WITHERING HERBS || A Warriors Fanfiction

|| chapter seven

Beechstrike, a creamy, broad-shouldered tom, crept slowly through the undergrowth, his tail flicking as he scented the air. He caught a whiff of who he was looking for.

He sprung out. "Juniperstar, this is all wrong!"

The leader - Juniperstar - whipped around. She murmured "I know it is..." and then shook herself. "Come, Beechstrike. I have something to show you."

The she-cat quickly disappeared into the bracken, her fur getting scraped by the thorns. The warrior wove after her, swerving to avoid trees. He got stuck in a bramble, but pulled away, his broad shoulders making it difficult to get through. In front of him, he watched Juniperstar come into a clearing. He burst into it, shaking out his fur. In the clearing were three other cats.

"Pigeonear, Icespeckle, Coaldawn," Juniperstar greeted the three cats and one of them looked at her sharply. It was a smoky dark tom.

He hissed, "Why is Beechstrike here? I told you to come alone!"

A gray-and-white splotched she-cat nudged Coaldawn. "Chill out,"

"Yeah," an icy white she-cat added - probably Icespeckle. "But why is he here? This is classified information," she pointed out, sitting down primly and curling her tail over her dark gray paws.

Juniperstar was unfazed by the hostility. "Beechstrike, like myself, is curious about what will occur next." She told them simply, motioning for the creamy tom to sit, and he nodded at the leader's words.

"So," Pigeonear began, "What Meadowdapple and Heronleap have done has messed everything up. Maplekit and Ashkit, however, are not to blame. Their parent's actions have cost them, and that's why Meadowdapple is not with her Clanmates. It was hard to take MudClan's last female warrior, but we cannot let actions like that pass without a punishment."

Icespeckle glanced curiously at Pigeonear. "But what about the other-!" Coaldawn had swished his dark tail swiftly over the she-cat's muzzle, cutting her off.

"I will take that up," Coaldawn glared at Icespeckle, and leaned over to her. He whispered something in her ear, and the icy white she-cat nodded. Coaldawn now spoke to the group, "The two kits that Hazelberry are taking care of are not in good condition. We can only do so much to make sure they get the milk they need - from Hazelberry - and a medicine cat is not really... well... supposed to feed kits. They're not meant for it. Hazelberry can have herbs that help with that, but since we are almost into leaf-bare, there's not much herbs can do."

Icespeckle quickly cut in. "The kits are in the way of the other thing," she glanced daggers at Coaldawn, "And there's only one thing that can help with that."

Juniperstar nodded. "This news will be taken to Doestar and the others. Come, Beechstrike."

In a second, the two had disappeared into the bushes.

^~^~^~^

Owlpaw woke up, and he shivered. A cold drift had entered the apprentice's den, and he knew that leaf-bare couldn't be too far off.

That meant the kits would be in danger of freezing. And that also meant that prey would be slowly disappearing, and it would start snowing again. The white crystals that fell from the sky also made sure that prey would be deep in their burrows.

The apprentice got up, shaking out his fur and exiting the den. Above his head was a leaf-bare sky; pale gray, no clouds, and endlessly stretching out. The dark brown tom noticed the almost-full moon fading away in the sky. Its friends - the stars - had already left and were waiting for the moon to hurry up.

His Clanmates had already gotten up, he observed. There was three pieces of prey in the pile, two of which looked freshly, and cleanly, caught. He guessed that Sedgestorm, maybe Flintpath, had gone out and decided to hunt. He looked around the camp, hoping to snag a piece of prey and share it with someone.

However, the only cats in the camp were Hazelberry, who he knew was in the medicine cat's den, Stonestar, who was probably hidden away in his den, and Heronleap, who was likely making sure his kits were okay. He suspected that Sedgestorm and Flintpath had gone out together to hunt and mark borders and possibly do some hunting as well.

With a growl of irritation, Owlpaw headed over to the fresh-kill pile and snatched a moorhen. He wondered where it came from, since the waterbirds preferred to be around marshy areas. He guessed it was caught near PetalClan. He padded over to the warriors den, and he scented the air, a whiff of Heronleap's smell drifting to him.

The apprentice entered, dropping the moorhen, and meowing, "Hi, Heronleap. I thought we could share this," he offered.

"Sure," The tom looked up, licking his chest fur self-consciously, and he took a bite of the bird, licking his jaws. He took another and pushed the piece of prey to Owlpaw. "You finish it," he offered, curling up and laying his head on his paws.

Shrugging, the apprentice dragged the moorhen out of the den, releasing his grip on the prey a little. He sat down near the apprentice's den, easily devouring the moorhen. Licking his jaws, he felt like he needed to go do something. He preferred to help his Clan over lazing around all day, and then he wondered how elders felt. Then, he remembered; there was no elders anymore.

Sighing, he got up and spotted his mentor at the entrance to the camp. Sedgestorm flicked his tail as Flintpath followed him, dragging a piece of prey.

"Fighting training." Sedgestorm asserted. Have you eaten yet?"

The apprentice nodded, padding over to his mentor. The flavors of the prey lingered monetarily in his mouth at the mention of delicious food.

"Race you?" Sedgestorm queried, whiskers flicking.

"You're on!" Owlpaw exclaimed.

The two raced out of camp. The grasses behind them whipped around, and dust threw up in storms behind them.