It was a long night, after Flowerstem had finished fixing up the younger she-cat's wound. Thankfully, Angel and Inky didn't have any major injuries, just a couple of cuts, and were soon acting out the whole thing for the new kits, even though they couldn't see, and making it much more dramatic. The two older kits fell asleep just as the moon began to rise and Flowerstem curled up not far from Dawn with her kits. Dewpaw took the first watch, though it mostly involved trying to calm the former apprentice when she woke up from nightmares. Flowerstem took the next watch at moon high, and Dawn slept a little longer, but by the morning, she had woken up many times and was beginning to develop a fever from the start of an infection in her wound. They decided to make a move back to SpringClan territory, but had to make regular stops for Dawn. Her wound had to be regularly redressed and she would often stumble when the fever spiked.

"How far away are we?" asked Angel when they stopped for the fifth time.

"Hopefully not too far away," replied Dewpaw, watching as Flowerstem tried to get Dawn to drink some water.

"It is probably only about another day's travel," mewed the medicine cat, standing up and shaking out her pelt as she walked over to her kits. Thankfully, the tom and she-cat had opened their eyes the day they left the shelter, and since Flowerstem insisted on burying the silver tom on SpringClan territory, one of the kits had to walk at a time, since only the medicine cat and Dewpaw could only carry two at a time.

The two kits hadn't been named yet, but they were already growing into spitting images of their parents. The brown tabby tom was fierce and loyal like his father but also had a slight interest for different herbs and berries. The calico she-kit on the other hand was pretty much the complete opposite of her brother, she was quiet and shy, often caught looking like she was in a daydream.

"Flowerstem?" murmured a voice and all of the Clan cats, including the kits, looked over at Dawn, who was stirring slowly, "Is that you?"

"Her fever has broken." whispered the medicine cat, hurrying over to the calico she-cat. She crouched down next to the apprentice, "Hey Birdpaw, nice to have you back with us. How are you feeling?"

"Tired," murmured the apprentice, blinking up at the medicine cat, "and hungry as well."

"Dewpaw," mewed Flowerstem, turning around to the older apprentice, "can you go get some prey for her?"

"Ooo," squealed Inky, "can I come? Please?"

"Okay," sighed the tom, already half into the forest around them, "hurry up. Do you want to come Angel?"

"No thanks," replied the light grey kitten, "I am going to watch the kits." The tom nodded before he and the black kitten turned around and raced away into the surrounding forest. Flowerstem smiled at the older kit before darting to her pile of herbs sitting nearby, grabbing a couple of stems of white-petaled flowers and giving it to the apprentice.

"Where are we?" asked Dawn, gazing around with slightly cloudy eyes, "It is StarClan?"

"No," chuckled Flowerstem, "this is near the lake where all the Clans live. We are currently on the unclaimed land next to AutumnClan territory. It is about another day's travel from here to SpringClan territory."

"Have any other Clans spotted us yet?" fretted the apprentice, trying to stand up, "What if they saw the new kits? They know you are our medicine cat, would they think they are your kits? What if they tried to hurt them?"

"Hey calm down," soothed the medicine cat, gently putting a paw on Dawn's shoulder and pushing her back down to the ground, "nobody has seen us or the kits. And if anyone did see the kits, I would make sure they would never dare to hurt them."

"You promise?" asked Dawn, beginning to stop her struggling.

"Ipromise," nodded Flowerstem, "they are my kits, I went through the pain ofgiving birth to them and I am not going to let anybody hurt them anytime soon, becauseall that pain would have been for nothing. Trust me." The apprentice nodded andbegan to relax, the chamomile that the medicine cat gave her beginning to take effect.