Rising Darkness

__NOWYSIWYG__

|-|Rising Darkness=

'''NOTICE: this fanfiction involves blood, gore, death, and overall, mature content. Please keep this in mind if you decide to continue reading. Thank you!'''



placeholder by me.

'''Do not steal any of my work or characters. I spent a long time trying to develop them, and will not stand for plagarism of any kind.'''

|-|Allegiances=

WindClan

Leader : Hazelstar - grayish-tawny and white she-cat with pale green eyes.

Deputy : Sparrowheart - lean brown tom with amber eyes.

Medicine Cat : Doeleap - light brown she-cat with with a cream-coloured underbelly, paws and tail (apprentice, Wrenpaw).

Warriors

Darkheart - very dark gray tom with ripped ears and ice blue eyes, father to Harekit and Havenkit (apprentice, Jumppaw).

Conchclaw - dark gray tom with yellow eyes, brother to Darkheart.

Waveheart - black-and-white she-cat with amber eyes, mother to Jumppaw and Wrenpaw.

Coppertail - light ginger tom with green eyes, father to Jumppaw and Wrenpaw.

Cloutfall - gray and white tom with green eyes, brother to Hazelstar and father to Sapkit, Sedgekit, and Dewkit (apprentice, Rabbitpaw).

Tawnytail - mottled brown and gray tom with yellow eyes.

Heatherspots - gray and white she-cat with pale green eyes, mates with Tawnytail.

Gorsecoat - mottled gray tom with yellow eyes.

Pouncewhisker - gray tom with white forepaws, littermate to Heatherspots and Gorsecoat.

Apprentices

Rabbitpaw - curious brown tom with amber eyes.

Jumppaw - white tom with splotches of ginger and brown all over him.

Wrenpaw - light brown she-cat with yellow eyes.

Kits/Queens

Fallownose - light gray she-cat with amber eyes, mother to Harekit and Havenkit.

Harekit - gray and white she-kit with amber eyes.

Havenkit - mischievous gray tom with amber eyes.

Leaftail - white and brown tabby-striped she-cat with yellow eyes, mother to Sapkit, Sadgekit, and Dewkit.

Sapkit - white and brown tom with amber eyes.

Sedgekit - brown tabby she-kit with green eyes.

Dewkit - mottled brown and gray tom with yellow eyes.

Elders

Cedartail - bad-tempered mangy tabby tom with watery green eyes.

RiverClan

Leader : Ripplestar - brown tom with blue eyes (apprentice, Eaglepaw).

Deputy : Fiskfoot - gray tabby tom with amber eyes (apprentice, Blackpaw).

Medicine Cat : Chivestalk - young brown tom with yellow eyes.

Warriors

Willowsplash - gray she-cat with amber eyes, mother to Splashpaw and Eaglepaw (apprentice, Mistpaw).

Minnowtail - gray tabby she-cat with white paws and tail.

Aspenstep - tawny and white she-cat with pale green eyes (apprentice, Splashpaw).

Pebblepad - mottled gray she-cat with and yellow eyes.

Rainspots - gray tom with darker gray and white speckles all over his fluffy pelt.

Reedsplash - mottled brown tom with blue eyes, brother to Ripplestar and Chivestalk (apprentice, Lilypaw).

Stonespeck - gray tom with amber eyes.

Driftspot - gray tom with white dapples.

Apprentices

Splashpaw - light gray tabby tom with amber eyes.

Eaglepaw - gray tabby tom with yellow eyes.

Lilypaw - white she-cat with black dapples and amber eyes.

Blackpaw - white she-cat with a black chest, paw pads, and tail.

Mistpaw - gray and she-cat with white paws and tail-tip.

Kits/Queens

Curlstem - gray and white tabby she-cat with amber eyes, mother to Pikekit and Troutkit and sister to Fiskfoot and Minnowtail.

Pikekit - gray tabby tom with yellow eyes.

Troutkit - gray and white tabby tom with amber eyes.

Elders

Seedsnap - light brown tom with yellow eyes, father to Ripplestar, Chivestalk and Reedpelt.

Pikefire - ginger and tawny tom with amber eyes.

ThunderClan

Leader : Tawnystar - white tom with mottled tabby patches and amber eyes.

Deputy : Flyspeck - black and white speckled tom with yellow eyes.

Medicine Cat : Nettlepounce - bad-tempered tabby she-cat with yellow eyes and a white tail.

Warriors

Adderdust - mottled brown tabby tom with yellow eyes (apprentice, Lightningpaw)

Ryestalk - brown and white tabby tom with amber eyes, father to Grousekit and Patchkit (apprentice, Fernpaw)

Elmfur - pale brown tom with pale eyes.

Dovespots - gray she-cat with pale green eyes, mates with Elmfur.

Duskblossom - tawny gray she-cat with pale yellow eyes.

Crowmist - black she-cat with green eyes.

Beewhisker - black and tawny she-cat with green eyes, sister to Crowmist.

Apprentices

Lightningpaw - black tom with ginger and white patches.

Fernpaw - pale gray and tawny she-cat with green eyes.

Kits/Queens

Mousetail - tawny she-cat with green eyes, mother to Fernpaw, Grousekit, and Patchkit.

Grousekit - mottled gray she-cat with yellow eyes.

Patchkit - white tom with gray and tawny patches.

Elders

none.

ShadowClan

Leader : Littlestar - small black and white tom with amber eyes.

Deputy : Ratwhisker - thin brown tom with stormy gray eyes.

Medicine Cat : Graycloud - fluffy gray tom with amber eyes.

Warriors

Glowfur - light ginger she-cat with pale eyes, mother to Toadpaw, Applepaw, and Mudpaw.

Mossfur - gray and white tom with green eyes.

Batwing - nervous brown and black tom with large ears (apprentice, Toadpaw).

Foxnose - ginger tom with white patches on his tail.

Rosetalon - reddish ginger she-cat with green eyes, sister to Foxnose (apprentice, Applepaw).

Apprentices

Toadpaw - mottled brown and ginger tom with green eyes.

Applepaw - cream and brown tabby tom with green eyes.

Mudpaw - brown tom with white paws and tail-tip.

Kits/Queens

Sweetthorn - tortoiseshell she-cat with white ears and chest fur, expecting Mossfur's kits.

Mapledawn - tortoiseshell and white she-cat with pale green eyes, expecting Foxnose's kits.

Mistlekit - fluffy black tom kit with amber eyes.

Melodykit - mottled dark gray and white she-kit with amber eyes.

Crowtail - black she-cat with amber eyes, has a white tail and is the mother to Mistlekit and Melodykit.

Elders

Swamptail - mangy dark tom with amber eyes.

Cats Outside the Clans

Arose - pretty tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes.

Cone - mottled brown and ginger tom (later becomes Conewhisker).

Moth - fluffy tabby she-cat with amber eyes.

Torn - brown and black tabby tom with ripped ears.

Swallow - glossy black and white tom with green eyes (later becomes Swallowsplash).

Beech - black and tawny tom with yellow eyes.

Pidgeon - lazy gray and white she-cat with amber eyes.

|-|Prologue=

Dawn rose over the moors.

One by one, the bright stars in the sky slowly faded away from view.

Dark silhouettes sit around a large rock.

Doeleap took a deep breath and padded to the group of cats, carrying an assortment of wildflowers in her mouth. The leaves of heather blossoms and cowslips tickled her nose, and she fought hard not to sneeze.

Two kits huddle together, shivering in the chilly new-leaf air.

The leader of their clan raised her head to look at the gathered cats.

"Today, we lost a brave warrior of WindClan." Hazelstar said solemnly.

"Fallownose is in StarClan now, but she has left us with two healthy kits." The gray and white she-cat curled her tail curtly around her paws.

"We will give her our last goodbyes now. May StarClan light her path."

Doeleap padded up to the grave where Fallownose was buried and dropped the wildflowers onto her dirty pelt.

"Goodbye, my friend," she whispered and backed away. "May StarClan light your path."

Wrenpaw walked up to her, draping her tail over her mentor's shoulder. "She was a good cat," she whispered into Doeleap's ear.

She nodded and glanced at the warriors den, where a grief-stricked Darkheart was slumped in his nest.

"I'll.. go check on him." Doeleap flicked her tail towards the dark tom.

"Oh. Alright." Wrenpaw waved her tail. "See you later, then."

"See you." Doeleap walked to the prey pile and picked up a vole, it's salty but tart blood filling her swollen throat.

"Darkheart," Fallownose started as she walked into the den. "I know you miss Fallownose, but you have kits now. You can't just stay inside everyday. You have a responsibility now."

He groaned and sat up, his fur tangled and matted in some places, making him look lop-sided. "I know, Doeleap." He looked glumly outside to the two kits playing.

"Have you thought of names for them yet?" Fallownose sat down next to the dark tom.

He smiled slightly. "I was thinking Harekit for the she-kit, after how fast her mother could run."

"And?" Doeleap encouraged him.

"And Havenkit for the tom." Darkheart sighed. "After the haven that Fallownose is in now."

"Those are good names," Doeleap said, half to herself. "I wonder what Fallownose would've named them."

"I don't know." Darkheart got up and stretched, eyeing the vole that Doeleap had brought. "Is that for me?"

Doeleap pushed the vole to him and he crouched down gratefully, the scent of shrew blood filling the air. The dark furred tom looked wistfully out to his kits again. "I might go visit them in a bit."

"Good idea," Doeleap stood up and padded to the entrance. "I'm going to check on Leaftail," she called back. "Her kitting must be soon. Call me if you need anything."

"I will," Darkheart said half-heartedly as Doeleap trotted off.

"Doeleap!" Leaftail emerged out of her den. "I'm so sorry about Fallownose! You must miss her so much!"

I do, Doeleap thought sadly, then pushed it away. "I'll manage," she said, the words thick in her throat. "How are the kits doing?"

Leaftail purred. "They're getting restless now. I think it's almost time."

"Good, good." Doeleap nodded. "Just make sure that you don't stress about it. Take it easy these couple of days. Where are you headed now?"

"Just to the prey pile," Leaftail nodded at the small pile of rocks. "Then I'll go straight up to the nursery again."

Doeleap yawned. "Good idea. I'm going to go back to my den and catch up on some sleep."

"Okay, bye!" Leaftail called after her as she padded into her den.

Wrenpaw was already in there when Doeleap entered, sorting herbs.

"Call me if you need anything," she said to her apprentice as she slumped into her nest.

~

A bright light surrounded Doeleap as she opened her eyes. A dozen or so cats were standing in front of her, looking solemnly towards her.

"StarClan," she breathed. "Why have you brought me here?"

A tabby and white tom stepped forwards slightly, tail flicking from side to side.

"Bad news, I'm afraid."

"Beware," the starry cats chanted in unison. "Beware the rising darkness."

"What?" Doeleap said frantically. "What do you mean?"

The tabby tom gazed down at Doeleap. "You will figure it out in time." He said softly, slowly fading from Doeleap's vision.

"No, wait!" She cried and leaped hopelessly at the disppearing cats. "You haven't answered my questions yet! Come back!"

"Doeleap? Doeleap!" A sharp paw prodded her awake.

"Wrenpaw," Doeleap breathed.

"What did you see?" Wrenpaw asked. "Was it a vision? What did StarClan tell you?"

Doeleap focused her gaze outside, where a dark gray tom was playing with his kits.

"Beware the rising darkness."

|-|Chapter 1=

"Rabbitpaw! Pay attention!" Cloutfall snapped. "What did I tell you about staying focused?"

"Oh, sorry, Cloutfall!" Rabbitpaw flattened his ears. "I just thought that-"

"Whatever." The gray and white tom lashed his long tail. "Only kittypets daydream like that."

"He doesn't mean that," Jumppaw, Rabbitpaw's best friend, whispered to him.

"I do, Jumppaw!" Cloutfall snapped. "Just because I'm way ahead of you two doesn't mean I'm deaf!"

"I'd say quite the opposite," Jumppaw muttered.

Darkheart gave a condescending look at the two apprentices. "Be quiet. You're scaring off all the prey around here."

"Sorry," Jumppaw muttered. He flicked his ears. "I hear a grouse."

"Then go catch it." Cloutfall retorted. "Rabbitpaw, go find some prey and meet us back at camp."

"Yes, Cloutfall," Rabbitpaw sighed and headed off to borders surrounding Twolegplace. Greenleaf was almost over, and he could understand his mentor's worry about the coming leaf-fall.

But he doesn't have to yell at me about it.

He sniffed the air and almost immediately caught scent of squirrel, then spotted it nibbling a nut at the bottom of a lone beech tree. Rabbitpaw quickly crouched behind a few stalks of tall grass, inching slowly towards it.

The squirrel raised it's furry head and looked towards the brown tom, dropping the beech nut with surprise and jumping hurriedly towards the spindly young tree.

"Fox dung!" Rabbitpaw hissed aloud and leaped at the squirrel, claws outstretched. A ginger and black blur appeared at the edge of Rabbitpaw's peripheral vision and clawed fiercely up the tree after the plump squirrel.

Rabbitpaw scrabbled to a stop and watched as a tortoiseshell she-cat hooked her claws into the squirrel and bit down on its spine cleanly.

"Hey!" Rabbitpaw said, annoyed. "That was my squirrel."

"Oh, sorry." The she-cat dropped the squirrel at her paws. "I didn't mean to steal it." She regarded Rabbitpaw with a curious glance. "Are you new here? I don't think that I've ever seen you before. Who are you?"

"Who are you?" Rabbitpaw sniffed. "You don't smell like RiverClan or ThunderClan," he bristled. "You're not ShadowClan, right? What are you doing this far on WindClan territory? Are you spying on us?"

"Oh," the strange cat squinted at him with pale green crescents. "You're.. a Clan cat."

"Uh, I am." Rabbitpaw looked suspiciously at her. "Why?"

"I can't believe it!" The she-cat fluffed up her white-tipped tail. "A real life Clan cat! What's it like living in the wild?"

"Aaaaand you wouldn't know because..?" Rabbitpaw prompted, making his fur lie flat again.

"Because I live here, silly." She flicked her tail at a ridiculously bright red Twoleg nest. "With my housefolk."

|-|Chapter 2=

"You're a kittypet!" Rabbitpaw hissed and leaped away from the stranger.

"Kittypet? Is that a Clan cat word?" The she-cat tilted her head.

Rabbitpaw lashed his tail. "Kittypets are looked after and pampered by Twolegs, and only eat rabbit droppings and disgusting soft slop. Kittypets don't respect the warrior code, or believe in StarClan!"

"Ohhhhh," the kittypet nodded calmly. "You mean a house cat."

"I mean kittypet!" Rabbitpaw bushed up his tail.

"Alright, fine." the kittypet flicked her ears. "It's just a bit patronizing, is all." She pushed to squirrel towards him. "Here, you can have the squirrel."

"Really?" Rabbitpaw said, surprised. "A Clan cat wouldn't just give it to someone like that."

"Remember, I'm not a Clan cat. And besides, I'm too busy eating 'rabbit droppings.'" She said drily. "One question - what's your name?"

Rabbitpaw picked up the squirrel. "Rabbitpaw." He said through the squirrel's thick fur. "Yours?"

"It's Arose." The tortoiseshell leaped back onto her fence. "See you around, Rabbitpaw."

"See you, kittypet." Rabbitpaw muttered back.

~

"Rabbitpaw, there you are!" Jumppaw bounded forwards once Rabbitpaw entered WindClan's camp. "Cloutfall was getting worried about you."

"Cloutfall? Worried?" Rabbitpaw dropped the squirrel in the prey pile. "I can hardly believe it."

"Well, he was looking for someone to pick Cedartail's ticks." Jumppaw shuddered. "But it's okay, he made me do it. So. Thanks." He sniffed the air. "Ew! You reek of Twolegplace."

"Don't even mention it," Rabbitpaw said tiredly. He picked out a vole from the prey pile, "I'm going to bring this to Leaftail and her kits," he meowed at his friend.

"C'mon, Rabbitpaw," Jumppaw teased. "You just want an excuse to visit Harekit."

Rabbitpaw bristled. "So what?"

Jumppaw raised his fluffy tail. "Nothing. Don't take it offensively."

"JUMPPAW!" A voice yelled from the medicine den. "You SAID you would help me sort herbs today!"

"That would be Wrenpaw." Jumppaw turned towards the voice. "COMING! See ya later, Rabbitpaw!" He bounded off towards the heather bush that was the medicine den.

Rabbitpaw sighed and headed towards the nursery, where three kits were playing in the entrance with their mother gazing affectionately at them.

"Good morning, Rabbitpaw," Leaftail purred sweetly. "Is that vole for me?"

Rabbitpaw placed the vole next to her. "Yup! And the kits. They've eaten today, right?"

"Yes." Leaftail sighed. "Everyone except Havenkit. He's never had much of an appetite."

"Rabbitpaw!" Harekit squeezed out of the entrance of the den. "Guess what? Today I caught a feather!" The tiny she-kit ran back inside the den and emerged again with an eagle feather. "It put up a huge fight," she boasted. "But I killed it! Havenkit saw. Right, Havenkit?"

The little gray tom peeked out of his nest. "Harekit faceplanted trying to catch it," he offered.

"HAVENKIT!" Harekit squeaked and pounced on her brother's tail. "Don't tell!"

Havenkit twitched his whiskers. "It's true, though."

Harekit cuffed his ears, "shut up!"

"Now, now, kits." Leaftail purred. "You musn't fight like that. Rabbitpaw brought us a vole."

"Vole?" Sapkit rolled over from his tussle with Dewkit. "Vole is my favourite!"

"You should've brought us a rabbit," Sedgekit remarked from the shade underneath the Tallrock. "I like rabbit the most."

"Hm," Rabbitpaw agreed. "It's not bad, but my favourite is lapwing. I don't think you kits have tried it yet; the skin's a bit too chewy."

"I bet I could eat a lapwing!" Harekit puffed out her chest. "I'm older then all the other kits! And I'm becoming an apprentice soon!"

"Alright." Rabbitpaw stifled a purr. "Let's go find you a lapwing to destroy."

|-|Chapter 3=

"So which one is a good lapwing?" Harekit asked as they neared the prey pile.

Rabbitpaw picked up a smaller one and layed it at Harekit's paws. "This one's a younger one, so it's flesh will be a bit easier to chew."

"Let's have a race!" Harekit suggested. "Whoever can finish their portion first, wins!"

"Sounds great to me!" Dewkit encouraged. "Alright. Three, two, one.. GO!"

"Eat! Eat!" Jumppaw emerged just in time out of the medicine den, his fur full of leaves.

"Jumppaw! You survived Wrenpaw's lectures," Rabbitpaw joked.

"Yes, but just barely." He replied darkly. "Now I smell like yarrow. I kinda like it."

"It's a great improvement," Rabbitpaw agreed.

"I FINISHED IT!" Dewkit declared, hopping up and down. "Yum!"

"Nooooooooooooo," Harekit said, despaired. "Now I'll never hear the end of it!"

Havenkit coughed. "I think I swallowed a feather," he croaked.

"Don't worry, you'll cough it up sooner or later," Jumppaw said knowingly, then twitched his ears thoughtfully. "At least, I always do."

"There you kits are!" Leaftail spotted them and hurried over. "What have you been up to?"

"I ate a whole chunk of lapwing," Dewkit bragged, strutting around with his tail stuck in the air.

"Oh, dear," Leaftail fretted. "I hope that doesn't give you a bellyache." She turned to Rabbitpaw and Jumppaw hopefully. "Could you bring him to see Doeleap? Just in case?"

"Of course," Rabbitpaw agreed, placing his tail on Dewkit. "We'll be back soon."

"Yep," called Jumppaw. "You can totally trust us with your child!"

"I know I can trust Rabbitpaw," Rabbitpaw heard Leaftail mutter, which made him laugh.

The three cats padded into the dark embrace of the medicine den, which smelled sharply of horsetail and marigold. In one corner, a dark figure was pawing at some leaves and muttering about something.

"Eyo, Wrenpaw!" Jumppaw greeted his sister. "Where's Doeleap? Dewkit has a bellyache."

"Goldenrod or catmint?" Wrenpaw burst out. "Oh. Sorry. I thought you were Doeleap. She's out finding herbs, if you were wondering."

"Okay." Jumppaw nudged Dewkit forwards. "Do you have anything to help his bellyache?"

Wrenpaw thought for a second. "I could give him some watermint," she suggested. "But you might want to find Doeleap, just in case."

"It's alright. I'll go find her." Rabbitpaw offered.

"Good luck!" Jumppaw called after him.

Rabbitpaw started towards to entrance of the camp, waving hello to Hazelstar, Darkheart, and her deputy, Sparrowheart.

"Good morning, Rabbitpaw." Hazelstar said politely. "Where are you going?"

"To find Doeleap," Rabbitpaw said curtly. "Dewkit has an upset stomach."

"Do need another cat to accompany you?" Hazelstar inquired.

"No, It'll just be a little bit." Rabbitpaw promised. "I'll be right back."

"Very well." Hazelstar went back to her conversation with Darkheart. He narrowed his cold blue eyes at Rabbitpaw, which made him shudder. There was always something about the dark tom that made Rabbitpaw shudder, but he was never quite sure why.

Maybe I'm just paranoid.

''Yeah. Paranoid.''

Rabbitpaw squeezed through the den entrance, breathing in the scent of wilting heather blossoms. He whisked his tail around and headed to WindClan's border with ThunderClan.

|-|Chapter 4=

"Doeleap!" Rabbitpaw called. "Where are you?"

He circled around the Outlook rock, calling her name.

He scented the air, and almost immediately picked up the stench of badger.

The camp!

Rabbitpaw quickly jumped onto the Outlook rock and looked towards the camp in the distance.

It looked safe from a distance, but he couldn't be sure.

"Doele-" Rabbitpaw was cut off by a snuffling noise behind him.

He turned around sharply and was greeted by a long, black snout with a white stripe in the middle of it's somewhat flat forehead. Yellowish teeth bared menecingly at him, beady black eyes glared malevolently at it's prey.

A badger.

Rabbitpaw had never seen a badger up close before, only once with Cloutfall when they were out hunting and saw a badger fighting a fox over a thrush. The badger won, with a savage swipe to the fox's muzzle with it's sharp claws.

Well, Rabbitpaw was going to experience one of those claws of he didn't act soon.

"Stay back!" He hissed as the badger took a lumbering step towards him.

It paused, as if it were questioning what Rabbitpaw was talking about.

Rabbitpaw bristled and stuck up his tail, trying not to look scared. "Yeah, that's right! Stay back!"

The badger thundered forwards once more.

Rabbitpaw instinctively took a swipe at the black and white creature's long muzzle, instantly regretting it.

The badger roared furiously, standing up on it's hind legs and bring it's paws down hard on the rock, shaking Rabbitpaw off of it.

Rabbitpaw screeched and fell to the barren moorland, scrabbling on the dirt to get up again.

He looked up and saw the badger, looming over him. It was silhouetted against the afternoon light, drool spilling out of it's sharp fangs.

"StarClan, help me!" Rabbitpaw shrieked as the badger lunged towards him. He raised his paws and brought them down the badger's nose, spinning around and dashing towards Twolegplace.

The badger growled and snapped at Rabbitpaw's hind leg, grazing it as he ran up the moor.

I'm almost there! Rabbitpaw's heart leapt as he spotted the Twoleg-fence.

The badger intercepted him and he was tackled to the ground. It's jaws closed around his tail, followed by a huge tug from the badger.

Rabbitpaw shrieked again and felt the badger tearing at his hindquarters. His legs and haunches were burning with pain, but the worst part was his tail; he couldn't feel it.

"Rabbitpaw!" He heard someone yell his name. The badger growled and thudded away from Rabbitpaw, relief flooding through him.

"Rabbitpaw," he saw Jumppaw appear in front of him, his pale green eyes bright with worry. "Rabbitpaw! Are you alive?"

He groaned.

"Jumppaw, give Rabbitpaw some space," he heard Cloutfall snap, then saw him push his way forwards.

"Sorry!" Jumppaw squeaked. "But that badger really took a big chunk out of-"

"Jumppaw, shush." Rabbitpaw heard Darkheart's voice scolding his apprentice.

"That poor kit," Cloutfall muttered.

I'm not a kit! Rabbitpaw wanted to yell, but the pain in his hind legs and tail seemed to stop him from saying anything.

"Let's get him back to camp." He could barely hear Darkheart say. If sounded as if he was far away, or underwater, but Rabbitpaw could see him standing right in front of him.

He closed his eyes, letting darkness engulf him.

|-|Chapter 5=

"Oh my goodness, what happened?" Leaftail shrieked as Darkheart, Cloutfall, Jumppaw and Rabbitpaw hobbled into camp.

"Badger." Cloutfall said gruffly. "Someone needs to go fetch Doeleap."

"I'll go," Sparrowheart volunteered. "Darkheart, come with me."

The dark tom narrowed his eyes, blue and glinting with something that Rabbitpaw couldn't quite detect. Excitement? Anticipation? He wasn't sure.

"Of course," Darkheart purred, and padded after Rabbitpaw's father.

"Rabbitpaw!" Wrenpaw hurried out of the medicine den. "Great StarClan! Your tail!"

"A badger ri - " Jumppaw started, then was silenced by a glare from Cloutfall.

What did the badger do? Rabbitpaw's heart raced with panic, twisting around to examine his tail.

He gasped, and held back tears. His tail was sticky with dark blood, making his fur spike up. Something white glinted beneath his fluffy fur, which Rabbitpaw guessed might be a bone. It was raw, and had prominent scratch marks all over.

But that wasn't even the worst part.

Almost all of his tail was shredded off.

Wrenpaw tried to guess what he was thinking, and blurted, "It's not.. that bad."

Jumppaw looked skeptical, but Wrenpaw smacked him in the mouth with her tail, silencing him.

"Cloutfall, could you please bring Rabbitpaw to the medicine den?" Wrenpaw said sweetly.

Cloutfall nodded and shifted Rabbitpaw into his back, following the medicine apprentice as she padded softly into the foreboding den.

~

"We need comfrey and dock." Wrenpaw decided.

"Jumppaw, go collect some cobwebs. Cloutfall, lay Rabbitpaw on that bed of moss."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Leaftail fretted.

"Keep the kits away." Wrenpaw said darkly.

"Kits? Do you mean us?" The silhouettes of Sapkit, Sedgekit and Dewkit peeked around Leaftail.

The brown and white tabby flicked her tail at the kits. "Shoo! Rabbitpaw needs to rest."

"Rest? Why?" The voice of Harekit squeaked behind her denmates.

"You heard Leaftail. Shoo. Shoo!" Jumppaw bopped his tail on Sapkit's head, his mouth full of cobwebs. "Get out!"

Sapkit giggled and ran out of the den, his littermates trailing after him, leaving only Harekit behind.

"I want to see what's wrong with Rabbitpaw," she protested as Jumppaw nudged her out of the den.

"You can later. Now go play with Havenkit." Leaftail commanded, following her kits with a nod at Wrenpaw.

"Playing with Havenkit is no fun anymore." Harekit muttered. "He's always sneezing or coughing." The gray and white she-kit walked reluctantly out of the den, waving her tail at Rabbitpaw.

"Chervil." Wrenpaw said, patting down some herbs onto Rabbitpaw's tail. "Cloutfall, bind this with goldenrod while I go get some poppy seeds."

"Eugh," Jumppaw spat out some cobweb onto the den floor. "Cobwebs taste like stringy vole; dusty and dry. Is this enough?"

"That's great." Wrenpaw nudged a leaf over to Rabbitpaw, and as he looked blearily closer, saw a few black seeds on it.

"Those are poppy seeds." Wrenpaw explained, pushing them a bit closer. "They help you sleep."

"I'm not sure I need them," Rabbitpaw croaked, but lapped a few up anyways. He curled up, paws over his nose, and closed his eyes once more.