Snowfern's POV

Blinking open my eyes, I could hear voices murmuring to each other. Light filtered through the entrance of the warriors den. I recognized the voices as Mistnose and Ripplecurrent. Watching them through narrowed eyes, they meowed to each other while Stormcloud snored beside his mate. "But don't you think she has let the power get to her head?" Ripplecurrent muttered, tail flicking. 

Mistnose shrugged, "I think she has a point. We need more warriors, and StreamClan doesn't have enough cats to support their Clan anyway! One Clan, working together, would keep us strong against those... insane creatures..." Ripplecurrent blinked at the gray she-cat but stayed silent for a few heartbeats, possibly considering it. "We have been two Clans for seasons upon seasons... I don't know if I would feel comfortable sleeping in the came camp as those fish-breathed cats. Plus, our ancestors would be so disappointed to find out we are teaming up with our enemies."

I sat up. "The infected are our enemies now," They shot a glance over their shoulders, eyes wide out of surprise. "I will do whatever I need to, to protect Dreampaw..."

Foxtuft stood up and stretched in her nest, but didn't say anything about the debate that was going on. She simply stalked out of the den without saying a word. Mistnose continued nonetheless, "I feel like your ancestors are nothing more than a tale you are all told as a kit. Even if they do watch over you, at a desperate time like this, I'm sure they won't judge!" She purred, as if this was a light topic, something you could joke about. Some of these outsiders are more ignorant than a kit...

"Our ancestors will judge. We are changing the warrior code!" Ripplecurrent growled. Mistnose's ears twitched. The orange she-cat persisted, "So, what? She's going to ask StreamClan to join our Clan as one, when they already think we are mouse-brained for the holes, that our leader decided to dig? Or are we going to take them by force? Those warriors will plan an attack on us in our sleep if they are forced to live with us!" 

I fluffed out my fur and cleaned it up. This whole 'attack StreamClan' idea is going too far. If only we could go back and start over... The thought of fighting possibly the only live cats left could be deadly to everyone, but to keep Dreampaw safe, working together could be the only way.

Mistnose slowly nodded to Ripplecurrent before adding, "I understand that but we need all of the warriors we can get. Silverstar wouldn't be leader if she didn't know what was good for us! We have to trust her." The thick-furred orange she-cat didn't say anything more, only got up and padded out of the den. 

Stormcloud jolted awake and looked around to be greeted with staring eyes. Confused, he left the den with his mate. I decided to follow, leaving Mistnose in the den by herself. 

When I entered the clearing, my pads were surged with warmth from the rocks below as they absorbed the suns' early rays. I kneaded my claws into the cracks and then headed to the fresh-kill pile. Dreampaw and Lionpaw tumbled around the clearing, hissing as they fought with sheathed paws. 

The fresh-kill pile was dangerously low. I considered eating later, when I could catch my own prey. If Dreampaw hasn't eaten, we could share that rabbit... I thought, mouth watering. Turning to the messy apprentice, I called, "Dreampaw, have you eaten?" She was too busy batting the fluffy orange tom to answer. I padded over to her and waited for her to see me. They stopped in mid-tumble, both tangled in a ball of orange and silver. 

"Hi, Snowfern!" She purred, releasing her grip from Lionpaw's scruff. She stood up and shook out her pelt, twigs and dead leaves flying off. She was as tall as me! Lionpaw was half of her size, but thicker with muscle. Dreampaw was slender, her pelt almost shining in the sun. I was filled with pride knowing she was growing up so quickly. It also worried me, but I couldn't think like that all of the time. "Have you eaten?" I repeated, tilting my head to the side. 

My energetic kit nodded, "Lionpaw, Hollowpaw, and I ate a big crow earlier!" I dipped my head and purred, licking the fur on the top of her head, "Good for you." She ducked away, obviously embarrassed. 

Silverstar emerged from her den. Her fur was already cleaned up, suggesting she had been up just as long as me. Crowflight was sitting beside her den, watching through blank eyes. Sparkdust finished her mouse and kicked it off the edge of the rocks to the grass below. Tigerstripe nodded to the small brown she-cat as he entered the camp, and ducked into the warriors den to sleep the day away. Sparkdust headed out after dipping her head to Crowflight.

Mistnose sat beside the entrance to the warriors den, cleaning herself. Ripplecurrent lay with Hollowpaw, basking in the sun. I felt bad that Dreampaw didn't ever play with the black-and-white tom like she did with Lionpaw. Lionpaw didn't exactly treat him fairly, either.

We all waited for Crowflight to announce patrols. Silverstar murmured something to the black deputy, and together they took a few heartbeats to talk to each other. I tried to listen to what they were saying, "-don't need to hear anymore of this battle." Crowflight muttered, eyes straight ahead. Silverstar hissed something I couldn't catch, her back to me. Crowflight's eyes turned to slits, and then looked the silver cat in the eyes. "-too far, we need to focus-" 

The chatter around me was too loud and too close for me to focus on one conversation. I shook my head and sighed. Anxiety made my heart speed up as thoughts swirled like a whirlpool in my brain. What will happen today? Will there be more infected dogs, or even Twolegs? Is today the day someone gets hurt? Will Dreampaw be able to fend for herself if a herd of infected comes in?

My thoughts were interrupted by Crowflight as he padded to the front of the gathered cats. "Alright, RockClan, it is another day in this chaotic world! On the bright side, we are alive and well." He started off; no one purred at his humor. The deputy continued, unfazed. "For the first patrol, we need more prey. Mistnose and Stormcloud, you two will hunt until you both have at least two fresh-kill each. Foxtuft, take Snowfern and Lionpaw to patrol the territory as well as hunting whatever you come across. In the meantime, try to get some training in, too, Snowfern." Crowflight made eye contact with me as Mistnose and Stormcloud headed out. The tom touched noses with Ripplecurrent as he passed by. I nodded to the deputy and stood up. 

"I will take Dreampaw and Hollowpaw out for training," He announced. Silverstar shot a glare at him. "I can take them out, I'm capable." She snapped. The deputy stood up, chin raised, and insisted, "No worries, Silverstar, we need someone here to protect camp. I figured you could do that instead of taking the apprentices out." Before the leader could argue anymore, Blossomfrost popped out of the nursery den with her three energized kits bounding in behind her, asking if she could bring her kits out for a short walk.

Crowflight pondered it and met eyes with the last remaining warrior in the camp: Ripplecurrent. I figured she already knew what he was about to say because she stood up. "Ripplecurrent, you can protect Blossomfrost and her kits while they explore. I suggest taking them toward the lake, away from the outside barrier." The light brown she-cats' eyes lit up and then quickly gathered up her kits. 

Foxtuft led us out of the camp. Behind us, we could hear the excited meows of the three kits. I looked over my shoulder and purred. "We're going to the lake, mother?" Lilykit chirped, and Blossomfrost nodded, nudging her forward with her nose. 

"I'm going to catch the biggest mouse ever today!" Deerkit boasted, chest puffed out. Darkkit wriggled his haunches behind his brother and pounced on him, "Not if I get to it first!" Deerkit scrambled to get up as Darkkit took off. Blossomfrost hurried to catch up with them while Lilykit trotted in behind her, taking in the scenery. Ripplecurrent stayed by her side and together they followed the two kits as Blossomfrost fought to keep up.

I stopped staring when Foxtuft began to speak. "We should start off by checking the Gathering Place for any outsiders. I've noticed a trail of smoke bellowing into the sky some nights... It could very well mean we have Twolegs outside of our territory. After that, we should check the farthest border." I nodded as she spoke. We headed straight for the Gathering Place.

We trotted to the Gathering Place, and by the time we neared the clearing the sky was growing dark from white clouds. It felt nice to have a break from the warm sun. The wind blew around us, sending chills down my spine. Leaf-fall was coming, and soon prey would be even more scarce. 

From the moment we hit the clearing, I could smell the odd scent of Twolegs. It was still fresh. "We should check in behind the rock together," I meowed. Foxtuft nodded and with Lionpaw in between us, we slowly made our way toward the smell. It continued to get stronger until we got to a couple of thick bushes. 

Lionpaw pushed past us and before we could stop him, he stuck his head into the bush. We waited for him to tell us what he was seeing. Automatically, Foxtuft and I exchanged glances, knowing what he seen by the way his fur spiked up. He backed up and whispered, "There are two Twolegs huddled together around a circle of rocks. There are three nests, so I think there's a third!" 

Concern filled Foxtuft's eyes. "Good observing," I meowed to the tom, and then chose the next move. "We should leave them alone and tell Silverstar-" but Foxtuft stopped me. "We will tell Crowflight. Silverstar makes decisions too quickly." I obeyed even though I didn't agree. The leader should be informed first, not the deputy. I thought, but I kept it to myself.

After that, we headed to the farthest border to check on Sparkdust and the traps. We were all silent.

***

We followed the farthest border toward StreamClan's side. None of us had said anything since we had discovered the Twolegs. Just then, a screech echoed through the sky. The patrol froze for a split heartbeat, just enough time to take in that someone was in trouble. 

Together, we bolted toward the scream. Foxtuft stopped, but neither Lionpaw nor me stopped with her or took the time to see what she was doing. She caught up again with a sharpened stick, teeth marks on the end showing that she did it on her own. We passed by blurred barriers and deep holes as we raced to help the cat in need. The scream came again, but this time we could see who was yelping. Sparkdust batted at two massive, bloody dogs as they snapped at her and entered the territory. She was limping. My heart skipped a beat; knowing she was injured gave me the adrenaline I needed to get there before they cornered her. 

Bolting toward the nearest dog, I bunched up my leg muscles and pounced at it. All fear was lost for once in my life. I shoved the dog back with all the power in me, but he only fell onto his side instead of tumbled away. The thick furred, black-and-brown dog snapped at me with its long snout, but I dodged every bite. I sliced his face and lured him out of the territory while Foxtuft jabbed the stick through the other dogs' soft, rotting skull. Getting the stick in was easy, but getting it out was the hard part. Foxtuft didn't waste time trying to get it out, instead she left the limp carcass and came to help me.

As the dog came stumbling closer to the side of the hole, she bounded toward it and with one massive push, she sent it rolling into the trap. It landed on top of a moaning cat. The cat stopped moaning. 

Foxtuft and I ran to Sparkdust's side. She was already leaning on Lionpaw for support. Lionpaw eyed her front leg. There was a bleeding bite, only small but deadly... My heart sank. We're too late...

Sparkdust's breath was raspy and her eyes were wide with fright. "I'm okay! It-it's only small, maybe I wont turn?! Don't tell Silverstar! I-I'll be fine!" She begged, her fur fluffed out. We all exchanged uncertain glances. None of us seemed to know what to say. "I don't want to die!" Her voice cracked. Grief welled up inside of me, a lump of sorrow stuck in my throat. I tried to swallow it, but it refused to diminish.

Finally Foxtuft said something. "We won't let you turn. We must tell Silverstar, if not her, we will tell Crowflight and Shadowflower," Foxtuft mewed. Her voice got low as she pressed her russet colored head to the horrified she-cats cheek, "but there is no way to help you."

***

I squeezed my eyes shut and rested my tail over my muzzle. The night was slowly going by, but I still couldn't fall asleep. Stormcloud's snoring usually was like a lullaby, but that night it was more annoying than anything. I adjusted my position by flipping over and even stretching. 

No matter what I did, I couldn't sleep. Anxiety filled my head with possible - and impossible - scenarios. That could have happened to anyone... No one is safe. 

Sparkdust's whimper could be heard through out the camp. It echoed through the silent night. I felt like whimpering myself. The fever was setting in and by the next morning, Shadowflower would have to have her... taken care of. We promised her to not let her turn, so she could live for eternity with her kin in SoulClan. This meant the goal was to put her into permanent sleep before that happened. 

Her whines filled my ears, and haunted my dreams after I finally managed to pass out. I stirred and rolled, unable to get the images of her horrified face out of my memories.