Lilypetal's POV

I took a heavy, deep breath as I watched Jayfeather hover over Thornclaw for what felt like the hundredth time. I sat close by, trying to interpret every single facial expression or action that Jayfeather made. It seemed to be at least half of how I had been spending my time for days, now.

Thornclaw had now been lying in the medicine den for a quarter of a moon now, and to my dismay, he didn't seem to be getting much better. The smallest spark of hope that I had was the fact that I had watched him pop in and out of consciousness at least twice. Unfortunately though, each time I had been there to see that happen, Jayfeather would then kick me out of the medicine den immediately, because I would press him with countless questions.

After about half a day would pass by, luckily, Jayfeather would let me back in.

When I wasn't in the medicine den, I was trying to keep extremely busy. I had to be doing something, otherwise my mind would go immediately to the image of my potentially dying mate, and the worst case scenario. I had tried to go on every patrol that was offered to me. I felt like I did at least two hunting patrols and one border patrol a day.

When I wasn't doing that, I was in the medicine den or eating a meal with many other cats to distract me. Luckily the Clan had been very kind to me, inviting me on their patrols and offering to eat with me.

I had actually just finished a quick meal with Cloudtail, Brightheart and Whitewing at sunhigh when I decided to check in on Jayfeather and my mate.

"Jayfeather..." I murmured to the gray tabby tom, after I had watched him tend to Thornclaw for many heartbeats.

Jayfeather let out a loud huff and rolled his deep blue eyes towards me. "Lilypetal, if you ask me one more time how Thornclaw is, I'll give you a few scratches and throw you into this nest with him."

I couldn't suppress a small hiss as I flattened my ears. Obviously, I knew that Jayfeather hadn't meant what he said, but it probably would still sound incredibly upsetting to some.

I just sighed and shook my head slowly. Sometimes I wonder how Snowflight was able to tolerate him for so long...

I then suddenly felt a large pang of sympathy towards Jayfeather. Clearly he was just incredibly frustrated right now, and I wasn't making things any better for him. I had to give him lots of credit, for he was spending all of his time trying to save Thornclaw, as difficult as he thought that it may be to do.

And, he was doing it all by himself. Leafpool dropped in whenever she could, and when Jayfeather would let her, but Jayfeather was carrying most of the burden.

If only Snowflight was still here, I realized. She would be such a big help with all of this pressure that Jayfeather is under...

I then shook my head quickly. Well, I suppose she kind of is... but nevertheless, I don't think that Snowkit would have all of the expertise she would need to grasp, unfortunately.

After I took a few heartbeats to compose myself after Jayfeather's words. "Sorry. I'll leave you alone," I muttered. "But I'm coming back later. Count on that."

Jayfeather simply let out a small grunt as I left the medicine den. I sat just a fox-length in front of the entrance, suddenly realizing how much I was shaking.

I don't know how much more I can take of this, I realized to myself. I miss Thornclaw so much. I'm so scared. I just want to know if there's any hope, but the more Jayfeather treats him, the less he'll tell me.

I suddenly felt my eyes well up with overwhelming emotion. I'm so, so scared...

I couldn't suppress a small whimper as I stared at the ground, shaking my head slowly.

"Lilypetal, are you okay?"

As I heard the kind voice, my ears flicked, and I turned around to see my mother, Mistpelt, standing behind me. Her blue eyes were filled with undeniable concern.

As much as I should appreciate Mistpelt's support, at this point, the last thing I wanted to do was talk to any cat.

I answered my mother, my voice breaking as I spoke, "No. I'm not..."

Mistpelt's eyes widened and suddenly filled with an overwhelming amount of sympathy. More sadness welled up in my hazel eyes, and I felt myself suddenly needing to run away. Before my mother could say anything else, I let out another whimper and then proceeded to whisper, "I have to go."

Without saying anything else, I pelted out of ThunderClan camp and into the forest. I needed to leave the normal routine of Clan life for a moment and clear my head. After running for several heartbeats, I finally stopped near the Ancient Oak, taking a deep breath. There wasn't much hope in getting me to calm down, but wearing myself out wasn't going to help, either.

I began to take a stroll through ThunderClan territory, knowing fully that I would not be able to return to camp any time soon in the condition that I was in.

I tried to take my mind off my spiraling and swirling thoughts, looking up and enjoying the blessing of sunlight and warm weather, as leaf fall was approaching, and warmth wouldn't be around for too much longer. I took in every clearing, bush, and hole. It was the only way I felt I could cope at the moment.

I actually thought I was succeeding in clearing my mind, up until my eyes caught sight of a juniper berry bush that had now become very familiar to me in recent moons. It wasn't the juniper berry bush itself, but what was underneath it that was very near and dear to my heart.

This is where Snowflight is buried...

Suddenly, looking at this, I was overtaken by an unbearable amount of anger, grief, and sadness. My thoughts filled with images of Ashfur, and the horrible, smug look he gave me every time I saw him, dead or alive. My mind then flashed to images of Snowflight, Thornclaw, and even the fire that swept ThunderClan's camp that felt like seasons ago, when I first found out about Ashfur's wrath.

Sheer anger bubbling up inside me, I began to rake my claws into the dry earth, not being able to suppress a loud growl of frustration.

Ashfur... that sick Ashfur, has taken so much away from me, I thought angrily. All I did was expose him for who he really was and send him away. Who knew that it would happen practically at the cost of my family?

I unleashed all of my fury, raking my claws into the ground and shredding grass for what felt like moons. When I became too tired to do it anymore, I let out an exhausted huff and let myself fall to the ground. I felt numb with grief all over again, and I had no idea when I would decide to get up.

In my grief, I wondered if I even had any reason to get up for a while, failing to even think about the whole of ThunderClan, Mistpelt, or Goldenshine. My mind felt too foggy to even think clearly at this point.

It felt as if I had lied in the same place for several moons before I suddenly heard quick pawsteps come up from behind me.

"Lilypetal?" I heard a soft voice murmur.

I rolled onto my other side to see the brown tabby-and-white pelt of Leafpool, standing a couple of fox-lengths from where I was lying.

"Hi, Leafpool," I meowed, forcing myself to sit up and speak kindly. "Do you need something?"

As I was speaking, I noticed, through lots of sympathy, there was a very noticeable glimmer of excitement in Leafpool's amber eyes.

"Yes, actually," she meowed, her eyes still glimmering. "I need you to come back to camp as soon as you can, if that's okay?"

My heart began to beat faster as my eyes slowly widened.

Leafpool seemed to notice what I was probably thinking. She lashed her tail before announcing, "Thornclaw's awake."

I couldn't suppress a sigh of incredible relief as the former medicine cat then meowed, smiling. "Awake for real this time."

Jayfeather's done it! I exclaimed to myself. I'm sure Leafpool was helping too, considering she was the one to come and get me. "That's amazing, Leafpool!" I purred. "Thanks.... thank you so much!"

Leafpool smiled and then dipped her head. "He's already looking better," she informed me. Her eyes became even brighter as she then told me, "He's going to be okay, Lilypetal."

For the first time in a quarter moon, I had felt truly happy. I didn't have to fake it anymore. Of course, my grudge and anger I had with Ashfur would never, ever go away as long as I lived, but hearing that Thornclaw was going to be okay brought me up more than I could ever imagine.

As I was suddenly at a loss for words, I felt Leafpool nudge me with her tail. I looked up to see her nodding her head in the direction of camp. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go!"

Taking another deep, relieved breath, I then proceeded to trot after Leafpool towards camp. My mind was spinning all over again, but luckily for a better reason now. I was wondering how Thornclaw would be acting, if he would be happy to see me, or... if he could maybe explain what had happened to him?

With Leafpool now right behind me, I burst through the camp entrance and trotted quickly towards the medicine den and practically leaped inside.

"Jayfeather!" I exclaimed, padding up to where I saw him still hovering over Thornclaw. "Leafpool told me that Thornclaw was awake?"

My heart was then overwhelmed with warmth and love as I heard a weak, but familiar voice come from behind the medicine cat, "Awake... but extremely exhausted..."

I looked down to the ground and shook my head slowly, hiding my gigantic smile as I saw Thornclaw try to peer his head around Jayfeather. "Lilypetal, is that you?" He croaked. His eyes widened, then he exclaimed, "Oh my StarClan, come here!"

My eyes welled up with emotion again as I saw his precious ginger face. "You don't have to tell me twice!" I murmured before running over to lie beside him and digging my muzzle into my mate's fur. I already noticed that Jayfeather had backed away to stand by Leafpool. I heard Briarlight, who was also in the den, let out a quiet purr of laughter. I felt Thornclaw try to lift his head to touch his muzzle to mine.

I let out a faint purr and raised up my tail. "Don't you dare move!" I whispered to him. "There's no way I'm letting you get worse. Not now."

"If you were anyone else, I'd probably listen to that command," Thornclaw murmured, finally being able to brush his muzzle against mine. "Too bad that I love you a little too much to sit still..."

I closed my eyes as Thornclaw's muzzle touched mine, letting his familiar and warm scent flood through my nose. Great StarClan, I'm so happy... I thought as I then dug my face into his ginger fur, my eyes welling up with emotion all over again.

"I thought you were supposed to be the one worrying about me leaving you behind..." I whispered to Thornclaw as I felt him wrap his tail around my back. My heart melted as I heard Thornclaw let out a purr of amusement, one of many things I thought I would never hear again.

"How about none of the above?" He purred, lifting up my chin with his tail so I'd meet his gaze. Looking at his glowing pale blue eyes, I couldn't help but touch my muzzle to his again before pulling away.

"I'm glad your beautiful face was one of the first things I got to see when I woke up..." he muttered as we got lost into each other's eyes.

"Oh, hush it," I purred, rolling my eyes. "Cut Jayfeather some slack, for StarClan's sake!"

I heard Jayfeather snort from behind me and Leafpool let out a quiet purr of amusement. The both of them had moved over to the herb stock to give Thornclaw and I a bit of privacy.

Becoming more serious again, I didn't avert my gaze from Thornclaw's pale blue eyes, and whispered. "Never scare me like that again!" Rubbing my cheek against his, I then meowed, "I love you so much."

"I love you too, Lilypetal," Thornclaw purred. "Don't worry, this cat isn't going for a long time yet!"

As I let out one last purr, I noticed Thornclaw's glittering gaze suddenly darken.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, beginning to panic. "Are you in pain?"

Thornclaw shook his head immediately. "No, that's not it. In fact, I feel better than I have in quite a while."

Thornclaw then looked ahead as he continued, "It's just... no cat here knows the situation of what even happened to me..." He shut his eyes, then growling, "And unfortunately, I don't think they'll be able to."

I narrowed my eyes. By now, it had all pretty much come together for me, and I think I had a pretty good guess as to what had happened to my mate.

"...Did this happen in the Dark Forest?" I reluctantly asked.

Thornclaw sat silently for a few heartbeats, and then hesitantly nodded.

Sighing, I looked away from Thornclaw for the first time since he had woken up. At this point, I had come to terms with the fact that he was training in the Dark Forest, but it didn't change the fact that it terrified me that he was there, and clearly putting himself in danger.

I took a deep breath and faced Thornclaw again. "Who did this to you?" I forced out. "...Even though I think I may know."

His gaze still dark, Thornclaw nodded. "You do."

Another wave of anger then swept through me. My speculations had been correct. I was almost sure at this point that my dream, or nightmare rather, had been real, and that Ashfur really had visited me and threatened me all over again.

Thornclaw went on with an explanation, whispering, "Swiftkit... really is training in the Dark Forest. I saw him... and told him that it probably wasn't a good idea for him to be there."

That's precisely what Ashfur told me not to do, I realized to myself. I'm sure Thornclaw wasn't an exception.

My eyes widened as Thornclaw went on, "Ashfur, as you would expect, didn't like that. That's when he attacked me, and I ended up as I am now."

"Wow," I whispered, suddenly feeling winded with all of the information that was just thrown at me. "What do we do?"

"I don't know," Thornclaw murmured. "I really don't."

I sighed, suddenly feeling stressed and dismayed all over again. Sure, Ashfur wasn't alive anymore and directly couldn't do anything to anyone, but unfortunately, the fact that he was dead meant that we couldn't stop him from what he could do.

As I began to drown in scary thoughts, I suddenly was pulled from them as I felt Thornclaw running his tail down my flank. "Hey, what are we being such downers for?" He meowed, sounding much happier all of the sudden and pulling myself closer to him. "Everything will be okay. Trust me."

I met Thornclaw's pale blue gaze again. "I'll believe you once that ashy-gray fleabag is defeated once and for all..." I muttered through gritted teeth. But, I then took a deep breath and tried to focus on what was in front of me - my mate was awake, and he was okay.

I touched my nose to Thornclaw's and gently lowered his head with my tail. "As much as I wish I could frolic with you out in the forest and maybe go out for a good hunt, you need to rest!" I purred to him. "I'll be right here when you wake up."

Thornclaw let out an exhausted breath, licking my head. "You better be!" He exclaimed before closing his eyes and digging his muzzle into my fur.

I watched him as his quicker breaths began to slow, indicating that he had fallen into a peaceful sleep. He sure needs it! I realized.

I then lowered my head into the nest, closing my eyes as well. I wasn't physically injured like Thornclaw was, but my heart felt as if it had been torn out and shoved back in over and over for the past quarter moon.

As I began to slowly drift off into sleep, I was filled with apprehension and lots of curiosity. Ashfur nearly took the life of my mate, and is currently training my kin in the Dark Forest... I reflected. What is he going to do next?

Too exhausted to handle the strong sense of fear and foreboding I felt, I dug my muzzle into my paws and waited for sleep to grab me.