Warriors: The Prophecy of Fire

Chapter Sixteen

Frog-dung she curses under her breath. "Um, I found some marigold on the WindClan border."

"There is no marigold on the WindClan border, and even if there was where did the ThunderClan smell come from?"

"Fine, I got it from ThunderClan, Thorntail gave it to me."

"And did you talk to WindClan too?"

"Yeah," she mews hesitantly.

"So now two Clans know our weaknesses, good job," the black tom hisses and Hawthornepaw ducks her head in shame.

"I know, but cats were dying and we needed catmint to save them and I thought..."

"Exactly, you thought," Mosstail interrupts. "I am your mentor and I am the one who is leading you, you listen to me, not the other way around."

Hawthornepaw ducks her head in shame, "Yes, Mosstail."

"Ok then, you'll go take a wash in the stream and wash that catmint, too. Just because I don't approve of your methods doesn't mean we need it any less." The tortoiseshell she-cat leaves, a purr forming in her throat as she walks down to the stream and dunks herself and the catmint in it before setting the flowers on the ground and shaking out her pelt, getting the water loose. She took the beech leaf full of the herb and padded back to camp, dropping them off in the medicine den, where she saw Mosstail comforting Skykit, who's whole body was racking in coughs. Hawthornepaw rushes over and gives some to the small kit then heading to the rest of the Clan, making them eat the yellow flower, and then putting the remaining in their stocks. Sighing, Hawthornepaw sat down, tucking her tail around her legs, watching in misery as her Clanmates coughed nonstop, some asleep some just sitting there, their eyes glazed over in pain. Eventually her eyes drooped closed and she fell into a restless sleep.

**************************************

When she woke, it was dusk. The sky was clear and a deep purple, the sun setting just below the horizon. The snow dusting the ground was glowing, it's powdery whiteness reflecting the purple of the sky. She walked out of the medicine cat den and to the camp, where there was one small mouse left.

"Has everyone eaten?" she asks, her stomach growling at the scent of fresh prey, even though she wished it was fish. 

Sunpelt steps out of the Warrior's den, "Yeah, that mouse is all yours." Gratefully Hawthornepaw crouches down and eats the scrawny mouse, it's woodsy flavor flooding her mouth. She quickly finished it and decided to go for a walk. She puffed out her pelt and walked into the trees, seeing snow balanced on the branches, dark shadows falling on the snow on the floor, the soft rustle of the few leaves left on the tall green trees, the air crisp. She keeps walking through the silent forest, her pawsteps making a slight crunch with each step, until she reaches the lake. When she reaches the edge of the territory by the lake, she turns back around and continues along the border, her ears flat against her head to fight against the wind, her fur still fluffed out. All of the sudden snow started coming down, blowing so harsh she couldn't see, huge gusts whistling in here ears blowing all around her. She found a hollow in the roots of a sycamore tree and dug the snow out, making a hollow with snowy walls that blocked the harsh wind, and sat down in it for protection. She smoothed her fur and curled up into a ball, tucking her nose under her tail. She closed her eyes and almost instantly fell asleep.

Once again she was in the forest, but there were no fires this time, just a familiar blue/ grey she-cat.

"Hello, Heatherleap,"  Hawthonepaw says to the starry cat. "Why are you here?"

"We don't have much time but you need to know that the time will soon come for you to take on your fate, you must prepare," the she-cat says, her last words echoing as she and the starry forest fade.

Hawthornepaw opened her eyes and she was back in the hollow roots, snow covering the exit. She struggled to her paws and unsheathed her claws, digging through the frozen snow, her paws bleeding from the ice in the snow. When she finally got a hole dug, she squeezed through, blinking at the bright light, and headed back to camp, her pelt fluffed out to keep her warm. She finally got back to camp and saw Reedheart and Sunpelt standing at the edge of camp about to leave, their eyes full of worry. Reedheart sees her first and her eyes soften, and she turns to Sunpelt and mews to him, he turns to face Hawthornepaw and his eyes light up. The two cats rush over to her, along with Brushbranch who just walked out of the warriors den.

"Hawthornepaw! You're alright! We were about to gather a patrol to go out for you, you've been missing since before sun-down!" Sunpelt said, his blue eyes wide, a purr rumbling out of his throat.

"I know, I had gone for a walk and then got caught in the snowfall so I dug a hole in some roots in a tree and I must have fallen asleep. I dug myself out this morning and headed back here, sorry to worry you." 

Reedheart nuzzled her kit, purring. "I'm so glad you're ok, we have some prey. Go eat and then go to Mosstail, I'm sure he could help you. Plus, he could use your help." She dips her head to her mother and takes a scrawny vole from the top of the pile and bites into it, quickly downing the vole and burring its bones before heading over to the black tom. 

"Hey Mosstail. How can I help?"

He looks at the tortoiseshell she-cat and looks down at her feet. "Well, first thing you can do is let me look at your paws." Hawthornepaw obliges and lifts up her feet one at a time, looking at the cracked pads and the bloodied claws. He spreads an ointment of yarrow on her paws and puts cobwebs on the parts of her claws that are still bleeding. When he's done he sits down, "A few of the cats are getting better, surprisingly Skykit is one of the best ones, but Ravenwing and Dawnstar are the worst." Nodding, Hawthornepaw goes over to the elder carrying some catmint, which she makes him eat. She then heads over to her golden she-cat leader, giving her some too. Seeing the tiny kit in the nest, she heads over to her.

"Hi, Skykit. How do you feel?"

The grey/ blue she-cat looks up at her, her deep blue eyes clear and healthy, shining with the enthusiasm of any kit. "I feel great! Can I go back to Oakkit yet?"

Hawthornepaw holds up her tail as a signal to wait and pads over to Mosstail. "Can Skykit go back to the nursery? She looks and is acting like she's healthy."

He sighs, "Ok, but she'll still need to have tansy every sun-up so that she won't get sick again, and we'll need to check on her." Hawthornepaw happily walks back to the kit and reports back what the black tom had said. Eyes shining, she picks up the little kit in her jaws and brings her to the nursery where she informs the queen what's happening. Lakeclaw purrs and pulls her kit in close, licking her fur smooth. Smiling at the sight of her healing Clan, Hawthornepaw heads back to the medicine den to help Mosstail with the remaining cats.