WITHERING HERBS || A Warriors Fanfiction

|| chapter eighteen

The sun rested neatly on the horizon, its pale, leaf-bare light shedding over the rocky plains. It smiled at the cold winds that ran around the plains.

Owlpaw's fur prickled as the chilly breeze passed by him. He fluffed up his brown fur, hoping to keep himself warmer. His warm, golden gaze was bright, despite how his frigid paws dragged along the snow-covered ground. Luckily, the snow was not heavy; it was a light covering, though it still chilled the apprentice's paws.

His gaze traveling around, he realized how anxious he was to get back to camp. Hopefully, nobody would be too upset with him. He doubted they'd be upset as soon as they realized why he was gone. Exhaustion dragging at his paws, he shivered, letting the chill spread through him, too tired to silence the feeling. 

Spotting the camp's walls, excitement fizzled inside of him. After all this time away from camp, he'd finally be able to curl up in his nest and fall asleep to the quiet, faint snoring of his Clanmates and the cold, chilly wind that swirled around the camp.

I should plan this out first. He thought and spotted the entrance to the camp.

Before he could even start to plan, he entered the camp, his gaze switching around. Nobody seemed to be awake. 

Who should I tell first? He wondered.

Deciding to tell Hazelberry, the apprentice headed into the medicine cat's den. He peeked his head in.

"Hazelberry?"

A pause filled his ears, and then heard a shuffling deep inside of the den.

"Owlpaw! Where were you?" 

In moments, the medicine cat was standing in front of him. Her ears were flattened against her tortoiseshell head, her eyes narrowed, critically observing the apprentice's exhausted state.

"Are you... okay? Here..." she mumbled, stepping aside and leading him into the den. She offered him some herbs, but he shook his head, the memory of the strange, talking herb too fresh in his mind.

The she-cat pushed the herbs closer to him, "Please, I think it'll help you."

"Please, no," he refused, "I'm sorry... just not... right now."

She sighed, looking away. Taking the herbs and disappearing into the den, she returned and surveyed him once again. 

"What happened?"

He took a deep breath and explained everything. How he'd smelled sickness on the nests, the strange, speaking herb, going to the Moonpool, meeting up with the other Clan cats, and then the whole dream he had. She didn't interrupt him once, listening intently to every word he said. Finally, he finished explaining, and she looked as if she was deep in thought.

"Do you know what kind of herb it was?" Hazelberry asked, "If we already have the herb that cures the sickness, I bet the herb that spoke to you was the herb that is the cure."

Owlpaw's eyes widened. Of course!

"No, I don't know what it was..." 

She frowned, "Can you describe it for me?"

Trying to recall the looks of the herb, he meowed, "It had little pine-like shoots growing out of it... I don't really remember, I'm sorry..."

"It's alright," responded Hazelberry in a quiet, gentle tone. A long silence stretched between the two, filling Owlpaw with a sense of dread.

She doesn't know what to think about it... What are we going to do if the medicine cat doesn't even know what to do?

Stop overreacting, Owlpaw. We can just tell Stonestar and see what he thinks.

"Should we go tell Stonestar?" Owlpaw asked, and the tortoiseshell nodded. She brushed past him, leaving the den, and the apprentice quickly followed. They headed for the leader's den, and Hazelberry peeked her head in first, mewing something to Stonestar. 

The medicine cat disappeared into the den, and the apprentice uncertainly followed. He sat down to the right of the entrance, glancing around at the den before meeting Stonestar's gaze.

"Where were you last night, Owlpaw?" Stonestar queried, his gaze flicking from cat to cat.

"Well... that's kind of what we were going to talk about." Hazelberry glanced at the apprentice.

A short silence stretched between the three cats.

Stonestar nudged him, "Go on."

Owlpaw took in a deep breath and explained everything again, from the herb to the Moonpool, and the strange words the StarClan cats had said over and over again. Stonestar nodded slowly, and Hazelberry added the small discussion that they'd had, which was only about the herb.

"I think what Hazelberry said about that herb being the cure is correct. But there's no way to tell if it's the right herb or not, so we can't just go around using all the herbs," reasoned Stonestar.

Hazelberry interjected, "Actually, I think that's what we need to do."

Stonestar tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

The she-cat glanced at Owlpaw and then began explaining her idea.

"I think we should start with a certain herb from my den. Obviously, it cannot be poisonous, there's no way a poisonous herb would cure a sickness. We'll use the herb on a cat, no matter if they're sick or not - it should heal them... I know almost every cat has a touch of the sickness. There's no possible way anybody has absolutely no touch of the sickness. 

"When we determine if that herb worked or not, we move onto a different herb and choose a different cat. We'll continue until we find an herb in my den that works. If we don't find one... then... well, we misunderstood it."

Stonestar studied the ground, his gaze dark and thoughtful.

Well, I guess that would work... Owlpaw thought.

"I suppose that would work," the apprentice mewed.

Stonestar flicked his whiskers, "Should we call a meeting with the other Clans? Maybe they should test it too, and we can meet up every two sunrises. We'll all pick some herbs that we want to try, so we don't retry herbs."

Hazelberry frowned.

"But wouldn't it be better if we were credited with the cure rather than all Clans?"