Iceheart shifted in his nest, he had had quite a restless night, tossing and turning constantly. As soon as he began to settle down he heard the sound of harsh coughing coming from the medicine cat den. A fellow warrior, Ferntail, had fallen to the awful sickness lately. 'Starclan keep her safe', Iceheart pitied her. He didn't know how horrible the sickness made the infected feel, but he wouldn't want to find out, he knew that. Iceheart stretched once more and turned in his nest, trying once more to get comfortable.

The white tom must have drifted off at some point because the next thing he knew Iceheart was standing in a field surrounded by forests. This field seemed somewhat familiar to him for some reason, like he had...been here before. He lifted a paw to walk, but stopped dead in his tracks as he heard the happy squeal of a kit behind him. He turned around to see a tiny white kit attempting to pounce on a butterfly. It was a few fox lengths away, maybe a tree length. The kit looked....blurry to iceheart, almost melting into the background. Same with the butterfly.

he studied the kit for a moment, it looked vaguely familiar. Then sudden realization hit him, 'Is that....me?' He asked himself in shock. As he watched the kit, he saw another cat come out into the open, pure white like himself. The she-cat was blurry, like the little Iceheart. The she-cat smiled and laughed slightly as the young him pounced again at the butterfly. She sat down on the ground and watched the kit for a moment as he playfully bounced around in the grass. His breath caught in his throat. Mother?- He wanted to call out to her, but he couldn't speak.

"I used to take you to this field every morning," a soft voice said behind him. He swung around to see his mother, Cloudfoot, sitting before him. "You used to chase the butterflies and lizards around every rock, it was your favorite thing to do. You used to wake me up early every morning so I could take you here" Iceheart was speechless, a frog had formed in his throat. mixed emotions flooded over him. He finally broke free of his expressionless stance and trotted forward slightly to head butt his mother. "I remember," He could barley speak. He drank in his mother's sweet sent. A feeling of warmth and belonging flooded over him. Cloudfoot smiled and nosed him back.

Questions flooded Iceheart's mind. "W-what are you doing here?" He asked her. Cloudfoot's face went from a happy smile to a more serious mood in a heartbeat. She took a deep breath before speaking again. "Starclan needs help." She began. Automatically Iceheart was confused, why would starclan need help, and how could he help them? His questions were soon to be answered, he knew, so he kept quiet. "We can't always shape things the way we want them, sometimes we need paws on the ground" Her gaze drifted to her paws, then back up again. Her intense blue and green gaze seemed to look deep behind Iceheart's own gaze. "This...Illness has gotten beyond our control. It's up to the clans themselves now....the most starclan can do is guide you. Ripple, Gale, Marsh, and Forest must put their differences behind them. work together. You have a chance. You just need to know how to recognize it, and embrace it." She paused for a moment before continuing, "The gathering....You will know whom to speak with." She finished.

Iceheart's emotions were more jumbled than ever, who was he supposed to talk to? What could the clans accomplish together? Won't that just make it worse? He looked up to see his mother's body slowly forming into mist, blown away by the wind. "wait!" He called to her but she was already gone. His gaze starred at the place where she had been, he paw prints still remaining on the ground. Disappointment, anger, and sadness settled in his belly.

He heard a cheerful squeal behind him once again. The white tom looked over his shoulder to see himself as a kitten, running over to where cloudfoot sat on the ground. He placed his paws on her chest and reached his neck up to head butt her. Cloudfoot watched himself and his mother nuzzle each other with a longing expression. He looked at his own paws to see them drifting into mist, just as his mother had done. In slight panic he looked up once again to see himself and cloudfoot in the field. As he watched, he could have swarn he saw his mother's soft gaze lift to meet his own. "Don't go" He whispered to mostly himself.

His eyes flickered open, he was back in the warrior's den. Cloudfoot's speech flooded back into his mind. He was still puzzled, but he trusted her...he just had to understand it better. He considered sharing his news with the medicine cat, but as he heard more coughing emanating from the medicine cat den, he figured it'd be better not to bother her.

OOC: okay, thanks Axis, i might make my second cat a rouge then if you don't mind C=
((Sorry about the length xD))

Iceheart shifted in his den, rolling into a more comfortable position. He tried to get more sleep, his dream hadn't offered any rest when he woke. It was no use, and he needed to send out a patrol anyway. He struggled drowsily to his paws and arched his back in a lazy stretch. Thoughts of his mother and what she said lingered in the back of his mind as be padded out of the warriors den.

The white tom shot a glance at the medicine cat den as another round of coughing was heard. He veered towards the entrance, he wanted to make sure ferntail was doing alright. As he approached the den he poked his head in, "Quailfight, is Ferntail do-" He was abruptly cut off by a nasty hiss and a slash of claws aimed at his nose. He back away just in time to see Qualflight's claws fly right in front of his whiskers. "Get out you fool! He heard her snarl. "She's falling! The medicine cat snapped. Iceheart was still stunned by Qualflight's actions, but he found purpose in them. There was no time in warning now. He could see Qualflight desperately trying to get Ferntail to eat a dry pulp she was offering. It was no use, Ferntail struggled a few times, pushing the pulp away. She suddenly seized, her limbs going stiff once, and then limp. Qualflight shrieked in horror and jumped on the she-cat. The medicine cat licked her throat frantically.

By now other warriors and clan cats had gathered around the den. Finally Qualflight slinked away from the warrior, exhausted. The warriors gathered around her to comfort her. Ferntail lay limp in the den. Two warrior gathered her up and brought her to the middle of the camp. They would grieve for her tonight.

Today was the gathering, the warriors would have to get ready to head out by the full moon. There was time for a hunt or two before then. Iceheart called the warriors to him. "I know Ferntail death is hard, and she will not be forgotten easily, but we must carry on our duties." A few cats nodded, the others looked to devastated to do anything. "I'm am going to lead a hunting patrol, hopefully fill our bellies. Jayclaw, Honeyleaf, Yellowwing, and Nightpaw, come with me. we will look for prey at the border of Marshclan. Remember not to cross or chase over the border. " He mewed, he started heading for the camp entrance.

As he walked he realized that he had taken most of the warriors, the clan was hit hard by the sickness. It had taken a good few of their warriors. He trotted out of camp, his patrol on his tail. as they reached a little ways from the border he stopped the patrol. "Let's split up here" He suggested. The other cats nodded and padded of, noses in the air. Iceheart did the same, mouth open, searching for any scents of prey.