Warriors: The Fading Light ~Series 1 Book 5~

Chapter 4

Nutwhisker's POV:

"Stormflame, you carried the kit correct?" Nutwhisker demanded, his voice harsh.

"Yeah.." Stormflame's tail twitched nervously.

"Go to the river and wash all your fur and rinse your mouth thoroughly. Now!" Nutwhisker shook his head worriedly, "Hopefully the kit's germs didn't get into your system..."

Nutwhisker knew it was hopeless, though. Stormflame had had the kit in his mouth, so the Greencough was already inside him. Whether he was strong enough to fight it or not, Nutwhisker was unsure. He just hoped washing off in the river might stop it from spreading.

"Clearlight, go back to the den and sleep. Silverstar you too. I'll care for the kit. Oh and Stormflame must be confined to the nursery until he is clear of any signs of greencough. We don't want this spreading." Nutwhisker ordered and turned back to the kit.

She was already growing sleepy as she had reached over and eaten the poppy seeds without Nutwhisker seeing. Nutwhisker sighed and murmured, "Do you have a name?"

"Wildkit." The kit meowed, her green eyes drooping. "My clan was killed by..." she trailed off and her eyes drooped closed but she opened them again and whispered, "By a fire..." her eyes finally closed and Nutwhisker sat back.

"Poor kit." He mumbled and padded to his hern store to check for catmint and found he only had precious little left. Nutwhisker stared blankly at the herb store before glaring at it angrily.

"Fox-dung!"

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Shadedmoon's POV:

It wasn't even dawn yet and Silverstar called an urgent clan meeting. Shadedmoon stumbled sleepily out of the warriors den and blinked rapidly to try and clear her foggy mind. Luckily, the rain had cleared up and the sky was clear.

Silverstar stood on the Hightree, her silver furr was ruffled and her eyes were worried but she stood boldly on the branch as she addressed the clan. "Cats of Lightclan. Last night during the storm a kit was found on our territory. Her name is Wildkit. Apparently her clan was killed by a fire." The leader took a deep breath, "But the kit has Greencough."

Shocked whispers passed through the clan and Shadedmoon gazed around the clan. She noticed there was someone missing... Stormflame! Where was he?

Silverstar continued, "Stormflame carried the infected kit quite a long way back to camp and so he had been confined to the nursery, the only den with no one living in it, until he either shows signs of Greencough or he fights it off and returns to his duties. Until Stormflame is healthy again, I appoint Clearlight as deputy in his place."

"Clearlight! Clearlight! Clearlight!" The clan cheered the grey tom's name and Clearlight stepped to the roots of the Hightree and stood proudly in front of the gathered cats. His whiskers twitched happily and he flashed Shadedmoon a smile.

Shadedmoon smiled back even though she was unsure why Silverstar chose Clearlight as deputy in place of Stormflame. If, Starclan forbid, Stormflame did die from Greencough then Clearlight would be appointed deputy. Clearlight was nearly an elder! He may have experience but he was also quite old. Lightclan needed a young cat to be deputy. Fluffystream was a good choice, the thick furred tom had both experience and youth.

Her scattered thoughts had distracted her and Shadedmoon looked up to see the meeting had ended and everyone was going back to their normal morning patrols.

Shadedmoon wasn't scheduled to be on her hunting patrol until later at Sunhigh so she decided to check on Stormflame to see how he was doing.

She trotted in the direction of the nusery but was stopped by Nutwhisker coming out. "Don't go in there! You might catch Greencough!"