WITHERING HERBS || A Warriors Fanfiction

|| chapter twenty one

"Owlpaw?"

The voice was soft and almost unbelieving. It came from a tortoiseshell she-cat, whose long fur was smooth. However, her gaze was dull, though it became a bit brighter as she saw him.

"Hazelberry..." Owlpaw managed to choke out, voice raw and hoarse. His paws were sore, painful, and frigid, a combination to make even the strongest leader shiver. His fur was fluffed up, though it was tinged with frost and his head had a lump of snow on it. Gaze dull, he staggered forwards and collapsed in front of her.

"Stonestar!" Hazelberry shouted, picking the apprentice up, and laying him gently on a flat rock. All around them were rocks, some pointy and sharp, and others flatter, though mostly all of them had snow on top, besides the one Owlpaw lay upon.

The dark-brown furred cat groaned, rolling over, hating the feeling of the smooth stone against his back. Soon, through a hazy vision, a plain gray tom teetered over him, his gaze hard as the rock that he was sitting on.

"Owlpaw, Owlpaw, we need you to be strong, okay?" Stonestar meowed fiercely, nudging the tom, to which he heard a small, almost irritated, outburst from Hazelberry, though he couldn't tell what she had said.

The apprentice let out a soft murmur that soundly vaguely like acceptance. He closed his eyes and felt warmness surround him. Opening his eyes, he spotted Sedgestorm and Flintpath sitting next to him, their tails curled slightly around him. As soon as the two realized he was looking at them, they instantly looked away, his mentor's shoulders sagging immediately.

"Now, Owlpaw, Hazelberry wants you to eat something first." Stonestar's voice resounded in his ears again, and as he looked towards his voice, he spotted a mouse. 

Owlpaw shook his head, "No... you.. should have it..."

Stonestar lashed his tail, his gaze glittering. "Eat, Owlpaw. I have..." he stopped, and continued uncertainly, "I have lives left. You have one."

Flattening his ears, the apprentice quickly ate the piece of prey with a few swift bites. 

"Now have these," Hazelberry pushed forwards a pawful of herbs.

He ate those, too.

Stonestar stepped forwards, "Now, I have a few questions for you... Just answer to the best of your ability... okay?" Owlpaw nodded.

Sedgestorm whispered, "We were so worried about you, Owlpaw..." He didn't turn back to face his apprentice, voice barely audible. Flintpath didn't speak.

A silence lapsed between them, accented with awkwardness and solemnity.

"Where did you go before it started to snow?" asked Stonestar, finally breaking the silence.

"Well... I wanted to hunt for the Cl-Clan... so I went out..." Owlpaw blinked, vision growing slightly clearer after eating the herbs, "I know I should've asked for permission," he added hurriedly, "But I just wanted to come back with the hare I caught."

Stonestar's gaze narrowed. "So you came back to camp after you caught a hare? Where is it?"

Owlpaw cleared his throat, shaking his head, "I..."

Flintpath's voice suddenly grew louder, though it was soft and scared. "Where is Heronleap..?"

"He's dead..." Instantly, silence filled the space between them as if they didn't believe him. The apprentice knew he couldn't skimp over what had actually happened. Gaze dropping, he continued, "I'm so sorry, I should've tried harder to save him... I dug down into the fallen nur-nursery where I heard cries and I tried to save him but he... he said he wanted to be with his family. And then he said that we were family too but it just wasn't the same... He said... He said he was sorry..."

Flintpath let out a small, broken wail.

"I'm so sorry..." Owlpaw whispered, and watched as Hazelberry turned away, neck fur beginning to rise. Sedgestorm sunk to the ground, green gaze dark and grief-stricken. Stonestar simply looked at the ground, eyes shadowed.

"And I buried the hare with him." 

All around him swarmed grief and guilt. Everyone looked unhappy as ever; gazes dark, ears flattened, tails bushed. It still snowed, though the sky seemed to turn darker, releasing more snow upon the cold world beneath it. Owlpaw couldn't have been more upset if he tried.

I should've tried harder, I should've tried harder! Owlpaw shouted furiously at himself, claws unsheathing and scraping against the smooth, flat rock. He flinched at the horrific noise it made and instantly retracted his claws.

"We need to go from here." Stonestar murmured, "It's not safe."

Hazelberry sighed, clearly irritated, though the she-cat did not speak or voice her opinion, which surprised Owlpaw.

"We all should rest..." Owlpaw murmured, to which everyone seemed to collectively nod.

"I'm not tired, though," Hazelberry interjected, blinking.

"I am," snapped Owlpaw. His voice wavered slightly as he spoke to the she-cat.

Hazelberry lashed her tail. "Then you can sleep and the rest of us can come up with an idea of what to do."

"But that's not fair. I'm part of this Clan, too, and my opinions matter."

Hazelberry laid her tail on his shoulders and he flinched away, though she didn't remove her tail.

"We know you're a part of the Clan. We're not denying you a place in our Clan, or denying yo your opinion. Just... let us deal with it, Owlpaw. We'll make sure you're safe." She meowed smoothly, her voice dripping with honey-covered venom that the apprentice instantly detected.

Owlpaw growled, thinking, I didn't doubt you'd make sure I'm safe.

"That's... not really fair." Sedgestorm agreed. "Owlpaw is right... He is a vital part of our Clan. For all we know, he's the future of whatever we have left after the sickness."

Flintpath had been silent for a long time, letting out lonesome whimpers every now and then, though now he raised his head and spoke in a quiet tone of voice;

"I agree. It's not fair at all. He just... he literally just watched Heronleap die."

A long silence stretched between them and Owlpaw's vision blurred. Uncomfortably, he shifted his position, shoulders sagging.

"See?" Hazelberry cooed sweetly, nudging him to lay down, "He's tired. Let him sleep." 

Owlpaw laid down reluctantly, eyes already closing as he felt exhaustion envelop him. It swirled in the very depths of his being, settling inside of him and almost forcing him to sleep.

He heard pawsteps, and then voices, faint and quiet, though they were definitely talking about him. He could tell from the sharp, accented way Stonestar's familiar tone spoke about him, Hazelberry's flat remarks and cooing replies, Sedgestorm's reasoning voice, and Flintpath's agreeable, though insistent points.

The apprentice fell asleep on the cold, hard, uncomfortable, flat, slate-colored rock.