Dawnstar's Message

Chapter 43

~Again, sorry the last chapter was so long and I had to keep it going on this one.~

CHAPTER 43

Dawnstar watched Fire's ginger pelt fade into the trees. A groan behind him shocked him back to reality.

"Sableheart!" Dawnstar ran back to his friend's side. Sableheart's eyes were dull with pain. Blood matted his pelt on his flanks and shoulders. "Hang on, Sableheart!" Dawnstar grabbed the silver warrior's scruff and started to half carry, half drag him towards camp.

"Dawnstar," he croaked. "Dawnstar, let me go, I'm fine."

"No you're not, mouse-brain!" he muttered through Sableheart's fur.

"Let me go!" he groaned. Dawnstar dragged him towards the edge of the trees, out of the way of the few cats left fighting in the clearing, and settled Sableheart onto the grass.

The silver warrior's eyes fluttered open. He looked himself up and down, gave his bloodstained chest a few licks, and tried to get up. He slowly put weight on his hind paws, and pushed up with one of his front paws. He tried to put the other forepaw on the ground and walk but he winced and pulled back. He smiled. "I'm not dying, you idiot." He let Dawnstar lead him around the trees into camp.

The camp was in chaos. The battle patrols had managed to keep most of the rogues out, but a few made it past the Clan cats. Four EarthClan warriors were guarding the corner of camp with the medicine den and nursery, each battling a rogue of their own. Many wounded EarthClan cats were huddled together in that corner. Some of their pelts were matted with blood. Others had fur stained with poultices. Cherryfoot and Finchpetal were darting from cat to cat with herbs in their jaws.

Dawnstar sped up against Sableheart's protests and led him into the safety of the corner. As soon as they made it past the rogues Sableheart collapsed beside Amberstrike, who was bleeding from a deep cut on her flank.

Cherryfoot was still licking poultice onto another warrior's wound farther down the line of waiting cats, so Dawnstar settled down between Amberstrike and Sableheart. Sableheart just leaned on his shoulder. Ambershine looked at him dully.

"Dawnstar," she croaked. "I'm not sure we can keep this up."

"I bet we can!" Dawnstar protested. "They're almost defeated!"

"And so are we," she muttered sadly. "Look around, Dawnstar. Look at me." She folded her paws under her chest, wincing as her back legs were forced to move. "I don't want to defy you but if I have to go back out there, I don't know what would happen to me." She flicked her ears. "I'm out."

"Me too," mewed Brindlepelt on her other side. He showed one of his forepaws, which was matted with blood. One of his claws was wrenched out. Thin claw marks ran halfway up his leg, and some were still bleeding. "I couldn't use this paw if I tried. Those cats are tough."

"But Cherryfoot and Finchpetal will heal us," Dawnstar bristled. "Have faith in our medicine cats!"

"I agree with Dawnstar!" Scorchpath growled. His ears and shoulder were coated in yellow sweet-smelling poultice. "Stand by your Clanmates, you mouse-hearts!"

"We can't just throw ourselves back into battle," Amberstrike argued, "not when over half of the Clan is already down for the count! There are only about ten cats out there, for nearly thirty of us!"

"Dawnstar!" Cherryfoot came rushing over with a mouthful of herbs. She looked him up and down. "Get out there, you mouse-brain! We need all the help we can get!"

Dawnstar nodded. He shrugged Sableheart's head off his shoulder and nudged him over to lean on Amberstrike. He raced back into the forest.

There were only a few cats left fighting, but almost all of the were rogues. Five or six warriors lingered around the edge of the clearing, licking their wounds. Only two or three warriors were in a group in the middle, surrounded by twice as many rogues.