Warriors: The Prophecy of Fire

Chapter Fourteen

Hawthornepaw woke up, the early morning sun shining into the den, the warmth hitting her pelt just right so the cold winds only brushed by her. It had been seven sunrises since she had gone hunting, the kits had finally opened their eyes about a sunrise ago, Oakkit had his mom's bright green eyes and Skykit with deep blue eyes. Hawthornepaw pulled herself onto her paws and stepped out, the ground now covered in a light layer of snow dusting the ground and the top of the dens, seeing Silverfeather and Twigheart sharing tongues. She couldn't believe how much her sister grown up, it had seemed like only last moon that they were racing and playing fox, complaining that 'it wasn't fair' when Hawthornepaw had beaten them in the race, being too shy to talk to anyone but her parents and littermates. Hawthornepaw purred at the sight of her sister with the golden brown tom, her blue eyes shining with joy. She stepped out of the den further and saw Brushbranch chatting with Doveleaf, she saw the nursery with Lakeclaw and Hawkheart purring happily, looking down at their newborn kits. It seemed like everyone had a mate this leaf-bare, everyone but her. She shook out her fur, that wasn't true, what about Willowwing, Dawnsky, Berrytail, Lilypelt, the elders, Mosstail, Nightsky, she shook her fur again at the thought of the mostly black tom, he was kind and handsome, what she-cat wouldn't want him? Of course he'd find a mate, why would he stop himself for her, a tortoiseshell medicine cat who could never be his mate.She sighed and stepped into the nursery to make sure Lakeclaw was doing good with the kits.

"How are you doing, Lakeclaw? Are you're kits ok?"

"Yeah, they were a little chilly this morning but they've warmed up. I'm a little worried about Skykit, she has a little cough. It's not that bad but I'm just hoping that she won't get any worse."

"Here, can I see her?" Lakeclaw nods and Hawthornepaw grab's the blue/grey kit's scruff in her jaws and carries the tiny she-cat into the medicine cat den and lays her down on one of the extra nests, the tiny kit's deep blue eyes were staring up at her, wide and curious. Hawthornepaw looked down at Skykit, giving a friendly purr, and the kit purred back. But as soon as she purred, she started coughing, her tiny body convulsing with each and every cough. Mosstail woke at the sound of the cough, and, as soon as she saw the kit in the nest, her eyes glazed with worry. 

"Hawthornepaw, time to do some more training. What should we give her?"

Hawthornepaw thinks for a moment, "Catmint." Mosstail nods in approval as Hawthornepaw goes and grabs some of the violet flower and gives it to the tiny kit. She eats it and Mosstail turns to Hawthornepaw, his voice urgent.

"Go make sure no one else has a cough, if they have even the smallest cough bring them here." Hawthornepaw nods and pads out of the den, heading to the elders first.

"Fernfoot, Ravenwing, have any of you been coughing?"

"No," Ravenwing says with a cough.

Hawthornepaw looks at the elder, her eyes stern but amused, "That sure sounded like a cough. You go head to the medicine cat den, what about you Fernfoot?"

"No, I'm good," seeing Hawthornepaw's questioning look she purrs in amusement, "I promise."

"Ok," she says, dipping her head and heading over to the warriors in the camp and beckoned them over with her tail. "We've had a few cats with a cough and I need to know if any of you have been coughing at all."

The five young warriors looked at each other before Twigheart stepped forward, "If I'm being honest, I have been coughing lately."

Silverfeather steps forward with him, "Me too."

"Ok, go head into the medicine cat den. Mosstail will take care of you, you might have to make some more nests, though." They nod and head over to the black tom, while Hawthornepaw heads over to the warrior den. The cats are all awake, but they're all just sitting in their nests, chatting with each other. When they see the medicine cat apprentice walk in, they all get quiet and look anxiously at the tortoiseshell she-cat, waiting for her to start talking. 

"Have any of you been coughing? We might be having an outbreak of whitecough." The cats turn to each other, worry glazing their eyes. Then, a few step forward; Berrytail, Breezecloud, and Featherstep. "Anyone else?" Reluctantly, Lilypelt steps forward, her green eyes hazed with regret. "It's not your fault, Lilypelt," Hawthornepaw mews gently, "or any of your faults. It's not like you can control getting sick. Come on, let's go to the medicine cat den, you might need to make some nests." The warriors and deputy dip their heads and follow the tortoiseshell to the packed medicine den. She sees all the nests occupied, a sleeping cat in each, and sighs. She grabs some more moss and makes four more nests for the new cats, gives them some Catmint, and gestures Mosstail outside with her tail. "Where are we supposed to sleep?" Hawthornepaw asks, her voice full of concern.

"I was thinking of asking Dawnstar if we could sleep in the apprentice den, there's no apprentices and I don't think she would force us to sleep in a den full to the brim with eight sick cats. Hawthornepaw agrees and they pad over to the leader's den, where they hear Dawnstar coughing. Seriously? It's like every single cat is sick! "Dawnstar," the black tom starts, "I think you have whitecough, it's going through the Clan. We need you to get to the medicine cat den now, you and Lilypelt are both sick and we need you to get better, we have no leadership. But first, can you tell us if we can sleep in the apprentice den?" 

"Of course, we don't want you to get sick, too." The golden she-cat mews.

"Thank you, Dawnstar," the black tom says, then leads the golden she-cat  to the den, where Hawthornepaw makes a new nest and the leader lies down, sighing. Mosstail gives her some catmint and she quickly eats it, falling asleep. Hawthornepaw sighs, looking at all the sleeping sick cats, and starts making her nest for in the apprentice den.