Dawn came with a promise of more rain and cooler weather. The earth was already softer and outside the camp, the Thunderclan cats could hear birds singing, welcoming the new morning. For Thunderclan, however, this morning brought only the grief they had experienced the night before, the loss of some of their smallest members and the destruction of the camp. The dens still lay in tatters, many were still smoking.

Silverstar still lay in the middle of the camp curled around the bodies of her four kits. Occasionally she let out a wail of anguish for their loss before falling silent again. No-one dared to go near her after her behaviour the night before.

Ravencall began to set cats to the rebuilding of the camp, starting with the nursery and the medicine den. Before long, nests were built for those who had been injured in the fire. Hazelbreeze, Twigtail and Honeyfur had gone out with Poppydust to search for the herbs the sick cats needed. Ambermoon sat to the side of the camp with Icekit who was more subdued than normal at the loss of four of his friends. He asked multiple times to go and see Aspenkit, but Ambermoon simply licked him between the ears and told him he could go later. Dawnkit and Mistkit followed their mother as she began weaving bracken with springy twigs for new nests for when the dens were rebuilt.

Aspenkit lay quietly in her nest in the medicine cat den. Her breathing had eased with the clearer air, but she was still wheezing and her breath rattled in her lungs. Her throat was raw and painful and her nose still streamed. She feared opening her eyes in case the pain returned to them. Every so often she opened her eyes a crack to look around at the other cats in the den before closing them again. Blackheart had settled into the nest beside her, comforting his only remaining kit as she rasped in pain and whimpered for relief. His scratches gained in his fight with Silverstar still oozed slightly as he moved.

In the nest beside them, Robinpaw laid stretched out, Creekpaw lying awkwardly beside him, her sharp eyes never leaving him, her eyes always scanning him for a change in his condition. His breathing still rattled as he slept and the burn on his back looked as though ugly blisters were forming. When he whimpered in his sleep, Creekpaw would lick him over the ears like a mother comforting a kit. She spent a lot of her time with him desperately trying to soothe his wound and clean his fur.

"This will ruin your good looks." Aspenkit heard her mutter at one point. "I hope the fur will grow back."

A little after sun-high, Poppydust entered the derelict den with a mouth full of herbs. She stopped before Aspenkit and laid down a large flat leaf before her. "This is coltsfoot." She told the kit. "Do you remember what it's used for?"

Aspenkit furrowed her brow for a moment, before the answer came to her. "Breathe... ing..." she gasped.

"Very good." Said Poppydust nudging the leaf towards her. "So I want you to eat all of this, ok?"

Aspenkit obediently picked up the leaf in her jaws and began to chew. The foul taste of the juice trickled down her throat, but she kept chewing until the leaf was in small enough pieces to swallow. She forced it down, despite the rawness of her throat.

Poppydust moved over to Robinpaw as Hazelbreeze, Twigtail and Honeyfur all filed into the den, all holding herbs in their jaws and all hobbling on three legs, holding one paw out wrapped in cobwebs.

"Wake up, Robinpaw." Poppydust murmured, gently nudging the apprentice. Creekpaw made a little growling noise as Robinpaw opened his eyes a crack.

"Pop-..." he mumbled breathlessly. "Hi..."

"I need you to eat this." Poppydust commanded pushing the coltsfoot towards him. "Then I'm going to put a poultice on your back to stop it from getting infected. But I need you to stay awake. I have some other herbs to help you."

Robinpaw said nothing, but opened his mouth obediently. Poppydust nudged it towards his jaws. As the leaves touched his lips, he began to chew slowly.

Creekpaw looked at him with concern. "Are you ok?" she asked. "Is it helping? How is it?"

Robinpaw carefully swallowed the herbs, giving a little shudder of pain as he did. "Yuck." He said shortly.

Creekpaw rolled her eyes as Poppydust took some herbs from Hazelbreeze and something golden, made up of perfectly symmetrical shapes from Twigtail. She stepped around so she could see Robinpaw's back. "Creekpaw, I'm going to need you to hold his head still." She mewed, beginning to shred the herb.

"Why?" asked Creekpaw. "Are you going to hurt him?"

"I'm going to put a poultice on his burn." Answered Poppydust. "But he's so sore and it looks as though it might already be infected so I need him to stay as still as possible."

Creekpaw narrowed her eyes, looking as though she would rather eat fox dung than obey the medicine cat, however, she carefully placed her paws on either side of her brothers head and lowered herself onto his shoulders. He let out a weak mewl of confusion. "Be still." She whispered. "Poppydust is going to help us again."

Poppydust carefully placed the shredded herb over the angry red bulge on Robinpaw's back before scooping some of the thick, gloopy liquid from the golden shape. She seemed to hold her breath as she brought down her paw and pressed the liquid into the burn.

The effect was instant. Robinpaw's eyes snapped open stretching so far that the red tinged irritated whites were visible. He began to screech in agony, the claws on all his paws extending. He began to writhe as Poppydust spread the liquid over his back.

Creekpaw pressed herself down, holding his top half steady. Her eyes were squeezed shut, as though unable to bear the sound of her brother's suffering. "It's ok." She murmured. "I'm here. I'm with you. You're alright."

As Poppydust drew her paw away from Robinpaw's burn his screams slowly became rasping whimpers and his writhing limbs calmed to twitches. Creekpaw opened her eyes and began to try to soothe him with long slow strokes.

Twigtail was holding a poppy head on the other side of the den and began shaking it carefully until several small black seeds fell to the grounds. Poppydust carefully lifted two seeds and scraped some more of the golden liquid onto an oak leaf. She placed the seeds into the liquid and placed it before Robinpaw. She put the same onto another leaf and placed it before Aspenkit. "Eat it." She mewed to both of them. "The honey will help your throats and the poppy seeds will make you sleep. You'll heal faster if you sleep." Aspenkit obediently lapped up the seeds and began lapping at the honey, but Robinpaw was looking at the medicine cat through slitted eyes. "It won't hurt you." Murmured Poppydust to the apprentice. "I need to treat your eyes as well which will be easier for both of us if you sleep."

Creekpaw narrowed her eyes at the medicine cat. "If they'll make him sleep why didn't you give them to him before putting on the poultice."

"You saw how he reacted." Mewed Poppydust. "Even with poppy seeds, no cat could have slept through that sort of pain."

With what looked like a tremendous effort, Robinpaw stretched his neck out and lapped up the seeds, trying to eat as much of the honey as he could.

Aspenkit was beginning to feel her eyelids drooping, but tried to keep them open. She needed to see what was going on. Blackheart gently licked her ears as Honeyfur began stretching cobwebs over the oozing scratches on his sides. "Go to sleep, little one." He murmured. "You need your eyes to be treated too. Everything will feel better after some sleep."

Aspenkit sunk into the nest, closing her sore eyes. The comfort of sleep was settling over her, and slowly, the further down she went, the more the pain eased.

"Aspenkit, wake up." She opened her eyes a crack and was relieved to find that the burning sting was not as bad as it had been before she had slept. Her throat felt easier and her chest did not hurt so much now.

Blackheart was leaning over her, gently nudging her awake. "Come, little one. I'll carry you if you want. Your mother is ending the kits vigil. It's time to say goodbye."

Her heart felt heavy, but she couldn't miss saying farewell to her siblings. She struggled to her paws, but wobbled severely, slumping back down after a few seconds. Blackheart's normally hardened eyes softened and he bent down, lifting his daughter by the scruff and carrying her out of the medicine den. As they walked past Robinpaw's nest, she saw that Creekpaw was still curled around him, careful not to displace the dressing of rhubarb leaves that had been placed over his back. Robinpaw was twitching slightly in his sleep.

The clan was gathered in the clearing in a semicircle. Ravencall and Tigerfang parted to allow Blackheart to sit between them, placing Aspenkit between his paws. In the middle of the semicircle lay the four tiny bodies of her brothers and sisters. The scent of rosemary and mint touched her scent glands.

Silverstar was sat beside her kits, turned to address the clan. "Cats of Thunderclan." Somehow, even after everything, she managed to make her voice sound confident, even regal. "We are gathered today to say goodbye to..." she paused and swallowed, clearly beginning to struggle. "... to say goodbye to Larkkit, Sparkkit, Stormkit and Lilykit. Even though they were only with us for a short... a short time... we will never forget them... or the mark they left on our clan..." She seemed to hesitate for a moment, before grief hardened her gaze. "I now commit them to Starclan with their new names."

A mutter ran around the cats gathered in the clearing. "She can't do that." Murmured Ravencall. "It's never been done before."

Silverstar ignored the noise now growing among her clan mates. "Spirits of StarClan, you know every cat by name. I ask you now to take away the names from the cats you see before you, for they no longer stand for what they are. By my authority as Clan leader, and with the approval of our warrior ancestors, I give these cats new names." She raised her voice as the mutterings grew louder. "From this moment on they will be known as Larkflight, Sparkspirit, Stormheart and Lilysong."

She looked around expectantly waiting for the cats to start chanting the kits new names, but she was met with a brief moment of silence before all the cats began to talk at once.

"You can't do that."

"They were never apprentices."

"That goes against everything we know."

Silverstar's hackles rose and she let out a defiant hiss. "I am leader of Thunderclan!" she screeched. "My word is law. If you do not agree with me, or if you wish to defy me, I can exile you with a word."

The cats fell silent, all staring at their leader, her eyes wild, her face crazed, her fur bushed up to almost twice it's normal size. Without a word, the elders stepped forward, Ambermoon lifting Larkflight, Twigtail taking Sparkspirit and Twigtail lifting Stormheart. Lilysong continued to lie in the centre of the clearing as the elders began to walk towards the camp entrance. Aspenkit looked around. Why was no-one taking Lilysong? Why were they just leaving her there?

She heard Blackheart get to his paws and he padded forward from behind her. He moved to the middle of the circle and stood for a second, looking down at his kit, his eyes clouded with sadness. Then bent his head towards her.

Suddenly, Silverstar ran at him, butting him away from Lilysong. Blackheart rolled away and lay staring up at her, confused. She stepped forward until she was standing over him, hissing furiously. A collective gasp went around the other cats.

"Not you!" she snarled. "Anyone but you. She won't be carried by her murderer!" She turned back to her kit. "I'll do it myself." She growled, her pelt spiked with anger, stalking back to where Lilysong lay and lifting her by the scruff. The kit dangled awkwardly as Silverstar stomped out of the camp.

Aspenkit watched, her heart cracking in two. This was not the dignified goodbye her siblings deserved. The clan broke out into mutinous mutterings once again. Blackheart got slowly to his paws and Tigerfang stepped forward, helping his brother up.

"She's gone mad." He murmured. "She's lost her mind with grief."

Blackheart shook his head. "Wouldn't you?" he muttered back. "The only thing holding me together is that Aspenkit survived. If she had died too, I think I'd be where Silverstar is now."

"Silverstar doesn't seem to see it like that." Replied Tigerfang as Blackheart moved back to Aspenkit, lifting her by the scruff and the brothers began walking slowly towards the medicine den.

"She will." Blackheart asserted. "It's still raw. She's lost so much."

Tigerfang gave a little huff of disdain. "Your kit needs a mother." He muttered darkly. "She needs both her parents. How is that going to happen if she never forgives you?"

"That's enough." Snapped Blackheart, his eyes glinting with anger for a moment, before they softened as he gazed at his brother. "She's still my mate, Tigerfang. She's still the mother of my kits... even if she doesn't see it that way right now."

Tigerfang gave a sniff. "For your sake, I hope you're right." He grumbled. His gaze flicked down to the kit in Blackheart's jaws. "Recover quickly, Aspenkit." He told her. "I look forward to following your progress when you become an apprentice." He turned and began to stalk away towards the warriors den while Blackheart carried Aspenkit back to the nest in the medicine den.

He gently placed her down, then curled around her. Poppydust was trotting over with a leaf of herbs for the young kit. After she had eaten them, Blackheart licked her ear. "Get some rest now, little one." He whispered. "Things will be better in the morning."

Aspenkit closed her eyes. This fight between her parents was beginning to feel as though it would never be resolved... and she would give anything for it to be.

DISCLAIMER: Creekpaw is an OC owned by Hannah Rowe