WITHERING HERBS || A Warriors Fanfiction

|| chapter thirty four

Spotting Robinstar's mottled gray pelt, he dashed after her and he was surprised to discover that she was heading to SquirrelClan. Their territory was mostly destroyed by the storm.

"Maybe we can stop and do some hunting on the way back," Robinstar mewed as Owlpaw finally caught up.

The apprentice shrugged, instinctively scenting the air. He caught the ever-present smell of cat, tinged with blood, followed by prey.

"We should leave it to Flintpath and Duckfrost for now," Owlpaw replied, "They'll probably be checking all of the territories for prey, or going to one of them to completely root out all of the prey there first." Robinstar flicked her whiskers, nodding a little.

Eventually, they reached SquirrelClan's forest. Some trees stretched far into the late afternoon sky, though others splintered at the middle and had fallen.

Those won't have any moss, Owlpaw thought with a frown. He approached one of the trees and was surprised to find moss growing at the base of the tree. Scraping some off and rolling it into a small pile, he traveled around, gathering up a decent amount of soft, dry, springy moss.

He decided to get some grasses and branches, too, so he picked up some sticks that weren't sharp or pointy and found some grass that wasn't scratchy. He bundled it with the rest of the moss and glanced around. If he could catch something here, they'd return with materials and prey.

Scenting the air, the tom marked the tree next to him and quietly dropped the bundle. He crept around, only catching scents of long-dead mice or voles. Finally, he spotted a squirrel that was trapped beneath a tree.

The apprentice carefully hooked his claws around the squirrel and pulled out. To his surprise, the squirrel squealed loudly and broke free.

Clamping his paw down on the creature, he killed it with a swift bite to its neck.

Deciding to go back, Owlpaw swerved quickly through the splintering trees and shrubs, smelling the air. Catching his own scent, he traced back to his bundle and took it in his jaws. Shifting the bundle in his mouth slightly, he caught Robinstar's strong, powerful smell. 

Navigating his way through the broken trees, splinters, and tangled undergrowth, he leaped expertly over tree after tree, careful to not lose the leader's scent.

Owlpaw finally met up with Robinstar, who was carrying a bundle similar to Owlpaw's and a small mouse. She praised him on his catch, and they began to head back to camp.

The apprentice's golden gaze flitted off his paws to see the new camp. Around the Gathering island was a rolling hill that dipped sharply down. It rose back up to create a hill for the camp to be on. The walls of the camp were made of brambles and thorns with grass woven in the spots that the brambles couldn't cover.

"The camp wall has been done already," Owlpaw told her as if she couldn't see it.

She nodded, almost proudly, "I know. I knew my Clanmates were going to do it for us. We'll use this for nests instead."

He stopped as Robinstar swerved ahead of him and leaped over the crevice. The apprentice followed with a quick jump, tail lashing to keep him balanced. They entered the camp.

The apprentice gazed around. He could already see outlines of the dens. Warriors would sleep closest to the camp entrance, apprentices on the opposing side... The tree was the medicine cat's den, he could tell. There was a small hole at the base of the tree.

Robinstar had padded off towards a small pile of rocks. Owlpaw dashed after her and realized that she was placing her catches in the pile. He put a little bit of moss underneath the rocks and gently laid the squirrel on top of the rocks. Robinstar placed her mouse there, too.

Then, she passed to the nursery. It was close to being completed. It was a collection of thickly woven branches and grasses that dipped slightly into the ground. The she-cat squeezed past the entrance and walked into the den, followed by Owlpaw.

"Should we make nests?" Owlpaw asked, "I mean... It probably won't be used for a little bit."

Robinstar seemed to consider this before shrugging, "It won't do any harm to lay down a little bit of moss and reinforce the den."

Owlpaw patted down a little bit of moss, settling down in it as he wove branches and grasses into the wall. His paws worked effortlessly to work in small tufts of grass into the already-thick wall. After a while, he backed away and out of the den, carrying a smaller bundle of moss and sticks.

All of the cats who were making dens were making good progress. The warrior's den was almost completed and Owlpaw could see shadowy shapes flitting from inside medicine cat's den. He breathed in the crisp, fresh air of late leaf-bare and breathed out.

Is it really that easy? He thought, I mean... it wasn't too much of a big deal to begin with. But everyone is acting like the sickness never even happened. We can't forget what we lost and we can't just pretend it never happened either.

The apprentice spotted Shrewfoot weaving out of the medicine cat's den and giving a small bundle of herbs to Mossheart. The warrior gratefully thanked the medicine cat before lapping up the herbs. Assuming that he was treating the warrior for the sickness, Owlpaw's eyes widened a little.

So they've definitely not forgotten. But... Robinstar seemed to want to move on so fast... she just quickly set everything up and zoomed by everything that had happened. She barely even gave a real speech. I wonder if StarClan has spoken to her about how she should deal with us.

Stop, Owlpaw told himself sternly, This is not your duty to stand around, chattering to yourself like a group of starlings, neither is it your job to wonder about StarClan and how Robinstar is leading her new Clan. You are an apprentice. Act like one, not a gossiping elder.

With a dissatisfied twitch of his whiskers, he picked up his bundle and padded to his own den. It was opposing the warrior's den, which was closest to the camp entrance. There was some claw marks on the ground and a terribly drawn circle in the dirt, but besides that, nothing was there. With a frown, he picked out the biggest branch he had and laid it down. Grabbing the next biggest, he propped it up against the other one.

Leaning a few more branches up like this, he patted some leaves and moss between the cracks of the roof and then carefully crept into the den. Using his claws, he scraped away at the dirt, hollowing the den out. Making small dips in the ground against the edges of the den, he patted some moss and grass into one of the nests that looked comfortable.

This is my new nest. In RoseClan.

Padding out of the den, he gently laid down the bundle and gazed around camp again. His eyes swept the camp, but all he could see was working cats, weaving between and around dens.

Next to the warrior's den was a den which Owlpaw guessed was the elder's den. It looked like a half-complete bush; the branches were sticking out everywhere and there were clumps of awkwardly placed leaves. Heather was woven between some of the branches and leaves for better protection. There was a small swath of heather next to the den.

Glancing to the opposing side, he spotted the essentially complete nursery. It was a small bush-like structure, but the apprentice could see it dipped into the ground. Next to the nursery was the fresh-kill pile, where his squirrel laid proudly next to Robinstar's mouse. The medicine cat's den was not that close to being done, which was opposing the camp's entrance.

The leader's den was to the right of the medicine cat's den. It had no scratch marks in the dirt that sketched out what it should look like except a small circle and a little creature that was supposed to look like a robin, Owlpaw assumed. With a sudden realization, he knew Robinstar was a fit leader for RoseClan - and that he'd originally made the wrong choice.

She put her Clan's dens before her own.