A faint glimmer of light broke through the curtain of bramble and splattered on the frozen, gray floor. A cold breeze blew in, sending a chill down Hawkfire's spine. She shivered and curled up tighter in the nest, but the draft was relentless. She finally gave up and rolled out of her nest.

The past few sunrises had been wonderful for her. Her greencough had faded away to a subtle hack and sniffle here and there, and Duckfeather said that she would be able to go back out shortly.

She stretched contentedly and yawned. I can't wait to get back to my duties! She wondered if her Clanmates missed her at all after so long of her being cooped up in the medicine cat's den.

Without warning, Hawkfire tripped over a rock as she was about to journey to the fresh-kill pile and tumbled down, her claw snagging Cedarbelly's tail by accident. The elder jolted awake and swung his head around wildly.

"What's going on? Are we under attack?" he wheezed heavily.

"Ah, my apologies, Cedarbelly. I tripped and caught your tail by accident." Hawkfire ducked her head in embarrassment.

Cedarbelly only purred, "It's quite alright, young'n. Why, when I was about your age, I was the biggest klutz the Clans had ever seen!"

Hawkfire giggled. "That's hard to picture."

"Nah. In fact, I once caught my foot on a leaf and fell down from the top of the cliffs of the camp! A leaf! I thankfully didn't break anything, but Meadowstalker lectured and nagged me for weeks afterwards until I thought my ears would fall off." Cedarbelly sighed wistfully. "She constantly worried over me like a queen would for her kits. She was a great friend and I miss her dearly. Though I suppose it won't be long before I join her, eh?" He winked at her.

"You shouldn't say that, Cedarbelly. Don't you want to live?"

The brown tom meowed roughly, "I don't really care anymore. I have lived a good life in ThunderClan and helped the next generation as much as possible. There isn't anymore I can do. Besides-" He suddenly broke off into choking coughs and struggled to catch his breath. Hawkfire shrunk back a bit as he finally regained his breath.

"A-are you okay?"

"Oh yes, I'll be fine. Anyways, as I was saying, no matter what happens, either way I'll live."

Hawkfire knitted her eyebrows, "excuse me, but I don't think that's right."

Cedarbelly chuckled to himself, "so young, so naive. What I mean is that, even if I die, I won't truly be dead. Instead, my spirit will join my ancestors in StarClan where I will live for eternity."

"But you won't be living, you'll still be dead!" she continued to argue in frustration.

Cedarbelly shook his head, "listen well, Hawkfire. The only cats who truly die, are the evil ones. This is because their hearts have been blackened with hate and jealousy, their souls faded to an ugly stain. Those cats will spend the rest of time in a dark, terrible place, fated to walk alone forever in solitude. Those few evil ones will try to corrupt us down here out of bitter feelings to exact revenge or just make us feel miserable, so you must remain strong."

"I am strong," she grunted.

"Not just in body, but in spirit as well," he smiled.

What does he mean by that? Perhaps his sickness is making him go mad? Poor fellow. An awkward moment of silence stretched between them until Hawkfire couldn't stand it anymore. "You must not be feeling well, why don't you lay down?" she blurted out.

He closed his eyes and sighed, "it seems all I ever do now is sleep. Well, thanks for listening to me blabber on, young'n." She gave a small nod and watched him climb back into his nest slowly.

Once Cedarbelly was fast asleep, she crept away but was stopped by a grumpy Duckfeather. He bent his head down and shoved his snout forward, his rank breath tickling her whiskers. "And where do you think you're going?"

"I was only going to get some prey," she mewed warily. I don't need this now!

"No way," he growled. "You're just starting to recover so I need you to take it easy as to fully recuperate."

"I've been taking it easy forever now! I want to leave, I feel good enough."

"Don't question me," he snapped. "I am still your medicine cat and you will listen to what I tell you."

"You don't get to boss me around! Only my leader has that privilege," Hawkfire snarled back.

"I would hardly call it a privilege. Now get back in your nest and I will retrieve a piece of prey for you."

"Ugh, forget it. I lost my appetite." She scowled to herself as she slunk over to the moss bed and sat down with a huff. Who does he think he is acting all high and mighty? He didn't become leader over night last time I checked! That mangy, old flea-bag.

Aware of her ruffled fur, she began to rasp it with her tongue to calm her nerves. At last, she was able to collect herself and relax. Duckfeather came back over with a few herbs, causing Hawkfire to wince at the familiar odor. She had grown sick of the same herbs every day and wasn't sure if she could stand for it much longer.

"Make sure you eat them all. If you keep this up, you'll be out of here in less than a quarter-moon," Duckfeather meowed. Reluctantly, she lapped up the leaves and had to force them down without spitting them out.

"A quarter-moon? That's way too long still. Can't I leave sooner, like now?" she complained.

Duckfeather contradicted her with a grunt, "sure, you can leave. At least if you want to endanger the lives of your Clanmates by potentially getting them sick as well." Hawkfire opened her mouth but choose to keep quiet and stop arguing, knowing it was pointless. Instead she changed the topic.

"How is Cedarbelly doing?"

Duckfeather hesitated, "he's doing fairly well, but is still showing visible signs of greencough."

Hawkfire snorted and thought to herself, well obviously. Even a mouse could figure that out!

The medicine cat sighed and stalked away as Fuzzypaw padded inside, a fresh wad of cobwebs sticking to her pelt and in her claws. Hawkfire snickered but Fuzzypaw only flicked her ear. As she was putting the web away, Duckfeather hissed at her and ushered her to a separate corner. Curiosity sparked inside her and she strained her ears to hear the medicine cat business.

"How is Hawkfire?" Fuzzypaw mewed frantically.

"She's fine. Good thing she's a strong cat, she is fighting off her sickness with ease. It'll pass soon." Duckfeather shut his eyes. "I'm more worried about Cedarbelly though. He has barely woken up and when he does, doesn't even eat much apart from a few morsels here and there. He is growing weaker and I fear his old age is catching up to him."

Hawkfire could see Fuzzypaw gasp. "Wait! You don't mean that-"

"I'm afraid so," he cut her off. "There is nothing more we can do for him than keep him comfortable. He's in StarClan's paws now."

Author's Note:

I want to apologize for the short chapter, but the next one is the last and I felt it would be appropriate to stop here for now. I hope you have been enjoying it so far, so get ready for the final chapter! Also, this is a little late but please don't be a silent reader. Make sure to comment and vote or leave hate messages, something at least! I am only a beginner but am looking for any sort of feedback on how I'm doing, and if there are mistakes you'd like to point out to make my stories better, go right ahead. Thank you, guys! Love you all! <3