Moth Flight's Vision/Chapter 21

Moth Flight's PoV

 * Moth Flight sleeps beside Micah and dreams that they are in a nest with four kits. She turns to Micah to comment that one of the kits is as handsome as he is, but Micah is gone. Suddenly, the kits are also gone and Moth Flight calls out desperately.


 * A voice is calling her name as Moth Flight awakens. She thinks it is Micah at first, but he is lying next to her. She realizes it is Spotted Fur as she goes out into the clearing of the ThunderClan camp. The WindClan tom reproachfully says that she said she would be in RiverClan, and his hackles rise as Micah pushes his way out into the clearing behind Moth Flight. Spotted Fur explains that Rocky is sick again, no longer coughing but burning hot and talking nonsense. Reed Tail had not given him catmint, but said that he had some tansy. Thunder interrupts them, asking what was going on and Spotted Fur says that WindClan needs Moth Flight. Thunder says that he is disturbing the Clan, and Cloud Spots brings out a bundle of herbs from his den. Moth Flight thanks them for letting her and Micah stay, and Thunder tells her to give his regards to Wind Runner and Gorse Fur. Moth Flight picks up the bundle of herbs and follows Spotted Fur out of the camp. Micah calls for them to wait and Spotted Fur tells him that they don't need him, but Micah just responds that two medicine cats are better than one.


 * The three cats make it to the WindClan camp around sunrise and Moth Flight rushes to her den. Wind Runner spots Micah and reminds Moth Flight that he isn't supposed to be in the camp. Moth Flight tells her that he is there to help Rocky as well as she doesn't know if she can do it on her own. Wind Runner reveals that a moor rabbit had been found, dead, on SkyClan territory by Willow Tail. Moth Flight tells Wind Runner that she needs Micah's help and Wind Runner responds that she will need to learn to stand on her own paws.


 * Moth Flight pushes ahead to her den to find Reed Tail and Swift Minnow crouched over Rocky. The elderly tom has a high fever and is complaining of the cold. Moth Flight tells Swift Minnow to fetch some moss and soak it in a puddle. She sends Reed Tail away, and unpacks the bundle of herbs Cloud Spots had given her. Micah suggests that feverfew might help and, with his help, Moth Flight gets the old tom to eat a few leaves. Moth Flight wonders what is wrong with Rocky, and Micah recalls that when Tiny Branch had stopped coughing he was still wheezing. Moth Flight puts her ear to Rocky's chest and exclaims that he sounds like he is drowning. Micah comments that he hasn't swallowed any water, so there must be an infection. Moth Flight remembers the tree in SkyClan territory that Cloud Spots had mentioned.


 * Micah argues that he should go alone to find the tree, but Moth Flight insists on going with him. The leave the camp and Micah leads the way to SkyClan territory. When they find the tree, Micah climbs up to the top where the bark is more tender, and Moth Flight watches anxiously from the base. After a short while, Clear Sky appears and tells her to leave as WindClan is not welcome in his territory. Moth Flight tries to explain that without the bark, Rocky would die, but Clear Sky says that it is not his problem. Micah pokes his head out from the leaves, but before he can explain why they need the bark, Clear Sky tells him to get down. Micah tells him that it is his duty to heal cats as a medicine cats, but Clear Sky replies that it is his duty to cure his own Clanmates. Moth Flight retorts that they can't let cats die because they belong to a different Clan, and Clear Sky angrily asks her if she is telling him how to lead his Clan. Moth Flight snaps that someone has to as he is a fox-heart and Clear Sky rakes his claws across her muzzle. Micah starts to climb down, but Moth Flight tells him to stay in the tree as Rocky needs the bark.


 * Moth Flight spots a flash of brown fur and is briefly hopeful as Red Claw enters the glade, but her hopes are dashed as he glares at her with disdain. Clear Sky orders him to get Micah down from the tree. He growls that he should have never taken Micah in, and Moth Flight replies that he had cured his kit. Clear Sky responds that Acorn Fur could have done it, but Moth Flight snaps that she didn't know anything about healing until Micah had taught her. She goes on to say that Clear Sky is lucky to have such a brave and clever cat in his Clan, but Clear Sky responds that Moth Flight is the clever one. Moth Flight tells him that he should have given him a chance instead of sending Acorn Fur to spy on him, and that she wishes he would leave and join WindClan. Clear Sky spits that nobody leaves his Clan without his permission, but before Moth Flight can respond Willow Tail enters the glade. Moth Flight explains the situation to her, and Willow Tail races up the tree to stop Red Claw.


 * Micah makes his way to the ground and lays a strip of the bark at Moth Flight's paws. She thanks him, but Clear Sky kicks the bark away, spitting that Micah couldn't be trusted as he was stealing for WindClan. Micah responds that herbs belong to all cats. Willow Tail and Red Claw are shrieking from the tree as they battle, and Micah goes back up to stop them. However, his efforts are futile and Willow Tail advances toward Red Claw, who is trying to keep his balance at the end of the branch. Moth Flight notices that the leaves on the branch are brown, and calls out to them that the branch is rotten. It gives way under their weight and all three cats plummet toward the ground. Willow Tail and Red Claw manage to grab on to other branches, but Micah hits the ground and the branch falls on top of him.


 * Moth Flight rushes forward and hears Micah moan from under the branch. She sees him lift his head and briefly feels hopeful, but Micah's gaze is full of agony. She asks him what she can do and Micah tells her to breathe on his cheek before telling her that his spine is crushed. Moth Flight begs him not to leave her and sobs as she tells him they could wrap him in comfrey, but Micah interrupts her. He thanks her for letting him come with her to Highstones and bringing him to the Clans. He rasps that she made sense of his life and his destiny. Moth Flight says that it can't be his destiny and that it's not fair. Micah tells Moth Flight that he loves her and that he might see her again at the next half-moon. Moth Flight is relieved for a second, then realizes he means that he would see her from StarClan. Micah's eyes flicker and the light fades from them as he dies, and Moth Flight collapses, begging him not to go and saying that she loves him.

Deaths

 * Micah: killed by a falling tree branch.