My mind felt like it was about to explode. Ever since I got Raincreek's warning some days ago, I had been restless, tossing and turning in my mossy nest.

Rosepaw was so annoyed that she moved her nest to the far side of the apprentices' den. Despite my string of apologies, she was still fuming mad.

At least Dustpaw and Spottedpaw did not seem to mind or they had just simply decided not to say anything. As for Stormpaw, he was too tired to notice.

Training moved on as usual. The fresh-kill pile was as empty as it was a moon ago. Nothing had changed except for the rapidly decreasing stock of catmint. Due to the hunger that hung in the Clan, more cats became weaker and sickly.

Even with the catmint, the Clan is still suffering, I thought bleakly, staring at the empty fresh-kill pile.

The thorn barrier rustled as a patrol returned. Featherheart, who seemed to be the leader, was only holding a tiny mouse. The other members of the patrol looked discouraged as they showed up with nothing.

Woodspots padded up to the patrol, his eyes revealing the exhaustion he felt throughout the entire leaf-bare.

"That's all you could find?" he asked.

Featherheart nodded meekly. I watched the exchange closely, curious about Woodspots' reaction.

The ThunderClan deputy sighed. "Bring it to Kinktail. I will organise another hunting patrol."

As the white she-cat went to bring the prey to the elder, I spotted Stormpaw coming out of the apprentices' den. As he neared me, I noticed that his eyes almost looked lifeless.

"Stormpaw," I called after him, alarmed. "Are you okay? You should rest if you are tired."

"I'm... fine," the grey apprentice murmured.

I stood in front of him, stopping my denmate in his tracks. "You are not going anywhere," I meowed. "I'm going to bring you to Aspenfern and-"

Before I even finished my sentence, Stormpaw collapsed. My eyes widened in shock as I rushed towards him. I placed my paw on his forehead and I realised that it was burning.

I was too weak to carry Stormpaw on my own, so I called for help. Luckily, Antfall was nearby. The light brown tom brought the unconscious Stormpaw to the medicine cat den.

Flamecloud was tending to the sick cats while Aspenfern was nowhere to be seen.

"What's the matter?" the flame coloured she-cat asked sharply.

"Stormpaw fainted," I explained quickly. "I think he is having a fever."

"I'll take care of him," Flamecloud mewed. "Just put him there."

With Antfall's help, I got Stormpaw onto a nest. I thanked the warrior for his help as I gazed at Stormpaw.

"Well, get out of here," the medicine cat meowed in an unfriendly manner. "Unless you want to get sick too."

"O-oh okay," I mewed, quickly exiting the medicine cat den. Get well soon, Stormpaw.

He always works so hard, I sighed, shivering against the cold. Because of that, he became ill.

Streamripple, who had just returned from a patrol, padded over to me. Seeing my sombre expression, she stood next to me.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

Knowing that I cannot - and should not - dodge the question, I responded glumly. "Stormpaw collapsed just now. He must have overworked himself and gotten sick in the process."

"I should have noticed that he was starting to slow down during the joint training sessions," I continued, upset. "But I was too obsessed with my own problems to realise."

Streamripple rested her tail on my shoulder as a sign of comfort. "It's not your fault and you know that."

I smiled weakly. Strangely, all it took was one simple sentence to make me feel better.

"Thank you," I mewed. "I'm feeling better now."

My mentor nodded. "Come, we are doing pair hunting today. There's not much prey in the forest, but we may get lucky."

"You just got back from a patrol," I pointed out worriedly. "You must be tired."

"It's okay," Streamripple reassured me.

It felt too awkward to argue that she should rest in camp, so I gave in. "All right, let's go," I mewed, taking the lead.

The brown and white she-cat caught up with me as we headed out of camp together.

I wonder if I actually a cat who exists in this world, would I have acknowledged Streamripple as a mother figure?

No, I don't need to be, I thought, glancing at her with a small smile on my face. I already have regarded you as a mother figure.

~~~~

"There's a mouse over there," Streamripple whispered, gesturing towards some bushes in between tree trunks.

I nodded, noticing the tiny rodent chewing on seeds inside the bushes. Even if I managed to get close without the mouse noticing, I wouldn't be able to reach it.

"I'll stand on the other side," she meowed. "Chase the mouse towards me."

Once we got into position, I ran towards the prey, who squeaked in terror, rushing in Streamripple's direction.

The squeaking stopped as Streamripple succeeded in catching the mouse.

She padded up to me with a tired smile. "It's not much, but little prey is better than nothing."

"Hunting in pairs is much easier than alone," I commented.

"Yes," Streamripple mewed, burying the prey. "Let's continue."

"I can go on ahead to look for more," I offered. The long dawn patrol should have worn her out along with the lack of prey, but she still insisted to go hunting with me.

Luckily, my mentor nodded. "I'll catch up in a heartbeat. Go ahead."

I went up ahead, hoping to catch the scent of new prey. Oddly, it did not take long for me to sniff out a fresh squirrel scent.

I was excited. A squirrel would be able to feed many mouths in the Clan.

However, as I neared the squirrel's supposed location, I began to feel uneasy. Due to my excitement, I was making a fair bit of noise.

The prey should have heard it and ran off as far as possible, but it seemed to be staying still. Silently cursing under my breath for being so careless, I sped up and burst into a clearing.

That was when I discovered Spottedpaw with the leftovers of the squirrel I scented.

----------------------------------------------------------

By the way, I'm planning to add more cats into the allegiances so that it is much easier for me to write battles and short stories of this book in the future.

Remember to vote and comment if you enjoyed. :)