Sparks of a Fire

Chapter 40

After Larkstar's hurried and panic-filled yowl had finally died down a bit, nothing happened for what felt like moons. No cat moved nor dared to speak a word, not even the leaders made a sound. And with no hesitation, the elderly MistClan tomcat leaped off the tree branch he was sitting on and bounded out of the clearing, making a quick motion with his tail to signal the rest of his Clan to follow him.

The moment that the small group of MistClan cats had reached the camp entrance, Meadowlight quickly rushed into her den with Flowingstream following close behind her. A few moments later, the cinnamon tabby poked her head out of the den and made a motion with her tail for Cloudsky to be brought inside.

Bluepaw made to follow them inside, but a sharp look from Meadowlight made the young molly stop in her tracks.

"Stay here young one," she mewed in a softer tone. "I can't treat Cloudsky if cats keep disturbing Flowingstream and I when we're trying to work."

"But can I see her when you're done?" Bluepaw asked with a hopeful expression.

The medicine cat sighed and shifted her paws anxiously. "I-I'm not sure how long it will take," she informed the apprentice with a somber look on her face. "But I'll have Flowingstream come and get you when we're done." She said the last part with a wink and a knowing look directed at Bluepaw.

The blue-furred molly sighed and flattened her ears. "I guess I'll go see what Palepaw's up to," she sighed again and turned away, her tail drooping low to the ground as she walked away from the medicine cat's den.

The yellow tabby watched her go for a few more moments before she turned and patted back into the den.

"How's she doing?" the older molly asked, watching anxiously as her apprentice wrapped some cobwebs around Cloudsky's wounds.

Flowingstream quickly finished her task and then turned around to face her mentor. "She's stable for now at least," the cinnamon tabby meowed, her mint-colored eyes slitting as she watched Cloudsky's chest slowly rise and fall.

Meadowlight nodded her head and sat down, curling her paws underneath her yellow-and-white striped tabby tail. "That's good, but we need to keep a close eye on her for a few days." She paused for a few seconds before continuing, "although she appears to be fine aside from a few scratches here and there, we don't know how much damage that fall really caused. And for all we know, she could've sustained an injury that we can't quite see."

Flowingstream still looked anxious and her mentor's words just seemed to make her anxiety grow tenfold. "A-are you saying that she might not make it?" her voice cracked and tears brimmed at the corners of her mint-green eyes. "From what I could tell she has no life-threatening injuries."

The older medicine cat sighed and shifted her paws from left to right. "I didn't say that for sure, I just said that we should keep a close eye on her."

Flowingstream just nodded numbly in response.

"I-I guess you're right, Meadowlight," she mewed in a shaky voice. "All we can do now is wait for StarClan to give us a sign."

•••

it was evening and every cat in the camp was on edge, no doubt wondering what was wrong with the Clan deputy. Meadowlight and Flowingstream had been working tirelessly all day, but nothing they tried seemed to be working.

Cloudsky still hadn't woken up and it was making both of the medicine cats feel very uneasy and a bit on edge. It turned out that she had indeed had had received a miner head injury. But at the time, it hadn't seemed to be that serious of an issue.

But now they had a very serious problem. They needed to find someway to wake Cloudsky up. Meadowlight tried many various methods in a desperate attempt to rouse the black-and-white she-cat from her unconscious state, but nothing she did seemed to be working.

By the time dusk had fallen, Meadowlight had given up. She had tried every single herb that they had in stock, but just like everything else, nothing was working and it was obvious now that the young MistClan deputy had found her place up in the stars with the rest of their warrior ancestors up in StarClan.

After much hushed whispers and frantic discussions, it was eventually decided that Flowingstream would be the one to announce the devastating news to the rest of the Clan. And with a heavy heart and trembling paws, the young medicine cat apprentice gave them the heartbreaking news. "Cloudsky is hunting with StarClan now, her time with us has come to its conclusion."

And with those final words, Bluepaw's entire world was completely shattered. Her eyes stung with tears and her paws were frozen to the spot.

As she stood there, one thought kept echoing over and over in the back of her mind.

Her sister was gone, and she was never coming back.