She struggled to free herself from the fog that was trying to drag her down like water. Her head throbbed. Her chest ached. She drew in a shuddering breath and blinked open her eyes.
Sandynose swam above her. The trees behind him seemed to sway.
“Are you hurt?” he asked, his eyes wide with panic.
She hauled herself to her paws, scanning her body, feeling for injuries. Her legs held her. Her body hurt, but she could breathe, and her mind was clearing. She shook out her fur. “I’m okay,” she gasped, still winded.
“Let’s get you back to camp,” Sandynose mewed. “Leafpool should check you over.”
The medicine den felt warm, screened from the mist and damp of the forest.
Twigpaw sat in its shade as Leafpool ran her paws over her spine and legs. “Nothing is broken.”
Sandynose shifted anxiously inside the entrance. “Will she be okay?”
“She was lucky.” Leafpool eyed the tom reproachfully. “There are easier ways to catch prey, you know.”
“I feel fine,” Twigpaw told her quickly. Sandynose was probably already mad at her for being so clumsy. The walk back to camp had revived her, and she felt clearheaded again. The only signs she’d had a fall were a few bruises beneath her pelt and stiffness, which was already easing.
“No dizziness?” Leafpool touched her nose to a spot behind Twigpaw’s ear.
“No.”
“There’s a little swelling here.”
“I guess I hit my head. But I hit so many other parts on the way down, I’m not sure.” She glanced guiltily at Sandynose. “I guess I’m not much of a SkyClan cat.”
“You’re not hurt,” he told her. “That’s all that matters.”
“You should rest here for a day or two,” Leafpool advised. “So I can keep an eye on you.”
The lichen behind Sandynose trembled as Finpaw stuck his head through. “What happened to Twigpaw? I saw Sandynose bring her here.”
“She fell out of a tree,” Leafpool told him.
His eyes widened and he blinked at Twigpaw in alarm. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Her heart lifted at the sight of him. How much warmer his yellow gaze was than his father’s.
“Will you sit with her while I collect herbs?” Leafpool asked the young tom. “I want to get some borage before this mist makes it too damp. I’ll be downstream, where it flows down to the lakeshore. Fetch me if Twigpaw seems unwell.”
Sandynose’s ears twitched. “I can sit with her,” he offered stiffly.
Leafpool swished her tail dismissively. “It’d be better for her to have someone her own age. She’s had a shock and needs distraction.”
Twigpaw’s heart swelled with gratitude to her old Clanmate. Had Leafpool guessed that spending the afternoon here with her mentor would be worse than falling out of the tree?
Leafpool nosed Sandynose out of the den, leaving Twigpaw alone with Finpaw.
“Why were you up a tree?” Finpaw sat beside her.
“Sandynose wants me to learn how to hunt like a SkyClan cat,” Twigpaw told him.
Finpaw rolled his eyes. “He’s obsessed with making every cat act like they are still in the gorge. He told me yesterday he was going to find a cliff so I could practice rock-climbing like a gorge cat. Doesn’t he realize we’re lake cats now? It would be better to learn how to swim.”
Twigpaw shuddered. “Let’s leave swimming to RiverClan.”
“But still,” Finpaw went on. “Pine trees are useless for climbing. They’re so tall and spindly, and there’s so much prey down here on the forest floor.”
Twigpaw wanted to agree, but she felt a tug of loyalty to her mentor. And she knew that, even though Finpaw might criticize his father, he loved and respected Sandynose. “I guess change is hard for older cats,” she mewed. “In ThunderClan, the elders were always complaining about young cats and their silly ideas. I tried to show Graystripe a new hunting move once and he just sniffed and said, ‘A mouse is a mouse. You don’t need new ways to catch them.’”
Finpaw purred with amusement. “I’m glad we don’t have elders. I mean, Fallowfern is officially an elder, but she’s not old; she’s just deaf. But it’s hard enough listening to the warriors reminiscing about how good it used to be before the rogues came. If elders joined in, they’d never talk about anything else.”
“I don’t know why they can’t just look forward instead of backward,” Twigpaw agreed. “It’s so great that SkyClan is beside the lake now. You’re going to love it here.” She felt a twinge of homesickness. “I wish I could show you around ThunderClan territory. It’s so pretty and there are so many places to play.” She paused, remembering suddenly the small clearing where Alderheart and Needletail had brought her and Violetpaw to play together when they were kits. “I know a place here, on SkyClan territory,” she mewed excitedly. “At least, I think it’s on SkyClan territory now. I used to play with Violetpaw there.”
“I thought you said you couldn’t play with her after she left.”
Twigpaw winked at him. “It’s a secret. I didn’t want Leafpool to know.”
“Can we go and find it?” Finpaw’s pelt ruffled eagerly.
“Now?” Twigpaw’s paws itched at the thought. “You’re confined to camp until your tail is fully healed and I’m meant to be resting.”
Finpaw flicked his half tail toward her. The wound was almost healed. “I’m only waiting for the fur to grow back,” he mewed. “And you said you feel fine.”
“I do.” Twigpaw’s head ached a little, but she was sure fresh air would be better for it than sitting in a stuffy den.
“Let’s go, then.” Finpaw got to his paws. “We know where Leafpool is, so we can avoid her, and we’ll be back before she’s finished collecting herbs.”
“What about Sandynose?”
Finpaw stuck his head out of the den quickly, then turned back to Twigpaw. “There’s no sign of him. The only cat in camp is Fallowfern, and she’s sleeping.”
“She probably doesn’t even know that we’re meant to stay in camp.” Twigpaw stood and stretched. Her aches were gone and she could hardly feel her bruises. She felt sure that her headache would be gone, too, by the time they found the clearing.
Finpaw slid out of the den first and glanced around the camp as Twigpaw followed. Fallowfern dozed beside the bramble nursery, sheltered from the damp air by the overhanging fronds of the bracken behind her. She snored as Finpaw and Twigpaw crept to the camp entrance.
“It’s all clear,” Finpaw breathed, peeping out.
Quickly they darted from the camp and raced along the rise to the cover of a patch of ferns. They ducked down behind them while Twigpaw scanned the forest. She tried to remember where the clearing had been. She knew it must be between the ThunderClan camp and the ShadowClan camp, so she began to lead the way toward the ditches. That would take them in the right direction.
“Why didn’t you want Leafpool to know you used to play with Violetpaw?” Finpaw asked as he followed her.
Twigpaw glanced back at him. “Alderheart and Needletail used to take us there in secret. It was the only way we could see each other after ShadowClan and ThunderClan separated us.”
“You must have missed her.”
“She was the only kin I knew.” Twigpaw realized, with a flash of guilt, that she had enjoyed being the only kin Violetpaw could rely on. Now Violetpaw had Hawkwing and a whole Clan to belong to. She doesn’t need me anymore. She paused. But I need them, surely?
“Are you missing her now?” Finpaw asked.
“Sure.” But it’s nice having you all to myself. She avoided his gaze, relieved when she recognized the curving slope ahead. Brambles edged the base and she climbed it, quickening her step as she remembered where it led. “This way.”