Nightfrost's Choice

Chapter 19

Nightfall woke to the sound of urgent, hushed voices above her head.
"Do you think Fernstar is... Dead?"
She recognized that voice as Dewfur's, and then came a sharp, usually cheerful voice:

"Quiet, Dewfur!" Swiftblaze. "Don't talk like that, or you can clean the elders ticks for a moon! Fernstar just took a.... Fall, that's all."

"Don't boss me around! You're just a warrior!" Dewfur's voice turned bitter, and Nightfall struggled to open her eyes.

"Oh yeah? Well, I became a warrior before you and I have an apprentice!"

Silence. Nightfall opened her eyes and sat up in her nest, and she saw Dewfur and Swiftblaze with their muzzles an inch away from each other, fur bristling and eyes glowing with rage.

"Come on guys!" She meowed sleepily. "Stop fighting!" Swiftblaze turned and gave Nightfall an angry look.

"I knew you'd support your sister!" The ginger warrior sniffed, flattening her ears.

Nightfall sighed. "I'm not taking anyone's Side, I'm just-"

"Just what?" Dewfur intervened. "What a great sister, Nightfall!"

"Guys..."

"What?" All three she-cats snapped, spinning around and glaring at the mouth of the den. It was Fogpelt. His eyes were terrified, and his fur stuck up.

"Whoa." He took a step backwards, and Swiftblaze sighed, too.

"What do you want?" She snapped. Fogpelt's gaze turned sharp with irritation.

"Fernstar lost a life." He reported grimly, and Nightfall felt horror course through her.

No! "But how?" She meowed, turning to face Swiftblaze and Dewfur for answers. Swiftblaze lowered her tone.

"Fernstar was walking back from the Night Lily. The ground sort of trembled and she fell with it... Like a... Shaky earth or something. No cat knows what it is, but she got sucked into the ground and suffocated. She lost a life, and Sparrowheart found her on dawn patrol." Swiftblaze explained.

Nightfall once again felt horror. That meant Fernstar lost her sixth life! She only had four more... Nightfall felt slightly sick as she ate her thrush from the pile. Swallowing down the last few mouthfuls, Nightfall bounded into the clearing and saw Fernstar sitting with her shoulders hunched, her eyes glazed and her muzzle streaked with dirt.

Fernstar looked up she saw Nightfall. "I'm fine, I'm fine." Fernstar said at once, trying to scramble into a straighter positin, but her body shook with effort and she laid down on her side. Echoflight shot Nightfall a glare.

"She needs space!" The medicine cat snapped, pushing Nightfall away with powerful paws. Nightfall craned to see her leader.

Fernstar blinked up at her. "I need to speak to your father." The leader croaked. "Please..."

Nightfall nodded, and spun around to get her dad, but Spparrowheart was already there. "What is it, Fernstar?" He said in a gentle tone that used to use when Nightfall and Dewfur were kits.

Fernstar tilted her muzzle upwards to meet Sparrowheart's gaze. "Echoflight has made me promise that I will sleep. Do you think you can assign patrols and all that?"

"Already can." Sparrowheart meowed warmly, crouching down beside his leader and giving her a comforting lick on her shoulder.

Nightfall heard Fernstar whisper, "Thank you," and the silver leader closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Sparrowheart turned to Nightfall.