Waging War: Book 1: Beyond the Mountains {COMPLETE}

Chapter 21

Owlpaw rose from her nest, stretching out her aching limbs. She rasped her tongue over her chest, her wounds were sore but they weren't life threatning and they were beginning to heal. She glanced over at Nettle's nest in the corner, separated from the Clan cats .She was resting, and her breathing was steady.

As far as she knew, the rogue had yet to wake up after returning to the cavern. With the help of Earthpelt and Sheer Mountain, Nettle had been returned to the cavern and given a nest. This came as a shock to the other cats living in the cavern. They had been ignored, however, they had bigger issues.

Once Nettle had been situated in a nest, and Owlpaw made sure her wounds were taken care of. Owlpaw had fallen into her own nest and fallen asleep. She could tell from the shadows outside that it was just before sunhigh. She padded over to Nettle and gave the rogue a sniff. She could still smell infection, and some of her wounds had bled through onto the moss of her nest.

Owlpaw gathered her herbs and switched the dressings on Nettle's wounds, she did all this without waking the rogue but she wasn't sure that was such a good thing. When she finished, Owlpaw stepped out into the sunlight.

She breathed in the fresh-air and waved her tail. She could see life was still buzzing around the cavern. Wren, Finch and Sparrow were happily playing with a pebble while Tumbleweed watching, sunning himself in the process. Owlpaw spotted Many of the warriors sharing prey in a circle. One of them was Slatepaw, he noticed Owlpaw first and narrowed his eyes.

Right. The last time I saw him he wasn't exactly pleasant. Owlpaw took a shallow breath and padded closer to the ground. The other cats were Earthpelt, Leafdawn and Leopardpaw. They heard her pawsteps and looked up. "Owlpaw!" Leopardpaw exclaimed. "I'm so glad you're okay." She hesitated for a moment. "You are okay, aren't you?" Owlpaw realized that her white pelt still carried the faint color of blood.

"Yes, I'm okay." Owlpaw explained. "I'll heal."

"What about the rogue?" Leafdawn questioned. "She looked half dead when she came here last night."

"She's alive." Owlpaw replied. "And now that she's here I can treat her much easily."

"So you've just fully taken on the role of a medicine cat, huh." Slatepaw growled, staring at his prey. "Does your mentor know about this little switch?"

"I do." Earthpelt growled. "At least someone has been keeping us alive. Don't forget who saved you from the dog, Slatepaw."

"Oh yes the miraculous flying cat used a tree branch to save me." He snorted. "And she knows here way around a few plants. May I remind you, Owlpaw, that even medicine cats can hunt."

Owlpaw snorted. "Well, Slatepaw, I'll have you know that I can hunt. I caught a mouse yesterday." Slatepaw's eyes went wide. "Just ask Nettle."

"Whatever, one stupid mouse doesn't change anything."

Owlpaw looked at Leopardpaw whose eyes glittered with amusement. The two she-cats shared a laugh and Slatepaw just stewed in his anger silently. "Owlpaw!" Another voice called her name and Owlpaw looked to the side to see Sheer Mountain trotting towards her with Seedclaw, Fennelpaw and Berryheart behind her. "Glad to see you out and about."

Owlpaw nodded. "I feel much better, just a little sore." She licked her sore shoulder. "In a few days I'll be as good as new" She coughed slightly. "Well, as good as I usually am."

Sheer Mountain let out a soft chuckled. "How's Nettle?"

"Alive." Owlpaw repeated. "I'll check on her here in a moment, I need to get something to eat. Did she wake up at all last night?"