“You’re back late, Where were you?” Was the first thing both Reedstar and GhostStorm said to her when she arrived in the camp with a fish in her jaws at moon-high. “Well its nice to see the both of you too" she murmured through the fish and set it down between her paws. “I didn’t want to come back to celebrate with the clan, considering I am not a part of the clan yet. I’m also not the type to be ‘overly cheerful’ about winning a battle.” Reedstar narrowed her eyes and GhostStorm simply sighed. “Very well, but let us know when you plan to do that again, we nearly sent out a patrol” They said with a disturbed tail flick, probably upset that they woke up their fellow clan-mates for nothing.

Orchid dipped her head. “Understood” She said. She turned and stalked away, leaving the fish near the fresh-kill pile and heading towards the medicine-cat den. Now that the battle was over she could check on Sun, her tail curling behind her as she imagined the she-cat jumping to her paws and greeting her warmly. She stepped into the cave that was much warmer than outside and glanced around, her purple eyes narrowed as she saw a few other cats injured, not as badly as the lump of Golden fur that lay in the back of the den. She stepped over the sleeping cats and headed towards Sun, her whiskers twitching nervously as she caught the scent of several herbs coming from the resting she-cat. She sat down and hunched over, able to pick up the rough breathing coming from Sun and sighed as she noticed the poultice and cobwebs that were plastered over the she-cats side and guessed that was why.

The moonlight flooded into the den as she laid down next to Sun, her paws tucked under her as she brushed the she cats shoulder with her long fluffy tail. She stiffened as the golden cat stirred and hardly opened a green eye. The she-cats gaze shifted towards her. Orchid was about to mew a greeting when Sun scrambled to her paws and looked over her, a snarl on her face and tail lashing angrily behind her. Orchid flinched in shock, did she not recognize her? No, Sun knew it was her, something else was wrong. Her gaze drifted to the right side of Sun's face and her heart lurched as she saw the cobwebs wrapped around the entire left side of her head. “Sun…” She began but the she-cat silenced her with a cuff to the ear, claws half unseathed. Orchid's ears stung and she knew they were bleeding as the warm liquid trickled down the side of her face, thankfully it was shallow and would stop bleeding soon, but that wasn’t what Orchid was worried about.

“What was that for?!” She hissed, jumping to her paws and the fur along her spine bristling slightly. Sun glared at her with undisguised hostility.

“You want to know what this is all about?! I’ll tell you what-" The golden she-cat snarled and stepped towards Orchid but stopped as a nearby cat stirred in its nest. Sun flicked and ear in annoyance and she padded past Orchid. “Not here" She hissed in Orchid’s quietly and shoved her way out of the den. Orchid flicked her stinging ear and followed The she-cat silently, her tail lashing. Where did this sudden hatred come towards her come from? She followed the golden tail that stood out in the moonlight out of the camp and towards the river. All sorts of thoughts raced towards Orchid’s head. The she-cat had no reason to hate her, none except one… Sun stopped near the river that splashed against the pebbly shore through the night, her ears were flat against her head as Orchid stopped a couple tail-lengths away.

“Do you seriously not understand what you’ve done wrong?” Sun said, her voice colder than ice. Orchid dug her claws into the dirt that laid between the pebbles.

“I do not,” She said simply, her heart racing. The cat that had been her best friend for so long had suddenly turned on her? What had she done? Sun suddenly began to tremble, her tail lashing behind her. Orchid took a deep breath and slunk next to sun, curling her tail comfortingly over the she-cat's shoulder. Suddenly her cheek exploded with pain and she found herself lying on the cold ground staring at the river, frozen in shock. In the corner of her eye she could see Sun glaring hatred at her with and unseathed claws only a few mouse-lengths away from her and glistening with blood.

A cold breeze tore across her face and that was when she felt the hot liquid running down her cheek. She forced herself into a slouching position and swiped a paw across her face, only pulling it back to see it was matted with blood. The wound stung dully in the breeze but that wasn’t what had hurt Orchid. It was the golden she-cat who stood in front of her with not a single look of regret on her face. “You really are a fool Orchid,” She growled as she loomed over the crouching she-cat. “I want you to think carefully about what you’ve done , what reason I’ve gotten to go against you?”

Orchid hesitated, unsure of how to respond. Only heartbeats later was her nose stinging from a well aimed blow. “Answer the question, or do I have to spell it out for you?” Sun hissed and began to raise a paw towards her bandaged head. Orchid knew what she was about to do, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to bear the sight.

“Sun wait!” She screeched. But the bandage had already been removed. Every hair on her pelt bristled as she gazed at the red flesh that met her eyes. The Still fresh bite marks that had taken the left side of the furious face laid on Sun's head, causing two holes where her eye should’ve been. It looked like her face had been mauled by a pack of wild dogs instead of one young fox. Orchid felt as if the earth itself was trembling as she stared at the unrepairable wound with wide, horrified eyes.

“Why do you look so surprised? You’re the one who’s at fault for it anyways,” The cold familiar voice growled. “ If only I hadn’t jumped in to help you… If only I had ran like I had planned to… You’re far faster than I am…far, far faster,” Sun was muttering harshly under her breath and scrapping her claws on the riverbank. Orchid stared at the ground, every word pounding harshly on her ears so loudly that she was convinced that they were true. Even with the forced certainty in Suns voice as she blamed her for her injury, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was completely responsible for everything that had happened.

Still she forced herself to be there for Sun, who was now panting, snarls escaping through her mouth every time she closed it. Orchid slowly stood, still trembling for reasons she did not know. She took a step towards Sun.

“STAY AWAY FROM ME!” Sun screeched at her suddenly and leaped at her. Orchid gasped as her head collided with the stone ground and her ears rung. Water splashed against the back of her head and she guessed she had landed near the river.She stiffened as she felt a heavy paw placed on her neck and claws poke the tender skin. She met the gaze of Sun and felt a jolt of fear as she saw the she-cats green eye was clouded and unfocused, as well as the foam forming at the edges of her mouth. If Sun were to kill her now, she wouldn’t realize it until she had come out of this rabid state.

“Sun!” Orchid gasped at the grip tightened on her neck, choking her. She flailed her paws frantically through the air, trying to push the she-cat off of her.

“You always were better than me, getting the better end of everything, you should’ve lost half of your face, not me!” Sun screeched at her, the grip tightening more and more until Orchid could hardly breathe. She felt her eyes widen as she saw the yellow she-cat give her usually sweet smile. “But maybe that wouldn’t be good enough of a punishment for you? Would you rather have me kill you right here and now quickly and painlessly , or kill you slowly, hm?” Sun snarled, dragging her claws across Orchid’s chest and causing her to wither in agony at the pain that just continued to grow.

She’s not thinking straight, this isn’t her it can’t be her! Orchid thought as her mind raced with panic. She heard Sun give a icy hum. “Guess you can’t really voice your choice huh? Well then! I’ll decide for you.”

Orchid let out a hiss as her head was slammed once again into the ground, the back of her head burning as if on fire. She saw out of the corner of her blurry eyesight that the water had tinted red with blood and guessed she had been injured by the attack. Her head rung as colors flashed around her, yet she still saw the flash of fangs that dove towards her throat and instinctively shoved her paws upward.

Orchid heard a sharp ‘clack’ sound and felt Sun release her grip slightly with a groan of pain. She took the chance to kick out her back legs and throw the she-cat off of her scramble to her paws. She could hardly make out the blood trickling out of Sun's mouth and guessed she had caused her to bite her tongue. She stiffened as Sun jerked her head upwards and glared at her with furious eyes. Before she knew it her paws were already moving as she raced away from the angry she-cat.

“She’s gone mad!” Orchid hissed to herself, her mind in a panic as the grey stone flashed under her paws. Her heart leapt as she saw the familiar undergrowth of the forest and increased her speed, knowing she’d be able to lose Sun in the less open area. A sudden weight on her shoulders forced her to the ground and she let out a groan of pain as her chin hit the hard stone. She rolled over, ready to throw Sun off of her again but instead felt her panic heighten as teeth latched onto her neck.

“At first I was being generous by planning to give you a swift painless death but now I think I’ve changed my mind,” Sun growled through Orchid’s fur. Orchid screeched as the fangs sunk into her throat, warm blood beginning to ooze from the wound. She hardly felt the claws that were dug into her shoulder and chest. The deeper the fangs drew into the soft flesh, the more weaker Orchid could feel herself becoming as she lost more and more blood. Her vision began to grow blurry and Sun’s growls were drowned out by the sound of the river crashing along the shore, for that was the only thing Orchid could hear.

Is this it? She asked the stars as she opened her eyes and gazed at the dark sky. Is this how I die? Killed by my best friend? Ha, the irony.

As the painful feeling got stronger and stronger, Orchid began to no longer notice it as it started to become numbing and she could taste the blood in her mouth. Her ear twitched as a gust of wind blew past her, lifting a single black crow feather into the air above she and Sun. Suddenly Sun froze and before Orchid could even process what was happening, a black blur crashed into Sun and threw her off of Orchid. Orchid gasped as she could breathe again and tilted her head to see A slim black tom with orange , nearly red eyes, beating her back with quick skillful blows.

A large maple leaf whisked in front of her eyes, only for a heartbeat. In that short amount of time , a orange and white she-cat had stepped infront of her, fur nearly glowing in the moonlight. The cat turned to her with sky blue eyes and sighed.

“It seems we were a bit late, that’s quite unfortunate,” The she-cat said as she rubbed a paw gently over a wound of Orchid’s shoulder. Orchid bared her fangs in a hiss but cut off short as a screech came from Sun. She looked past the she-cat to see that the yellow cat was pinned under the black tom, unconscious and with a long slash running down her side. Orchid tried to shove past the she-cat, worried that her friend had been seriously injured, but was immediately shoved back. “Your friend is fine, Crownight didn’t hurt her too badly.”

“Although you would’ve probably done worse Maplestrike,” The tom named Crownight grumbled as he shook a bit of blood off of his paws and stalked towars them. “Maybe, depends on my mood,” Maplestrike giggled. “You’re insane.” “Well that’s uncalled for, I’m not that careless.” “You really, really are..” “Who even are you two?”

Both cats had turned to the confused Orchid. Crownight sighed and Maplestrike gave a hum of amusement.

“We are the Crow and Maple leaf! I assume that Azul, or our ‘star cat’, mentioned us to you once at least, “ Maplestrike said as Crownight sat down, looking annoyed by everything. Orchid nodded slowly , recalling the cat she had met not that long ago had spoken about a crow and a maple leaf. Yet she hadn’t been expecting to meet them so soon, and under these circumstances …

Orchid glanced at Sun who still laid unconscious on the ground, a stab of confusion and other mixed feelings rushing through her. “You were warned about the Rising Sun, weren’t you?” Maplestrike murmured from besides her. Orchid stiffened, realization hitting her. Could the Rising Sun, the possible major antagonist, be the kind and friendly Sun? She shook her head, she couldn’t believe it, but as Maplestrike met her eyes with a hard stare, things started to make sense to her. Yet she couldn’t shake off the feeling of shock.

A sudden rustling sound sounded behind her and all three cats spun around, fur bristling and claws unseathed. Orchid felt her heart race as a familiar soft colored cat stepped out of the undergrowth. Her eyes were glazed with sympathy as she looked at the three cats, then Sun.

Don’t worry, I heard everything,” Faintear mewed, sighing and sitting down. Orchid felt herself relax, yet she was worried about what the medicine cat would decide on next. “Judging by the scent of herbs on your fur, I assume that you’re the medicine cat of River-clan,’ Crownight said as he stalked towards the calm she-cat. He stopped not even a mouse length away from her and loomed over her. “However, I am not against harming medicine cats if they get In the way, so I want you to listen carefully. The decision you make will be up to us and us alone,” he growled as he flicked his tail to Orchid and Maplestrike.

Faintear, fur now bristling in slight fear, nodded quickly. Crownight stepped back and turned towards Orchid. “We have three options. One: we kill that Rising Sun cat here and now. Two : we can feed her a herb to make her forget what happened tonight, though it won’t change how she feels about Orchid, or Three: we get away from this forest as fast as we can.”

To Orchid, the second option sounded the most reasonable, for she would never forgive herself if she left Sun behind. “Let’s go with the second option,” she said, unaware of how hoarse her voice suddenly sounded. Crownight nodded but kept his eyes firmly on her, as if expecting something. Orchid didn’t know how or what happened, but her paws felt heavier than stone and the ground seemed to be rushing to meet her. The last thing she remembered was the pricking feeling in her neck, as if she were being poked by ice claws and the soft orange and white cat who caught her, casting a silly, reassuring Sky blue glance at her. End of chapter

I genuinely hate how this chapter is written help 😭