Nutwhisker's POV:
"I can't believe that all they care about is Magiclan!" Nutwhisker snarled, "Magiclan is just a bordering clan who have always been like this. But Starclan? Starclan has never abandoned us like this before." He lashed his tail as he rambled on in front of Watersplash and Shinepaw.
Watersplash rose to her paws and approached Nutwhisker. She placed a small lick on his shoulder, "It's okay. They don't understand how important this is to us. They are warriors not medicine cats."
Nutwhisker refused to acknowledge the soothing tingles that ran along him from Watersplash's lick. "But Starclan is what we believe in! Without faith in Starclan, we are nothing. Starclan is what keeps the clans together in peace." Nutwhisker argued and flattened his ears.
Watersplash sighed, "I understand how you feel and I am not saying that this is not a terrible problem- it is- But we cannot do anything more about it. Starclan has blocked us from them and that is that. We have no power over them or their actions."
"That's not true. I called Lightstar myself, maybe I can do it again." Nutwhisker fought the urge to agree with the grey she cat.
"I don't think so, Nutwhisker. And I know you agree with me. I can see it in the way your eyes glint." Watersplash grinned softly and Nutwhisker before turning away, her tail waving in his face along the way.
Nutwhisker rolled his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Watersplash's savoury scent reached his nose and despite the scent being quite unpleasant to most cats, Nutwhisker found it soothed him. It sent waves of calmness washing through him, rippling under his skin. A small sigh of relief escaped his lips.
It was then that Nutwhisker realised his eyes had closed and when he popped them open, he saw Watersplash eyeing him with a smirk. She stayed silent. Nutwhisker looked away with a shy shuffle of his paws. Watersplash saw how her scent affected him so much.
Nutwhisker lashed his tail and raised his head to face Watersplash. "I'm going to collect some herbs. Are there anything herbs that we need?"
Watersplash glanced at the herb stock before looking back at Nutwhisker, "Some catmint would be extremely helpful."
"Well you know that I can't get that." Nutwhisker growled bluntly.
Shinepaw leapt up, "I know! I know!" The apprentice's eyes shone brightly as she spoke to Nutwhisker. "Why don't we go to Monsterclan and ask for herbs? I'm sure they'll help!"
Nutwhisker shook his head, "No way. Less than a few moons ago, Monsterclan joined Magiclan in the attack on us. There is no way I am going into the heart of their territory and ask for herbs. That would show that we are weak and then they would attack!" His meow rose higher until he yowled the last bit, making Shinepaw shrink behind Watersplash.
Watersplash hissed, "Don't talk like that to her! Shinepaw is your apprentice!"
Nutwhisker growled, "She shouldn't be making mouse-brained ideas!"
"How would she know if it was a bad idea? Shinepaw wasn't even in the battle. She was still a kit for Starclan's sake!" Watersplash snarled. "And if you haven't already forgotten, medicine cats are allowed to ask others for help! Stop thinking like a warrior and more like a medicine cat!"
"Stop telling me what to do!" Nutwhisker unsheathed his claws and lashed his brown furred tail.
Watersplash stayed sitting but bared her teeth aggressively at Nutwhisker, "Stop being so immature and fox-hearted! I am older and wiser than you, therefore you should listen to me!"
"I should listen to you? You're nothing but an outcast! You were exiled from your clan! You are nothing here except for a waste of space!" Nutwhisker screeched and before Watersplash could reply, he turned tail and pelted out of the den. But before he could even render what was happening, he crashed straight into thick grey fur. The impact sent him reeling and he lost his footing, falling backwards. Nutwhisker tried to twist around to fall on his paws but he was too slow. Something sharp hit the back of his head and everything went black.
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Stormflame's POV:
"Nutwhisker no!"
A shrill cry sounded from right beside Stormflame and he jolted awake, his fur bristling. "What is it?!" Stormflame yowled and struggled to his paws. "Are we being attacked?!" His gaze finally focused and he saw Watersplash's thick grey tail disappear out of the medicine den.
Soft mews and whispers sounded from outside the den and Stormflame stumbled sleepily out of his nest. His head was still hazy from sleep but he managed to make it out the den quickly and he turned his head in the direction of the murmurs to see Nutwhisker lying unconscious on the ground beside the nursery. A small trickle of blood snaked on the ground by his head. Stormflame's ice blue eyes widened, "What in Starclan's name happened?"
Watersplash looked up from beside Nutwhisker. "He hit his head on a stone!" Her voice was panicked and filled with terror. Her eyes shone with distress as she turned her head to Shinepaw. "Get some cobwebs!" She ordered briskly. Shinepaw dipped her head and darted past Stormflame and into the medicine den.
Stormflame saw Bigstep hovering nervously around the medicine cats. He blinked at the grey furred elder, "What's wrong?"
Bigstep looked away from Stormflame guiltily, "I was just going into the medicine den to tell Nutwhisker about a tickle in my throat but before I could move out of the way, he came crashing out of the den like a badger on a rampage and crashed straight into me. He fell backwards and hit his head on the stone!"
"Oh my!" Silverstar's gasp came from behind Stormflame and he looked behind his shoulder to see the silver she cat padding past him, her fur brushing his. She approached Nutwhisker just as Shinepaw returned with the cobwebs. "Nutwhisker will be okay.. right?"
Watersplash examined Nutwhisker's wound on his head and nodded, "It's not too deep, but it will definitely need monitoring for a couple of days incase it gets infected. For now I just need to stop the bleeding."
Silverstar nodded and moved out of the way to allow Shinepaw to paw the cobwebs towards Watersplash. Stormflame glanced at Bigstep again but realised that the old tom had already disappeared back into the elder's den. Stormflame turned to Silverstar instead, "Have you noticed any sharp stones in the ground lately? We should get a few cats to check the camp for these so that we don't have anymore injuries like this. If any kits hit one of these it wouldn't be good."
Silverstar blinked, "Then it's a good thing we don't have any kits in the clan at the moment."
Stormflame shrugged, "I guess."
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Silverstar's POV:
"I guess." Stormflame meowed. Silverstar decided that the conversation was over and spun around to return to her nest but voices coming from the entrance to camp alerted her and she turned to see Clearlight, Dawnheart, Ashleg, Snowshadow, Bumblestrike, Goldpaw and Autumnpaw. The large hunting patrol had returned carrying between them a mouse, two squirrels and a shrew.
Silverstar felt a bright smile meet her lips, "Brillant catches! Where did you find so much prey?"
"It wasn't easy," Dawnheart meowed as she placed the shrew on the empty fresh-kill pile. "We searched the entire territory in smaller groups of two and three. Clearlight and I found the shrew near the Leaf-bare Hunting Grounds, Ashleg and Snowshadow found the squirrels by the Monsterclan border and Bumblestrike, Goldpaw and Autumnpaw caught the mouse by twolegplace."
"I caught the mouse! It's nice and plump too! It must be a.. a mouse version of a kittypet! It was all lazy and fat, it was easy to catch!" Autumnpaw mewed as she placed her catch on the pile as well.
Ashleg and Snowshadow placed their squirrels on the pile and silently padded back to the warriors den, pelts brushing. Clearlight gave a knowing look to Stormflame, "Looks like those two are mates now."
"More kits for the clan." Stormflame replied with a soft smile at the patrol.
"Yep," Dawnheart purred and made her way towards the warriors den as well.
Silverstar turned to Clearlight, "Could you get some cats to find and collect all the sharp stones poking out of the ground?" She flicked her tail in Nutwhisker's direction, "Nutwhisker hit his head."
"Oh poor Nutwhisker. Is he okay?" Clearlight meowed with genuine concern for the medicine cat.
"He's gonna be fine. But we don't want anyone else getting hurt." Stormflame piped up from behind Silverstar.
"Yeah. So how many cats should I get to do it?" Clearlight asked.
"Perhaps you could get all the apprentices to do it? Make it like a big mission or task for them, it'll lift their spirits slightly." Silverstar smiled. "We can't have the apprentices getting lazy either."
"Sure." Clearlight nodded and trotted towards the apprentices den.
Silverstar coughed lightly as she turned to Stormflame. "Back to our nests before we can infect anyone else?"
Stormflame chuckled, "Okay." He spun around and padded back to the medicine den, his messy and unkept black fur ruffled in a breeze that blew through camp.
As they padded into the den, Stormflame started coughing again. Wildkit mewed in annoyance and wriggled in her nest. Wheezes came from the small kit and Silverstar frowned sadly. "It's alright Wildkit, you'll get better soon." Silverstar whispered.
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