Spottedfern felt searing pain burn her eyelids. She blinked her eyes open and tried to get to her paws, but wobbled and fell to the ground, dizzy. Two pairs of eyes glowed down at her-one light blue and the other amber. "Spottedfern?" The blue-eyed cat mewed nervously. Duskpaw flicked her tail in excitement when she met Spottedfern's cobalt gaze. "She's awake!" Spottedfern dizzily sat up. "How long was I out?" She managed to mew through the haze that surrounded her. The soft sunlight that fell into the clearing seemed to burn her retinas like a forest fire. "You started stumbling and collapsed a bit ago after returning with your border patrol. You were making weird choking noises and seemed to be trying to say something." Daisyberry leaned back from beside Spottedfern. A golden-brown tom was hurrying towards them from behind Daisyberry. "Spottedfern? What happened?" He turned to Daisyberry. "Hi, Aspenflame." Spottedfern said to her friend. Aspenflame nudged her shoulder with a smile in greeting and sat down next to her. Wavestar spoke up from her spot a few paw-lengths away. "You gave us all a scare when you collapsed like that." She glanced at Aspenflame. "He was by your side in an instant." Spottedfern felt heat burn beneath her pelt. Daisyberry purred. "On another note, how are you feeling? Do you know what caused that sudden collapse?" Her voice was now back to a worried, caring medicine cat. Spottedfern hesitated. She didn't know exactly how to explain the pain she'd felt with that utter certainty of doom, and even if she did find the words, she wouldn't tell her. "I just got a sudden headache and felt dizzy, then woke up here." She told Daisyberry truthfully. "Well then, off to the medicine cat den with you!" When Spottedfern tried to protest, the she-cat's tail flicked in front of her mouth and muffled the words of complaint. Reluctantly, the young warrior followed her niece and Daisyberry into the den. Duskpaw guided Spottedfern to a fern-lined nest near the back of the den next to a pool of water. "Here." The gray-orange apprentice said. "You have to stay here until Daisyberry says you're fine to go back to duties." Spottedfern sighed and shrugged her shoulders back, curling into the nest. The sunlight pouring into the den was now dim and orangey, and swiftly fading. The tortoiseshell warrior let the soft sounds of the sleeping camp tug her to sleep by the time the moon was fully up.
