Sorry for such a slow update! I was super busy these past two weeks! Happy 4th of July—kind of late, but still!

Enjoy…

Chapter 2

Tinderkit gazed out of the entrance to the medicine den, watching as Lionkit and Hollykit were told their punishment. Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight were behind Firestar, looking angry and disappointed.

It wasn't them, it was me! Tinderkit longed to wail, I was the one who told them about the fox!

She looked to where Jaykit was lying motionless in front of an anxious Leafpool. Tinderkit had known that he had fallen off of the gorge when the fox chased him over, and she now saw that he had taken serious damage. She had been relieved to find that he was breathing steadily.

She shivered and sneezed. Leafpool turned to look at her after rubbing poultices into Jaykit's fur; she shook her head and padded over to sit beside Tinderkit.

"I'll give you some herbs for shock," Leafpool mewed, then went to her herb stores. She returned with some bitter herbs, but Leafpool had mixed them with marigold so they would be easier to swallow.

"Thank you, Leafpool," Tinderkit sniffed, and she sneezed again.

"Ooh, we've better get you warm before you catch a cough." Leafpool murmured, and she gave her some more herbs. Tinderkit felt slightly better, but a small breeze on her damp pelt made her shiver. She hoped she didn't catch a sickness before her apprentice ceremony-if she had one at all.

She felt a stone drop deep into her stomach. She wondered what Firestar was telling Hollykit and Lionkit in the clearing; she looked out again, and saw that only Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight remained with Lionkit and Hollykit. Both of her litter mates were looking shameful, and Tinderkit continued to watch as Hollykit mewed something to their mother, who nodded; Lionkit glanced toward the nursery, then padded toward it with dragging tail.

Hollykit bounced over to the medicine den, stirring Jaykit beside her. "Tinderkit? Jaykit?" Hollykit whispered.

"Over here." Tinderkit answered, flicking her tail over to where Jaykit was resting with his head on his paws.

Hollykit padded over to them, looking sad. "What happened?" Tinderkit asked her.

Hollykit swallowed. "We are ordered to stay in the nursery, and as long as we listen and stay in camp, we can become apprentices next moon." Tinderkit breathed a sigh of relief. That wasn't as bad as she thought it would be.

Jaykit moaned, and Hollykit rushed over to him.

"I hurt." Jaykit groaned, and Leafpool appeared from the other side of the den.

Sorreltail suddenly burst into the den. "Brackenfur's coughing again."

Leafpool nodded. "Right, I'll give him some honey to sooth his throat. Hollykit, do you think you could groom Jaykit? He's really sore from his fall; mind the poultices."

"Okay." Hollykit mewed, wrinkling her nose. As Leafpool spoke with Sorreltail about the honey, Tinderkit saw that Hollykit's eyes were bright.

When Sorreltail had left, Hollykit watched as Leafpool made a poultice of comfrey.

"What're you doing?" Hollykit asked curiously.

"Making a poultice for wounds," Leafpool mewed, and she spat it out and started rubbing it on Jaykit's flank.

"You're not as gentle as Spottedleaf," Jaykit grumbled to Hollykit, who continued to groom his pelt.

"Spottedleaf?" Hollykit echoed, puzzled.

"Yeah. She came to me in my dreams to heal my sores." Jaykit sighed, remembering. Tinderkit pricked her ears; Jaykit was speaking to she-cats in his dreams?

Leafpool padded up to them. "You're telling her about Spottedleaf, aren't you?"

Jaykit nodded, and Hollykit looked confused.

"Who's she? You've never met her before, so how can you dream about her?" Tinderkit asked, curious.

Leafpool sat down, suddenly excited. "Spottedleaf was the medicine cat of ThunderClan when Firestar became an apprentice. She died before I was born, but she visits me in my dreams and guides me when I'm in times of trouble; or she warns me of trouble to come to our Clan." Hollykit looked more interested with every word, but Tinderkit didn't really like the idea of her ancestors speaking to her; it would be frightening to speak with the cats that had passed.

"Do you see Cinderpelt in your dreams?" Jaykit asked, and Tinderkit wondered who that might be.

Leafpool sighed. "No, I don't." Seeing Hollykit's and Tinderkit's puzzled expressions, Leafpool explained, "Cinderpelt was the medicine cat before me, and was my mentor; she died protecting Sorreltail from badgers." Tinderkit shivered.

Hollykit pricked her ears, and Tinderkit heard the faintest call from Ferncloud in the nursery. "That's Ferncloud."

"You've better be on your way," Leafpool mewed, "You've been in enough trouble already." Leafpool grabbed five poppy seeds from her herb stores and fed them to Jaykit; his eyes drooped, and soon he was fast asleep.

Hollykit padded toward the entrance to the den, then stopped and turned around. "Do you have to be old to take on an apprentice, Leafpool?"

Leafpool's eyes flashed. "Oh no. I can take an apprentice anytime."

"Does the medicine cat apprentice stay an apprentice until their mentor...?" Hollykit trailed off. Tinderkit finished her sentence, died?

Leafpool shook her head. "No. He can receive his full name and resume full duties as a medicine cat when his mentor is still alive."

Tinderkit was about to ask why she had said he, but Hollykit asked instead, "Do you have anyone in mind?"

Leafpool blinked. "I'm still open to suggestions."

Ferncloud called again and, with a quick goodbye, Hollykit exited the medicine den, her black tail disappearing through the entrance.

The next morning, Tinderkit awoke to a shuffling outside of the den. She sat up, feeling refreshed and dry for the first time in hours. She stood and stretched, purring as she cracked her sore muscles. She yawned, and looked over to say good morning to Jaykit.

She prodded the mass of gray fur, and she rolled him over. Tinderkit gasped and backed away.

Instead of her grumpy brother blinking his eyes, she saw empty eye sockets and a gaping, toothless mouth. Suddenly, Jaykit's fur and flesh drained from his body, leaving only a skeleton that blew away like dust in the wind. Tinderkit bristled, and shut her eyes as a wave of heat engulfed the medicine den.

Oh, no, it's starting again! Tinderkit thought desperately as she tried to find a way out. She found a wall of brambles and she burst through them, racing away out of camp and into the dark forest ahead.

Once she was sure that the flames were behind her, she slowed and panted to a stop. She looked up, only to find a moonless and starless sky above, only darkness all around her.

Tinderkit cautiously padded through the forest, hearing the wails of cats in misery around her. There was no wind, no sound, only the pad of her feet and the shrieks of other cats.

Soon, she reached a clearing, much like the one she had encountered in another dream. She padded into its center, sapphire eyes darting warily around.

A voice echoed around her. "Don't be afraid, little kit." Across the plain, a shadow emerged from the dark forest beyond, and Tinderkit watched as a dark tabby tom approached her.

As Tinderkit bristled at his arrival, the tom just laughed and looked kindly at her. "Don't worry, I will not harm you." His voice was a smooth purr, and Tinderkit let her fur lie flat. She sat down, gazing up at the huge tom in front of her.

"Who are you? Where are we?" Tinderkit asked.

"I am Hawkfrost. I used to be a part of RiverClan, and my brother is your father."

Tinderkit's ears pricked. He was Brambleclaw's brother?

Hawkfrost continued, "As for where we are, sadly I do not know. It is a sorrowful place, this forest. Always so dark and forbidding, with no light and such dead and wilted plants." Tinderkit felt sorry for this poor cat, and seeing that he was upset she grazed her tail-tip gently over his hind leg, the farthest she could reach.

"Why are you here," Tinderkit asked, "if it's such a bad place?"

"...I don't know. Once I died, I expected to go to StarClan, but instead I came to this place. You see, this place was cut off from StarClan a long time ago, and the other cats here keep trying to find a way to connect it again. But alas," Hawkfrost sighed, "it could never be done, for we here do not have the strength of our ancestors to aid us."

Tinderkit felt so sad that she closed her eyes to sniffle. She wished there were something she could do to help.

Hawkfrost rested his tail-tip on her shoulder, making Tinderkit look up again. "Maybe there is something you could do to help us."

Tinderkit looked into his ice blue eyes. "Really?"

"Yes. Next time we meet, I will take you to my father. I'm sure he would be very pleased to meet you." Hawkfrost started to fade away, along with the forest, until Tinderkit found herself opening her eyes inside the medicine den once more.

Please review, I promise I will update sooner than later. :)