It was happening all over again. Cloudpaw knew that when Redcloud, the previous medicine cat, had died, she never took in an apprentice. So the other Clans had to tend to Lotusbloom's training.

With all the hostilities going between the three Clans, there was no way it could be done again.

But still, Crowstar insisted that Cloudpaw be sent alongside Rabbitsplash to StormClan, hoping they'd help.

So now Cloudpaw was travelling to the StormClan border. The knowledge that the foxes had been chased out of BlazeClan territory didn't make her feel safer. Frostwing was dark and had turned on his brother. That was a traumatizing experience.

There was so much death going on inside BlazeClan. Lionflower, Redstep, and then Lotusbloom—what did they do to deserve death?

Cloudpaw felt a heavy weight on her shoulders. If dying continued to trend, how would she be able to uphold being a medicine cat? Her mentor, Lotusbloom had died, and now she was stuck with this responsibility.

A small, shriveled up hope barely continued to live on in Cloudpaw. She was starting put all her faith in StormClan. They had to help. Right?

"We're almost there." Rabbitsplash's words went straight through Cloudpaw. She barely heard her—too caught up in her own thoughts.

It only occurred to her that they were nearing the border when she almost fell right into it.

"Watch out!" Rabbitsplash yowled, diving to grab Cloudpaw's scruff. She missed, barely brushing the apprentice's neck. Shock had taken over Cloudpaw and left her unable to comprehend the situation quickly enough. When teeth grabbed her scruff, she yelped a little a being yanked back from her fall. She figured Rabbitsplash had gotten a grip of her now.

Rabbitsplash lifted her up, out of the stream, and onto dry land. Cloudpaw was still shaking from the adrenaline rush. Getting a hold of her senses, she winced when she noticed she had almost fallen into the stream that marked the border.

And then she noticed she was on the other side of the stream.

"Watch where you're going next time," a dark voice growled. Oh.

Cloudpaw quickly turned and saw a large, golden she-cat looming over her. A StormClan cat saved me.

"I'm sorry," Cloudpaw apologized.

"I hope so," the golden she-cat grunted. "Rabbitsplash, what's the meaning of this?"

The black and white warrior jumped over the stream, onto the other side before answering. "Ah, apologies, Dawnclaw. We need to speak to Antstar."

"Elaborate," Dawclaw demanded.

"Tch," another voice scoffed. "Don't tell me you've lost another medicine cat?" Cloudpaw noticed that there was a whole patrol of StormClan cats. The one who had made the dark remark was a dark brown tabby she-cat—a small one, and probably an apprentice.

"Be quiet, Nightpaw," a grey and white tom hissed.

"We have, actually," answered Rabbitsplash grimly.

"Why can't you just go to DawnClan—" Once again, Nightpaw made another offensive remark.

"Quiet, Nightpaw." The grey and white tom that had silenced Nightpaw beofre looked just about ready to snap.

"A battle with DawnClan is what led to Lotusbloom's death," Rabbitsplash sighed. "We need to speak to Antstar right now."

Dawnclaw flicked her tail. "Very well."

--

Dawnclaw led them right to StormClan's camp. On guard outside the entrance was a black and white tom.

"What's...?" the tom seemed to trail away as he asked.

"BlazeClan needs our help again!" Nightpaw meowed.

The grey and white tom growled, "Silence, Nightpaw. The BlazeClan medicine cat's died again, Badgerstripe. That's all."

Badgerstripe looked shocked, but didn't say anything as the patrol entered the camp. Cloudpaw studied Badgerstripe for a moment. She felt a strange sensation. Was there a... hint of darkness around him?

She ignored it. It wasn't as strong as the black cloud around Frostwing, so Cloudpaw figured it was just her imagination.

Unfamiliar smells raged inside the StormClan camp. Other than the strange scents, it seemed to be the same as BlazeClan.

A few kits were playing outside what Cloudpaw thought was the nursery, a large den on the other side of the camp had the smell of herbs, and a few cats seemed to be sleeping in the warriors' den. It seemed normal.

"I'll get Antstar," Dawnclaw said silently. She headed towards a large tree in the center of the camp. Cloudpaw looked around. Instantly her fur rose.

There were so many dark cats in StormClan. A black and white tom sitting near the medicine den had a shadowy cloud around him. There was a grey and white she-cat nearby, the black cloud even thicker for her. Two younger looking warriors had the exact same cloud, too.

Cloudpaw, with her fur fluffed up and her eyes wide, looked crazed.

"Are you okay?" the grey and white tom that had brought Cloudpaw and Rabbitsplash into the camp asked.

"Hmm? Yes, I'm fine," Cloudpaw answered, trying to get her fur to lie flat. "Um, I never caught your name."

"It's Mistyflank," he answered. Mistyflank looked somewhere else. "Ah, there's Antstar."

Cloudpaw looked where Mistyflank was looking. She saw a large, brown tom there.

That wasn't the first thing that caught her attention, though. Antstar was dark—darker than the other cats. It was like... there was more than one dark spirit living inside him.

The second time she bristled she couldn't stop it. Antstar was looking right at her. Dawnclaw was at his side and murmuring something to him, but he didn't seem to be listening. He was too focused on Cloudpaw.

A shiver ran down her spine. Something about his gaze set her off.

Antstar mumbled something back to Dawnclaw and then headed for the two BlazeClan she-cats.

"What a shame. Apologies for what's happened to your medicine cat," Antstar said plainly.

"Oh, it's not your fault or anything," Rabbitsplash said. "We need help quickly. A lot of our warriors need treatment."

"So I've heard," Antstar growled. "Stay here, Rabbitsplash. I'll take Cloudpaw to Daisyfoot." Was he trying to single her out?

"Alright." Rabbitsplash sat down and began washing an ear. Cloudpaw wished she could be as relaxed as Rabbitsplash seemed to be.

Antstar motioned for Cloudpaw to follow him, and she quickly bound forward. They were halfway to the medicine den when he leaned down and hissed into her ear, "No matter how light you think you are, you won't be stopping us."

She swore she could hear more voices speaking behind his.