Warriors: Stripeblaze's Path

Chapter three

Stripepaw woke up, screaming. Ever since Stormfeather's and Whiteshade's death four sunrises ago, he hadn't gotten even one night of decent sleep. He breathed in the scent of herbs, calming himself down. He was hot all over, yet he was shivering. Images of Stormfeather's and Whiteshade's sodden corpses still flashed in his mind. He buried his face in his nest, muffling his second scream. He didn't realise that Mosssting was standing over him until his grey tail swept over Stripepaw's back.
"Come now, it's okay," he crooned. Stripepaw whimpered and looked up at the old medicine cat. His green eyes were soft and understanding. "We'll be going to the Moonpool tonight, that's good, right?" Mosssting meowed, trying to cheer up the grey tabby.
Stripepaw looked up at him. "Nothing will cheer me up, so stop trying," he grumbled, reading the old cat's thoughts.
"That's enough!" Mosssting grabbed Stripepaw by the scruff and hauled him out of his nest, grunting. "You've been sleeping in 'til Sunhigh every day, and you scream in your sleep." He lowered himself to the small apprentice's height. "I know this is hard to deal with, I've gone through the same thing. My mother was slain by a fox when I was barely out of kit hood." His voice caught in his throat with emotion. Stripepaw felt a pang of guilt. "But, I focused on my work and becoming the best medicine cat I could, and I got used to it. Then, my father, Ashstep, died of greencough a few moons after I got my full name." He let out a long sigh. "But that was many, many moons ago. I'm almost too old to even remember!" he chuckled. Stripepaw shifted uncomfortably in his nest. He realised that he hadn't been very respectful to his mentor these past few days. He touched his nose the old cat's nose and smiled.
"I'm sorry, you're right. I need to focus more," he mewed, looking into Mosssting's green eyes. Mosssting smiled and stood up.
"How about we go collect some herbs? We're running especially low on catmint, which isn't good at this time in leaf-bare." He flicked his tail along Stripepaw's spine and padded out of the den. Stripepaw nodded and followed him out of the den. A sharp, ice cold wind hit his face. Snowflakes whirled around him, making his pelt damp. He shivered and started to retreat back into the den. Mosssting shot him a stern look and flicked his ears. Stripepaw rolled his eyes and padded back out, standing strong against the cool wind. It buffeted his fur around. He shivered once more and followed his mentor through the camp. Every cat he passed gave him a strange look. He looked questioningly at Moonpoppy, who was staring at him, and padded over to her.
"Why is everyone looking at me like that?" he asked her softly.
"This is the first time you've been out of the den since...well..." She trailed off and looked up at the grey sky. Leopardkit jumped out from behind her.
"Hi Stripepaw! You're still alive!" he mewed happily. Rosekit cuffed him over the ear.
"Shut up you!" she scolded. Leopardkit trudged to the back of the den, disappearing into the shadows. Stripepaw stared, shocked, at Moonpoppy.
"Did-did they think I was d-dead?" he choked.
"Goodness no! They're just kits, don't mind them," Moonpoppy meowed quickly. Stripepaw nodded and padded back to Mosssting, who was waiting for him in the clearing.
"You ready to go?" the old cat asked. Stripepaw nodded, putting on a brave face. He was still thinking of his parents, their desperate cries to be freed from under the ice. He shook his head to clear it and padded after Mosssting into the forest.
The air out of the camp was crisp and sharp, stinging Stripepaw's nose. Snowflakes fell softly around him. Mosssting chuckled and batted at one, making it crumble under his paw. Stripepaw stared at him.
"You're acting like a kit," he grumbled. Mosssting laughed again.
"Why don't you try?" he meowed. Stripepaw flicked his tail with irritation.
"I haven't time for kit games," he mewed.
"You're already as grumpy as a full medicine cat!" Mosssting joked. Stripepaw shot a furious glance at him, but continued walking, swishing his tail behind him.
Mosssting didn't know it, but Stripepaw was fiercely holding back his tears. This was the part of the forest where he had first fallen into the ditch. Whiteshade had easily helped him out of it. It was one other part of his father that he missed; his heroism. And Stormfeather's love and kindness. He couldn't take it anymore and he collapsed to the ground, whimpering and sobbing.
"I can't! I just can't!" he cried. Mosssting looked at him, confused. Stripepaw stared into his dark green eyes, before standing up and tearing through the forest, down to the icy bank of the lake. He cracked the ice with his paw, like he had done when he first came there. He gazed at his reflection in the water. He had his mother's soft brown eyes, and his father's ears and small nose. And, he could've sworn he'd seen his mother's starry figure in the water, staring up at him. He jumped back in fright, not daring to look back in. Tears began to pool down his face. His whiskers trembled as he shivered.
"I'm sorry, it's all my fault," he whispered.
"No it's not."
Stripepaw whipped around and saw Mosssting looking down at him with sympathy.
"Come on, we need to get the the old Twoleg nest," the old cat meowed. Stripepaw nodded solemnly, and stood up and trudged behind the medicine cat.

Stripepaw cringed as a horrible sharp scent hit him. He looked up at Mosssting. "What in StarClan is the stench?" he croaked.
"The old Thunderpath," Mosssting sighed. "Maybe three, four seasons ago, before you were born, it was put into use again. When the ancient Clans first arrived here, led by Firestar, Leopardstar, Blackstar and Tallstar, it was abandoned. But slowly, monsters found their way onto the path, and they go down to the lake. But only really in new-leaf and green-leaf."
Stripepaw twitched his nose at the prospect of having to cross the Thunderpath. It was leaf-bare though, surely there wouldn't be any monsters on it?
Mosssting led him through the forest until they came to a dirt path that reeked of the same smell Stripepaw had caught earlier. Mosssting looked both ways, then nodded to Stripepaw.
"It's clear." And with that, he bounded across the small path over to the other side. Stripepaw gulped and followed his mentor. He reached the other side safely, like he had hoped.
The two cats padded through the thick undergrowth for a little while longer until they came across the abandoned Twoleg nest. Its walls were crumbling and the roof had completely caved in. It was just the way that Stormfeather had described it. Stripepaw sighed, thinking of his mother, but continued following Mosssting up the path to the nest.
"Now, the catmint grows at the front of the nest, in what used to be a garden. In leaf-bare, there's not much of it, but we need all that it can offer," Mosssting explained. Stripepaw nodded and padded up to the patch of green. There was only a small section of catmint, but it was good enough. He bent down and started to nip the stalks of the plant, making a small pile of it as he went. He pricked his ears as he heard a rustle coming from the Twoleg nest. He looked up suspiciously and padded over to the nest, wanting to inspect the sound. It couldn't of been Mosssting, he was collecting catmint alongside him. He peered into the darkness, sticking his nose in to sniff. A strange scent that he only barely recognised crossed his nose. That can't be right, he thought. He squinted, desperately trying to see into the darkness, but gave up after a few moments. He shook his head and padded back to where he was collecting his herbs. He went to pick up his pile of catmint, but his eyes widened with shock when he saw his pile had disappeared. He looked over at Mosssting.
"Hey Mosssting? Did you by any chance take my pile?" he meowed. Mosssting shook his head and went back to collecting the herb. Stripepaw looked around suspiciously and drew in the scents. It was hard to distinguish them from each other; the scent of catmint was so overpowering, but he managed to catch one other scent. It was the same one he found in the Twoleg nest. He gasped with realisation and turned around to shout to Mosssting, but was silenced as something, or rather, someone, landed on his back, forcing him to the ground. His mouth was pushed into the ground, muffling his shouts for help. He writhed under the weight, and managed to shift around to stare at the cat on him. It was Badgerflame, the ShadowClan deputy. He was right! He knew he had scented ShadowClan earlier, and now they were stealing his catmint! He desperately wriggled underneath Badgerflame's paws, but she was much bigger than the scrawny apprentice.
"Mosssting!" he cried out. The old cat whipped around, only to have two other cats, a cream-and-apricot tabby tom and a greenish-grey tom, tackle him to the ground.
"What in StarClan!" Mosssting yelped. Badgerflame nudged Stripepaw to his paws, forcing him to walk ahead of her as she padded to the ThunderClan medicine cat.
"We need your catmint!" she growled. "We have sick cats, and our supply is gone!"
"Well you could've simply asked! What about Leapwing? This is her job!" Mosssting replied.
"That's none of you business! Now we'll take your catmint and be on our way!" she snarled. She padded away from the two ThunderClan cats, and the cream-and-apricot tabby grabbed Mosssting's pile and stalked after his Clan mates.
"What was that about?" Stripepaw meowed, still bewildered after what had just happened.
"They took all of our catmint. The piles that we gathered were the last of the good parts, we have none left," Mosssting grunted. Stripepaw sighed.
"I can bet that Leapwing is sick," he meowed. Mosssting nodded.
"We'll hopefully see her at the Moonpool tonight, then we'll ask," Mosssting concluded, and started to pad away, back to camp. Stripepaw glanced at the Twoleg nest one last time, then padded after his mentor into the snowy undergrowth.