The young apprentice Softpaw was crouching on the ground in front of her, with ears flattened and her eyes screwed shut.

“It’s okay,” Twigpaw reassured her. “I’ll get you out.”

Gently she grabbed the young cat by the scruff and carried her up to the blazing end of the log. Swinging her backward to build up momentum, she tossed her high above the flames.

Softpaw let out a squeal of alarm. She landed on the log, and for a moment her paws skidded on the slick surface. Twigpaw cringed, expecting with every heartbeat that she would fall into the stream.

But at last Softpaw managed to dig her claws in and regain her balance. She scurried across the log; Shimmerpelt and Mistystar met her on the other side and covered her ears with licks.

Twigpaw spotted Alderheart standing at the far end of the log. “Twigpaw, get back over here now!” he yowled.

“I’m coming!” Twigpaw called back.

Bracing herself, she took a few paces back from the bank, then raced up to the log and hurled herself into the air with a powerful thrust of her hind paws. She felt the heat of the flames as she leaped over them. For a heartbeat she thought she had beaten the fire, but as she came down to land she felt an explosion of heat scorching along one of her back legs.

Twigpaw let out a screech of agony. She thumped down onto the log, flailed briefly with her paws, and felt herself slipping sideways. A moment later the icy water of the stream surged around her and her head went under. As she sank, she heard Alderheart yowling, “No!”

Twigpaw struggled blindly underwater, losing all sense of direction. Then her head broke the surface. Gasping for air, she thrashed with her paws and tried to propel herself to the bank. The current was much stronger here than at the border stream with WindClan, and the water deeper. The bank seemed to be racing past her at a tremendous rate.

I’ll be swept into the lake, and then I’ll never get back!

She caught a glimpse of Alderheart pelting along the bank to keep pace with her, and heard Mistystar’s voice. “Alderheart, you can’t swim! If you jump in, we’ll have to rescue both of you.”

Twigpaw was growing tired, and her waterlogged pelt was weighing her down. It was harder and harder to keep on struggling. Then, as she was sinking again, she saw Shimmerpelt and Mallownose diving into the water, with a smaller cat following them.

Finpaw? Oh, no!

Shimmerpelt and Mallownose grabbed Twigpaw, one on each side, and held her up as they pulled her toward the bank. Finpaw swam in front of her, encouraging her; Twigpaw couldn’t believe how confident he was in the water. “You’ll be fine, Twigpaw. We won’t let you drown.”