"Eaglefeather! Eaglefeather! Leave him alone! Let go of him! Help me Eaglefeather!" A gray tom with darker flecks was abruptly awoken by the yowling. "Branchkit! Branchkit, wake up." With a soft paw, he prodded the brown tabby kit's uninjured shoulder - hard enough to jolt him from his nightmare. Tears were streaming from the young kit's face. "He's gone, Stonefeather! I don't want-" Beechpaw quickly handed juniper berries over to Stonefeather. "It's alright, Branchkit. Eat these, they'll make you feel better." Wearily, the injured kit lapped the blue-colored berries. A few heart-beats passed. "Are you doing okay now?" "Eaglefeather's dead and it's all my fault! I shouldn't have left camp! Maybe the dogs..." he shivered, not wanting to relive the events that happened not too many sunrises ago. 

"It's not your fault that any of this happened, Branchkit. It's not your fault." Branchkit closed his blue eyes, "But if I didn't leave, he'd still be alive! And I'd still have my leg!" This poor kit. He shouldn't be having to go through this. "Beechpaw! Do we have goatweed?" Stonefeather called from the entrance of the medicine den. The brown apprentice searched through the herb stock. "We don't. Want me to get some?" Stonefeather nodded before turning his attention back to Branchkit. "Don't blame yourself for anything," the medicine cat scolded, standing up. "Do you want to see Fernshade, Thornkit, and Frondkit?" Maybe that will make him feel a little better. The brown tabby tom gave a small nod.

Stepping out of the medicine den and walking towards the nursery, he could smell fear scents echoing off the cats in camp. Fernshade was already walking out with Thornkit and Frondkit, as if she knew that they were wanted in the medicine den. Blue eyes met and stared into the other's silently; before the stillness was broken by Stonefeather. "Branchkit wants you in the medicine den." Without responding, Fernshade brought the kits over towards the den, Stonefeather following. At this rate, we'll all need a dose of goatweed.  

. . . . .

"I need to start giving him exercises, but only once he finds motivation. He's currently grieving, so I want to wait a little bit. His wounds also aren't fully healed. And I'm not sure how likely the chances of him becoming a warrior are, but I really hope that he'll get what he wants," Stonefeather answered Fernshade's questions in a whisper. She flicked her fluffy cream tail. "I hope he can live up to his dreams as well." She sighed, "Do you think Eaglefeather knows? Now that he's in StarClan, he knows, doesn't he?" Stonefeather blinked, blue eyes' fixed on his sister's pelt. "StarClan as a whole should know." He put his paw on top of hers, "But I don't think he's angry. He was a very understanding young cat, and I'm sure he wouldn't hold it against you nor I." Fernshade slowly nodded, before looking at the three kits. "Let's watch them."

. . . . .

Thornkit and Frondkit looked at each other. Thornkit then snapped his gaze to Branchkit. "You'll be able to walk again, won't you? You'll be a warrior with Frondkit and I, right?" Before Branchkit could respond, Frondkit butted in. "He has to. I mean, we'll all be the best warriors together. The unstoppable trio!" Although Frondkit tried to keep the mood light, it was clear that he'd been very upset about Eaglefeather's death. Branchkit closed his eyes. "I hope so. I really want to be a warrior. But my scratches still hurt, and I don't have a leg. And who'd want a warrior who killed a cat?" Branchkit shifted in his nest before flinching. "I shouldn't have left camp that night! Our father is dead because of me!" Before Branchkit could continue, Stonefeather rushed forward. "Don't blame yourself, Branchkit. Thornkit and Frondkit don't blame you, right?" The two kits nodded. "I don't blame you either, Branchkit," Fernshade meowed. She flicked her tail, signaling for Frondkit and Thornkit to come to her. "We'll see you later, Branchkit," She called from the outside of the medicine den. Frondkit waved a paw towards him before following the mother.

I wish this didn't have to happen to Branchkit...but StarClan must have destined him to have a missing leg. After all, he is as described by Beechpaw. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he looked down at Branchkit. "Does Eaglefeather forgive me?" Stonefeather blinked, confused. "What do you mean?" Realization built up inside of him. "Branchkit. You aren't to blame for his death. There is nothing to forgive. You didn't do anything wrong." "Are you sure?" "Yes, I am sure. Don't mew about how you caused his death and how it's your fault anymore. Because it isn't your fault. Alright?" The kit gave a shaky breath. "Okay," he peeped. 

"Will I ever be able to walk?" Stonefeather sighed, "I think you'll be able to walk, but you'll have to learn by using a different tactic." A silence passed between them, before Branchkit asked another question. "Will I ever be a warrior with my brothers?" Knowing Kestrelfall, Stonefeather assumed that Branchkit would be forced to become a medicine cat if he doesn't improve in two moons time. I don't want another cat being forced to take on a duty he doesn't want. Stonefeather forced his fur to be flat, about to give his answer. "I don't know how lucky you'll be. Hunting and fighting will be difficult, and I'm not sure if you'd be able to do that." The gray tom shook his head sadly. "So I'd have to become an elder, or a medicine cat?" "Not an elder, but maybe a medicine cat." The cat with a missing leg in Beechpaw's vision could have been a medicine cat. Branchkit will either learn the ways of hunting and fighting, or herbs; and herbs seem much more likely now. 

Branchkit started to breathe heavily. "Well I'm going to be a warrior! Eaglefeather wouldn't have wanted me to be a medicine cat!" Branchkit declared, slowly trying to rise up to his paws. "Branchkit, lay back down! Your wounds aren't fully healed yet!" Stonefeather rose to his paws, ready to lay the kit back down. But he didn't have to when Branchkit yowled out in pain and fell back down into his nest. All happening so quickly, Stonefeather wasn't given time to react. 

"Stonefeather! My leg's on fire!" The kit squirmed, yowling out loud. Stonefeather quickly rushed over to the herb stock, reaching into the rock crevice and pulling out poppy seeds. Anxious cats gathered outside of the medicine den, concerned due to the kit's screeching; however they didn't go in, knowing to keep their distance. Foxdung! Beechpaw was right when he said we didn't have enough herbs! Skidding over to Branchkit's side, he tried to stabilize the writhing tom. Without a moment of hesitation, Stonefeather placed the poppy seeds in front of Branchkit for him to eat. He could hear the questions of worried Clanmates, but quickly blocked them out to concentrate better. "Eat the poppy seeds, Branchkit!" The tom - who still was shaking and groaning from his pain - managed to chew up the seeds and swallow. 

. . . . .

After the kit calmed and drifted off into a deep sleep due to the effects of the poppy seeds, a wet medicine cat apprentice reemerged.

"Sorry it took so long," Beechpaw panted, giving his pelt a good shake before storing the goatweed in the rock crevice where herbs are stored. "I couldn't find any goatweed on our side of the river. But on the other side I saw it, so I had to cross. But, I found other herbs as well. I couldn't take them all with me, so I left them on our side of the river. I'll get them if you want me to." Stonefeather blinked in surprised. He didn't need to do all that, but at least we'll have more herbs. "We can get the herbs later. Branchkit did something rather odd. He was trying to stand up, but then he started yowling and writhing in pain. He claimed that his leg was on fire, as if he still had his right leg. I've never seen a cat do that before, so I gave him poppy seeds to ease the pain and allow him better sleep. We need to keep an eye on him."

Beechpaw tilted his head, "That's really strange. If you're ever out of camp and he starts doing that, I'll do the same for him?" Stonefeather nodded, before his eyes darkened. "It was the weirdest thing. No symptoms leading up to it," the medicine cat closed his eyes. "Except for the fact that he was getting real worked up about the idea of not being able to train in the path of a warrior." "Maybe it has something to do with stress?" "It could be, but this was the first time it happened, so we must keep a close watch." Stonefeather stood up, "If we teach him how to walk on three legs, then we must also teach ourselves." Beechpaw narrowed his eyes, also standing up. "Watch what I do."

Stonefeather lifted up his right forepaw, keeping his weight on his remaining three legs. You can do this, Stonefeather. Just try walking... He awkwardly put his left forepaw in front of him, while pushing himself forward with his hind legs. It was a very slow process; Stonefeather nearly falling on his muzzle a few times. After getting a general idea, he was able to go faster - to the point where he was the speed of any normally walking cat. Sitting down after having enough, he rested his right forepaw back on the ground of the medicine den. "My left leg feels a bit stiff after that, but now I have a general idea of how it works. You try now, Beechpaw." 

The medicine cat apprentice copied Stonefeather's position, but while trying to walk foward, nearly fell and quickly brought down his right forepaw to prevent his muzzle from crashing against the ground. "Branchkit doesn't have four legs, only three. Try your best to not let your paw down." Beechpaw nodded, trying once more. "I think I'm progressing." Beechpaw sat down, deep in thought. "How about we try stretching while sitting? Like this." Beechpaw lifted his left paw from the ground, holding it up like his right. His haunches quivered as he stood on them, but he payed no notice. Extending his left forepaw as high as he could, he batted at, what Stonefeather guessed was, an imaginary snowflake. 

"Doing this would stretch his muscles." Stonefeather tried it as well, "You're right! Once we come up with a few more, we can start training Branchkit anytime." Maybe, if in two moons he's strong enough, he could be a warrior. He plays a part of the vision, I'm sure of that. Whatever cat he'll be fighting in the future, he needs to be ready to defeat. And I'll be there to help him every paw-step of the way.

Wow, okay, that was great! Took me around 4 days to write it, fix it, and publish it. I think I'm doing some good progress amirite ;)