OK. So you're checking Wattpad and you look at your notifications and you do a double take. What?!?! you think. Noooo, really?!?! O.o Yes, it is what you think it is: the day Left Flailing was updated!!!!!!!! 😄😃😀😄😃😀😊 I'm sorry that it may seem as though this book was on hold, but it was not supposed to be. A little over a month ago, I had this book all planned out and thought it would go faster, but apparently not! *laughs sheepishly* I'm terribly sorry for the long wait. I have rewarded you with a longer chapter!!! Enjoy!!

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"So? How's she doing? Are they okay?" Robinwing peppered Beechpaw with questions. Acornstream lay on her side by her mate as the young medicine cat checked her over. Icestar sat with Ashenfang and Graybrook patiently next to their mother.

"Your kits should be coming before too long. Maybe within a half moon?" Beechpaw sat up and smiled at the rapt family. "They seem to be healthy young ones, and Acornstream is doing great, too."

"Oh, do you hear that, Acornstream? They are going to be wonderful!" Robinwing purred contentedly as he arched his back and brushed against Acornstream.

Acornstream stood up, slightly stiff, but she was still able to return the gesture. Ashenfang, Graybrook, and Icestar joined in the celebration by standing up and enthusiastically mewing congratulations and thinking up names. Beechpaw just sat back and looked thoughtful. "A second litter! I wonder how many there will be?" Acornstream wondered aloud when the talk had died down a little.

Robinwing stopped to gaze lovingly at his mate. "A number that will help keep the clan going for many seasons to come, I'm sure. I'm just glad that green-leaf is nearly here. It will give them a much nicer welcome than the cold of leaf-bare!"

Acornstream shyly nodded and turned back to Beechpaw. "Thank you, Beechpaw, that really helped."

Beechpaw shook out of her quiet reverie and nodded at the happy family. "No problem."

All of the family stepped out of the den chatting except for Icestar, who stayed behind, smiling to herself. "You seem to be doing well," Icestar mewed to Beechpaw. "I'm sure you still miss Willowshine, but we all do. How do feel about everything?"

Beechpaw sighed. She's so young, Icestar thought dejectedly, looking at the medicine cat. She shouldn't have to do this all by herself. "To be honest, I don't often feel completely sure that I have the right herbs or supplies. I feel like I'm forgetting something important and it makes me jittery. But then sometimes I feel a presence that it seems no one else can. It feels like Willowshine is there, and she is trying to help me remember, but I can't always get to her. It gets frustrating, not knowing what she is trying to say." Beechpaw stopped speaking and frowned sadly. "Also it seems all not right, since she didn't get to give me my medicine cat name." She look desperately at Icestar, who stared back.

"Is there anything I can do to help? What if we got someone else to help you that is a warrior or a queen? Someone who knows a little medicine skills, and who would be willing to help with the harder things."

"Okay, that sounds like a good start," Beechpaw replied.

Icestar flicked her tail toward the entrance. "Come on, let's go ask. I've got a few ideas of who would help."

After a few words between the two, they decided on a good choice. All that was left was to ask. "I hope she says yes," Beechpaw mewed nervously. Icestar gave a reassuring lick. They hurried over to the nursery, and looked inside.

"Hello? Is Duskfur in here?" Icestar called.

"I'm here! What do you need?" a soft voice replied from the back. A ball of fluff lifted its head and blinked from a nap. Duskfur stood up and blundered over to the two waiting cats.

"We need your help," Icestar started. "You see, Beechpaw has been feeling a little worried and overloaded without Willowshine. So we thought up some ideas and finally decided that maybe we could ask someone to help out with some of the more complex things. Someone with some knowledge of medicine cat skills." Duskfur nodded and continued to listen, sure she knew where this was going.

"Evidently, we thought of you, since you learned some things back when you broke your foot and spent some time in the medicine den. So we came here to ask for your help, and here we are now, telling the story. In short, would you be willing to help out Beechpaw, until she at least feels more confident?"

Duskfur answered without hesitation. "Of course I'll help! It'll be good for me to do something other than help Acornstream with her kits. Why didn't you ask sooner? Let's go see what we can do right now!" With that, she walked out of the nursery with a new sense of good purpose and practically ran over to the medicine den. Icestar and Beechpaw glanced at each other before squeezing out of the nursery, and Beechpaw hurried after Duskfur.

Icestar stood, feeling one good deed done for the day. Now what? Of course there were things that always needed to be done, like going on hunting and border patrols. But there was something that had been bugging her for a few weeks now that she couldn't get out of her head: how was Beechpaw supposed to learn her official medicine cat name? Willowshine wasn't... well, alive anymore to give it when the time would be right!

Then and there was when Icestar decided she would go to the Moonpool and ask for help. Could she do it herself? Should she bring Beechpaw with her? No, probably not- she didn't want to make the young medicine cat walk all the way there to find out nothing. Icestar padded over to the warriors den to see if her deputy was taking a nap, to inform him of her plans.

Upon entering, she saw a few warriors chatting or sharing tongues- Icewing and Pebblefoot were sharing tongues while Mallownose was lightly snoring. Sure enough, there Grasspelt slept with his light brown tail over his paws and nose.

He suddenly shrunk in Icestar's eyes to look like a tiny kit, waiting for his mother to return, maybe born a moon earlier. So innocent, just a little ball of fluff, probably hoping to become deputy of his Clan one day. He had achieved that goal, and now here he was all grown up and helping laws his Clan. Icestar smiled as he stretched in his sleep. Did that really happen? She shook herself out of her thoughts and nudged his soft fur with her paw. He only shifted his body. She nudged harder and mewed his name.

"Grasspelt! Wake up! I need to talk to talk to you." He blinked bleary eyes, stood up, stretched, and shook off.

"Wha...?" When his eyes focused on Icestar, they became more alert. "Icestar! What do you need?"

"I need to go to the Moonpool for a night. Can you handle the camp for a little while? I won't be gone long." Gazing at him, she could see his eyes thinking. Then he nodded.

"Yes, I can do that. Do you need to take anyone with you? Maybe an apprentice, since you know how it is good for them to travel somewhere they wouldn't normally go before becoming a warrior."

Icestar nodded back. "I'll take Flickerpaw. Thank you!" Then she backed out of the den to search for the apprentice.

~~~~~

Icestar stared down at the smooth, glassy water below her. Glancing to her left she saw Flickerpaw gaping at the sight. The leader started down first. Flickerpaw followed only after shaking his head clear.

"If you want to just sit over by the side of the pool, I shouldn't be gone long. Well, it'll look like I'm still here, but my spirit will be with StarClan." Flickerpaw nodded and sat down.

Icestar stepped towards the Moonpool and crouched down. She pressed her nose into the icy water. Just like the last time, nothing seemed to happen. I put my nose in. Was I supposed to take a sip? No...

"Wake up, Icestar! We don't have all night!" A voice mewed near the leader's ear. Icestar jumped.

"Willowshine!" Icestar pressed her muzzle against the dead medicine cat's starry soft fur. "Oh, everyone back at home misses you! Especially Beechpaw, she seems so lonely!"

Willowshine returned the gesture. "Oh I wish I could have stayed with her longer! She seemed to have such a cheerful air when doing medicine cat duties. And I miss you too. Although I do enjoy seeing Mothwing again. I hope everything is fine in RiverClan?"

Icestar backed up a little and tilted her head. "Sort of. We haven't seen the badger again, so that is good. WindClan seems to be peaceful." Behind Willowshine, Icestar glimpsed Flickerpaw playing with a tall blade of grass that managed to poke up near the edge of the cliff face . "Can Flickerpaw...?"

Willowshine followed Icestar's gaze then shook her head. "She cannot see or hear us. She only sees your sleeping body," she mewed, nodding towards Icestar's still figure. "But I imagine that you have not come here just to talk?"

Icestar nodded. "Yes. I wanted to ask you about Beechpaw's name. Since you are really, well, dead, we were wondering how you would manage to do the naming ceremony. You can't exactly appear in normal life, which is where naming ceremonies always happen."

Willowshine smiled. "I have been thinking about this. I have a plan, but it cannot happen yet. You must be patient. No, I cannot tell you now." she mewed, at the sign of Icestar starting to speak. "Like normal, only the medicine cat should know when and what."

"But why?! Why does StarClan do this? There is no rule about it in the warrior code! Does StarClan enjoy doing this to leaders and medicine cats?" The young leader's voice slightly rose.

"No, no, of course not! We just never know when an evil might rise. Not even StarClan can predict everything." Willowshine brushed her shimmering muzzle against Icestar's flank one last time before slowly starting to fade from view.

"But what could evil do with a name?! No, wait! Stay!" Grasping the air to try to hold onto Willowshine worked to no avail. She just kept fading until a thin outline of starry fur was visible and a paw could pass through like she was a ghost. Soon, the vision started to fade from view as Icestar slowly plunged back into the waking world.

~~~~~

"Icestar! You're back! How was it? Did you get an answer?" Icestar had awoken and walked back mostly in silence with Flickerpaw. Getting home, they had gone straight to their dens. In the morning, Beechpaw had found Icestar almost right away. Icestar sighed. Beechpaw really was energetic sometimes, just not always during the more useful moments.

"Yes, Beechpaw, I talked to Willowshine. She has a plan." Icestar hesitated. "But she chose to not state it."

Beechpaw pouted. "Why would she do that? She always shared nearly everything with me. She told me many stories of when she was an apprentice, seeing the Great Battle with the Dark Forest and the time when the sun disappeared. Why not this?"

Icestar shook her head. "I do not fully know. It has to do with keeping you safe, so whatever it is must be a good precaution."

Beechpaw padded ahead mumbling to herself about the Great Battle and precautions. Icestar displayed a look of frustration, before sighing and hurrying after Beechpaw.

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Whew! Done. This was a longer chapter to keep you going for hopefully a little- 1860 words of actual chapter! Sooooo sorry about such the long wait. I'm kind of loosing the enthusiasm I had at the beginning of this story, but I'm going to try to stick with and finish the story! Vote, comment, and eat cupcakes!

-Emrysstar✨