SPOTTEDSONG FINISHED PATCHING up the last hole on the newly built nursery, using her teeth to tug the brambles that were interwoven to make the nursery stronger. She examined her work, then turned to go to the medicine den to let Badgertooth know that Mousetail could return to her den as soon as they could get warm, dry moss for her nest. The rain had stopped, but it was still wet everywhere. It would be hard to find dry moss. It had been two days since the nursery collapsed.

     Before Spottedsong made it to the medicine den, though, Owlheart confronted her. "Is it finished? The nursery?" he asked.

     "Oh, yeah. I was just going to let Badgertooth know," Spottedsong answered. "Is that okay? I know it might not be time yet. You know, because of all of this wetness." She flicked her tail to the rest of the camp.

     "Yes, of course. You let him know. He might have another idea," Owlheart meowed.

     Spottedsong dipped her head and proceeded to go to the medicine cat den. Badgertooth had his paw on Mousetail's belly, feeling for the kits. Spottedsong waited until he was finished, but he spotted her first. He looked up, his eyes shining. Mousetail didn't seem to notice; she seemed half asleep in her nest. "Welcome, Spottedsong. What do you need?"

     "I finished repairing the nursery. We still have to get fresh, dry moss, which will be hard in this weather, but I thought you wanted to know," she explained.

     "Ah, yes, I think she has to stay here for a little while longer, just until the territory dries up a bit more to get a dry nest. Thank you, Spottedsong," Badgertooth mewed.

     "Of course. How's Mousetail?" Spottedsong asked, turning to look at the sleeping queen.

     "She's fine. I think her kits should come in at least a quarter-moon, if not less," Badgertooth explained, his eyes gleaming happily. "New kits in the Clan are truly a blessing from StarClan."

     "They are. How many, do you think?" Spottedsong asked.

     Badgertooth's gaze softened. "Feels like four," he answered. "That's an even bigger blessing."

     "Yes," Spottedsong agreed, feeling a purr rumble gently in her throat. "Well, should we at least check and see if there's any dry moss? Even if it's all still wet, we can make sure it's dry."

     "That would be nice. But I would like to stay here with Mousetail. So, if you want to go by yourself, now's the time," Badgertooth suggested.

     "Of course. I need to get out of camp anyway. Goodbye." Spottedsong gave her tail a friendly wave and left the den. She headed for the camp entrance. Before she could get out, she felt the damp pelt of another cat against her. She turned, her heart lurching at the sudden contact, and saw it was Gorseberry. "Hi. I'm just going to get some moss for Mousetail's nest. If you want to come with me, you can."

     Gorseberry glanced at the camp entrance, then nodded, glancing back at Spottedsong fondly.

     "Okay. Let's go." Spottedsong flicked her tail and jerked her chin toward the outside of the camp before they left. They walked in silence-not that there was anything they could talk about, considering Spottedsong was the only one who could actually talk. Soon they came to a patch of undergrowth in the forest. "Here! There might be some moss here." Spottedsong began to nose through the undergrowth in search of moss. "You can look for some too, if you want."

     She continued to search for a while, but she soon found that there was no moss.

     Of course there's none! Spottedsong rose to her paws and turned to find Gorseberry. Maybe he found some. But when she turned around, she found Gorseberry waiting for her right behind her. She paused as their muzzles brushed and their gazes locked, and they looked warmly into each other's eyes, unsure of what to do or say. She quickly dragged her gaze away, her fur heating up despite the chilly after-storm wind. She glanced at Gorseberry coyly, and then looked back at her paws. "Oh-um-sorry." She looked at him again and found his green eyes glittering with affection. "I'm not quite the affectionate type. But I can work on that."

     Gorseberry's whiskers quivered with amusement and he shrugged. Then his gaze flicked to a small pile of moss beside him. Then he flicked his tail into the deeper forest.

     "You found some? Great! Let's go." Spottedsong followed Gorseberry into the forest. He led her to a small bush with plenty of moss under and around it. "Oh, that's a great find! How do you get so lucky?" She flicked her tail over his muzzle playfully and crouched low to gather some moss. Gorseberry came in beside her and began to gather moss.

     A faint cat-scent wafted over Spottedsong. It was so faint and earthy she couldn't tell who it was or what Clan they belonged to. Then, a twig snapped. She looked up, ears pricked and mouth open to catch any more scents. "Should I see what that was?"

     Gorseberry looked at her, his eyes narrowed. Then he shrugged, his eyes still betraying his confusion.

     "You didn't hear or smell that? Okay. I'm still going to check that out." Spottedsong glanced at the forest, her heartbeat picking up a little bit. "Now I'm going. You can stay there or take the moss back. I can catch up."

     Gorseberry nodded.

     Spottedsong took a deep breath and headed into the greenery, she opened her mouth to call out softly, but then there was a violent rustle in the leaves and pain pierced her flanks. Then she was yanked into the bushes, thorns pricking at her pelt. She tried to call out for help, but a paw was pressed down on her throat. Water that flung from the bushes dripped into her eyes and blurred her vision, but she could see a ginger-and-white cat pinning her down. "Let me go!" she tried to say, but all that came out was the sound of struggling.

     "Don't bother fighting back," the ginger-and-white cat growled. "You'll pay for what you did, you always knew you would. And look-this is a perfect time for you to feel what I felt."

     Spottedsong blinked the water from her eyes. Alarm choked her even more. "Dawnsplash!" she tried to exclaim. But nothing came from her mouth entirely. She began to panic and she wriggled from under Dawnsplash, trying to get free. Let me go! Where's Gorseberry?

     Dawnsplash rolled her eyes. "Fine, talk." She removed her paw from Spottedsong's throat. "But if you call for help, you die now."

     Spottedsong gasped her air, then focused on Dawnsplash. "What did I do?"

     "You know what you did," Dawnsplash snarled. "And now you will suffer." She sank her claws into Spottedsong's flesh, her eyes wild with contempt.

     Spottedsong bit back a yowl of pain. If she alarmed Gorseberry, Dawnsplash would still kill her. "Please, stop! I never meant any harm. I was just-"

     "'I was just-!'" Dawnsplash mimicked Spottedsong coldly. "Just what? Scared? Oh-I know. You were putting yourself first. You know, the Clan always comes first. Didn't you know that?"

     "Of course I knew that!" Spottedsong retorted.

     "Then why did you leave me there to rot and die?" Dawnsplash demanded.

     "I did not leave you there to rot and die!" Spottedsong remarked indignantly. "I was injured!" Before Dawnsplash could answer, she continued. "This isn't like you, Dawnsplash. You don't have to do this. Don't turn into what MoonClan wants us to be. Please."

     Dawnsplash seemed lost for words for a few heartbeats. She held Spottedsong's gaze blankly, her eyes glazed as if deep in thought. Then she shook her head and glared at Spottedsong again. "It's much too late now," she growled. "You don't understand what I had to go through before I finally became . . . this."

     "I understand what you lost and what you went through! That doesn't mean you have to do this! Our entire Clan has suffered, and are they killing their Clanmates? I don't think so!" Spottedsong told her, willing her to understand.

     "They haven't seen and heard and suffered what I had to suffer through! Do you know how hard it was to fight those voices in my head? Do you know how many times I thought I was losing my grip on sanity because of them?" Dawnsplash demanded.

     "Of course I do! I had to suffer through that, too. But they're gone now. You can't hurt me just because of some voices."

     Dawnsplash scoffed. "Some voices!" She rolled her eyes. "When that RiverClan medicine cat returns, you can't stop me from ripping her throat out so she can finally understand what she put is through, but in a more . . . discrete manner," she snarled coldly, her lip curling to reveal thorn-sharp teeth.

     That's . . . violent. "You can't! She's probably dead anyway. And that still doesn't give you the excuse to hurt me!"

     Dawnsplash showed her teeth and curled her lip in a snarl. Before she could make a stinging retort, the bushes shook and Gorseberry leaped into the clearing onto Dawnsplash from behind her, landing on her back squarely and sinking his claws into her shoulders. Dawnsplash yowled angrily and twisted around.

     Spottedsong leaped out from under Dawnsplash, then turned around, staring in horror at Gorseberry and Dawnsplash, locked in a fight. "Gorseberry!" She thrust herself at them, latching her claws into Dawnsplash's flanks. She dragged Dawnsplash away, flinging her toward a cluster of thorny bushes. "Run!" she yowled to Gorseberry.

     Gorseberry seemed frozen in place, staring at Dawnsplash, who looked stunned and unable to move.

     Spottedsong gave his rump a forceful nudge and they ran into the forest, forgetting all about their moss and running for their lives to the camp. Badgertooth would understand if they came without the moss Spottedsong promised.

     When they burst into camp, panting heavily and nearly collapsing on the ground. Hollyfern and Rosefeather rushed toward them. "What in Silverpelt . . . ? What happened?" Hollyfern asked, letting Gorseberry lean on her shoulder. "Was there another Clan? MoonClan? Who attacked you?"

     Spottedsong took a huge breath, then, in one breath she explained. "We went to gather moss, and I found Dawnsplash in the forest. She tried to hurt me, but then Gorseberry came and intercepted. We ran."

     Rosefeather's eyes widened. "Why did she try to hurt you?"

     "She still hates me for not getting her out of that prison soon enough. And she wants revenge on the RiverClan medicine cat, Moonclaw, too. I tried to explain to her that she shouldn't do this, but she was too stubborn. She's a whole different cat now," Spottedsong explained.

     Rosefeather and Hollyfern exchanged glances. "Well," Hollyfern began, "you two should visit Badgertooth. Even the smallest scratches need tending to."

     "Sure. Let's go, Gorseberry," Spottedsong mewed breathlessly.

     Gorseberry glanced at Hollyfern, then followed Spottedsong to the medicine den. Badgertooth was sitting beside Mousetail's nest, watching her warily. Mousetail was awake now and fidgeting restlessly. Spottedsong thought she saw pain in her eyes, but she ignored it, thinking she was just tired from her struggle.

     "You're back." Badgertooth stood up, but before Spottedsong could explain what happened, he meowed, "Did something attack you?"

     "Someone," Spottedsong corrected. "Dawnsplash attacked me in the forest, but Gorseberry intercepted. I think she wanted to kill me. For not freeing her from the prison."

     Badgertooth's eyes shone with concern. "I should check those scratches. You first, Spottedsong." He turned to his herb store and Spottedsong sat down beside the store, Gorseberry beside her.

     Spottedsong ignored the sting of the herb poultice as Badgertooth licked it into her scratches on her shoulders, neck, and chest. While Gorseberry was getting his treatment, Spottedsong heard Mousetail let out a low, painful moan. She looked over at the expecting queen nervously. "Badgertooth?"

     Badgertooth looked up from his work and hurried over to Mousetail. "What's going on?" he asked.

     Mousetail didn't answer for several heartbeats, but then she looked at Badgertooth, her blue eyes clouded with excruciating pain. "The kits-" She paused for breath. "They're coming!"