Venom Within - WARRIOR CATS

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A long time passed before I woke up again.

I wasn't entirely sure how I knew, but my mind seemed to think sometimes, even though my body didn't.

They were always distorted thoughts. I did a lot of thinking about Burrowpaw, wondering if he was with me. As I pondered over his words to me, the less they made sense, and yet the more important they felt to me. I heard voices too, whispers which hissed in my ears like snakes. Venom... SnakeClan...Prophecy...Destruction...

There came a day, and I wasn't entirely sure what day it was, when I finally felt a pull to wake up. There was a gentle paw, running across my spine. I pictured that it was Burrowpaw's, and that was what gave me the strength to open my eyes.

"She's awake? You're awake!"

Not Burrowpaw then, I thought, the dull ache in my body also reaching my head. Guess he had to recover from that snake bite too. I hope his wasn't as bad...

Something felt wrong, though, even when I turned to see the bright green-blue eyes of Emeraldpaw, the cheerful medicine apprentice. She was sniffing at my forepaw, which was wrapped in a thick gauze of poultices.

"Yeahh," I mumbled, voice slurred. "Immawake."

"StarClan, she really is..." I tilted my head slightly in my nest to see a black and white tom gazing down at me. "Thought the snake bite would've killed her," he whispered, so quiet perhaps he didn't think I heard him. "Maybe it helps that she's Stormang's..."

The name which I had heard Burrowpaw utter moments before he passed out suddenly struck me. I winced. Until that moment, part of me had hoped that it had all been some sort of weird dream, like Burrowpaw had mistakenly fed me a dream-cursing mouse.

Nahh... He would so do that just for fun...

I felt like laughing, and jumping up and down. Evidently something was very off. I turned to Emeraldpaw as she licked the ruffled fur along my spine.

"You're okay," she assured. "And awake! I'll have to tell your kin! You know, Nightsight wasn't sure if he should let your kin see you this past half moon, something about venom and contamination. But you look...fine!"

She smiled at me, and hopped out of the den, likely to find Foxshadow and Flamekit. I glanced at Nightsight. Now that I'd been awake for a little bit, the smoke was beginning to clear from my mind. In spite of that, my body still throbbed, and felt weird and wrong.

"Where is Burrowpaw?" I asked quietly.

Nightsight didn't look at me from his position across the den from me. He buried his nose in his herbs, and when he finally spoke, his voice seemed quite flat.

"We lost him."

"You...what?"

I was dimly aware of how high-pitched my voice sounded. I struggled to get to my paws, to face the senior medicine cat. My muscles were weak, and sharp pricks of pain flashed across my forepaw, but I still managed to struggle into a standing position.

"He just... wasn't found," Nightsight responded vaguely, sticking his nose further into his herbs. "You know, lost."

"Did you search for him?" I found my voice rising. "The snake hurt him too! He needs herbs." I claws feebly at the ones on my foreleg. "Take these off of me, and give them to him. He needs help, please." Nightsight had grown very still. "What sort of medicine cat doesn't help a wounded clanmate?!"

"I saved your life," Nightshade whispered, so soft I could hardly hear him. "And yet you rebuke me, Rustkit. Do you think me irrational? Or did no cat ever tell you the tragic story of how your SnakeClan father murdered my mentor!?"