Warriors: Distant Echoes

CHAPTER 9

With urgency, Foxpaw and Sleetpaw ran into the medicine den as fast as they could whilst keeping Honeypaw carried between them. They laid her down on an empty bed of moss and Heronfeather, the fluffy blue-grey and white medicine cat, rushed over to the injured apprentice's side.

"What happened?" Heronfeather asked.
"She fell out of a tree...I-I thought it'd be a clever idea to climb the trees to search for prey, because we weren't finding any, a-and she slipped and fell off of a branch..." Foxpaw stuttered.

Heronfeather placed a paw on Honeypaw's side. He began to examine her for any visible injury. He seemed particularly focused on her legs, which Sleetpaw was now realising were at slightly awkward angles.

"It looks like she must've fell awkwardly on her legs," mewed Heronfeather. "I think she'll recover, though. She might permanently be a little weak in her joints, though, depending on how well she responds to treatment. She's definitely going to live this, though. The tree must not have been too tall. It could've been a lot worse if she fell further."
Sleetpaw gave a sigh of relief. "I'm glad she'll be okay. Will the weakness in her joints stop her from becoming a warrior, though?"
"No, no, it won't stop her at all. She'll just have to take things a little easy and not overwork herself." Heronfeather responded softly. "She will still be able to hunt, fight and be a strong warrior as long as she takes care of herself. Hootpaw, can you fetch me some comfrey root?"

Hootpaw, the small, brown medicine cat apprentice, nodded and immediately dashed to the back of the medicine den, scanning through all the neatly sorted herbs and plants until they pulled out some comfrey root and handed it to Heronfeather.
"Thank you, Hootpaw. I'll take it from here. Can you go check on Mantisclaw for me?" Heronfeather smiled.

Hootpaw nodded, walking over to another moss bed in the den that had the familiar black-and-white tom laying in it. Sleetpaw saw Mantisclaw's face for a moment, the side that Bearfang had gashed open now marked by a dried up wound. It was obvious that Mantisclaw's eye wasn't going to heal, though - it was tightly shut and clearly incapable of opening. Hootpaw inspected the warrior's injury before fetching some herbs to place over his wounded face.

Meanwhile, Heronfeather got to work on Honeypaw, applying the poultice to her legs. Honeypaw's eyes slowly opened and she let out a groan, trying to move, but Heronfeather placed a paw on her side.
"Shh, shh, stay still..." the medicine cat whispered.
"Honeypaw!" Foxpaw mewed. "Y-You're okay! I'm so sorry for making you climb the tree, it was a terrible idea and it's all my fault that you're hurt, I'm—"
"Foxpaw, please, it's okay." Honeypaw said softly. "I forgive you. We all make mistakes."
"But nobody makes the mistake of endangering his sister's life!" Foxpaw exclaimed.
"But nobody makes the mistake of not forgiving her brother for an honest mistake, no matter what it was." Honeypaw mewed. "I know you never intended for me to get hurt, Foxpaw. How could I possibly hate you for pain you didn't want to put me through? Please don't beat yourself up over this. I'll be okay. I heard what Heronfeather said before I opened my eyes and he said it'll be okay."
"...J-Just look after yourself, okay?" Foxpaw stuttered. "Make sure you don't overwork yourself. I don't want to see you in any more pain than I've already caused."
"Stop blaming yourself."
"But it is my fault. You can't deny that! Even mistakes can be someone's fault. It's my fault for not thinking about the plan, my fault for making you climb the tree with me..."
"Trying to take the blame isn't going to change anything. What happened already happened, Foxpaw. You can't change that."
"...I know."

The apprentices were silent for a moment until Heronfeather, who had been applying poultice to Honeypaw's legs whilst she was speaking to Foxpaw, mewed "Alright, I've done what I can for now. Honeypaw will have to remain in the medicine den for at least a few days so we can keep giving her medicine and monitor her recovery. You two should get back to the apprentice den."
"We didn't even catch any prey!" Foxpaw exclaimed. "Our mentors are going to be disappointed!"
"You need to rest as much as Honeypaw does." Heronfeather insisted. "Today's been stressful for the two of you, I'm sure. Now head back to the apprentice den. There's always tomorrow to hunt, or the next day, or the day after that. It's not like we have a shortage of food currently - the clan will be fine without an extra mouse or two for today. Now get some rest!"