The remainder of the patrol was mainly uneventful. Bramblefrost definitely took his time, as promised, making sure to explain everything in detail to Brackenpaw. Most of it was serious information, like important markers and border lines, but he also told some amusing stories about his time in ThunderClan. Whatever it was, Bramblefrost made sure to make learning exciting, which Skyfall could tell Brackenpaw appreciated.

When marking the ShadowClan scent line, Skyfall's eyes flew longingly over the border. Her heart ached when she pictured Hawkspirit living his life without her by his side. She could see him so clearly, sorting herbs into neat piles, his eyes focused as he did so. She wished that she could thank him again for the help he gave her with Flowermoon, but she was unsure when she could see him again. There would be another Gathering soon, and she hoped that she would be chosen to go.

Returning to camp, Skyfall found that her sisters were now awake. They were preparing to head out on a hunting patrol with Blizzardfur and Spottedpaw. She waved her tail in greeting, but she did not stop for conversation. She was on her way to the medicine den, where she was going to attempt to talk to Willowleaf. She was just about to duck through the frosted lichen when Bumblefoot ducked out.

"Skyfall," He meowed in surprise, flicking his tail. "Something wrong?"

Skyfall stared at him quizzically for a few moments, wondering why he would ask her that. It took her a minute to finally realize that warriors only go to the medicine den when they are sick or injured. Her relationship with Willowleaf was so normal to her that she did not realize it was unusual or unforeseen to her Clanmates. 

As she obviously could not say that she needed to talk to Willowleaf both about her guilt and her trip to the Moonpool, she stumbled over her words. Finally, she managed to spit out, "Er, is something wrong with you? Why were you in the medicine den?"

She realized how asinine her response was right after she had said it. Bumblefoot cocked his head slightly in confusion, and flicked his ear in annoyance. Skyfall detected an edge to his tone. "I was visiting with Amberpaw," He meowed slowly. Of course! She is his daughter!

Skyfall was about to mutter an excuse for her ignorance when he continued, "and visiting with the two kits in Willowleaf's care. Since Featherfur is staying in the nursery to raise the litter, it is as though they are my own."

Skyfall's eyes widened in surprise. Her mind had been so preoccupied that she had not even stopped to consider Featherfur and Bumblefoot's recurring roles as parents. She was impressed with Bumblefoot's maturity. After all, he was still quite young, only a few moons older than she -  and if StarClan allows, that would mean he would already have ten kits!

"Bumblefoot!" She exclaimed, "Congratulations."

"Thank you," The warrior meowed. She could tell by his tone that he truly meant it. "Of course, I wish they would have been able to have been raised by their mother, but Featherfur and I are blessed to be able to raise another batch of kits into ThunderClan."

"You both do a great job," She complimented. She had always enjoyed the company of the four apprentices that called them parents. A pang of sadness hit her, as she realized she would never be able to have kits of her own that she could raise into strong ThunderClan cats. If she could, she would want them to turn out like Featherfur and Bumblefoot's. "Brackenpaw, Spottedpaw, Amberpaw, and Brightpaw have such great personalities. Flowermoon's kits are fortunate to have you."

Bumblefoot dipped his head in appreciation. He excused himself to the fresh-kill pile, and Skyfall was grateful. As much as she loved talking to Bumblefoot, she had to talk to Willowleaf.

Upon entering the den, the scent of herbs flooded her nose. She shook her head in disgust. She respected medicine cats greatly - after all, how could she not? Without Willowleaf, she would be entirely lost. However, she did not understand how they could deal with herbs everyday. The thought bored her entirely.

At first, she didn't see anyone in the den. Her eyes focusing in the darkened lighting, she finally saw Amberpaw's white tail-tip peaking out from the area where they keep sick and injured cats. Approaching slowly, she meowed, "Hi, Amberpaw. Do you know where Willowleaf is?"

Amberpaw jumped up in surprise, a strange noise escaping from her throat. Skyfall looked at her in amusement. "You scared me, Skyfall!" Amberpaw exclaimed. "She's out gathering more herbs right now. She should be back shortly." The cream colored she-cat was about to turn back to her work before her eyes lit up with stress. "Why, are you sick? Or hurt?"

"Oh, no, I'm okay." Skyfall reassured. It was hard not to notice how tired the she-cat was, and how stressed she looked when faced with another possible patient filled Skyfall with pity. She was hardly out of the nursery and she was dealing with some of the most stressful days even Willowleaf had ever seen. She felt compelled to comfort her. "Amberpaw, you know being a medicine cat is not always like this, right?"

"Like what?" She asked innocently, wrapping her tail around her white dappled paws. Whatever she was working on had clearly lost her interest, as her green eyes were focused intently on Skyfall.

"This...this stressful," Skyfall stumbled. She was unprepared for this conversation. She had rehearsed an entirely different set of words for an entirely different cat before coming in here. "There won't always be critically ill kits, dying queens, other medicine cats being smuggled in, and so much secrecy and uncertainty." 

Amberpaw stared at her, and Skyfall could see the thoughts being pondered behind her eyes. Amberpaw had always been the most cautious of her littermates, the most well versed. She knew her words were being processed thoroughly, and she hoped she had said the right ones.

"How do you know?" Amberpaw finally answered. Skyfall detected a hit of hesitancy within her mew. 

"Well," Skyfall answered. "That's a good question, seeing as I am not, and have never been, a medicine cat." She tried to keep a bit of lightheartedness and a hint of humor within the conversation, as she knew Amberpaw had been through a lot. Since everything in her apprenticeship has been so serious, she thought Amberpaw needed a conversation that wasn't so much. "I have been very close with Willowleaf for a long time. It's never been this chaotic, and it won't be forever. I just don't want you to regret making the choice you did."

"I know," Amberpaw chirped. Her quick response took Skyfall by surprise, as she was expecting another long pause. "Willowleaf reassured me of that." 

"That's great!" Skyfall exclaimed, relief flooding through her. She had been so worried about Amberpaw's perception of medicine after Flowermoon that she was ecstatic that her passion remained. "You know, the fact that this hasn't shaken you has proven that StarClan chose you for a reason. You will be a great medicine cat!"

"I know that, too," Amberpaw meowed, her shoulders straightening out in pride. Skyfall stifled a mrrow of amusement. Amberpaw was definitely the most knowledgable, but she was also the most proud. And she has every right to be, she thought to herself. I could never do it.

"Well," Skyfall meowed, turning back towards the entrance of the den. "Please let me know when Willowleaf has returned, I really need to speak with her."

"Okay," Amberpaw responded cooly as Skyfall made her way towards the frosted lichen. Just when she was about to emerge back out into camp, Amberpaw's voice caught her attention once more. "Since you said there won't always be secrets, when are you planning to tell me yours?"

Amberpaw's words froze Skyfall in her tracks. She knew she needed to respond, and fast. However, she had no idea what to say. What secrets were Amberpaw referring to? The prophecy? It only made sense that Willowleaf would have told her new apprentice about StarClan's current message. Or, much to Skyfall's horror, was she referring to Hawkspirit? Why did she even have so many secrets in the first place to the point where she had to play a guessing game?

Skyfall felt the moments ticking on, and sensed Amberpaw's eyes burning into her pelt. Finally, she mustered an entirely lame response. "What are you talking about?"

Skyfall turned her head back to face Amberpaw. She was hesitant to face her directly, as she feared that her body language would reveal whatever secrets Amberpaw thought she knew. How did I get myself into this mess? Skyfall hissed to herself. I just wanted to talk to Willowleaf!

"Everybody has secrets," Amberpaw calmly responded, her green eyes guarded as they met Skyfall's. Her tail flicked casually. 

Skyfall had no idea what to respond. Does she agree, and admit she has information being hidden from the majority of her Clan? Or does she deny it, and try to pointlessly cover up something Amberpaw may already know? 

Skyfall jumped as rustling came from behind her. Willowleaf entered the den, her jaws filled with icy herbs. Relief washed over Skyfall as she realized she wouldn't have to answer Amberpaw's question at that moment. 

"Hi, Willowleaf!" Amberpaw greeted. "Would you like me to sort those for you?"

Willowleaf gently set the herbs down in front of Amberpaw's paws. Skyfall took a moment to really look at the ThunderClan medicine cat. Her fur, while groomed neatly, did not have its usual shine. Her amber eyes were dull, their usual determined vividness absent. It pained her to know that Willowleaf was probably trying to give off the impression that she was doing great, just merely grieving over the loss of a littermate she had never really been close to, rather than drowning in guilt over a fatal mistake. 

"That'd be great, Amberpaw," Willowleaf responded. "Be very gentle with them. This leafbare is destroying our herb sources in the territory. That's all I was able to manage to get, and they're terribly brittle."

Amberpaw nodded, eagerly getting to work with her sorting. Skyfall remembered how Amberpaw used to love sorting the fresh kill pile when she was a kit. She really was destined to become a medicine cat, as Amberpaw loved even the mundane and tedious tasks of the role.

Willowleaf's eyes caught Skyfall's. She figured why Willowleaf assumed she was there, to talk about her meeting with StarClan in regards to the prophecy. After a casual greeting, Willowleaf took Skyfall to the part of the medicine den where she slept, leaving Amberpaw near the herb storages with her sorting.

The two she-cats sat down, and Willowleaf let out a sigh. "Well, I met with StarClan, and-"

Before Willowleaf could continue, Skyfall interrupted her with a simple, "Willowleaf, how are you doing?"

Willowleaf paused and stared at her. Skyfall could see the turmoil behind her eyes. She knew Willowleaf was trying to figure out whether or not to talk about her grievances or to stick to the prophecy. Eventually, she came to a decision and began to speak.

"Skyfall, I don't know what happened," She confessed. Skyfall immediately understood what she meant. Of course Willowleaf knew what happened, but she didn't understand how. "I don't know how I abandoned Flowermoon when I had been anticipating this for moons. I don't know why I did it. This prophecy has taken ahold of me."

"You didn't abandon her," Skyfall began, her preparedness coming in handy. She knew that was not necessarily true, but she was trying to make Willowleaf feel better. "You were acting as a medicine cat. You were going to warn StarClan."

"My first duty as a medicine cat is to ensure my Clan is healthy and well!" She retorted. The frustration was evident in her mew. "And I failed her, my own littermate!"

"You weren't sure if she would have survived anyway, Willowleaf!" Skyfall challenged. There was an edge to her voice, but Skyfall learned from experience that to get anywhere with Willowleaf, you had to be assertive. "You have to remember she wasn't without medical assistance. Hawkspirit helped her to the best of his ability and StarClan still called her!"

"Of course she didn't survive with Hawkspirit," Willowleaf's tail lashed. "He is still merely an apprentice! He had no experience in dealing with a case like this!"

Skyfall felt the sting of her words. She knew deep down that Willowleaf did not mean to insult Hawkspirit and his abilities, but Skyfall took them personally anyway. "Hey! Hawkspirit has his medicine cat name, he was able to handle it! It just took the course StarClan wanted it to!"

Suddenly, Skyfall was embarrassed. Her outburst was quite uncalled for. Sometimes she forgot that her heart belonged to Hawkspirit only in the shadows. She had to recover the situation, and fast. She could see that Willowleaf was taken aback by how personal she took her comments, and she had no room to create suspicion over her relationship with the ShadowClan medicine cat. "I'm just trying to tell you, Willowleaf, that he is just as credible as you are. You being here would not have changed the outcome. You need to forgive yourself. You were warning StarClan about the Dark Forest's forces, and saving the Clans is more important than saving Flowermoon."

Willowleaf flinched at Skyfall's last comment. Skyfall was aware that they sounded harsh, as Flowermoon was Willowleaf's sister, and her life was still valuable. She was just trying to put things into perspective for the tortoiseshell medicine cat - what held more gravity, the death of one cat or the death of the Clans as they knew them?

A long pause stretched between the two she-cats. Willowleaf stared down at her paws, contemplating Skyfall's words. Eventually, she spoke without responding directly to Skyfall's comment. This was a relief to her, since she knew with Willowleaf's stubbornness, no direct response meant they had truly reached her. 

"Let's make sure Flowermoon's death was not in vain, and talk about my conversation with StarClan," Willowleaf murmured. Skyfall nodded in agreement, although she still felt bad about the harshness of their conversation. She never wanted it to escalate to either one of the she-cats getting their feelings hurt, but they were known to bash heads at times. It was simply inevitable.

After a brief pause, both she-cats moving on from their heated conversation, Willowleaf began. "As we suspected, StarClan was unaware that the Dark Forest knew of the prophecy."

Skyfall nodded. This was anticipated. She looked at Willowleaf expectantly, waiting for the tortoiseshell she-cat to continue.

"This is not good, Skyfall," She meowed, her voice low. Skyfall nearly rolled her eyes, and if it wasn't for the grim seriousness in Willowleaf's tone, she would have. Of course it was not good, why did Willowleaf feel the need to reiterate something she already knew? Didn't she know that her warrior duties or Willowleaf's medicine cat duties could end their conversation before it could even start?

"StarClan does not train their warriors for battle like the Dark Forest does," Willowleaf explained. Skyfall pondered this for a moment. While it made perfect sense that StarClan did not train their cats for battle, since it is supposed to be a place of eternal peace, she had never really thought about it. She realized that she really did not know much about StarClan at all. It amazed her that so much of her life had been dictated by StarClan and revolved around them, but she was blatantly unaware about many aspects of their workings. "Many of the spirits within their ranks have not trained in lifetimes."

"And the Dark Forest has been training for moons," Skyfall quietly responded. Willowleaf nodded, an exasperated sigh escaping her lips. Panic ran through Skyfall at the thought of hundreds of savagely trained spirits attacking innocent StarClan cats, who were unable to defend themselves. "What are we going to do? They're totally defenseless, like mice against a hunting patrol!"

"Upon my warning, StarClan now has time to begin preparing for what is to come," Willowleaf responded. "Of course they knew something was brewing, but they had no way of anticipating something of this magnitude approaching so quickly. No one could have anticipated this. Sunstar actually did us a favor."

Willowleaf's comment nearly caused Skyfall to go up in flames. How dare she give any positive credit to Sunstar, of all cats? The more Skyfall thought about it, she realized that Willowleaf was right, as he did give a major clue of the Dark Forest's time table. But still, the thought of painting Sunstar in a positive light made Skyfall want to vomit.

Refocusing herself on the conversation at hand, Skyfall continued. "How are they going to be able to train to the skill level of the Dark Forest?" She questioned, her tail lashing. "You said some of their cats haven't trained in lifetimes!"

"It is going to be difficult," Willowleaf responded, frustration evident in her meow. "They have warriors who have recently joined their ranks in the last few moons, so they will still be sharp. But you are right, the discrepancy between the two forces is distressingly substantial."

"Willowleaf!" Amberpaw's call was heavy with alarm. Willowleaf's ears immediately perked, and before Skyfall could even mention any strategies to conquer their disadvantage, the tortoiseshell medicine cat had already bounded towards Amberpaw's location. Skyfall's tail flicked, her mind buzzing with images of starry pelts laying forever slain in bloodied bracken.

A shiver ripped through her. A few moments had passed before Skyfall concluded that Willowleaf was not returning to finish their conversation. Ducking out of the soft vines that shielded Willowleaf's nest, she found a horrified Amberpaw, and a frantic Willowleaf.

Skyfall froze in her tracks. Her stomach plummeted once the reality of the situation hit her. Before Skyfall could think of another possibly, Amberpaw confirmed the worst through a terrified squeal that shattered Skyfall's heart.

"She isn't breathing!" 

Sorry for this dialogue-heavy chapter, but it was needed! More exciting things coming soon.

In case you missed my announcement, the Instagram is open for art submissions (it is @kaylinwc, no underscore). Please DM your Wattpad user to be accepted, I've been getting a lot of sketchy follow requests. kaylinwrites2001 @ gmail.com is the email for art submissions as well.

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to vote and comment! Tell me how I'm doing, both with writing and the storyline please! Feedback is always welcome. <3