Of course, as things always seemed to go on Flameclan’s tiny island—things did not stay normal for long. As the clan played in the field, a sharp yowling suddenly seemed to catch Cedarskies’s attention. Breaking from the group, his pricked ears pointed in the direction of the agonized yowls. “Um,” he said, almost stuttering, “It seems as though something is wrong.” Blazestar nodded, knowing that, despite this cat’s hesitance, she heard it too. Beckoning with her tail, she drew him forward. “Cedarskies, Maplepaw, come with me. We’re going to go on a patrol to find the source of these noises and figure out what is going on. Moonpelt—stay here. Make sure you have enough healing herbs. If that truly is a cat I’m hearing, we might need them.” Suddenly somber, Moonpelt nodded, dashing across the field and slipping beneath the cleft into his den. Without waiting for him, Blazestar coiled her haunches and began to dash out of the camp with Cedarskies and Maplepaw by her side, ears pricked to the sound of the ever-present wailing. As they ventured into the forest, sunlight streaming through the leaves, the voices seemed as scattered as the light. She stopped in the center of a small clearing, chest heaving, as she waited for her clanmates to catch up. “Can you guys hear anything?” she panted. Maplepaw shook her head, looking as confused as her mentor, but Cedarskies’s ears pricked again as the wail tossed itself across the field. “This way! I can almost make out a voice!” Blazestar moved aside, letting Cedarskies take the lead as he bounded towards the source of the noise. Slowly, she began to make out the words in the yowling voice, hearing, above it all, “Help! Please help!” Finally, the trio of cats reached the source of the news. Lying in the grass was a large, skinny black cat, his chest heaving as he bled out onto the grass, ear torn off and panting. Pacing around him was a worried calico cat, the source of the yowling as she screamed for help. When her pale blue eyes finally focused on the warriors, she wasted no time in begging for help. “Thank the stars,” she cried. “Please help him! I’ve done all I can to stop his bleeding, but nothing seems to be working. I need help or he’ll die. Please!” Without waiting another second, Blazestar dove to the yowling cat’s side. “What happened?” she asked. Without waiting for an answer, with a flick of her tail, she ordered her apprentice back to camp to prepare Moonpelt for the cat. The distressed she=cat struggled to catch her breath. “He’s my half-brother. We were traveling out here, trying to get away from the two-legs who invaded my old home. A hawk came down and tried to attack me, but he scared it off. But it did this in the process!” She began to get even more distressed, as though simply thinking about the memory upset her. “Oh, God, he can’t die! Please! He’s all I have left!” Blazestar gritted her teeth. “He’s not going to die. I promise.” Heaving her shoulders, she scooted her body underneath his, lifting the struggling black cat onto her back, Leaning on Cedarskies, he took the brunt of his weight as the settled out between him, the anxious she-cat pacing back and forth around them. “Back to camp,” she muttered, breath heaving. Slowly, the trio of cats began to make their way back, the lithe she-cat helping when she could as the cats carried the struggling one back towards the camp. Their paws ground roughly into the dirt as they struggled under his weight, blood dripping down from his ear and muzzle onto their slow-moving bodies. When they finally reached the camp, Moonpelt wasted no time. On Maplepaw’s orders, he had brought almost his whole stash to the edge of the camp, greeting them at the enterance closest to the large tree den. He almost went into a trance-like state when he saw his injuries, dressing his wounds and making poultices, only stopping to chew herbs or mutter a small prayer to StarClan. Blazestar couldn’t help but match his fervor in prayer, but she felt helpless otherwise. The herbs were all strange to her, and even the most basic and obvious of all of them—cobweb—felt useless in her paws. She stepped back, leaning back on her haunches, hoping Moonpelt knew what he was doing. Luckily, the frantic she-cat seemed to know how to match Moonpelt step for step. She seemed to know what he needed before he needed it, snagging it and handing it to him just as he turned to grab it. At first, he seemed wary, but as he realized her knowledge was extensive, he grew to trust her, allowing her to work alongside him as a team to save her brother. Though the situation was dire, Blazestar couldn’t help but notice her passion. If he lives, and she decides to stay, she’d make an excellent medicine cat apprentice. Finally, Moonpelt sighed, muttering one more prayer to StarClan before sitting back on his heels. “That’s all we can do for now,” he breathed. “It’s in their paws now.” Although the answer seemed to distress the she-cat, she nodded, trusting the sage former kitty pet with her brother’s life. Without another word to the cats surrounding her, she curled up next to her brother’s body, allowing her chest to rise and fall in time with his, closing her eyes to join him in his slumber. It was Cedarskies who beckoned them away. “Come, now,” he said quietly. “Allow them to rest with each other. It is the least we can do.” With a low nod, Blazestar stepped away, tossing one more gaze over her shoulder at the struggling pair, now bathed in the orange sunset light, sending a special prayer up to her mother that, somehow, this cat could survive.