Bloodflower

Chapter 39

"Only one more to go. Hold still." Dawnpaw gently parted Ebonypelt's dark fur until she could clearly see the rather large claw wound on her shoulder. The senior warrior was one of many cats she had treated today. After all, some wounds needed lots of time to properly heal; and even several sunrises after the battle against the rogues, many warriors still needed to have their injuries checked over again to make sure all was well.

Bending down to get closer to the wound, she spat the marigold pulp she had been chewing onto Ebonypelt's wound, wincing inwardly at the herb's bitter taste. She began licking at the pulp, spreading it thoroughly until it coated the entire scratch. Since it wasn't bleeding at all, she sat back on her haunches, satisfied with her work.

"All right, you're all done. Just take it easy for the rest of the day so the pulp doesn't get scraped off, and so the scratch doesn't start to bleed again."

"Okay," Ebonypelt mewed. "I've been on plenty of patrols today, anyways. I'm worn out!" She twisted to sniff the scratch Dawnpaw had just treated. "It's not even hurting anymore. Thanks, you're doing a great job!"

Dawnpaw purred, proud that a senior warrior had complimented her. In fact, it seemed that every warrior was beginning to respect her even more. Grayleaf had decided to give her the responsibility of checking over every cat that had been injured in the battle while she did the other medicine cat duties. Dawnpaw had assumed it was some kind of test of her knowledge and skills—although she didn't know for sure why her mentor wanted to test her like this.

Even so, she had gladly accepted the responsibility, pleased at being able to show the whole Clan that she was a good medicine cat. And the Clan was definitely starting to take notice!

Now, as Ebonypelt exited the den, Grayleaf brushed past her to enter.

"How's Brokenstem?" Dawnpaw prompted her mentor.

"Not great, but he's better," Grayleaf answered. "It seems the cold has been affecting his joints more than any other cat in the Clan. Hopefully that comfrey I lined his nest with will help a little."

"Well, he doesn't leave the elders' den much these days. He shouldn't be getting as cold as he is—do you think it's the moss?" The younger warriors like Shadowpool and Robinfeather had been tasked with collecting moss for nests and occasionally doing the elders' ticks, until Rainfoot's kits were apprenticed. It was possible some of them hadn't been paying attention, and brought back wet moss by accident. Sleeping on wet moss was an easy way for an elder to start having achy joints, especially in leaf-bare.

If that's the case, I'm sure it wasn't Rosethorn. She might be an impulsive furball, but she'd make sure the moss she collects is good.

"No, it's not the moss," Grayleaf responded. "I checked for that when I lined his nest with the comfrey, and it was dry. Perhaps the den itself needs to be reinforced. It's been a while since the walls have been patched up."

"We should have some warriors check for any damage and fix what they find. The less holes in the den walls, the warmer it is inside."

"Yes, they can do it while we're gone at the half-moon meeting."

Dawnpaw gasped. "Wait, that's tonight? I hadn't even realized!"

Grayleaf chuckled. "Perhaps you lost track of time with all your work. But yes, it's tonight. And it's also about time we got going; the sun's starting to set."

"I'm ready to go," Dawnpaw meowed, suddenly feeling much more energized from her excitement. "I talked to Icepaw a lot at the last Gathering—Leafstripe's new apprentice, remember? She seemed shy, but she was nice and seemed really excited about being a medicine cat. I can't wait to see her again."