Ashstar felt the cold night breeze ruffle his fur. He dug his claws into his branch and winced as he saw Reedwhisker, Mothwing, Pinepaw, Sappaw, and Rust pad into the clearing. Where was Flowerstar?? 

Ashstar clawed down the trunk and scrabbled to a halt in front of Reedwhisker. "Where's Flowerstar?!" He asked, worried.

"Willowshine is taking care of her. She's having her kits," Reedwhisker explained. "So I'll be the announcer tonight," He added. 

Ashstar turned away and climbed up the trunk of the Great Oak. He saw Harestar trembling on his branch and he looked skinny. There were swelling and angry red wounds on his white stomach and his fur wasn't groomed properly. Cobwebs still patched the wounds and yellow pus folded around the wounds. He didn't look like he was in good condition. Ashstar wondered why he was even at the gathering. Ashstar sat on his branch and saw Tigerstar looking out across the Clans, his amber eyes distant. Ashstar then raised his tail for silence. He waited as the talking died down. 

"The prey is running well for ThunderClan," Ashstar announced.  "Reedwhisker, I hope you're getting along well in the territory. Are the rogues a problem?" He asked.

"No, not for us. Our hunting as been excellent and we're planning to make the Tribe Cats warriors," Reedwhisker explained. He flicked his tail. 

"We'll train the Tribe Cats for a bit and give them proper Clan names," Ashstar meowed. 

"Same with us," Tigerstar meowed. He opened an eye. "Harestar, are you gonna make an announcement?" He asked.

Harestar coughed rapidly and Ashstar cast a worried glance at the other leaders. 

"I'm fine, don't be worried about me," Harestar snorted. He held a paw to his stomach and clenched his teeth. 

"Are you ok?" Ashstar asked, worried for the WindClan leader.

Harestar crawled over to him, panting, his eyes clouded with pain. Bark scraped the infected wounds and pulled off the cobwebs and opened the wounds back up. Blood began to ooze from the wounds. A sticky liquid covered the brown tom's paws. "I have three lives left," He rasped. 

Ashstar gasped. Why would he give away an important secret?! But he needed to help the tom.

"Kestrelflight! Harestar needs you!" Ashstar hissed. 

Harestar coughed rapidly. He rested on the branch, his head lay still on Ashstar's paws. His breathing was shallow and fast, and his ribs were showing as if he hadn't eaten in days.

Kestrelflight and Gorsetail climbed up the trunk. Kestrelflight grabbed Harestar's scruff while Gorsetail supported his shoulder. Ashstar joined in and helped lead them down the trunk.

Ashstar leaned on Harestar's side and helped them carry him across the clearing. 

"What happened to him?!" Squirrelflight gasped.

"Not sure, but I think his wound is infected again!" Kestrelflight hissed.

"What? Shouldn't he be in camp?" Ashstar hissed, flicking his tail. "If you knew he was sick?" He prompted.

Kestrelflight flashed him a guilty look. "Well, sorry, I didn't think straight!" He wailed.

"You're a medicine cat for StarClan's sake! Surely you'd notice symptoms of infection, right?" Ashstar retorted, glaring at him. 

"For StarClan's sake, lets just get him back to camp!" Ketrelflight hissed, ignoring Ashstar's question. He got a better grip on Harestar's scruff and huffed as he lifted his head, keeping Harestar's head from dragging in the dirt.

"Let me help," Gorsetail offered, taking Harestar's scruff instead.

Kestrelflight took the time to glare back at Ashstar. "Well I'm not a StarClan cat, I don't notice everything," He flashed back. He turned his head. "Ashstar, I'm going to ask if you could go back to your Clan, please," Kestrelflight growled slightly, avoiding his gaze. He glanced at him. 

Ashstar sighed. "No I'll help you, for Harestar's sake," He muttered. "Looks like you need a little help anyways," He pointed out. They passed ShadowClan, and Crowfrost was glaring at Ashstar. 

"Oh really," Crowfrost sighed. "ThunderClan helps every time something happens, its as if they think that StarClan will repay them for their kindness," Crowfrost muttered in annoyance. 

Ashstar stopped in his tracks to glare at Crowfrost. "Well at least we aren't as black-hearted as you!" He hissed, lashing his tail. 

"What? Were you offended by that? Oh I'm sorry, I should keep my mouth shut sometimes," Crowfrost taunted. 

Oh he's asking to get that smirk clawed off his face! Ashstar leaped on Crowfrost and slashed his ears. "No cat taunts my Clan and gets away with it!" Ashstar hissed, slashing the black tom's cheek. Blood spattered the ground. 

Clouds rolled across the sky, dark and gray, and a light rain began to fall. The clearing began to get darker than before, and Ashstar couldn't see in front of him. 

"Ashstar!" Kestrelflight hissed. "Now look what you've done!" 

Ashstar backed off of Crowfrost. "I only wanted to give him a simple scratch," He hissed into the foggy darkness. All of a sudden, a pawful of claws caught him on the cheek. Ashstar staggered back into the darkness, unknown to who was attacking him. He could smell Crowfrost's scent in the black fog, and blindly lashed out around him, not knowing where Crowfrost was. He hit fur and felt his claws rip through flesh and felt blood well on his claws, then a body crashed onto him. 

"Say goodnight, Ashstar! This is your fault!" Crowfrost hissed. "You've started something I'll finish," He hissed, raising his paw, claws unsheathed. 

Ashstar shrunk back onto the ground. "No!" He hissed, pushing his hind paws into Crowfrost's belly. He threw the tom off of him and then they tussled on the ground, rolling over and over in a tangle of fur and claws. 

Cats screeched around them, and tension was heavy in the air, and at any moment Ashstar knew that something bad could happen to the other cats. All of a sudden, they both tumbled down a hill and mud slicked against Ashstar's fur and rain damped his pelt. Then, Ashstar felt cold droplets of water splash around him as they both splashed into the cold water of the river. 

Ashstar tried to claw his way out of the water, but paws dragged him back down. Claws hooked into his pelt. "Stop, Crowfrost, this is over!" He hissed. He couldn't see, blackness surrounded his vision and he couldn't tell which way was up or down. Ashstar felt claws dig into his pelt and he was shoved deeper under the water. He shoved his claws into Crowfrost's skull and pushed him down then swam up, breaking the surface of the water and gasping air, the thick mist still hung everywhere and Ashstar struggled to get to the shore. He scrambled onto the shore and panted, then scrambled to his paws. He felt his way through the fog, hearing distant shrieks. 

The fog was clearing, and clouds still covered the moon. The clearing was drenched in shadows and everything was quiet except for the quiet gurgle of the river.

"Ashstar!" A yowl caught his attention and Ashstar turned, tail twitching. He saw Squirrelflight heading towards him.

"Every cat has seemed to find their way back," She explained. "But I'm not sure what happened when everything literally went black," She glared at him.

"Crowfrost is gone, haven't seen him since the fight we had in the river," Ashstar explained, flexing his claws.

"Yes, and Ambertuft fell in the river," Squirrelflight hissed, glaring at him. "We were able to pull her out with the help of Reedwhisker," She explained. "But Eaglefeather from WindClan went missing and I'm trying to help Doveclaw and Fernwhisker find him," She added. 

"We found him!" A voice called. Fernwhisker bounded over, pointing with his tail. Doveclaw  was crouching beside Eaglefeather. The young tom was shaking and was soaked with water.

They both walked over to Ashstar and Squirelflight.

"What happened to Crowfrost?" Doveclaw hissed, glaring at Ashstar.

"Crowfrost isn't a worry to us, he's in ShadowClan," Fernwhisker spat. He lashed his tail and glared at her.

"Not sure," Ashstar replied. "He must of followed ShadowClan home," He meowed.

"Well, if he did, then lets head back home," Squirrelflight meowed. She waved the WindClan cats good-bye and turned back to Ashstar. "Lets go."