The Medicine Den

Briarpaw looks at her in complete confusion. "I don't understand... what happened to you? How did you end up like this? Why is this happening in the first place?"

She trusted Ashpelt, she cared about him. But when he said those hurtful things, and clawed her ears, her personality totally shattered. Leaving a broken version of herself that might not ever be put back together. She was totally broken. And was having visions of Ashpelt killing her over and over again. She didn't respond to the she cat, continuing to repeat "Make it stop.... Make it stop...!" her voice began to raise in panic again, and she started to hyperventilate. Her breath was fast and quick. "Make it stop... MAKE IT STOP!!!" she began to wail, her claws scrabbling on the ground.

Briarpaw gets worried about her friend. She quickly walks closer to her and nudges her shoulder. She is ready of anything that's about to happen.

"NOOOO!" she screamed, her claws digging into the sides of her head, sending blood trickling down her claws.

Briarpaw smacks her paws softly and flicks her tail. "Stop it!" She avoids hurtin her friend as she tries to help her.

Her breathing was labored, and heavy. Her eyes tiny dots as she hyperventilated. "I TRUSTED YOU!!" she screamed before her voice quieted "I trusted you..." her voice broke into an emotional breakdown. She sobbed into her paws.

Briarpaw widens her eyes and flattens her ears. "Wait... Ashpelt did this??? I knew it! I'm going to have a talk with him!" She bristles her short fur.

"NOO!" she suddenly yelled "HE'LL KILL ME!" she screamed hysterically.

"Not while I'm with you! If he even tries, he will feel the burn from my claws!" Briarpaw unsheaths her claws and claws the terrain.

She was shaking, and staring into nothing now. Her claws dug deep into her torn up nest.

"Look, AmberStar assigned you to a new mentor-- ShimmerHeart. She will teach you how to fight and hunt. You could defend yourself when he decides to attack you." Briarpaw flicks her tail and takes a breath.

She nodded slowly, acknowledging her but still staring into nothing.

Briarpaw walks in front of Shortpaw. She waves her paw in front of her eyes. "Come on, you will look crazy doing that."

Something about her had changed, her eyes slowly drifted back to her paws.

Briarpaw sighs and sits by Shortpaw. "Look, you will be fine as long as you're surrounded by cats who adore you." Her amber eyes stare at her friend.

Shimmerheart walked back into the medicine den, sitting down beside her new apprentice. "You think you'll be well enough tomorrow at sunhigh to go training?" she asked.

Her eyes were dreadfully hollow, and depressing-looking. She nodded to Shimmerheart her head low and her eyes dark.

Briarpaw nuzzles Shortpaw and licks her ear. "You'll be fine with ShimmerHeart." She tries to reassure her friend.

"Ashpelt's death will come... A cat of stars told me so..." she whispered.

"He deserves it..." Briarpaw says bluntly and narrows her eyes slightly. She lays her head on her paws.

"A black and white cat with eyes as pale as yellow daisies, he has stars in his fur and wiseness in his tone. He told me I will kill Ashpelt, but at the price of him killing me in return" she said, her voice blunt and dry. She seemed fixated on the wall now, her ears perked. "He speaks to me...." she said quietly.

Fallingpaw padded in as Shortpaw said those words. She had been slow to follow Briarpaw. She looked horrified. The thought of more death seemed horrible to her. She sat next to Shortpaw, watching the cat curiously.

"He said he's sorry, Fallingpaw" she suddenly said, which was weird, she didn't know the apprentices name!

Fallenpaw looked shocked. If Shortpaw described a tom, and that he was sorry, that could only be her father. "F-f-Father?" She said with a shaky tone. She felt like she wanted to bolt from the den, yet she also wanted to curl up in a corner and cry herself to death. "Why did you leave me! Why did you leave us? We need you!" She cried at Shortpaw, tears welling up in her eyes.

"It wasn't a choice for him to make. He said he wanted to stay, but Starclan needed him" she said her eyes flashing a pale yellow.