ShadowClan has never faced such an awful leaf-bare. But now, cats are starving and falling dead to a new illness. Desperate to survive this all and figure out what is happening, the ShadowClan medicine cat known as Hemlockfoot resorts to eating his...
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The intense pain in his chest was all Hemlockfoot could feel. His entire body felt numb except for the warm sensation of something creeping up his throat. The tom looked down to find blood dripping from his mouth down his throat and chest. Another cough erupted from his lungs, and before he knew it, the tom was on the ground coughing up blood. Chunks of fur and petals up with it. Morningdaisy's fur. Morningdaisy's pansies. The only thing that Hemlockfoot knew didn't belong to her was the blood that he could feel leaking up from his lungs.
He awoke with a start that morning, gasping for air as if he'd emerged from the lake once again. The only thing he could think about was the blood and Morningdaisy. He glanced over at Rainpaw, content to see the younger tom was still asleep. He just wished that camp could stay this peaceful.
The silver-and-white tabby tom got up from his nest and stretched. Peeking out from the den, he could see nobody else was really awake yet. Scorchmask, who was the usual guard for the night, had been replaced with Leopardjump. It was odd not seeing the she-cat sitting in her usual place. Hemlockfoot understood why she needed this break though. After all, it had been StarClan that ripped away her beloved kit.
"Good morning, Leopardjump," Hemlockfoot purred as he approached the tom.
Leopardjump rolled his eyes. "It's so boring at night. I never know what to do."
"Could always just watch everyone else sleep," the medicine cat joked. "Or maybe explore the camp a bit more."
"Ah, yes, wonderful idea! Why didn't I think of that?" the warrior snapped.
Hemlockfoot flinched. He didn't know why he bothered to talk to the tom. Perhaps if he hadn't been born when he was, Crowshade wouldn't have mentored him into being a shorter replica of him.
"I'm just gonna go look for herbs. Have fun sitting around," Hemlockfoot mumbled as he marched off.
The truth was, he knew there weren't any herbs. He knew they were all most likely dead, excluding the few that he and Rainpaw already had enough of.
"Morningdaisy?" he asked, noticing a small little glow coming from up nearby tree.
The starry she-cat leaped down in front of him, starling the medicine cat. Tiny little flecks of light seemed to float around her, and Hemlockfoot could see the snow behind her body.
"You need to stop," she warned him, circling around him like a hungry fish. "You're going to get yourself killed."
"Are you... Mad at me?" Hemlockfoot asked her.
Morningdaisy looked away. "My feelings aren't important right now. What's done is done. You need to go back to camp and stop what you're doing. It will only end badly."
"How am I being bad? I'm trying to survive! Clearly I'm doing better than you ever did!" he snapped.
The StarClan warrior narrowed her eyes. "I am above you now. Listen to me, Hemlockfoot. Your downfall will be so easy to avoid if you'd just stop what you're doing."
Hemlockfoot let out a loud, fake laugh. "Stop what I'm doing? I'm keeping myself from starving!"
Morningdaisy ran her paw over the ground. A small vision began under it, showing ShadowClan camp. Hemlockfoot looked into it. Slowly, the view seemed to spiral down to show a gray cat coughing up its own blood.
The medicine cat froze. "Is that..."
Morningdaisy nodded. "Get back to camp. She can't be saved, but Rainpaw doesn't need to see anyone else die like me."
The tom let out a sigh. He knew what would happen when Petalheart died. He'd just return to camp with the same hunger in his stomach, and if he was unlucky enough to bury the warrior, then he'd end up eating her.
"Why are you sending me back when you know what will happen?" he asked.
The StarClan warrior lashed her tail back and forth. "For once in your miserable life, can you please just follow orders!"
Hemlockfoot flinched. He'd never heard the cat talk like this to anyone. He looked away and nodded quickly before turning around and quickly walking off. Before he could say anything more, Morningdaisy had vanished.
• • • •
They decorated the body with pine needles and unusable herbs. Hemlockfoot had refused to attend the vigil, warning Molestar that it was better to just get Petalheart's body out of camp as soon as possible. The truth was that he didn't actually care about the others getting ill though. At this point, he just wanted to stop himself.
"Stormbristle and the elders are burying her right now," Rainpaw commented as he entered the den.
Hemlockfoot lifted his head, slowly opening his eyes. "Your father is in a lot of pain right now. I would suggest keeping an eye on him."
Petalheart had been Stormbristle's littermate. The two weren't as close as other cats would be, but they still got along. Hemlockfoot would never understand the pain of losing both a kit and a littermate in such a close timespan, but he knew that the warrior would be more than devastated.
"My father is a strong warrior," the apprentice said bitterly. "He'll be fine. He knows he has to be there for Scorchmask."
Hemlockfoot nodded. "How is she doing?"
"All she does is sleep and cry now. I've tried talking to her but she... she said she doesn't want to talk to anyone right now. Especially someone who works with StarClan."
"Can't blame her. Morningdaisy's death hit all of us like a falling tree branch. It will take time to recover from this."
Hemlockfoot rested his head on his paws again and gently tucked his tail around him. Hunger was gnawing at him. At this point it was almost painful.
Just sleep it off. You can't get yourself into trouble if you're asleep, he thought as he felt himself falling into darkness. Just sleep it off.
