Wait For It | ▪︎ Tigerclaw

chapter 32

⊰᯽⊱┈──╌❊❊╌──┈⊰᯽⊱

FIREHEART LIFTED HIS head, about to speak, but Cinderpaw beat him to it.

"It's my fault, Tigerclaw." She stared boldly up at the great tabby main coon. "We were hunting on the frozen stream by the training hollow, on the bend by the deep pool. Even that was a bit frozen. I slipped and both Graystripe and Whiterose came to help me, but the ice wasn't thick enough for them and it cracked, and they fell into the water." Tigerclaw looked into her clear, bright eyes as she added. "It's really deep there, Fireheart had to pull Graystripe out, but Whiterose managed to swim."

Tigerclaw nodded and relaxed his muscles before looking at both drenched warriors. "You'd better get yourself to Yellowfang and Redstream before you freeze to death." The ThunderClan deputy padded over to Whiterose's side and nudged her small form gently to the medicine den. Graystripe followed slowly behind them.

"You shouldn't have fell into that stream," Tigerclaw huffed as she sneezed. "You're catching a chill now."

"D-don't worry," Whiterose mewed. "I'll be fine."

Tigerclaw let her go alone in the entrance of the medicine den before stalking away. She led Graystripe inside where she found Yellowfang and Redstream sorting herbs inside.

"Oh, what happened?" Redstream bounded up to them with concerned green eyes. "You're all wet and half-frozen!"

"We fell into the stream," Whiterose mewed, sitting down on her hunches. Redstream lay beside her and began brushing her tongue along the frozen bits of her white fur. "You need to be more careful."

Yellowfang grumbled as she groomed Graystripe. Once they were done with getting rid of all the frost, Redstream stretched and spoke, "You both have the chill, you need to stay in camp from now on until you get better."

The medicine cat gave them both some feverfew and lavender. Whiterose sniffled as she stood and both she and Graystripe left the medicine den and padded toward Fireheart and Midnightpaw, who lay beside a nettle clump nearby eating some fresh kill.

Graystripe sneezed and the ginger tom looked up, "How are you both?" he asked as they arrived.

Whiterose lay against her brother while Graystripe sat down heavily and coughed.

"I've saved you both some food," Fireheart meowed, pushing a plump thrush toward Graystripe and a vole toward his sister.

"Redstream says we have to stay in camp. She says we have a chill," Graystripe meowed thickly.

"I'm not surprised." Midnightpaw meowed. "What did she dose you with?"

"Feverfew and lavender," Whiterose nibbled at her vole. "This'll be enough for me," she mewed. "I'm not very hungry."

"Same here," Graystripe meowed and stared down at his thrush.

"Are you sure?" Fireheart asked. "There's plenty here."

"What?" Graystripe turned his faraway gaze on Fireheart. "Uh, yeah," he meowed.

Whiterose pushed away her vole and laid her chin on her paws, closing her eyes. A little rest should be fine...

Whiterose woke up to a paw prodding her side gently. She opened her eyes and looked up to see the familiar tall, muscular form of Tigerclaw, his amber eyes glowing slightly in the night air.

"What are you doing out here?" he huffed. "You should be in the warriors den sleeping."

Whiterose looked around to see that Fireheart and Graystripe were gone, her vole half eaten and nobody in the clearing of camp. "Oh," she mewed, feeling anxious. "I... I fell asleep..." she then sneezed.

Tigerclaw sighed and nudged her to her paws. "I don't want you catching greencough. Come on."

Whiterose let out a cough and followed the great warrior into the den and he led her to his nest. She stammered and padded over to her nest, but the deputy stopped her with his tail. "Stay with me," he murmured, and she hesitated before laying silently beside him in his nest. She dug her nose into his thick mane of fur, and he wrapped his tail around her to keep her warm.

They both closed their eyes and drifted into slumber with their dozing clanmates around them.

A few days later, Whiterose woke to find the first fog of leaf-bare filling the den. When she crept outside, she could barely see the other side of the clearing. She stretched and prepared to pad out into the cold air, but a body stopped her.

"Get back inside the den," Tigerclaw commanded with soft amber eyes. "I don't want your chill to get any worse."

She purred and licked his shoulder, "I'll be fine."

He narrowed his eyes to warn her and she sighed, her tail drooping. "Okay," she mewed and turned her tail to enter the den. Tigerclaw followed her inside with great strides and watched as she spread out in her nest.

"You can come out if the sun manages to warm the camp a bit," he meowed. "But until that coughing, and sneezing gets better, you'll stay right here where its warm."

"But I need to train Shinypaw."

Tigerclaw gave her another warning look, "I'll take her out for training later. Get some rest."

Whiterose nodded obediently, relieved for Shinypaw, and Tigerclaw buried his nose in her cheek before leaving the den. Whiterose laid about for a bit and played with a bit of moss lazily since she couldn't sleep.

That's when Graystripe came inside with a yawn, which quickly turned into a cough. Whiterose didn't know what to say to the warrior who curled up in his nest nearby, so she just looked away and sighed.

Soon, the sun came out again and Whiterose dashed outside into the cold air. Cats who had heard Tigerclaw and Whiterose's conversation purred in amusement as she raced out restlessly into the open sun.

"Whiterose!" Midnightpaw raced over with a squirrel in her jaws. "I got some fresh kill for you."

"Thank you," Whiterose sat down and began eating the fresh kill as Mousefur called Midnightpaw to her for some battle training.

Whiterose licked her lips gratefully after she finished her meal and sniffled through her blocked nose. She hated being sick. She remembered how she caught the chill as a kit because her mother left her outside to freeze one night. Fireheart and Princess both came out when their mother was asleep and joined her to warm each other of course, but it was still cold. Whiterose shook off the memories. She no longer belonged to the Twolegplace where her mother lived, she was safe within the Clans. With Tigerclaw, Fireheart, Graystripe, Midnightpaw, Redstream and all her other Clanmates.

"You seem to be getting better," Yellowfang meowed gruffly as she came over with feverfew and some lavender. "You'll be able to leave your den all day, soon."

"Oh, good," Whiterose purred. "I hate to be stuck inside all day."

Whiterose used the herbs and Yellowfang walked away back to her den. The day went on slowly and the sun began to sink back into the forest. She heard that Fireheart and Tigerclaw took the apprentices on hunting assessments today. Graystripe was asleep, Mousefur and Midnightpaw were out training, Redstream was busy and the rest of her Clanmates on patrol. So she was alone today.

Whiterose stretched in the sun and sank in its warmth while it lasted.