There was a cat laying still in the center of camp. Sootkit didn't know why, and nobody seemed to want to tell him.

Every warrior he approached simply shooed him away, telling him it was best if he stayed in the nursery. Which seemed unfair because it seemed as if everyone in MountainClan was gathered outside.

Finally, the kit managed to stop an apprentice, Twigpaw. "What's that black tom doing laying in the middle of camp?" He asked him.

"That's Shadeclaw." Twigpaw answered, looking down. "He died this morning."

"What? Died?"

The apprentice nodded. "Of greencough."

Sootkit stood still. Isn't that what whitecough becomes?

The kit opened his mouth to ask something else, but held his tongue when he saw Twigpaw already leaving.

His mind went back to yesterday's conversation,

"Are you telling me my son is going to die?" Spiderfur had demanded.

"I have to see Antkit." Sootkit murmured.

He whipped around towards the medicine den, seeing Sparrowflight walking around in there. He must have already paid his respects to Shadeclaw.

Cautiously, he began approaching, desperately trying to come up with an excuse. Suddenly, his eyes met the medicine cat's. They both immediately broke contact, but for Sootkit, that was enough. The brown tabby's yellow eyes didn't hold that fear that Sagepaw's had three days ago.

To him, he was Sootkit. Not Spiderfur.

The kit picked up his stride until he came into the den. "Um, hey Sparrowflight?"

"What is it, Sootkit? You know you're not supposed to be in here."

"I know. It's that..." He took a moment to gather himself, before speaking with a confident tone that he had been practicing the first time he planned to come. "I want to see Antkit."

"You're not allowed to." Was his immediate response.

Sootkit, who didn't know what to expect, paused. Words like "Wait," and "But" fell out of his mouth as he tried his best to stay in front of the moving adult and keep his attention. "I-I haven't been able to talk to him, you know."

Sparrowflight paused for a moment, to Sootkit's relief. He looked up and sighed, before turning back to the kit below him.

"Listen, Sootkit. I know you want to see your brother. But you know what might happen if-."

"It'll only be a minute!" The kit insisted. "I just want to see how he is!"

The medicine cat's eyes were pitiful. "I'm sorry, but you know I can't let you."

Sootkit stared at him, feeling his lips tremble. Sparrowflight was clearly unhappy with what he had said, but he had spoken in a stern tone that let the kit know that he would not be swayed.

For a second, he wanted to stomp his foot and cry out that it wasn't fair.

But then Sagepaw walked past them as she entered the den, giving the almost trembling kit a confused look. Sootkit gave her one look, recalled those fearful eyes from three days ago, and left without a word.

The crowd around Shadeclaw had dispersed the tiniest bit, so he could finally see. The black tom was laid in a lifelike position, as if he was only sleeping and not dead.

To other cats, that would have been comforting. To Sootkit, it was downright disturbing. Instead of running over and squeezing in between the crowd like he had meant to a moment ago, he rushed straight into the nursery. There, he immediately curled up in his nest, praying that this depressing day would just end.

At one point, he managed to doze off. He dreamed that he was once again outside, the camp more full than it had ever been, so much that even moving around was difficult. Looking over the hundreds of heads, Sootkit saw a small clear area, and began weaving his way through the crowd towards it. When he got to the center clearing, he saw another unmoving cat in the middle of it. Except, this time it wasn't Shadeclaw propped up unnaturally in a lifelike position. It was Antkit.

Sootkit woke up, chilled to the bone and gasping for air. He unconsciously jumped to his feet and started staggering out of the nest before his mind caught up with him. He was in the nursery.

Antkit was alive.

Sootkit looked around, gulped, and with weak legs settled back into his nest, sitting hunched. Fear washed over him in cold waves.

He had to see his brother.

He peeked once more towards the entrance. Dim rays of light were coming through. Although he didn't feel like he had rested for long, apparently he had. The sun was setting.

Hesitantly, the tom stood up and headed outside.

The crowd around Shadeclaw was almost entirely gone, with only three or four cats still gathered, either just sitting there or touching their noses to his fur.

Sootkit walked around them, before settling into a corner. The medicine den was in perfect view from there.

He knew that he wouldn't be allowed near Antkit if he waited for permission an adult, so he decided to do the next best thing.

Sneak in at night.

Sootkit gazed up at the darkening clouds overhead. It looked so gloomy, as if the sky itself was grieving Shadeclaw.

Speaking of Shadeclaw...

The elders were leaving their den now. At first, the kit assumed that they also planned to pay respects. But instead, Wolfheart and Coldwind gingerly lifted the deceased tom onto Sunlight's shoulders, and the three of them left camp.

Sootkit didn't what they were doing, but he had a feeling that he would never see Shadeclaw again.

It seemed the ritual had finally finished, as, in the last of the sun's rays, the last cats who had been left grieving at last retired to the warrior den.

Placing his head on his paws, Sootkit glanced towards the medicine den, still seeing movement inside. Part of him was tempted to go wait in the nursery. He quickly dismissed that idea, deciding that it would be better to keep the den in view at all times.

Sure enough, the second he saw Sparrowflight and Sagepaw retire to their room, he stood up and crept up to the den, pressing himself against the outside wall and perking his ears for the slightest sounds.

When the sky became completely dark, and still no movement was heard, he entered.

The den was pitch black inside, which didn't take him by surprise but still did a good job at discouraging him. For a moment, he seriously considered giving up and returning outside, where the world was visible and familiar.

He then steadied himself, took a few comforting breaths, and blinked until his eyes adjusted. Then, he looked around.

This part of the den was where the herbs were stored, and he could often see the medicine cat's working there from outside. There were two openings to his left and right.

He crept towards the right den and took a breath, wrinkling it at the scent of disease. But then he took another sniff, and the comforting familiarity of his brother's smell beckoned him inside.

This room was a lot bigger than the initial opening, and he could see various beds scattered around the floor. In the corner, a hulking shape breathed rhythmically. But in the center, there slept a figure in a nest that was much too big him.

There he saw Antkit for the first time in six days.

All worry about noise immediately left him, and he rushed up to his brother with echoing pawsteps, and shook him by the shoulder. "Antkit! Wake up!"

Antkit, the notoriously heavy sleeper he was, turned his head away. Sootkit's prodding grew harder, and he finally lifted his head.

"Wha-?" Was all he managed to get out before being interrupted by a dry coughing fit.

Sootkit jumped back and stood there, unsure of what to do. Purely because he had seen other warriors do it before, he crept up behind Antkit and clapped his back a few times.

Antkit eventually finished coughing, and looked back towards his brother. He didn't say anything this time, but his expectant gaze told Sootkit what he was trying to say. What are you doing here?

Sootkit stared quietly back at his brother. Where six days ago a coughing but otherwise strong and healthy kit had been dropped off, now stood a bony imposter. His mossy green eyes still held power and emotion, but were now sunken into his skull and tinged red.

"I came here to see you." Sootkit whispered finally. "I missed you."

Antkit looked alarmed. He held as much awareness as Sootkit had of the consequences that could arise from this.

The echo of pawsteps sounded in the other room, making both kits jump. Without a word Sootkit jumped over Antkit's thin body and curled up against his back, facing the wall and making sure that only the black portions of his fur were visible. He and Antkit both closed their eyes, Sootkit blend in to the darkness while Antkit pretended to be sleeping.

The pawsteps entered their room, along with the strong scent of mint and juniper that signified Sagepaw. 

The two laid perfectly still as the medicine cat apprentice's steps grew closer to them, before they suddenly heard a sniff an inch away from them. They waited for something to happen, but for a long time, nothing did.

Sootkit was confused. Surely she could smell him. Why wasn't she speaking out and sending him away? Adding to his bewilderment, her footsteps began leaving.

When he thought she was gone, he let out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding, and opened his eyes... only to be met with Sagepaw's bright green eyes, staring directly at him from the entrance of the den.

Neither of them moved for a few moments, only staring silently at each other, Sootkit fearful and Sagepaw completely unreadable. Eventually, Sootkit worked up the courage to break eye contact, glancing down at his brother to make sure that his eyes were still closed.

When he looked back at the medicine cat apprentice, only to see her originally emotionless eyes full of pity. To his utter shock, she gave him the slightest nod, and turned around and left the den.

The confused tom continued staring dumbly, until Antkit finally stirred and knocked him out of the state.

"Is she gone?" The brown tom whispered, trying to find a more comfortable position.

"...Yeah. She is." Was Sootkit's reply.

Antkit's green eyes opened, full of relief. He then turned and glared at his brother, and abruptly kicked him off the nest. "Mousebrain." He muttered. "Do you know how much trouble we could have gotten into." His voice weakened towards the end of it. He took a gasping breath, and immediately descended into another coughing fit.

Antkit turned away, trying his best to muffle them, while Sootkit looked away and flattened his ears, hating the sound of the dry hacking. Luckily, the frail kit soon got his coughing under control.

"Are you okay?" Sootkit murmured. Antkit nodded automatically.

The black and white kit said nothing, but instead started climbing back into the nest, pressing his back against his brother's. Maybe if he ignored how the kit's jutting spine was digging into his backside, it would be just like old times in the nursery.

Antkit gave a sigh of protest, but didn't kick him out again. The two lay like that for a few minutes, before Antkit got bored.

"So how's the outside world?" The brown tom breathed.

"Same as always, except more boring  because you're gone." Sootkit answered monotonously. "How has staying in here for so long gone? I probably would have gone insane by now."

"It's been nice, actually." Antkit chuckled. "But the company's nice, at least. Sagepaw tries her best to make sure we're all happy and comfortable. And Hailfall," he pointed with his tail at the cat sleeping in the corner, "She's talks a lot, and her voice is really funny. She likes making jokes about the medicine cats behind their backs. But the best one here is Shadeclaw. He tells the best stories about our clan. He's not here today, for some reason. Did you know that he remembers when Stormstar was born?"

Change the subject. Change the subject. Change the subject.

"Uh-huh." Sootkit replied uneasily. "Um...."

It finally came to him. "You know about that cat who led you to the medicine den for the first time?"

"...Yeah."

"What was his name?"

Antkit paused for a few seconds. "His name was Losteye." He finally murmured.

Oh. So that's why I couldn't see-.

"Don't tell anyone!" Antkit was suddenly facing him again. "He told me not to tell."

"O-okay." He answered quickly. The brown kit nodded and turned back, allowing Sootkit to go back into his own thoughts.

Losteye, huh. Disturbing, but self-explanatory. Maybe he intimidated Antkit into not spilling his name.

Wait.

"If he told you not to tell, why are you telling me?"

Antkit shrugged. "It just seemed not use keeping a secret anymore. It's not like he can come and punish me for spilling it or something. Being in here so long is punishment enough."

The kit fell silent after that. Sootkit's eyes narrowed in concern.

"Hey, um, are you sure you're okay?"

Antkit said nothing, and for a moment Sootkit thought he had fallen asleep. Then the sick tom sighed deeply, and he once again became aware of jutting spine stabbing him in the back.

"I don't know."