Here is the new chapter! It's still a long way from now, but I have officially written half of the planned chapters.

Nearly halfway through newleaf, the weather showed no sign of warming, and it worried Pricklesong and her fellow medicine cat. Cold meant less food and more illnesses. They had been lucky for now, and only Cheetahpaw had caught a slight cold. But as far as food was concerned, things weren't going all that well.

Webhollow had been underfed, leading to her milk being thin and barely enough to feed four kits after the first moon. That was the only reason why Pricklesong had allowed her to take an apprentice: the whole Clan needed to eat.

Even Blossomstar looked somewhat sickly and tired, but their leader had always been good at hiding her suffering. Unless she truly smelled sick, neither of the medicine cat would force her to come to their den: it despite the fact that it was newleaf, the cold made it so that it could still be considered part of the critical time of leaf-bare. An even more stressful moment considering that it was MistClan's first. If they passed it, Blossomstar would have completely proven her worth as their leader – if only in her own eyes, because everyone already respected her as such.

So Pricklesong might not have noticed anything amiss if Silverpaw and Skypaw hadn't trudged in her den, looking for their mentor. The oldest of the two had a sheepish look as he explained that, the night before, she had tasked him to show basic jumps to the silver tabby and white tom. But they had started late, and now they couldn't find her. Blossomstar had declared her den off-limits – except for emergencies –, to avoid having apprentices intruding on private discussions, and they didn't dare enter.

The brown and white she-cat was glad for the reprieve. She left the young toms behind to look after the sick apprentice – Cheetahpaw wasn't contagious anymore – who was still sleeping, hoping for a moment to relax with her friend. Pricklesong knew that too much stress wasn't good for anyone's health and she had been so worried that she certainly deserved a nap.

She placed her head in the crevice.

"Blossomstar?"

Silence was the only answer she got. Yet, her friend's unique scent permeated the air as if she was indeed inside. Worry spiked in the medicine cat's mind – was this how Webhollow felt? – and she didn't hesitate any more before entering.

Confirming her suspicions, Blossomstar was curled up in her nest, tail covering her nose. Pricklesong scoffed: it had to be a really good nap if she didn't hear a thing.

The leader still didn't stir.

Dread crept along the medicine cat's spine as she rushed towards the light grey tabby. Shoving her muzzle in the other's neck, she felt no breath but smelled no sickness or injury. And yet, Blossomstar was lying there, losing a life – possibly more.

Examining the leader closely, Pricklesong allowed herself to paw at her belly, and suddenly, everything was clear. Beneath the dense fur, ribs were poking out from under stretched skin. Both muscle and fat seemed to have melted away since the last time she had performed a real check up on the other she-cat.

The tiredness, the temporary losses of focus, the lack of shine of the fur; everything made sense in light of the obvious consequences of starvation.

Pricklesong had thought that leaf-bare had been difficult but not that bad. Apparently, it hadn't been that bad, because someone consciously wasn't eating enough – if she ate at all. When – she refused to even think about an 'if' – Blossomstar woke up, she would get a stern talking to. There might even be a bit of yelling involved.

What in StarClan's name had gone through her head? There were only a few cats who couldn't afford to eat less right now – Flipspot who was the oldest, Webhollow who had kits to feed and Cheetahpaw who was recovering. If everyone had simply cut down their share a little, there would have been no need to go to such lengths. Yes, they would have been hungrier, but the old Clan had survived worse situations, so they would have obviously pulled through…

For now, there was not much she could do. She headed out, briefly went to her den to release Silverpaw and Skypaw from their duty – telling apprentices that they had a free day always worked, and maybe she should have sent them to Snaildapple but he was on patrol and she had other things in mind – and grabbed the smallest kill on the meagre pile. A shrunk stomach couldn't bear too much food – not that she would have been able to find a fat rabbit in this season anyway. Even that might be too much and it was highly probable that she would have to help Blossomstar chew the tough meat.

As soon as she smelled Heatherrump returning with Baypaw, she called him over, letting her apprentice arrange the few plants they had collected on their outing – it would provide good training. She updated the other medicine cat whose eyes widened before his eyes before he sighed softly. He gently bumped his forehead to hers, attempting to soothe her distress: they both knew that their leader had a strong character and that it was nearly impossible to get her to admit things like this, that she would consider as her own failures. But still, it gave them a terrible sense of defeat.

At least, the white tom agreed that they shouldn't just ask her how she felt anymore and just examine her whenever it seemed necessary.

Then, she hurried back to Blossomstar's den and settled in the nest, pressing herself in the nest next to her friend's cold body in the hope of warming her as much as possible, and waited.

Finally, after what felt like forever, green eyes slowly blinked open.

"Don't you ever do that again, you hear me?" Pricklesong whispered, foregoing the yelling until her friend was feeling better. "If you're so eager to lose your life, I'll kill you myself next time."

You know, this was planned before Clan-gen took into account the leader's nine lives. So I had to plan all these horrors myself. I really hope you don't hate me now-