Chapter 3

Blackness swirled at the edge of Swirlpaw’s vision. Hot pain sparked somewhere at the back of her head and her shoulder, but she tried to ignore it. What had happened? She remembered the sound of Spiralkit’s mew, screeching in fear as Swirlpaw had fallen. What happened? Where am I now? Where’s Curlpaw? Her heart beat faster as she thought about her sister. Was she okay? Was Spiralkit okay? Crystalkit, and the other apprentices? What happened to me? Swirlpaw thought hazily. Am I okay? Am I in the medicine den? Is Curlpaw sitting next to me, stroking my fur softly…? A burst of pain exploded from her head, and she fell into endless blackness.

 

Swirlpaw tried to open her eyes, but she was too exhausted. The pain in the back of her head seemed to burn. She could hear Spiralkit’s voice from somewhere behind her. “Is Swirlpaw okay, Ambercloud?”

So I’m in the medicine den, Swirlpaw realized. The medicine cat’s soft mew sounded like it came from the herb store. “I don’t know until she wakes up,” Ambercloud mewed briskly.

A gentle but worried mew came from somewhere beside her. “Is she going to…is she going to be okay?”

Curlpaw!

Her sister, it sounded like, was crouched beside her nest, pressing her damp nose into Swirlpaw’s shoulder. Swirlpaw winced and let out a shriek as pain burst from her shoulder. Curlpaw gasped and pulled back. “She’s awake!”

“I know I’m awake,” Swirlpaw groaned, finally blinking open her eyes. Bright sunlight shone through the entrance to the cool medicine den, and she squinted against it. “My shoulder hurts. And my head.”

Ambercloud hurried over and gently pressed her paw into her shoulder. Swirlpaw winced. “I’m sorry, Swirlpaw,” the pale ginger tabby mewed, “but I’m afraid that your shoulder is nearly broken, and you hit your head hard. You’re going to have to stay in the medicine den for quite a long time.”

“What?” Swirlpaw gasped, then gritted her teeth as the pain sparked in her head again. “But…I’ll be behind on training! I’ve still got, like, five more moons of training left! And what if Curlpaw gets her name before me? I’ll be a moon behind!”

“I know,” Ambercloud sighed. “I can’t do anything about that, I’m sorry.” She turned to Stemfall and Violetblaze, who were waiting anxiously at the entrance to the den. “Why did you let her climb that tree?” she demanded, her eyes blazing with anger. “You knew the consequences. But you still let her!”

Stemfall’s head drooped. “I’m sorry,” he sighed. “I should’ve thought about what might happen! And we even climbed the tree ourselves, to see if it was safe or not!”

“But they’re apprentices,” Ambercloud pointed out. “You’re fully trained warriors. Next time think before you act.”

Spiralkit scrambled over to her father and nuzzled his hind leg. That’s so sweet, Swirlpaw thought. I wish…I just wish my own mother would be here to comfort me. She couldn’t, could never stop thinking about how her mother, Rabbitpelt, had died, crushed by a tree, while their father, Birdflight, had been killed by a ShadowClan warrior not long after. I miss them so much. I’ll never get to see them again until I die.

Ambercloud padded over to her and set something down in front of her nose. “Eat these,” she murmured. “They’re poppy seeds. They’ll help with the pain and help you sleep.

“But I don’t want to sleep,” Swirlpaw meowed. “I want to be with Curlpaw.”

Her sister scrambled over to her. “I’m here,” she mewed. “Don’t worry, Swirlpaw, I’m always here.”

Swirlpaw gave her a grateful look and licked up the seeds, fighting the urge to just spit them out. Birdflight told us to look after one another before he died, she thought with a stab of grief. We’re looking after each other…

And she fell into blackness.

 

“Swirlpaw. Swirlpaw. Swirlpaw.”

Voices swirled around her, calling out her name. What is happening? Am I dying? No. She felt the soft cool touch of herbs on her shoulder, but she didn’t quite feel it in this world. Where am I? Hadn’t I just been in the medicine den? Hadn’t I just been with Curlpaw?

The voices rose into a shriek. “Swirlpaw! Swirlpaw!”

Suddenly Swirlpaw was standing on top of a hill, the grass beneath her paws fresh and green, glittering with dew, soft as fur. Where am I? she thought frantically. And why doesn’t my shoulder and my head hurt anymore?

A shape appeared from the trees below her. As it cautiously crept closer, Swirlpaw realized it was a cat. A small one, probably a kit, its beautiful blueish-gray fur sparkling in the warm sunlight. It opened its mouth to say something, but then a voice cut through the dream, gentle but stern. “Swirlpaw.”

Swirlpaw woke with a gasp. Curlpaw was crouching beside her, and Swirlpaw realized that she was the one who had called her name. “Swirlpaw,” Curlpaw murmured. “It’s already dusk. I’ve been training. You know I’m really worried about you.”

Swirlpaw gazed into her sisters beautiful yellow eyes. “I know,” she replied. “Where’s Ambercloud? And what have you learned?” As jealous as she was, she still was happy for her sister.

“Ambercloud’s probably gathering herbs right now.” Curlpaw’s mew sounded weary. “And I learned a new battle move! It’s called…well, I don’t know what it’s called, but it’s where you–it’s a defense move–so if someone is charging at you, roll onto your back on purpose, and their speed and momentum that was supposed to be used to knock you down–that will make them go past you, and then you can get up and pounce on them!”

“That’s great,” Swirlpaw meowed. “I bet that will be really useful. You seem tired.” Was she worn out because Stemfall had made her work too hard? Or was it because she hadn’t been there, so Curlpaw had had to do double work?

“I am tired,” Curlpaw murmured. She hesitated, then asked, “Can I sleep with you tonight? I don’t know if Ambercloud will allow it, but I don’t think she’ll be back soon, and I bet she’d understand if we do…” She trailed off, glancing toward the den entrance.

“Of course you can sleep with me,” Swirlpaw meowed. “Why would I mind?”

Curlpaw snorted with laughter. “Don’t you remember the time when I climbed into your nest at night, and you were thrashing and kicking at me all night because you were dreaming that I pushed you out of the nest?”

Swirlpaw let out a soft mrrow of laughter. “Yes, I do,” she meowed. “Of course I do. But I’m okay with it now. That time Rabbitpelt and Birdflight were…” She trailed off, her throat tightening until she could barely breathe. Curlpaw climbed into the nest, snuggling up to her, and let out a soft wail of grief. The two sisters lay in silence for several moments, pressing themselves against one another, trying to comfort each other.

But we’ll never get over the grief, Swirlpaw thought sadly. It will always be in our heart, the memory stuck in our mind like a burr, never able to get out of there, never never never…Oh, StarClan, how can we go on? How can we be great warriors if we still have grief to go over? How, how, how? Her thoughts swirled like an endless river.

Pressing against her sister for warmth, Swirlpaw fell into yet another deep sleep.