around this blasted territory. It will only be a few minutes."

Russetfur looked between the two of them again, her mood only deteriorating from the look she gave Fireheart.

"Fine. Nightstar will be notified, so be sure to keep your word."

That was all she said before stalking past them. Fireheart eyed her as she left, feeling conflicted.

"Why did she look at me like that?" he asked, turning to follow Yellowfang again as the old she-cat took off.

"Russetfur always acts as if she slept in a nest of burrs, Fireheart."

"But she looked… offended by my presence… and what about everyone else?" Fireheart pressed. "Everyone seems afraid of me. And I could hear them whispering, too… about my face."

Fireheart wasn't so naive - he knew something happened to his face. He could clearly remember the dream he had last night, alongside the horsetail and dried leaves he was treated with. There was something Yellowfang wasn't telling him. Judging from everyone's reactions, it seemed like he should've been in the medicine den still, being treated.

Yellowfang didn't answer him again. That was the second time she avoided the question, but she kept going like it was no big deal.

They now had come outside of ShadowClan's camp when Fireheart decided to ask again.

"Yellowfang, what's wrong?"

He wasn't trying to hide his worry now. His voice squeaked like a rodent. "Yellowfang?"

The old she-cat grumbled, not looking back.

"Just be quiet for another minute, and you'll find out."

Fireheart huffed but kept following her. He had no idea what the point of taking this walk was. Perhaps she needed an herb…

Yellowfang eventually slowed, and Fireheart watched as she circled a small pool of water. There were many other puddles laying across the land he came to notice before eventually, they all congregated in the distance - forming a sort of mire.

"Here, in this pool."

Fireheart looked back at Yellowfang, watching as she swept her paw over the pool.

"See for yourself."

Fireheart looked hesitant at first. See for himself, in a puddle she found? Yellowfang must remember her territory a lot better than he thought.

He sighed, gazing at the pool of water before him. Despite being in a marshland, this water strangely seemed clean, casting a crystal clear reflection.

Gulping, Fireheart slowly leaned over, now getting a good look at himself. He'd only ever seen his reflection a pawful of times, but they were enough that he had a good image as to what he looked like.

And now, processing the reflection that lay before him, his eyes suddenly widened in utter horror. He expected to be injured, but this…

N-no. This… this can't be!

Fireheart leaned over more, his back hunched in an arc as he absorbed the image.

Four deep scars ran across his face. The two innermost were smaller, laying centered on his forehead and stretching down to the root of his nose. They aligned perfectly with his faint tabby markings. Meanwhile, the other outermost scars were seemingly larger, and both lay directly over his eyes. Miraculously, his emerald orbs were completely untouched, although his eyelids were not left unscathed.

Fireheart caught a gasp in his throat. His mind went feral as he thought back to his dream.

'Thee beareth the mark. Thou'rt cursed!'

The words echoed through his head as he gazed upon himself, his anxious breathing growing quicker.

Those… those things - they did this to me! His breathing grew faster. It's true… I've been cursed!

Fireheart's world seemed to slow down. He could only just stare at his reflection for what seemed like forever. He wasn't able to process anything at the moment.

This… was really happening? How could a dream do something like this? They ripped his face open!

"Yes, it shocked me, as well."

Fireheart was startled back to reality by Yellowfang's voice.

"By the time we got to ShadowClan's camp, those wounds were almost closed on their own… almost like magic."

Fireheart only gazed through her before quickly going back to his reflection. He was hardly registering her words.

"W-what-" he stuttered. "What happened?"

Yellowfang gave a tired sigh, plopping down on her haunches.

"It wasn't that long after you fell asleep. You just... I don't know how to explain," she mewled. "I was looking at the stars, watching as the moon grew ever closer to the highest point in the sky. And... then I heard you whimper. When I looked back, the blood was already soaking into your fur."

She paused for a moment.

"I panicked. I knew I had to treat you immediately, but it's not like any herbs grow on the top of a mountain. Soon enough I was dragging you across the moors myself, picking up cobwebs and leaves along the way - you weren't exactly heavy thanks to your diet as of late," she stated unhappily. "I was halfway across WindClan territory when I saw Cinderpaw rushing toward me. She must have known we were in trouble and brought a patrol with her." Yellowfang sounded almost proud. "I was never more happy to see her in my life. Thank the stars WindClan wasn't around that time too."

Fireheart, by now, was touching his face freely, despite Yellowfang's earlier protests. She did not stop him this time; perhaps letting him accept that they were now a part of his features.

"Cinderpaw cleaned your face so much she practically dried her tongue out. There was a lot of blood, even though the wounds healed themselves… I'm surprised you could even think straight, considering how much you lost."

By the end of her explanation, Fireheart had no words. He wished he could say he wasn't thinking straight. But no - the longer he held a paw to his face, the more he could feel his scars. They hurt to the touch, yet he could not stop prodding them.

The next words out of Yellowfang's mouth made him freeze.

"I don't think you need me to tell you… but those are going to scar for life."

"Yellowfang-" Fireheart blurted. He didn't want to hear it. He didn't want that.

Fireheart tore his paw away in horror, taking a step back from the pond.

"No, no… this can't be happening," he began, stammering. "I'm still in some kind of nightmare, I-I can't have these scars–" Fireheart whipped his head around with jarring speed. "Yellowfang, I look like a freak!"

The old she-cat frowned, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry, Fireheart. I'm still processing all this myself," she murmured. "In all my years, I've never seen anything like it. It's just so hard to fathom; such precision over your tabby markings, and the way your eyes were left completely unharmed-"

"You're not helping!" Fireheart seethed. "Yellowfang… I can't be seen like this!"

The she-cat stubbornly looked away. "I'm sorry, Fireheart," she repeated. It was the only thing she could say to him.

"No…" Fireheart growled, looking back at himself in the puddle. "NO!"

He lashed out, scattering the water and his reflection all over the ground. He snarled furiously.

"This– I can't look like this!" He yelled in distress, whipping his head around. "Yellowfang, look at me! I'm a freak! I'm every bit of the freak my clanmates think I am!"

"Fireheart…" Yellowfang mumbled.

"You said you'd watch over me!" He suddenly roared, lashing his tail as his eyes began to mist. "How could you let this happen? How could StarClan?! I trusted you!"

Yellowfang grit her lip. She knew he was in a state of hysteria, but that seemed to set her off.

"I understand your anger, Fireheart, but you need to calm down," she said, keeping a level head. "There were no scents around. I didn't hear anything unusual. Nothing seemed to be going wrong until you half-bled to death. How could I have known that was going to happen?"

Fireheart just simply huffed, turning the other way as she pressed on.

"Fireheart, I don't think I could have done anything to stop this anyway," she said, lifting herself to pad toward him. "These scars… they aren't natural. Your fur looks almost burnt. Almost like-"

"Magic," Fireheart spat. She said it before, and he had practically witnessed it first-hand. There could be no other explanation.

Yellowfang seemed to falter for a moment, hearing Fireheart's response.

"I believe I've heard of it. StarClan would mark cats they thought were a threat, cutting them off from them." She sounded uncertain, looking ahead toward the sky. She growled, "But that was only ever a folktale - stories that were told to keep kits in line."

She was silent for a moment, following up with a grunt.

"Nevermind. We can discuss this later," she said, padding past Fireheart who was now just looking at the ground crestfallen. He held a paw against his cheek as if hoping any moment now his scars would disappear.

Yellowfang brushed him with her tail, making him flinch. "Let's head back."

Fireheart stared at her for a moment, a thousand different responses running through his head, before simply nodding. He slowly got up to follow her, but this time with more questions than answers.

Now he knew why everyone in ShadowClan looked at him like that, at least. He was a freak; some sort of ugly beast now. His scars looked so horrid in their design - the whole time he peered at his reflection, all he felt was unease.

Both cats hadn't said a word to each other by the time they returned to ShadowClan camp. Fireheart could sense the ShadowClan cats looking toward him again.

Ignore them. A small voice in his head said.

Fireheart didn't need to be told twice. Though he didn't want to accept it, there was no doubt this was how things were going to be now. He would be self-conscious about every look he received, and he would never want to look someone in the eyes again.

The two strode through the heart of ShadowClan once more, and once again the whispers arose. This time, though, Fireheart blocked them all out. He did not need to hear what anyone thought of his scars. It would only make him feel worse.

Yellowfang led him toward the medicine den, her roots in ShadowClan once again helping them navigate. When they made it back inside, that was when they were finally alone.

Fireheart flopped down into his nest, his thoughts of anguish persisting.

"Did I anger StarClan?" he blurted, louder than he intended. Yellowfang grunted as she took a seat near him.

"For now, we mustn't assume anything, Fireheart," she told him, leaning over a pile of herbs gathered there. "All of us are still a little shaken, and thus we're not in the best of mindsets. Truly, not one of us knows what this means… yet."

Fireheart couldn't agree with that. His memory now was not so fuzzy. There was one cat in particular - maybe even two - who knew exactly what was happening.

"Tigerstar…" Fireheart mumbled. "This has his grimy pawprints all over it!"

Fireheart's eyes suddenly twinkled with a spiteful glint.

"He'll try to use this to his advantage. He'll spread lies about me again - call me a curse to the clan again. I know it!"

Fireheart's body was raised with alertness, he was so enraptured. Yellowfang sent a worried glance his way, brushing him with her tail.

"You need rest, Fireheart. Lie down."

Fireheart, hackles raised, reluctantly obeyed her. Yellowfang nodded, turning back to her herbs. She suddenly leaned her nose to the ground before guiding a bundle to his paws. Fireheart just stared at them.

"Eat these. Dandelion and chamomile to ease your pain and poppy seeds to help you sleep."

Fireheart blinked at the herbs a few times before pinning his ears.

"Sleep?" He trembled fearfully. "But-"

Fireheart couldn't even begin his sentence. At the mention of sleep, all he could then think about was that dream. That terrible nightmare gave him horrid scars on his face.

I don't want to go back to that place! He declared astutely to himself.

Yellowfang frowned at him. "You need rest so that you can heal," she stated.

"But you said I've already healed!"

Yellowfang gave him a soft, empathetic look. "There are more things to heal than just your scars, Fireheart."

Fireheart curled his lip slightly, lowering his gaze to the bundle before him.

Chamomile… used for soothing your heart and mind. He reminded himself.

These herbs would calm him down, yes. But what good would that do? They couldn't undo the damage done. He was scarred for life, he didn't trust his dreams… he didn't know what to think anymore. These herbs would simply give him feigned serenity, and that sounded even worse to him than a bad dream.

"I-" Fireheart began, before stopping.

He suddenly thought about it again and realized he was probably overreacting. This chamomile will help calm him down, and that was good. Of course, they won't fix any of the damage done to his face or overthrow Tigerstar for him. Maybe they'll keep him from having another nightmare, even?

"You're right," he finally said, sighing. Yellowfang watched as he bent over, lapping up the herbs and spitting at their foul taste.

She hummed in satisfaction as he lay down. The poppy seeds were already doing their work, as Fireheart rested his head on his paws sleepily. His already exhausted state must have aided the herbs as well.

Yellowfang observed him with a keen eye, noticing his blinking had slowed.

"A ThunderClan patrol will be here later, Fireheart. Cinderpaw and Runningnose went to notify the clan - that's where they've been all this time."

Fireheart hummed that he heard her, but Yellowfang knew his drowsiness perhaps made him miss a few words.

The old medicine cat sighed.

"Take a rest now, Fireheart; you need it." She paused for a moment. "And this time… I'll actually be here to wake you."

Fireheart gave a small yawn, his weary eyes remaining closed. One last sentence came from the ginger tom before he inevitably drifted off.

"Thank you, Yellowfang."

…

A/N - Ah, yes, there's not much Yellowfang can do against cats who can walk into others' dreams. Jayfeather may be able to help with that, but he isn't here, unfortunately :(

Also, how many chapters end with Fireheart going to sleep? I should get a LOT more creative with how I end these things...