WITHERING HERBS || A Warriors Fanfiction

|| epilogue

"She was killed by Owlshade when he fed her deathberries," announced the light cream she-cat, tail flicking in excitement. She'd just been named a warrior, and due to the moon-old tradition that she'd been told the legendary Robinstar had implemented, every new warrior told a story of a cat in the times of The Sickness.

"Hazelberry was hated for many moons after," the she-cat concluded, "Though we learned to never act in a way that she would have."

"Swallowfur! Swallowfur!" RoseClan cheered her name, and with a flushed look, the new warrior stepped back, giving her brother room. Swallowfur gave him a playful, loving nudge.

The tom, who was generally a quiet cat, yet still a hard worker, inched forward. His sharp green gaze surveyed the cats who he'd grown up with his whole life and the area he'd lived in for his entire time here in RoseClan... and realized this was the exact same place that cats from The Sickness had lived too.

"My story will be about Owlshade."

This particular warrior had been thinking about his story forever and ever, going over again and again... Who should I choose? After carefully considering his choices - some of which included Sedgestorm, Shrewfoot, Flintpath, Mossheart, and Finchtuft - he eventually brought it down to a specific little bunch of cats.

It had been Owlshade, Yellowspark, or Talondust. He preferred to pick a cat who was perhaps a little underappreciated. Yellowspark had died soon after RoseClan had suffered a drought in Greenleaf and that had forced Robinstar to pick a new deputy. He felt as if she deserved more; she deserved to live past that Greenleaf and see RoseClan blossom even further.

Talondust, in the stories, had always been a background character. A character who worked just as hard as anyone else, though he never got any "special" treatment. Everyone forgot about them after they went to the Moonpool. And Owlshade was the minor character who had an interesting story arc as the next character in the stories they'd been told. He had been an apprentice through the entire sickness, and when he was made a warrior, he settled down to be a hardworking, kind, thoughtful cat.

Of course, the newly named warrior had chosen Owlshade. Not because his mother had chosen Whitepaw, one of Owlshade's dead friends, which also had something else to do with it... Certainly not. He just... liked Owlshade. He couldn't explain it any better than that, because that was the truth.

"Owlshade was born to Briarsplash and Liontooth. His two siblings, Sparrowfeather and Wrensong, were from a previous litter. His mother and father always seemed to be busy, rushing around with things to do. He grew close to his siblings, and when the sickness took their lives, he grew quieter. The now-apprentice always had been kind, so if he could help out around camp, he would certainly do so. The apprentice was close friends with Whitepaw, from SquirrelClan, and some even speculate they had a closer relationship than presumed.

"Sedgestorm, his mentor, tried to train him as much as he could, but that wasn't exactly ideal for the situation they were in. MudClan was down to a few cats; Stonestar, Hazelberry, Sedgestorm, Heronleap, Meadowdapple, Flintpath, and of course Owlpaw. Heronleap and Meadowdapple decided it would be a great time to have kits, so they did.

"Unfortunately, Meadowdapple died in the process of birthing them, for she was sick. The kits were named Ashkit and Maplekit and both died due to the sickness their mother carried. This left Heronleap in a broken state. Owlpaw, who had not really grown close to Meadowdapple nor the kits, was upset about this, but knew there was nothing he could do to help them come back. They had a Gathering soon after this, where Whitepaw was announced as being dead. Owlpaw was very upset, clearly, as now he realized he was the only apprentice in all the Clans.

"The next morning, he awoke to an herb, namely rosemary, telling him to go to the Moonpool. He complied and met up with the youngest cats of all the Clans; Finchtuft, Talondust, and Logbite. They were all told that the cure was under their noses, and all cats went back and told their leaders and medicine cats. Hazelberry convinced Stonestar to test all the herbs in the den and not tell the other Clans that there was a blizzard. Soon after there was a blizzard, which affected Owlpaw quite a bit. He had came back to camp to see it full of snow, but instead of leaving, he invested a few wails he'd been hearing. He realized it was Heronleap and desperately tried to save the warrior.

"Sadly, it was too late. Owlpaw buried the tom with a rabbit and headed out, where he found Hazelberry and Stonestar nearby the rest of the Clan. After most of the snow melted, they headed black with a cure. Owlpaw, Hazelberry, and Stonestar would go to PineClan to gather up the cats there and bring them to where our camp is now, and Sedgestorm and Flintpath would go to SquirrelClan. PetalClan had been staying with PineClan, and unfortunately a few deaths occurred. However, they continued, and the cats met up.

"Hazelberry instantly asserted leadership and was called out by Owlpaw. He stood up against one of the most powerful she-cats in his time and we all deeply appreciate that. Think of how different it would be. He took her away, where he supposedly killed her, but nobody is truly sure of what happened that day. He watched the Clan bloom until he retired and became an elder. Owlshade never had kits and never took a mate, though that does not diminish his accomplishments. He died peacefully in his sleep, sitting quietly alone in the elder's den."

The warrior paused, taking a deep breath and flicking his tail a little. His heart pounded as he concluded his speech.

"Owlshade was the apprentice who lived what warriors could not."

Instantly, the crowd of gathered cats began to shout and cheer a mixture of words, all mesmerized by the lovely storytelling of the new warrior. Some even leaped to their paws, voices twirling and swirling together to make it echo.

"Whitestreak! Whitestreak!" They roared, "Owlshade! Owlshade! RoseClan! RoseClan!"

And somewhere, up above, a dark brown apprentice had his tail curled over his paws curtly, and was watching with a little smile on his muzzle as the cats' cheer rose to StarClan.