Stoneheart's eyes flitted open and widened. His jaws parted to scream, but his yowl was muffled by foam forming around his lips. His body jerked wildly and his paws were flailing in the air. 

"Stoneheart! No!" Alderheart scrreamed. He did something stupid. He picked up the rest of the catmint and shoved it into Stoneheart's mouth. "Eat it! Hurry!" He screeched.

Squirrelflight got to her paws and stared at Alderheart and Stoneheart. Graystripe got to his paws, mumbling," What's going on?" 

Alderheart grabbed wet moss from the corner of the den, and held it up above Stoneheart's jaws. He squeezed the water into the gray tom's mouth. Stoneheart still flailed and jerked wildly. 

"Stoneheart! Stay with us!" Alderheart yowled. 

Paw steps sounded outside the den. Ashstar and Littlecloud popped up in the den. 

"Alderheart! Is Stoneheart ok-" Ashstar was cut off as he looked at Stoneheart's flailing body. 

Stoneheart wheezed. "I can't.... breathe!" He gasped.  His eyes started to dull. 

Ashstar raced to his son's side. "Stoneheart! Don't die!" He yowled. 

His yowl echoed in the camp and more cats rushed outside of the den. 

Ashstar watched as his son took one last breath, then he lay still, foam still bubbling in his mouth. His eyes were dull as they stared into nothingness. 

Ashstar gasped in horror. He buried his face in his son's pelt. After what seemed like forever, he lifted his face to glare at Alderheart. "It's all your fault!" He hissed, his pelt bristling. 

Alderheart felt guilty. Yes, he thought, it really  is my fault...

Ashstar pushed Alderheart back in rage and then unsheathed his claws. 

"Hey, Ashstar, stop!" Alderheart meowed. 

"I'm not stopping until you're dead!" Ashstar yowled. He lunged forward, sinking his teeth into Alderheart's muzzle. He sunk his sharp claws into Alderheart's shoulders, pinning him against the brambles. Thorns dug into Alderheart's back. 

"Ashstar!" Littlecloud gasped. "You can't kill a medicine cat!" He yowled. 

"It's against the warrior code!" Graystripe yowled. 

Still, Ashstar did not stop. He only tightened his jaws around Alderheart's muzzle. 

Paw steps pounded outside the den and Jaywing rushed inside, her paws skidding on the wet ground. "Ashstar! Stop!" She yowled. 

Ashstar finally let go of Alderheart's muzzle. He pushed him to the ground and pinned him down, holding his paw to his throat. Alderheart's heart beat faster. Ashstar turned to glare at his daughter. "Why should I?" He asked. 

"Don't kill Alderheart," Jaywing meowed. "Do you think Stoneheart would of wanted that? He wouldn't approve of what you've done," She meowed, her eyes dull. 

Ashstar sheathed his claws and his pelt began to lay still. He then put his head down. "You're right," He sighed.  He then turned to glare at Alderheart. "But you better not let any other cats die," He whispered to him in a dark voice like ice. 

Alderheart gulped and nodded. 

Ashstar backed off of him and turned around to sadly stare at Stoneheart's dead body. He buried his muzzle in Stoneheart's gray pelt. Jaywing sat down beside him, her tail twitching occasionally. 

Ivypool rushed in the den, her eyes wide with panic. "Stoneheart!" She gasped. 

Alderheart didn't want to be here anymore. He got to his paws and trudged from the den, his paws and tail dragging in the soft dirt. I'll go to the medicine den and make myself useful, he thought. Pushing past cats, he made his way into the clearing, seeing Cinderheart rush over from the nursery. She pushed past Alderheart and ran into the elders' den. Firepaw and Fluffypaw rushed over to the elders' den as well, their eyes widened. 

Alderheart sighed inwardly. Stoneheart's death was all his fault. If only he had cared about washing off his paws. All that catmint had been wasted trying to save Stoneheart's life. The catmint wouldn't do any help to save Stoneheart, and Alderheart should've known that. He was nearing the medicine den, and was close enough to hear Mothstripe and Twistedpaw talking together. 

Alderheart then remembered that when the little brown had woken up, he had been named. He said he was a rogue, but he also said that he couldn't remember what happened. Alderheart padded to the medicine den, and saw Twistedpaw sitting beside Mothstripe with her kits sleeping beside her belly. 

Twistedpaw looked up. "Hey Alderheart!" He purred. He got to his paws, greeting Alderheart, purring. He rubbed his muzzle along Alderheart's shoulder, then he stiffened. "Why are you bleeding?" He asked. 

Alderheart felt guilty to lie to him. "I got scratched by some thorns," He meowed, his tail drooping. 

"Why's your muzzle torn like that? It looks as if some cat bit it," Twistedpaw meowed.

"Thorns," Alderheart lied. 

Twistedpaw's tail drooped. "I wish you were my dad, Alderheart," He meowed. "You're so cool! I want to learn everything that you learn!" He meowed, his tail raising again. His eyes shone brightly. 

Alderheart sighed. He could take another apprentice, maybe, but he would need StarClan's approval.

"I could take you as an apprentice," Alderheart meowed. "But StarClan needs to approve it," He explained. He felt bad for the apprentice. What if StarClan didn't approve of it? He couldn't be a warrior since he had that twisted paw. Alderheart went to the back of the medicine den to grab some chervil. He chewed it up and then spat it out on his paw. He rubbed the pulp on the deep scratches on his muzzle. It stung, but he didn't mind. The scratches on his shoulders burned, but Alderheart decided not to worry about them. He turned and saw Twistedpaw crouched, his tail lashing. 

Twistedpaw leaped through the air, landing on Mothstripe's twitching tail-tip, but then he grunted and fell on his side, shaking his twisted paw. The bent stick slipped from the loose cobwebs on his paw.

Alderheart grabbed some fresh cobwebs and raced over to him. 

Twistedpaw sat up, looking sad. 

Mothstripe sat up and padded over to him, then sat down beside him. "It's ok,"  She soothed. 

Alderheart held Twistedpaw's twisted paw up in the air so that he could hold the stick to his paw. He wrapped cobwebs around his paw to help the stick stay in its place. 

"How long would that have to stay on?" Twistedpaw asked, looking at his paw.

"For about another moon," Alderheart told him. He padded to the back of the den and scooped more cobwebs. He padded back over to Twistedpaw. 

"Why does it have to stay on? My paw's broken!" Twistedpaw mewled. He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "Does it have to heal?" He asked.

"Yes," Alderheart nodded. He took the cobwebs off the small brown tom's ears and took a look at them. His ears were healing quickly. "Your ears look good," He commented. 

"But the cobwebs stay on, still, right? To avoid infection?" Twistedpaw prompted.

Alderheart was surprised at his knowledge. "Yes," He meowed. "You sure know a bit about medicine cat skills," He purred. 

Twistedpaw's eyes brightened. 

Alderheart wrapped the fresh cobwebs around his ears. He removed the dirty cobwebs from Twistedpaw's nasty head injury. He remembered last time that he had put chervil juices on the wound to avoid infection. He put his paw on the wound, and was shocked when he felt a bit of heat coming from it. 

"It's infected," Alderheart sighed. He looked at Twistedpaw. "Do you know what herb fights infection?" He asked. "Take a guess if you don't know," He added, a glint in his eyes.

"Ummm," Twistedpaw muttered. "Chervil?" 

"Correct! How'd you know?" Alderheart asked.

"I'm not sure how I knew, I just guessed! But at least I've learned something," Twistedpaw pointed out cheerfully. 

Alderheart purred softly. He'd make a great medicine cat apprentice.

"I'd love to have him as my apprentice," Mothstripe meowed. 

Alderheart turned to get some chervil. "But you can't have an apprentice," He pointed out. "You've got kits. They still have three more moons to go," He meowed, flicking his tail. "If you wanted him as an apprentice, you'd have to give up your kits to Cinderheart," He meowed.

"I never would!" Mothstripe growled. "But I guess you're right," She sighed. "Alright, you can train him."

"I understand how you feel," Alderheart meowed. "You'll just have to wait for the next apprentice to be skilled at healing."

"And when will that be?" Mothstripe sighed. 

"Someday," Alderheart muttered. He padded over to Twistedpaw. He spat out the chervil juices onto his paw and started to rub them on his head wound. He grabbed more cobwebs from his paw and patted them on Twistedpaw's wound. 

"Alright," Alderheart meowed. "That should do. Now go to your nest in the back and get some sleep," He told the little tom. 

Mothstripe watched as he limped to his nest in the back and curled up to sleep. Mothstripe looked at Alderheart. "We should be going to sleep as well," She meowed, padding over to her nest. 

"I'll stay up," He meowed. "I've got sick cats to look after."

"Be careful," Mothstripe warned. "Don't get yourself sick. What would we do without you?" She asked, half to herself. She then trudged to her nest and curled up for sleep, her back facing Alderheart. 

Alderheart was left sitting in the middle of the den, a pool of moonlight drenching him, turning his pelt silver. He watched Mothstripe's golden pelt rise and fall as she breathed slowly. Her kits were curled up against her back. Mothstripe's words still burned inside his mind: What would we do without you?