Heartpaw yawned and blinked his eyes open. Honeypaw peered down at him. He jumped up in surprise. 

            "Relax, it's just me. Pinestar said you could have a day off. Me too," Honeypaw told him with a small beam. "Apparently we're running really low on food and it's getting really cold and a few cats may be sick." Heartpaw nodded, his head thumped and he puffed out his fur, feeling a cold breeze blow into the apprentice den. 

            "Do you want to go hunting?" asked Honeypaw. "Together." 

            "What I really want, is sleep," mumbled Heartpaw but Honeypaw didn't hear him. She dragged him out into the cold morning air and then led him out of camp. If he was going to have a day off, he would have liked being able to sleep, what was the point of having a day off if he was going to wake up even earlier. The air was still and cold and the ground hard and frozen. Leaf-bare was near. Heartpaw shivered, the cold air woke up him completely. He followed Honeypaw. Finally, they stopped and listened and looked for prey. Heartpaw's pads were getting number by the minute. 

            "It's too cold to be outside," he shivered. 

            "I hear something," whispered Honeypaw. She pointing towards a mess of brambles with her tail. With a silent sigh, Heartpaw nodded. Together, they approached the bush and suddenly, a scrawny mouse shot out. Quickly, Honeypaw jumped onto it but it twisted out of her reach. Heartpaw leapt onto it, snapping its spine quickly. 

            "Nice one!" she said. "I lost it." 

           "You heard it and saw it," pointed out Heartpaw. 

          "We're a good team," Honeypaw beamed. Heartpaw nodded. They continued on their way, coming upon a sparrow which flitted away without their chance of even getting near. The whole morning, they skulked the forest and even met a hunting patrol but they couldn't catch anything more than the mangy mouse they had caught in the morning. Sighing, they walked towards camp. Honeypaw pressed her pelt against Heartpaw and he felt himself warming up. They kept each other warm as they made their way to camp. Then Firpaw jumped in front of them and smirked. 

           "Lovebirds," he snickered. Heartpaw frowned and hissed angrily but Honeypaw could only smile, slightly embarrased. 

            "Go mind your own business, you know nothing," snapped Heartpaw. Honeypaw nodded to agree but Heartpaw pulled away from her side and stalked away. She looked after him in dismay and hurt. 

           "Don't waste your time on him, sister," spat Firpaw. "He's not worth it." Honeypaw turned to him angrily. 

          "Don't tell me what to do! You don't even know him! I can do what I want," she raised her voice angrily and ran after Heartpaw. She found him mumbling to himself. 

         "Ignore my brother, he shouldn't stop you from doing what you want," she told him. Heartpaw nodded. 

         "I know, don't worry," he told her. She smiled. 

         "Great then," she said and twirled her tail around his and pressed closer to him. He didn't seem to notice her. His mind was somewhere else. It was with Ivypaw. They returned back to camp and Heartpaw headed for the apprentice den. He slipped into his nest and curled up. He would get to see Ivypaw once again that night. He couldn't wait. Suddenly, there was a commotion outside. He peered out of his den. 

         "Lionbreeze!" yelled Featherflame. "It's Raggedscar, Eagleflight and Birchstep!" Heartpaw spotted Lionbreeze rushing to the warrior's den. He frowned, narrowing his eyes. Honeypaw joined his side. 

         "They're sick," she told him. "They have greencough..." Heartpaw gasped. 

         "Since when?" he exclaimed. 

        "Aren't you paying attention? They've had it for a few days now. I guess its worse," whispered Honeypaw. Lionbreeze and the three sick cats appeared. Lionbreeze led them towards the elder's den. 

          "Riverclaw! Crowtail! Get out and go to the warriors den, the sick cats need to stay away form the others," ordered Lionbreeze. Riverclaw and Crowtail appeared, looking dazed. Eagleflight coughed and choked. He stumbled to his knees and Shadefern quickly helped him back to his feet. 

          "Don't worry about me Lionbreeze, take care of Raggedscar and Birchstep," Eagleflight said, his old eyes looked tired. "And make sure to check the other cats in case they have the first symptoms. I can take care of myself." Lionbreeze frowned but helped Raggedscar and Birchstep into the elder's den. He then raced out to get catmint and check on other cats. He made every cat, including Heartpaw line up in front of him for a check up. Just as Heartpaw was in the middle of the line, waiting for his turn, Sunwhisper started coughing. Then her coughing turned into hacking. 

         "Sunwhisper, to the elder's den now!" ordered Lionbreeze then her turned to Weaselscar who was not sick. "Give her catmint and Feverfew. Make sure the other's are alright." He then turned to the line. Before Heartpaw's turn, Mousewhisker, Daisyfoot and Deerdapple were sent to the elders den with greencough as well. Lionbreeze checked Heartpaw then instructed him to return to his den where he would not get sick till further notice. He slipped into the den where Firpaw and Honeypaw were talking softly. They looked up when he came in and Honeypaw's eyes lingered on him then turned back to her brother. he joined them. 

         "Do you think they'll survive?" whispered Firpaw said finally. 

         "Of course," replied Heartpaw, he wasn't worried. How bad was greencough anyways?

         "Well, Eagleflight doesn't look too good," Firpaw replied, worried. 

          "He's the medicine cat, he'll be fine," assured Honeypaw. Firpaw huffed and slipped into his nest. 

          "When are they going to let us out?" asked Honeypaw. Cindertail poked her head into the den. 

          "When we know which cats have greencough and which ones don't," Cindertail said firmly. "Till then, none of you are to come out. Understood?"

          "Yeah, sure," muttered Firpaw. 

          "Of course," nodded Honeypaw. Heartpaw curled up in his nest, he still felt excited, he was going to meet Ivypaw. He slept through the whole afternoon and he awoke to brutal hacking and coughing. There were a few chokes then some more coughing then silence. He peered out of the apprentice den. Honeypaw was sitting in her nest, eyes wide and Firpaw was still asleep. 

          "Did you hear that?" whispered Honeypaw, eyes wide with fear. 

          "Yes," murmured Heartpaw. 

          "It stopped...," she trailed off. 

          "It's probably a good sign," assured Heartpaw. Then there were a few muffled cries and a bit of sobbing then he spotted Lionbreeze slinking back towards his den. 

          "Lionbreeze!" called Heartpaw. He looked up. 

          "Not now, Heartpaw," he said with a sigh. 

          "What happened?" insisted Heartpaw. "Are they alright?" Lionbreeze hung his head. 

         "I tried... I tried...," he whispered. 

          "What do you mean?" cried Honeypaw, poking her head out of the medicine den. Lionbreeze looked away. 

          "Eagleflight and Deerdapple are dead," croaked Lionbreeze then he marched back to the medicine den. Heartpaw turned to Honeypaw. She gave a silent cry of horror. Then Pinestar appeared, he looked more tired than ever. 

           "You may come out, Lionbreeze needs help," he told them solemnly. 

          "Eagleflight and Deerdapple, are they really?" whispered Honeypaw. Pinestar nodded sadly. 

           "But you can help, go ask Lionbreeze what he needs help for," instructed Pinestar. The two apprentices slipped to the medicine den, the camp was eerily silent and cold. Frost covered the grass. In the den, Lionbreeze was rummaging furiously through piles of herbs. 

          "Do you need help?" asked Heartpaw. He hadn't fully accepted the death of his Clanmates. 

          "No," Lionbreeze snapped. 

          "Pinestar said we could help. Don't be so hard on yourself," Honeypaw said, giving her brother a lick of comfort. Lionbreeze sighed. 

          "I should still be an apprentice," he said. "Eagleflight should still be my mentor."

         "What do you want us to do?" asked Heartpaw. 

          "I need more Catmint," Lionbreeze muttered. "It stopped growing a moon ago... But go check. By the stream. You know where there is that bunch of purple plants." Honeypaw nodded and she trotted out. Heartpaw was at her heels. They headed towards the stream and towards Windclan territory. He wished he could see Ivypaw. His Clan was upside down. He didn't understand what was happening. He shivered in the cold. They finally found a clump of catmint. It wasn't much and most of it was dead but they managed to drag it back to camp. Lionbreeze nodded his thanks and ran to the elder's den. Heartpaw and Honeypaw slipped back into the apprentice den. 

          "I need a hunting patrol!" called out Clawpelt. Honeypaw pricked her ears. 

          "Let's go," she told Heartpaw. He hesitated. he wanted to see Ivypaw. But he still could, after the patrol. 

         "Fine," relented Heartpaw. They slipped out and joined Clawpelt. He eyed Honeypaw then turned around. 

        "Let's go," he said. Dustbreeze joined them and the slipped out. Clawpelt gave Honeypaw and Heartpaw a serious look. 

         "Honeypaw, you go with Dustbreeze, Heartpaw... I'm going alone so you go alone as well," said Clawpelt and he slunk off. Honeypaw gave Heartpaw a longing look then took off after Dustbreeze. Happy, Heartpaw bounded towards Windclan border. He would get to hunt and see Ivypaw. He sniffed the air, it was cold but there was no sign of prey. Soon, without catching any sign of any living things, it was sunset. He raced to the usual meeting spot and peered through the grasses. He hoped he wouldn't have to wait long. Soon, the sun had set and he lay, waiting in the grasses for Ivypaw. A few monsters raced past him, their loud noises, pounding in his ears. The moons rose and stars twinkled in the sky. He sighed, where was she? He waited and waited. Till he finally heard something, but it was coming from behind him. He leapt to his paws and turned around. Clawpelt pushed his dark face through the grasses. He barred his teeth. 

          "What are you doing here?" he growled. Heartpaw suddenly felt scared, what if Clawpelt knew? 

         "Hunting?" replied Heartpaw. 

         "You've been out too long," he snapped. "We've had to search everywhere for you. Your stupid trail led us from the camp, round again towards the stream then another round back near the camp then to the middle of the forest then here. What are you even doing here? Hoping to catch something by lying still?" 

          "Yeah..., I mean, you know, surprise attack," Heartpaw said. 

          "Did you catch anything?" interrogated Clawpelt, fur bristling. 

         "Well, no," Heartpaw said. Clawpelt hissed then swivelled around and marched away. Heartpaw followed him, head down.