THE CATS OF FrostClan wandered the vast plains and forests in search of a home. They had been doing this for a while. There seemed to be no end to the journey. Dovepaw's limbs were sore with weariness and the need to rest. She wanted to ask her father, Blizzardpelt, or her mother, Lynxstar, but they were both very busy guiding the Clan. They also seemed very tired, too.

     Dovepaw puffed up her chest to look strong and worthy of any battle. The warriors of her Clan made it through anything, even the battles that MoonClan had brought to them, like in the stories that the Clan elders, Hareleap and Brownfur, shared with the kits of the Clan.

     MoonClan was the reason they were here in this miserable state. They drove FrostClan out after accusing them of crossing their borders. They never really established borders, actually, based on what Dovepaw heard the senior warriors complain about. They had chased FrostClan from their home and left them to find a new home.

     "At least they're not always on our tails anymore," the young, short-tempered warrior called Snowtail had declared one day. She was forever complaining about situations. When things didn't go her way, there would be a fight of some kind.

     Dovepaw stopped and looked behind her when she heard a thump and a squeak of alarm. She saw her sister, Mousepaw, emerge from behind a fallen log. There was a dead leaf on her head, and she shook it off. "I hate it here! Why can't we just be in our nests at home?"

     Dovepaw moved on when Mousepaw caught up again. "I guess we didn't have a choice. I hate it too, and I wish we could go home, but Softcloud says that we left because MoonClan drove us away and threatened to kill our warriors if they ever saw us again."

     "I don't want to die!" Mousepaw wailed.

     Dovepaw purred. "I know, no cat does. That's why we're leaving, mouse-brain." She flicked her tail over her sister's ear playfully.

     Mousepaw froze and Dovepaw looked behind her again. Her brown-furred sister then leaped at her and they rolled over in a play-fight.

     "Dovepaw! Mousepaw!" That was Softcloud. Dovepaw and Mousepaw broke apart and looked at their foster mother. She was a beautiful white she-cat, despite the fact she was very thin from not having much food for moons. She waved her tail. She still treated the two 'paws like kits. They were apprenticed not even a moon ago, though. "Come here where I can see you. You'll get hurt if you're not with a grown cat!" When Mousepaw and Dovepaw came over to her she began to lick Mousepaw fiercely. "Where have you been? Your fur is all ruffled!"

     Dovepaw stifled a snort. Mousepaw did look silly with her ruffled fur. Mousepaw seemed to always look that way; she was constantly out and about and getting into trouble by leaving the camp.

     Mousepaw ducked away from Softcloud. "I'm fine! You don't have to keep worrying about me. I'm six moons old! Worry about them!" She flicked her tail to the two kits, Icekit and Flykit. They were Softcloud and Owlheart's kits. Ever since Lynxstar asked Softcloud to watch after Dovepaw and Mousepaw, Softcloud seemed to worry about them more than Flykit and Icekit, even though they were much younger or, more literally, two moons younger.

     Softcloud glanced at her kits. "Oh, yes. But stay safe, and stay with the Clan. Stay with Blizzardpelt." She padded away and began mewing gently to Icekit and Flykit. Dovepaw and Mousepaw exchanged glances and moved on with the Clan. They caught up with Blizzardpelt, but they stayed well away from him. Whatever they did, nothing seemed to please him. It was better to stay away.

     "Hey, since no one is watching, I'll race you to that tree!" Mousepaw flicked her tail to the large oak tree in the middle of other large trees. She crouched low. Dovepaw purred and crouched as well. She glanced at her sister and knew that she was going to beat her. She was going to be the best warrior in the Clan! "Ready . . . set . . . go!"

     Dovepaw bounced into action and pelted across the path to the oak tree. She rushed past Mousepaw and jumped in between two large roots of the tree. She turned and looked at Mousepaw, who skidded to a halt next to her.

     "You're too fast! You should have waited for me!" Mousepaw wailed feebly as she tried to catch her breath.

     "And hedgehogs fly," Dovepaw scoffed. She turned around when she heard paw steps behind her. Her father towered over her, staring down at her. She swallowed. "Hi."

     "Be careful, you two. You could get hurt if you aren't paying attention to your actions," Blizzardpelt growled. He showed no concern whatsoever. He looked at Mousepaw, who was the most mischievous cat in the Clan. Not just because she was a young 'paw.

     "Yes, Blizzardpelt," Mousepaw and Dovepaw sighed in unison. They hung their heads in mock shame.

     Blizzardpelt seemed convinced. He muttered "Kits!" as he stalked away.

     Mousepaw and Dovepaw glanced at each other, smirking, and prepared to run away. We're not kits anymore! He doesn't have to watch us every moment anymore, Dovepaw thought. A screech filled the forest. A terrible, blood-curdling shriek that left Dovepaw's ears ringing. Her heart began to race and she looked around. Softcloud, her kits, and Snowtail were not there.

     Snowtail burst into the clearing, her muzzle speckled with fresh blood. She was holding each of Softcloud's kits in her jaws. She put them down and they raced to the safety of the Clan. She nearly collapsed on the ground, her breathing coming in fast, shallow gasps. The Clan gasped and Whitefoot, her kit, raced to her and let her lean on his shoulder. "Take deep breaths until you can tell us what happened."

     Snowtail nodded. Her eyes were wild with fear. As she breathed, her fur began to lie flat. "Over there was a fox. It attacked Softcloud and tore her apart. . . . There was blood everywhere. . . . I saved her kits, fortunately. I think they're fine."

     Torn apart? Dovepaw glanced at Mousepaw, but she was gone. She was with Flykit and Icekit, trying to calm them. She turned her attention back to her mentor, her fur bristling with fear.

     A wail came from the front of the Clan. "Softcloud, my love!" It was Owlheart, who was also Softcloud's mate. He came to his kits and licked them one by one. "She can't be. Is the fox dead?" He looked at Snowtail hopefully.

     "No. But it ran in the opposite direction of the Clan." Snowtail looked at Owlheart with sympathy in her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Owlheart. I tried to save her, but the fox was too powerful, and I had to protect your kits." She hung her head in shame.

     Owlheart nodded to the young she-cat, looking too anguished to say anything. But Whitefoot licked his mother's head soothingly. "You did all you could, Snowtail. You are a worthy warrior, and I know you would have saved her if you could." He pressed his flank against hers. "Now calm down, and let's get moving."

     Snowtail glanced hopefully at her son and licked his cheek. "Thank you."

     "Who will take care of the kits?" Owlheart asked suddenly. "There's no other queen in the Clan!"

     Tawnyflight, a pretty brown, black, and white tortoiseshell, stepped forward. "My kits became apprentices not long ago. I should have milk left."

     Snowtail glanced hopefully at Badgertooth. He would have to approve since he was the medicine cat and in charge of the Clan cats' health.

     Badgertooth's tail tip twitched. "Are you sure?"

     "You have borage, right? It'll work." Tawnyflight sounded surer than ever.

     "Not now, I don't. But if you think you can do it, then it is so. You can be Flykit's and Icekit's guardian for the time being."

     "Thank you. Let's go." Tawnyflight nudged Flykit and Icekit onward. The two brothers still looked dumbfounded and crestfallen after seeing their mother die to a fox. "We need to seek shelter."

     Dovepaw felt too sad to answer. She just trudged along. Softcloud was like a mother to her and Mousepaw, and now she was gone, dead. Mousepaw caught up to her and kept close. She didn't say anything, either. It felt too early. Now who was going to watch over them?

     "I'm cold," Mousepaw complained suddenly. Her fur was fluffed up against the cold, but it was barely enough since they were just barely out of kithood and their fur was so thin.

     "You know what the best treatment is?" Dovepaw asked.

     "Oh, no. Don't get all medicine cat on me," Mousepaw joked, glancing at the Clan's medicine cat, Badgertooth.

     "No! That's not what I was going to do. The way to get warm is to run. Come on!" Dovepaw raced away before her sister could object. She raced into the deciduous woods, so caught up in the enchanting sounds of the forest that she was scarcely aware of where she was headed.

     She snapped back to reality when she almost ran into a huge rock. She veered away just in time, but in her relief, she didn't notice the stream that flowed harshly. She tripped and fell into it with a yowl of alarm. She landed in the stream with a splash and floated downstream. She heard the panicked shriek of Mousepaw and the yowls of her Clanmates as they raced alongside the stream in pursuit of Dovepaw.

     "Help me!" was all Dovepaw could say before she plunged into the cold, dark water. She blinked, trying desperately to see underwater and get back to the surface. She pawed at the water desperately and yowled, sending a flurry of bubbles to the surface. She was so caught up in trying to get out that she didn't see the huge rock that blocked the path. She slammed right into it, but it mostly injured her leg. She let out a shriek that was muffled by the water. She was running out of breath. Blood clouded her vision and it stained the water.

     She began to lose consciousness as she ran out of breath and lost so much blood. Please, let me live.

***

     "Dovepaw! Dovepaw!"

     Dovepaw vomited dirty water on the side of the stream and gasped for breath. The taste of blood and dirty river water and vomit stung her throat. She suppressed a gagging sound. She blinked and saw her Clanmates all surrounding her. Tawnyflight, Mousepaw, Rosefeather, Blizzardpelt, and others all stared down at her with worry lining their faces.

     Mousepaw looked more than overjoyed. She practically leaped on top of her sister, purring too hard to speak.

     Dovepaw flinched when she touched her leg with her thin tail. She squeaked with pain and Mousepaw drew her tail back. She examined it with narrowed eyes. It was stained with Dovepaw's blood. "Oops," she muttered. "Sorry."

     "Don't apologize," Dovepaw meowed hastily. She lifted her head to look at her leg. It was bent awkwardly and a large trickle of dry blood stained almost her whole leg. She went speechless. What happened?

     "You hurt your leg in the river," Badgertooth meowed, as if he could read her mind. "I don't have the right materials to figure out what happened exactly or how to treat it but I'm afraid that for now, you can't walk properly."

     "No," Dovepaw gasped again. "Was anything else hurt?"

     "Well, you had a few scratches here and there but nothing else too serious," Tawnyflight answered just as Badgertooth opened his mouth to reply.

     Dovepaw didn't know how to answer. She realized that her mouth was hanging open in despair so she hastily closed it again. She stared around at her Clanmates. They all looked worried and scared for her.

     "Hey! You all! What are you doing on ThunderClan territory?" Dovepaw lifted her head to see what was happening. The other apprentices made way so she could see, mostly because Mousepaw demanded them to. She saw a broad-shouldered brown tom come into the open with a patrol of other cats behind him. A dark ginger she-cat, a blue-gray tom, a ginger tom, and two golden she-cats.

     "WhatClan?" Lynxstar stepped forward. Sparrowfeather, Frostfeather, and Blizzardpelt lined up beside her as protection. "Never mind that; we have an injured apprentice, and we don't have the right supplies to heal her."

     "That doesn't give you an excuse to—" The brown tom was cut off when the golden she-cat slapped her tail across his mouth and gave him a glare.

     "Excuse Leafheart's hostility," she apologized. "I'm Brightstar, leader of ThunderClan. What is happening now? You say you have an injured kit?"

     "An apprentice, yes. Over there. Make way for Brightstar," Lynxstar called over her shoulder. The apprentices looked sort of fearful when Brightstar strutted past them. Brightstar padded forward and came towards Dovepaw.

     Dovepaw swallowed. Brightstar was huge compared to her. Her unfamiliar scent was strong and sort of unwelcoming in a way. She fought the urge to flinch away.

     "Calm down, young one," Brightstar soothed. "I have just come to see what has happened. What happened to you? We can help."

     "I-I fell in the river and collided with a rock that broke my leg," Dovepaw explained. She gazed nervously up at Brightstar. The pale yellow she-cat's blue eyes were half closed with worry and sympathy.

     "I'm very sorry to hear that. I believe we can help." Brightstar shot a glance at the broad-shouldered tom she called Leafheart. "We will try everything we can. Our medicine cat would be glad to help a Clan in need."

     "Oh, thank you, thank you!" Lynxstar exclaimed, dipping her head thankfully to Brightstar and the rest of the patrol.

      "While we are leaving, I must introduce you to the rest of this patrol. But for now, we will lead the way," Brightstar meowed. She flicked her tail and all the cats followed the ThunderClan patrol.

     Mousepaw and Foxpaw, Rosefeather's kit, flanked Dovepaw and supported her as they followed the Clan. Every step was a battle; when she even put a little pressure on her injured leg. She stifled a loud shriek of pain each time, and each time she tensed Foxpaw and Mousepaw pressed harder against her.

     "We're almost there!" Brightstar called over her shoulder. She began to introduce the FrostClan cats to her own cats. The red and white she-cat was Crimsonfrost, the golden apprentice was Goldenpaw, the blue tomcat was Bluestripe, and the ginger tomcat was Firetail.

     Goldenpaw's blue eyes shone with sympathy as she walked alongside Blizzardpelt and Dovepaw. "Oh, we're here! Dovepaw, Mapleleaf will take great care of you, I promise."

     "Don't make any promises," Brightstar warned. "Leaf-bare is coming and the herbs could be withered from the frost."

     "Of course," Crimsonfrost chipped in. "But Mapleleaf knows where to find the best herbs. I, of all cats, should know this."

     Goldenpaw rolled her eyes. "Just because she's your sister doesn't mean you can be a know-it-all about what she can do."

     Crimsonfrost hissed softly and turned her head away from Goldenpaw. She gasped when they approached a large, deep hollow. Big enough for a whole Clan of cats to live in. It looked like a whole Clan of cats did live in it.

     "This is the ThunderClan camp," Crimsonfrost meowed, waving her tail towards the camp. "Come on!" She and the patrol slipped into a narrow bramble passageway that led into the hollow, the FrostClan and ThunderClan cats following.

     "We're going in there?" Mousepaw scoffed. "No way!"

     Foxpaw hissed. "Don't you want Dovepaw to get better or not?" he challenged, glaring at Mousepaw with such intensity that even Dovepaw got the chills.

     "Of course I do!" Mousepaw cowered under his unwavering stare. "Come on, let's go in before our tails freeze." She and Foxpaw flanked Dovepaw as they entered the tunnel after their Clan.

     Dovepaw winced a few times when thorns pricked at her pelt and left tufts of white fur on the brambles. When they emerged from the tunnel, the camp was swarming with cats. Brown, black, white, tabby, brindle, all coat colors. It was a wonderful place. It looked like FrostClan before MoonClan tried to wipe them out. Now their Clan was small compared to other Clans.

     "Hello." A beautiful dark red she-cat with shining amber eyes emerged from a hole in the side of the rocky camp. "You must be the newcomers from FrostClan," she meowed to Lynxstar and Owlheart.

     "Yes, Mapleleaf," Brightstar answered for Lynxstar. "We found them in the forest. They have an injured apprentice along with them. She has a broken leg."

     Mapleleaf nodded. "Where is she?"

     "Right here," Mousepaw answered. She, Dovepaw, and Foxpaw emerged from the FrostClan crowd and confronted Mapleleaf.

     "Come into my den. I should have supplies for you," she mewed gently to Dovepaw. Mousepaw and Foxpaw supported her as she went into the den. "Lay down there on the nest so I can examine your leg."

     Dovepaw laid down on the soft moss nest and watched Mapleleaf gather some herbs from her herb store. She admired how she moved swiftly yet calmly to gather the right supplies.

     Just as Mousepaw and Foxpaw left when they were called by Tawnyflight, Badgertooth came into the den. "Well, hello. Is there anything I can do for you?" he asked Mapleleaf as he came to her side.

     Mapleleaf looked at Badgertooth steadily. "Not right now, no. But you can stay here so I can use you if I need help." She flicked her tail to the side of the den. "Wait over there for the time being."

     Badgertooth nodded and padded over to the side of the den. He gazed at Mapleleaf with a faraway look in his blue eyes. But he tore his gaze away and looked at his paws.

     Dovepaw couldn't help wondering why he was acting like this. Perhaps it was watching an experienced medicine cat at work that fascinated him. He was usually very ecstatic about anything related to the job of a medicine cat. She knew better than to ask, though. She watched Mapleleaf as she came over to her with a bundle of herbs in her jaws. She put them down at the front of Dovepaw's nest. "Are you sure it's broken?" she asked. She looked at Dovepaw, then Badgertooth.

     "I'm not sure," Badgertooth replied. "I couldn't make sure while Dovepaw was unconscious. I believe it is broken, though."

     Mapleleaf ran a paw over Dovepaw's leg. Dovepaw let out a small squeak of pain. She tensed as Mapleleaf began to take something out from her bundle of herbs. It was a swath of cobwebs, sticking onto Mapleleaf's red fur like wispy clouds on a dark dawn horizon.

     "Calm down, young one. Your leg is broken. It's probably a permanent break. Badgertooth, dip that moss into the pool of water and dab it at Dovepaw's wound. It needs some cleaning before I wrap this cobweb around it," Mapleleaf ordered.

     Badgertooth steadily rose to his paws and padded over to the pool. He dipped some moss in it and brought the dripping greenery to Dovepaw's nest. He dabbed it on her leg, wiping away the dry and drying blood and dust.

     "Thank you," Mapleleaf mewed as she began to wrap the cobweb around Dovepaw's legs. Dovepaw tensed as she picked up her leg and put the cobweb under it. "Relax, I'm not going to hurt you," Mapleleaf murmured. Her eyes sparkled like two greenleaf suns. "I'm a skilled medicine cat."

     Badgertooth nodded from where he stood beside her. "I agree."

     When Mapleleaf finished she picked up a large leaf wrap and opened it to reveal a couple of small, black seeds. She scooped them up in her paw. "Eat these, they'll help ease the pain in your leg. And help you sleep. It is almost sundown, and the pain in the wound will keep you awake."

     Dovepaw licked them up obediently and laid her head on her paws. She had to admit, she was exhausted. It didn't take long before she drifted into a peaceful sleep.