WITHERING HERBS || A Warriors Fanfiction

|| chapter twelve

A tortoiseshell she-cat left the camp, her tail tucked between her legs. Darkness seemed to swallow her up, her gaze concealed and unusually dark. Gloomy shadows surrounded her, the black blanket above her head seemed to cloak the whole world. Silence rushed through the plains, a numbing wind accompanying the silence, talking excitedly to the cold quietness.

In her mouth, she held two unmoving shapes. One fit in perfectly with the dark environment, its pelt black as night. However, the only thing that stuck out was four splotches of white. The other shape was brown, with lighter jagged markings all over it.

They hung limply in the she-cat's mouth. She dashed out into the night, heading to where their mother had been last seen. The shapes jerked left, to right, as she ran farther and farther from the camp.

Soon, she stopped, her eyes now wide and searching around the area she'd stopped at. Then, she lay down the two kits, digging a little hole in the ground each. Freshly dug up earth was nearby it, right where their mother was. The long-furred tortoiseshell placed each kit in their place, their pelts smooth and smelling of lavender.

She gently scraped earth over the kits, and she placed a stem of rosemary on each place where the kits would be. Everything seemed to lighten up at that moment. Her lungs cleared, her eyes became brighter, and she seemed as if she was able to breathe.

As soon as she headed back, everything seemed to crash down on her. Her lungs became stuffy, her eyes clouded, and the weight of everything crushed her. She entered camp and slipped back into her den. Curling up, she squeezed her eyes shut, attempting to fall asleep again. The blanket of darkness covered her, and she fell asleep.

•~•~•~•

Owlpaw woke up to rustling of bushes. The dim sun peeked into his den, trying to claw its way into the shadowed den. The gloomy shadows in the corners shrunk farther and farther away from the pale sunlight. Stretching, the apprentice yawned, licking his jaws. He left the den, his golden gaze searching the camp for the source of the noise.

It didn't seem like there was anyone in camp. Hazelberry was out, he could tell. He could smell her scent of herbs trailing outside of camp, but it was slightly stale like she had gone out in the middle of the night. A scent of lavender and rosemary accompanied her herb smell, and there was another strong smell - milk.

She'd gone out to bury the kits.

Grief - not for himself, for Heronleap - washed over him. In the process of a few days, he'd lost his mate, and his kits, all because of Hazelberry. Then, he wondered if Heronleap blamed her for their deaths. Heronleap could think it was her fault and become her enemy if he wanted to.

Shrugging, half to himself, he noticed that Sedgestorm and Flintpath's scents also had trailed out of camp. He guessed they'd went hunting. Heronleap's smell also had left the camp. Perhaps he'd gone to visit his family.

Then, the memory of PineClan hunting on their territory. Maybe now was the time to tell his leader about it. Yes, definitely. Recalling the day when it happened, he remembered the last story Stonestar had told. Traditionally, the leader would tell stories every now and then, around every three days or so. Lately, he hadn't told any stories. Sure, they'd been busy, but Stonestar always found time to tell a story, somehow.

The stories often related to current things in the Clan. Once, he'd heard that Stonestar had told of a hard leaf-bare in the middle of a very warm new-leaf, when the sickness hadn't cloaked the lives of everyone, in all Clans. The last story had been about him, his past and the present in the sickened world.

Shaking the thoughts off, he padded to the entrance of his leader's den, and he peered in. He didn't see anyone right away, and after more searching in the den with his bright golden eyes, he decided to just ask if he could come in.

"Stonestar? May I come in? It's Owlpaw."

Soft murmurs sounded inside the den, and then a voice spoke clearly.

"Yes. Come in."

Entering the den, he noticed that Hazelberry was sitting near Stonestar, her tail curled over her paws, seemingly flustered and upset.

"Sit," meowed Hazelberry, flicking her tail at a spot in the den. Owlpaw went over and sat down. "What is it?" She queried, her eyes dark and concealed.

"Well, a few days ago, I was hunting near PineClan's border, and I scented a mouse, and some PineClan scent over the border," he began, his golden gaze darting between the two as he spoke, "So, when I went to the border, I scented some faint blood and the mouse smell was just gone. I hung around and Troutfur stepped out of the bushes. I greeted her and we talked briefly before she noticed I was... on edge, and I got her to tell me that she'd hunted over the border."

Hazelberry visibly looked more agitated, and Stonestar's fur was on end.

"And then I took the mouse. She threatened me and said to not tell you because if Robinstar found out, she'd be mad... I'm guessing that Robinstar already knows and Troutfur is just covering up for it."

Stonestar nodded, half to himself. "I'll mention it at the Gathering. Robinstar might be having a prey shortage, but we're normally the first ones to have that problem..." he trailed off.

"Well..." Hazelberry looked up from her paws. "Lilybreeze was a bit skinny last time I saw her, but she normally doesn't eat much prey," she offered.

"This is for Hazelberry and I to discuss," Stonestar cut in. "You're dismissed, Owlpaw. Go get something to eat and share it with someone."

As he left the den, he muttered to himself, "Thanks, Owlpaw. No problem, Stonestar."