Around sunhigh, several days after the patrol's return, Lionblaze was strol ing back to the camp with Honeyfern and Berrynose. They had spent the morning training with Squirrelflight and Brackenfur and the two apprentices; Brackenfur had taken over as Icepaw's mentor since Whitewing was so close to having her kits.

"They're doing so wel ," Honeyfern purred. "Did you see how high Icepaw can leap?"

"And Foxpaw can dodge real y quickly," Lionblaze agreed. "Squirrelflight made them practice that move over and over again, and they've both got it now."

Berrynose paused to stretch his jaws wide in a yawn. "I feel like lying in the sun for a bit to catch my breath. I wonder if Mousefur wil let us have a turn on the basking rocks."

"Good idea," mewed Lionblaze.

Pushing his way through the thorn tunnel, he saw that Mousefur, Purdy, and Longtail were al snoozing on the flat-topped rocks. Berrynose bounded over to them eagerly; Lionblaze fol owed with Honeyfern.

But Purdy wasn't dozing after al . "So my Upwalker," he was meowing as they approached, "he says to me, 'Purdy,' he says, 'there's only you can get rid of this mouse, and-'" He broke off, blinking as he spotted the younger cats.

Lionblaze noticed that Mousefur and Longtail, to whom Purdy was tel ing his story, were both fast asleep.

"Hi, Purdy," he greeted the old tabby. "We were wondering if we could bask here with you for a bit.

We've been training al morning, and we're tired."

"Young cats today-no stamina," Purdy grumbled, but he rose to his paws, stretched, then prodded Mousefur and Longtail awake.

"Wha'?" Mousefur woke with a start.

"These young 'uns want to bask," Purdy explained.

The tip of Mousefur's tail twitched, but to Lionblaze's surprise she didn't object. "I suppose so," she muttered. "We'l even leave the rocks to you, providing one of you brings a bit of fresh-kil to our den. I could just eat a good plump vole."

"I'l do that," Honeyfern offered, bounding off to the fresh-kil pile.

Mousefur laid her tail on Longtail's shoulders to guide him down from the rocks, and the three elders headed off toward their den under the hazel bush.

headed off toward their den under the hazel bush.

"Thanks!" Lionblaze cal ed after them.

"You fel asleep and missed some of the story,"

Purdy mewed to Mousefur as they retreated. "I'd better start it al over again. There was this mouse, see..."

Lionblaze and Berrynose climbed up onto the basking rocks, and Honeyfern joined them a few heartbeats later. The flat surface was warm where the elders had been lying, and bright yel ow sunlight spil ed down on it. Lionblaze stretched out and let the heat soak into his fur. I wish I could lie like this for ever, he thought, and never have to worry about anything again.

On the rock next to him, Berrynose and Honeyfern were sharing tongues and watching Mil ie's kits playing in the clearing close by.

Berrynose bent his head close to the tabby she-cat's ear. "We'l have kits like that one day," he purred.

Honeyfern looked up at him, blinking shyly. "I'd like that."

Lionblaze was surprised at how gentle Berrynose sounded; he was used to the older warrior being a bossy nuisance, ordering around other cats if he thought he could get away with it. Maybe having Honeyfern as a mate would be good for him.

At least he might stay out of my fur.

The cream-colored warrior rasped his tongue over Honeyfern's shoulder. "You'l make a wonderful mother."

Watching them together, a pang of loneliness gripped Lionblaze's bel y. Who is my mother? Why didn't she want me? Closing his eyes, he wondered what she had been like, and whether she ever thought about the kits she had abandoned.

"Watch me! Watch me!" Blossomkit's voice came from a little way across the clearing. "I can leap higher than any cat!"

"No, you can't, I can!" Bumblekit argued.

Lionblaze opened one eye to see al three of Mil ie's kits leaping and tumbling around, a couple of fox-lengths from the rocks where he and his Clanmates lay. Briarkit fel over and rol ed so that she was next to a crack in the rock wal ; leaping up, she balanced on her hind legs with her forepaws stretching up into the air.

"I bet you can't do this!" she boasted.

In the same instant, Lionblaze spotted a long, dark shadow emerging from the rock behind the kit. It reared up against the gray stone, but Briarkit was too excited to notice. Lionblaze sat bolt upright.

Snake!

He bunched his muscles to spring, but Honeyfern was quicker. Leaping down from the rock, she bundled Briarkit out of the way. The snake arched its neck; before Honeyfern could move it struck down and buried its hooked fangs in her shoulder.

Honeyfern sprang backward with a screech of pain. "Help!"

CHAPTER 17.

Hollyleaf pushed her way through the thorn tunnel with a vole and two mice dangling from her jaws. Her hunting patrol had done wel , but her nose and paws were numb with cold as she padded over to the fresh-kil pile. The leaf-bare sun didn't penetrate the shadows under the trees, and the ground there was stil frozen.

She was dropping her prey on the pile when she heard a shriek from the base of the cliff, on the far side of the medicine cats' den. Whirling around, she saw Lionblaze bolt into the middle of the clearing, his pelt bristling as if a whole Clan of enemies were on his tail.

"Help! Come quick!" he screeched. "Honeyfern's been bitten by a snake!"

Icy terror coursed through Hol yleaf's blood as she rushed across the clearing. They'd never had a snake in the hol ow before! When she reached the cliff, she saw Briarkit cowering at the base of the rocks; the little kit was trembling, her eyes wide with shock. Mil ie bounded up and drew her away with her tail wrapped protectively around the kit.

Berrynose crouched beside Honeyfern, who was lying on her side with her paws splayed out; her breath came fast and shal ow, and her eyes were ful of terror. A thin line of blood on her shoulder showed where the snake had struck.

Sorreltail and Brackenfur raced across from the warriors' den with the same look of horror in their eyes when they saw their wounded daughter.

Cinderheart, Honeyfern's littermate, was hard on their paws.

As they skidded to a halt, Sorreltail pressed her muzzle into Brackenfur's shoulder. "No...oh, no..."

she whispered. "I can't lose another kit! Not after Molekit! Please, StarClan..."

"Where's Poppyfrost?" Hol yleaf muttered to Lionblaze as her brother came running back.

Sorreltail needed al her kits right now.

"Out on patrol," Lionblaze replied. "She-"

He broke off as Leafpool pushed her way through the knot of cats. "Stand back and give me some room," she ordered.

Berrynose glared at her. "I'm not leaving," he snarled.

Ignoring him, Leafpool crouched beside Honeyfern and rested one paw on her shoulder. "Try not to move," she meowed.

Hol yleaf waited expectantly for Leafpool to start helping Honeyfern. Surely she would know what to do? But she hadn't brought any herbs with her, and she wasn't doing anything more than sitting beside the trembling tabby warrior.

Leafpool looked up, her gaze sweeping over the crowd of cats and coming to rest on Cinderheart.

There was a pleading look in her eyes, so desperate and hopeful that it made Hol yleaf wince. I don't understand, she thought. What does she want from Cinderheart?

"Help me!" Honeyfern had begun to twitch and writhe in pain. "My blood is on fire! Help me, please!

It hurts so much!"

Berrynose stared at Leafpool. "Do something!" he begged. His gaze swept over the cluster of cats.

"One of you, do something!"

Leafpool didn't seem to hear him; she just dragged her gaze away from Cinderheart and looked down at Honeyfern as she struggled for breath.

Sorreltail slid out her claws, her disbelieving gaze fixed on the medicine cat. "Why aren't you doing anything?"

Leafpool bowed her head. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. "There's nothing I can do. The poison has taken hold of her."

Sorreltail raised her head and let out a yowl of anguish, while Brackenfur wrapped his tail around her shoulders and drew her close.

Honeyfern's legs folded into her bel y, and her back arched in agony. When the spasm passed she lay limply, her chest hardly moving to show that she was stil breathing. Her legs continued to twitch; her eyes had begun to glaze over.

In silence, Hol yleaf and the rest of the cats shuffled backward to give Berrynose space to help Honeyfern on her journey to StarClan. The cream-colored tom crouched over her, stroking her fur with colored tom crouched over her, stroking her fur with one paw. "We would have had wonderful kits together," he murmured. "Just as strong and beautiful as you. And one day I'l see you in StarClan."

Honeyfern's jaw moved and a rasping sound came from her throat, as if she was trying to reply.

"You saved Briarkit's life," Berrynose went on, bending his head to lick the dying she-cat's head.

"Every cat in StarClan wil honor you."

A long sigh came from Honeyfern. Hol yleaf watched helplessly as her friend's limbs grew stil and the rise and fal of her chest faded away. Final y, her blue eyes stared sightlessly into the sky.

Pain as sharp as the snake's bite pierced Hol yleaf. She gazed at Cinderheart's horrified expression, trying to imagine how she would feel if she lost one of her littermates.

No! Hol yleaf dug her claws into the earth. That must never happen!

Leafpool moved toward Honeyfern's body, but Brackenfur stopped her. Instead he padded up to Berrynose and rested his tail on the young warrior's shoulder. "She's gone," he told him. "She hunts with StarClan now."

As gently as if he were Berrynose's father, Brackenfur nudged him to his paws and led him away, then nodded to Leafpool. The medicine cat crouched beside Honeyfern with a paw on her chest to check for any signs of breathing. Shaking her head slightly, she mewed to Lionblaze, "Find some warriors to help carry her body into the clearing. We need to get her away from the cliff in case the snake is stil around."

"I'l help," Hol yleaf offered instantly.

Lionblaze beckoned with his tail to Spiderleg and Thornclaw, and together the four cats lifted Honeyfern's limp body and carried it to a shaded spot not far from the warriors' den.

As they were crossing the clearing, Graystripe appeared through the thorn tunnel, his jaws ful of prey. Poppyfrost and Mousewhisker fol owed him into the camp. As soon as she saw her sister's body, Poppyfrost dropped her fresh-kil and raced over.

"What happened?" she wailed. "Honeyfern, wake up!"

Sorreltail padded up to her and guided her along after Honeyfern's body, their pelts brushing, until the warriors set the dead she-cat down and her kin could huddle together around her, comforting one another as they kept vigil.

The sun stil shone, but Hol yleaf felt as if ice were creeping through the hairs on her pelt, and she couldn't stop shivering. "Are you okay?" she asked Lionblaze. "You saw it al happen."

Lionblaze gave her a bleak nod but didn't speak.

"Honeyfern wil be a great loss to her Clan."

Hol yleaf started as she heard Sol's voice, and turned to see that the loner had left his nest.

Thornclaw must have left him unguarded when he came to see what was happening. Sol's amber eyes shone with sadness and his head was bowed as if he genuinely grieved for the young she-cat.

"It's hard when a life is cut off so early," he added.

Hol yleaf knew she should send him back to his nest, but she couldn't summon the energy. Al the other cats seemed too distracted by their grief to worry about what Sol was up to.

He might as well stay, she thought. What harm is he doing?

Purdy and the elders had appeared, too, padding up and mingling with their Clanmates.

"There's nothin' worse than losin' a young cat,"

Purdy meowed. "She'd al her life stretchin' in front of her."

"She was a fine cat," Mousefur agreed. "The last thing she ever did was fetch me some fresh-kil ."

Al the cats were mil ing around in the center of the clearing, unsure what to do. Hol yleaf was relieved when Graystripe strode into the middle of them, raising his tail for silence.

"Mousewhisker," he directed, "go and fetch Firestar. He took a hunting patrol toward the old Twoleg nest. Brambleclaw is on a border patrol, so we'l have to wait for him to come back, as I don't know where he'l be right now," he added as Mousewhisker pelted off. "Leafpool, can you check Briarkit, to make sure she's okay?"

Leafpool nodded; she looked glad to have something to do. Mil ie guided her kit over to the medicine cat and waited, her claws scraping the ground and her eyes frantic with worry. Daisy fol owed, keeping a watchful eye on al the other kits, who seemed as shocked as Briarkit.

As Leafpool sniffed the kit al over, Hol yleaf murmured to Lionblaze, "She must be al right.

Honeyfern can't have died for nothing."

Honeyfern can't have died for nothing."