Dawnstar's Message

Chapter 42

CHAPTER 42: THE FINAL BATTLE

Dawnstar felt cool wind brush past his whiskers as a cat rushed by. The air was cool and fresh. It must have rained last night. He opened his eyes and squinted against the sunlight. Cherryfoot was crouched over piles of herbs. Her fur was on end. "What is it, Cherryfoot?" he asked.

Cherryfoot blinked at him. Her green eyes were dull with stress. "We're out of chervil!" She threw a clump of wilting leaves into the air. "And cobweb!" she exclaimed in disbelief. Leafpaw stuck his head into the medicine den. "Leafpaw! Could you and Creamflight fetch some cobwebs and moss? As much as you can carry!"

"Okay." Leafpaw headed towards the warrior's den.

Cherryfoot looked back at Dawnstar. "Your tail is healing up nicely, I see."

Dawnstar gingerly twitched his battered tail, whose wounds lasted into his next life. "It doesn't sting as much as I thought it would."

"Are you well enough for the battle?" Cherryfoot asked hopefully.

He stiffened. "I should hope so," he said briskly. He stretched his legs, yawned, and staggered to his paws. He shifted from paw to paw, testing how his battered legs could hold his weight. "I'm fine," he insisted. "Battle-ready." She rolled her eyes.

Dawnstar followed her out of the cave. The greenleaf sunlight warmed his brown tabby fur. Dew clung to the tips of the grass that grew on the edges of the rock walls. Water droplets speckled the ivy leaves that climbed the sides of the stone hollow, making the leaves shine in the sunlight.

"Dawnstar!" Smokeyes called from across the clearing. He was weaving brambles into the ivy that covered the nursery with Sableheart and Springpaw. "Glad to see you're okay!"

"Thank you," he called back. He looked around the camp. More cats joined Smokeyes reenforcing the camp walls. Thrushfall was teaching defensive moves to the elders. Squirrelcloud and Rosefang were showing simple battle moves to Acornkit and Viperkit. Clovermist was teaching Sundance's kits how to hide in the small cracks in the rock wall. He watched as Wavethorn emerged from the warrior's den and touched noses with Whispershine, and they went through the rock tunnel. Stormpaw and Patchpaw trotted past them with prey dangling from their jaws.

Leafpaw stopped them at the entrance. He held his cobweb-covered paw off the ground. Creamflight emerged from a tunnel in the rock with a bundle of moss in his jaws.

"Excellent!" Cherryfoot cheered. "Go and put it next to the herbs. Gently!" she added. "Creamflight, help him scrape the cobwebs off really slowly. Don't rip it!" He nodded and slipped after the apprentice into the cave.

Cherryfoot led him to the nursery. "Cherryfoot!" Squirrelcloud greeted, touching noses with the medicine cat. The former queens touched noses with the medicine cat. Squirrelcloud blinked when she saw Dawnstar beside her. "Are you doing alright, Dawnstar? Your tail's not too bad, is it?" Her leaf-colored eyes glimmered with worry.

"I'm getting better," he reassured her, putting his patchy tail on her shoulder. She flinched. "How are the kits coming along?"

She nodded. "Viperkit!" she called. The pale tabby tom trotted over to her. "Viperkit, show Dawnstar what I taught you." She got into a battle crouch. "Get ready!" She aimed her paw at the kit's legs. Viperkit jumped just before it hit him and grabbed onto her paw. Squirrelcloud swatted her paw to get him off, but Viperkit dropped onto her shoulders and clung to her scruff. Squirrelcloud tried to buck the kit off, but he swatted at her ears with sheathed claws, and leaped off, landing a few tail-lengths away.

Dawnstar dipped his head. "That was impressive!" He touched noses with the little kit. "You'll make a fine apprentice!" Viperkit's eyes glowed.

He turned to Rosefang and Acornkit. He watched as Acornkit dodged one of Rosefang's blows and slid past her forepaws, coming up behind her. He scrambled up her tail and clung to her back. Rosefang bucked him off, throwing him a few tail-lengths away with a thump. He staggered to his paws with a guilty look at Dawnstar. "We're working on it," he said quietly.