Stormflame's POV:
To Stormflame's relief, his dreams were left untouched and stayed nice and blank. For once in quite a few days, he slept peacefully.
When Stormflame awoke he saw Silverstar, Dawnheart, Clearlight and Nutwhisker talking. Morning sunlight shone into the den as Watersplash and Shinepaw stood by the herb store. Watersplash seemed to be teaching Shinepaw the different herbs and their uses.
Stormflame raised his head and pricked his ears to try and pick up what Silverstar was saying. "-So Starclan is saving us by blocking us? I find that hard to believe."
Nutwhisker lashed his tail, "I know how you feel, but this is what Lightstar said. I cannot go against her word."
It looked like Clearlight had fresh battle wounds of some sort. Fatigue shone from the grey tom's blue eyes but he held his head high. Has he been in a battle? Stormflame wondered with narrowed eyes.
"Nevermind Starclan. We must sort out Magiclan. We cannot allow them to think we have accepted defeat!" Clearlight growled and unsheathed his claws, sinking them deep into the soil in the medicine den.
Stormflame wondered why they were having their meeting in here and not the Hightree, but then he remembered that Silverstar was confined to the medicine den due to whitecough.
"Oh! Stormflame you're awake!" Silverstar's cheerful voice pulled Stormflame from his thoughts and he looked up to see everyone looking at him.
"Uh, yeah." Stormflame sat up in his nest and stretched. "What are you talking about?"
Silverstar opened her jaws to reply but Nutwhisker held his tail up to stop her. "Wait a second. I need to check him. Greencough can change very rapidly." The brown tabby medicine cat approached Stormflame and held his ear against his chest. Nutwhisker sighed, "Still wheezing." Then he raised his head and examined Stormflame's eyes and muzzle. "Eyes watering a little... Running nose too."
"Yep," Nutwhisker concluded. "Stormflame's greencough hasn't gotten better. If anything I think his breathing is a little bit abnormal..." He got up and padded back to his place in between Silverstar and Clearlight and gestured with his tail for Stormflame to join them. "Come join us. But stay away from Clearlight and Dawnheart, you don't want them getting sick too."
"Ok." Stormflame shrugged and shuffled over to Silverstar where he sat down beside her. "So what are we talking about?"
"Two things actually," Dawnheart meowed, her voice soft. "Starclan abandoning us and Magiclan attacking."
"Magiclan is attacking?" Stormflame totally ignored the Starclan part and without thinking, he focused on Magiclan.
"They ambushed my border patrol earlier. They took a strip of our territory.. and.. killed Demonpelt." Clearlight grumbled and swept his thick grey tail across the ground anxiously.
"But Demonpelt is our best fighter! It's nearly impossible to beat her! Who killed her? I'll tear their eyes out!" Stormflame gushed with bared teeth. He was about to talk again but a chesty cough erupted from him and he spent a few heartbeats trying to catch his breath. This gave Nutwhisker time to intervene.
"Nevermind Magiclan, we can sort that later. Right now we need to discuss Starclan." Nutwhisker growled, "They abandoned us. It's not right, this is unheard of."
Watersplash spoke up from the herb store, "Perhaps the other clans have been blocked too?"
"No. Remember at the gathering? The other medicine cats didn't act like they had dreamed of nothing." Nutwhisker meowed skeptically, "It's only Lightclan that has been affected."
"Just giving a suggestion.." Watersplash murmured before turning back to Shinepaw.
Stormflame spoke up, "What else is there to say about Starclan? They have blocked us from them, end of story. Magiclan is still unsolved." Clearlight nodded his head in approval and Stormflame realised for a split second that the older grey tom wasn't in a bad mood around him. Is he feeling better?
"Stormflame is right. Magiclan need to be stopped before they can do anymore damage." Clearlight lashed his tail, "We must ambush their camp and take Ratbreeze's life in revenge of Demonpelt!"
Dawnheart frowned, "But are we fit enough to fight? Both our leader and deputy cannot fight, which leaves only one other cat with powers. Shadedmoon has gone..." she gave a pointed glance at Silverstar, "and all of our warriors are half-starved!"
Silverstar sighed, "But Magiclan will only continue to take more territory if we do not fight! Soon, Monsterclan will join in as well!"
Clearlight bared his teeth in a snarl and flattened his ears, "We must attack Magiclan! It is the only way!"
Nutwhisker murmured and dipped his head sadly, "Oh how I wish Starclan were here to help us." No one seemed to pay attention to the brown medicine cat and Stormflame watched as he turned and ducked out of the medicine den, unnoticed.
Dawnheart hissed and glared boldly at her leader, "Silverstar, look around! If you order a battle patrol, you will be sending your clan mates to their deathes!" Then the grey she cat turned tail and stalked angrily out of the den, her thick tail swishing aggressively behind her.
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Silverstar's POV:
Silverstar padded after Dawnheart but stopped once she emerged into the sunlight and blinked her eyes against the glare of the morning sun. She watched as Dawnheart called for the warriors to sort out the patrols. The warriors sluggishly emerged from the dens and Silverstar felt a pang of dismay.
Foxclaw was limping.
Fluffystream and Blazemoon trudged together, talking in hushed voices.
Ashleg and Cloudsun padded at the back of the crowd, their eyes dull and heads low.
Every warriors' ribs showed beneath their fur.
When the apprentices emerged, they weren't their usually bouncy selves. They padded slowly after the warriors, tails low and between their legs.
Silverstar averted her eyes and shook her head sadly.
Lightclan is in worse condition than I realised! We can't send out an attack! They'll be killed!
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Clearlight's POV:
Clearlight watched Silverstar as she stood at the medicine den entrance, her silver fur bristling. He went to comfort her but Stormflame beat him to it. The black tom ran his tail along her back and murmured reassuringly in her ear. Clearlight sighed and rose to his paws, his legs and back ached mysteriously and he stretched to try and shake away the uncomfortable feeling but the ache wouldn't go away. Eventually, Clearlight just gave himself a restless shake and trotted out of the den, heading towards Dawnheart.
As the border patrol to the Monsterclan border set out, Clearlight approached Dawnheart. "Have you ordered a hunting patrol yet?"
"No not yet. You can do that though, I'll come as well and see if we can catch something more than a scrawny mouse." Dawnheart smiled.
Bumblestrike grumbled, "A nice fat rabbit would be ideal right now." His stomach growled as if to show and the tabby tom yawned. "I'll join. Mousenose, you wanna come?" He asked his sister.
Mousenose shrugged uncomfortably, "I'm feeling a bit unwell, maybe another time." She turned away and trotted back to the warriors den. Clearlight noticed her belly swayed as she disappeared into the den and he narrowed his eyes. The brown she cat was a lot plumper than usual.
Bumblestrike sighed, "Okay. Just the three of us?" He nodded at Dawnheart and Clearlight.
Dawnheart shook her head, "Let's take Autumnpaw and Goldpaw too. They need to get out and practice their hunting skills."
"Yes! At last!" Autmunpaw grinned. "I bet I'll catch the biggest squirrel this time!"
Ashleg and Snowshadow trotted up to them, "Can we join in too?"
"Sure." Clearlight nodded to the two young warriors and flicked his tail. "Let's go!"
Snowshadow smiled and licked Ashleg's cheek before trotting after Clearlight. Ashleg ran to catch up and Clearlight noticed waves of affection flowing off both cats. He felt a small smile form on his lips. It looks like the young ones are finding their mates already.
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