The cold, bitter air made Owlpaw shivered as she stepped outside. It bit at her lungs and made her let out a cough. My cough hasn't been an issue as of late. She thought with slight worry but pressed forward through the camp. Each day was getting colder and colder, she glanced up towards the sky where she saw pale gray clouds. Snow will be coming soon. Owlpaw knew this as she had heard both Pebblestep and Honeyfrost talking about it.
She turned her attention to the nursery where she was headed with a jawful of herbs. She poked her head inside and was very pleased with the warm den she stepped into. The nursery was very crowded now, especially since Petalbreeze gave birth to Ivykit and Lightkit.
"Good morning, Owlpaw." Dovepool was the first to greet her and her tiny little kits barreled towards Owlpaw.
"Are those for us?" Squeaked Doekit. "I don't like eating leaves."
Owlpaw let out a quiet purr and set the herbs down. "No, these are for your mother and aunts." She waved her tail.
"Why don't you ever bring things for us?" Mintkit pouted. "I want stuff."
"Well all I have is bitter herbs." Owlpaw laughed softly. "I don't think you want what I have." Mintkit let out a snort, he was clearly not convinced. "If I see your father I'll ask him to bring you something."
That seemed to brighten up their spirits. "What do those herbs do?" Acornkit questioned, his eyes full of curiosity.
"These help queens produce milk to keep you little ones fed." Owlpaw explained.
"What is it called?"
"It's called borage."
"Why do they need it? Can they not make milk on their own?"
"No they can, but this helps them produce more. Especially for Sedgefern and Dovepool who are nearly finishing nursing you."
"What about Petalbreeze?"
"Petalbreeze just had her kits a few days ago so she has plenty of milk, I just want to make sure that she's making enough for Lightkit and Ivykit."
"Why haven't Ivykit and Lightkit done anything? All they do is sleep."
"When kits are just born they need lots of sleep, getting born is just as exhausting for them as it is for the mother."
"When will they start to play?"
"Probably in about a moon, you lot have only recently started playing."
"Why--"
"Acornkit." Dovepool spoke up, looking exhausted. "That's enough, you're going to talk Owlpaw's poor ears off." She sighed. "I'm sorry, Owlpaw. He's just full of questions."
"It's alright." Owlpaw assured them, looking at Acornkit who looked annoyed to be silenced. While Acornkit had been questioning her Owlpaw finished handing out all the herbs. She looked around and couldn't help but notice that Heatherflight and Squirreltail were gone. "Where are the other two?"
"Squirreltail went to get some prey with her family and Heatherflight slept in the warriors den last night." Sedgefern asked, her own kits were napping at her belly. "I think she's struggling to sleep with all the active kits. Juniperkit didn't want to sleep at all."
I wonder if Heatherflight finally feels ready to move back into the warrior den. Owlpaw wondered. She had given birth to two stillborn kits before Owlpaw was even born but the emotional damage had kept her in the nursery grieving her lost kits. Maybe she's finally read to return to her warrior duties.
"Well, I hope she's doing well." Owlpaw mewed. "Did you three need anything else?"
"I don't think so." Petalbreeze replied, looking at her kits lovingly. "Thank you as always, you're doing a wonderful job."
"I'm glad to hear that." Owlpaw felt a purr in her chest. "Let me know if you need anything." Once the queens were taken care of, Owlpaw turned out of the nursery and back into the cold camp. Her body shivered and she padded back into the medicine cat den where Pebblestep was doing some cleaning. "It's so cold out there." She mewed.
"I expect snow within the next few days." Pebblestep replied. "Which means we need to be prepared. We have quite a good supply of herbs, and I managed to get my paws on a solid supply of catmint so I'm not too worried. As long as we keep that nursery free of sickness we shouldn't have any issues. Even our elders seem to be strong enough to fight it off. My only concern would be Sandfoot, she's really showing her age these days."
Owlpaw thought to Sandfoot, she was the oldest cat in the Clan. She spent most of her days resting, especially in leaf-bare she barely left the elder's den due to the cold weather but she still had plenty of life left in her. Though if Sandfoot got greencough, Owlpaw's wasn't so sure she could fight it off.
"Should we give Sandfoot some preventive herbs? Try and build up her strength before the sickness starts to spread."
"Yes, we will do that." Pebblestep gave a small nod. "But don't worry about that right now, I'll take them to her myself in a bit. Why don't you get some prey? You got an early start to your day."
"Okay." Owlpaw dipped her head and stepped back out into the freezing cold camp and headed for the fresh-kill pile.
"Hey, Owlpaw!" Her ears twitched as she heard the voice of Oakpaw. She turned her head and saw all three of her siblings standing together. Oakpaw broke away from the other two and quickly padded up to Owlpaw. "What are you up to?"
"Pebblestep told me I could get some prey." Owlpaw responded.
"Why don't you eat with us?" Oakpaw suggested eagerly. "We all just got back from some early morning training."
"I'd love that." Owlpaw let out a happy purr and she and Oakpaw grabbed two squirrels for the four of them to share. She really missed all the time she got to spend with her siblings since becoming a medicine cat so she was happy to get to share prey with them.
Once they all settled down, protected from the wind by sitting in between the warrior and apprentice dens, they began sharing their prey. "So how is your training going, Owlpaw?" Rushpaw questioned. She had noticed that he had been worried about her ever since the incident with Petalbreeze giving birth.
"It's been better." Owlpaw replied, which was true. Honeyfrost had adjusted her training methods and now Owlpaw felt like she was succeeding a lot more. However, she did partially feel like she was still in the way. She mostly stuck to tasks around the camp like delivering herbs to the queens and elders while Honeyfrost and Pebblestep did the more important stuff. Whenever something came up they would usually send Owlpaw off.
Owlpaw tried her best not to take this personally but it still bothered her. I know it's just because there's three of us. The medicine cat den is only so big. Owlpaw brushed the thoughts away and refocused on her siblings. It seemed Oakpaw was telling a story about his last hunting patrol.
"The squirrel was huge and I wasn't worried about catching it, it was so fat there was no way it was faster than me." Oakpaw's eyes lit up as he told his story. "I charged forward and caught it, but it broke out of my claws! I wasn't giving up though, it ran up the tree and I followed it. I grabbed its fluffy tail in my teeth and dragged it back down. My falling was less than graceful though, my--"
A blood piercing cry filled the air, sending pure fear and shock into Owlpaw's chest. She let out a cry of alarm and jumped up to her paws, her body felt like it was freezing in place. The cry didn't belong to a cat, it belonged to an owl.
"Owlpaw, what's wrong?" The panicked cry of Blossompaw replaced the ringing of the owl's cry in her mind, she shakily looked down at her siblings. They all looked confused and concerned for Owlpaw.
"Y-you didn't hear that?" Her voice trembled as she spoke.
"No?" Oakpaw looked at Blossompaw and Rushpaw, confusion written all over their faces. "What did you hear?"
Owlpaw looked towards the trees, her eyes scanning the barren trees for any sign of the owl. "I-I heard an owl...I know I did."
"Are you sure?" Blossompaw padded forward, touching her tail to Owlpaw's shoulder. "I feel like we would've heard it, especially since it scared you so much."
"I don't know." Owlpaw lowered her voice, now questioning herself. What did I hear? I know I heard something. It was so loud. The residual effects of the owl cry left Owlpaw feeling shaky and uncomfortable, she was so confused. She didn't know how that could've happened or what happened at all.
"Are you okay?" Rushpaw asked, his voice quiet and comforting.
"I don't know." Owlpaw sighed. "I don't know what happened, I feel like I'm going crazy."
"Why don't you head back to the medicine cat den?" He suggested. "Maybe Pebblestep and Honeyfrost can help you, but make sure you finish your prey first."
"You're probably right." Owlpaw mewed quietly. She continued eating her prey with her siblings but her mind was in a completely different place. She had no way to explain what had just happened and it was deeply bothering her.
Once Owlpaw finished her prey she bid farewell to her siblings and padded back to the medicine cat den. Both Honeyfrost and Pebblestep were inside and they both looked at her, their expressions instantly shifting to one of concern.
"Are you okay, Owlpaw?" Honeyfrost questioned, padding up to her. "You look like you saw a ghost."
"I was with my siblings when I heard an owl cry, it was so loud and no one else heard it. It was clear as day to me and it made me feel...strange. Uncomfortable and scared."
Honeyfrost and Pebblestep shared a concerned expression. "Are you sure? No one else heard it?" Pebblestep confirmed and Owlpaw nodded. "Owls tend to be signs from StarClan. It was an owl that guided us to the mountains and it was an owl who guided you beyond the mountains to find Mountainstar."
"It was also an owl that StarClan sent to welcome MountainClan into our territories."
"So this was a sign from StarClan?" Owlpaw questioned, finding it hard to believe.
"It's possible." Pebblestep gave a slow nod. "You clearly heard something and no one else did, this could be a message from StarClan but we're not sure yet. The half-moon is coming up soon, perhaps StarClan will have a more clear message for you."
"But why me? Why not one of you two?" Owlpaw asked desperately.
"You have to remember that you guided all of MountainClan to our home, as well was guiding Mountainstar to StarClan as well as the rest of her Clanmates. You have a strong destiny, and perhaps it is time for you to serve StarClan once again."
Owlpaw lowered her head, flattening her ears slightly. I just wanted to focus on being the best medicine cat I can. Why do I have to get involved with StarClan again?