The yellow tom followed Foxthistle, his brown tipped ears perked, listening for any sound. The RiverClan medicine cat had offered to help search for Baycrest, or at least, any signs that might tell them where he was. Her sharp nose would hopefully pick up any scent trails they might have missed. In the time since the last Gathering, they had found zero traces of either Baycrest or Nimblebird. That greatly concerned him.
The rest of their patrol spread out along the area where he had last been seen, but they still hadn't found any traces. It didn't help that there had been rain the last few days. Morningwish gave a frustrated growl, "it's like he vanished off the face of the earth!"
Foxthistle patted his shoulder with her tail, "Morningwish, relax. Whoever took him likely didn't want to kill him, otherwise they'd done so when he was alone. I haven't found any spots of blood."
"The rain could have washed it away though," Tigerdust lashed her tail. The russet she-cat's temper grew shorter and shorter the longer it took to find her brother. At least Archberry, Baycrest's mate, was calmer. They needed to have cool heads if they were to find anything.
The RiverClan medicine cat sighed, "I can't confirm if he's dead or alive, but I can try to confirm where he might be. The last scent trail you could find led to the tunnels, correct?"
All of the WindClan cats in the immediate area nodded. The she-cat swished her white tail, "let's search there then, if the tunnels are stable enough."
Dappledjay and Archberry exchanged dubious expressions, "It's probably safer to wait until tomorrow, just in case the rain made them unstable."
"That's probably wise," Foxthistle shook out her pelt.
Morningwish sighed, glancing up at the swiftly-darkening sky, "we should head back to the camp." Tigerdust flicked her tail, likely wanting to stay out and keep looking, but nodded in reluctant agreement. It would be nearly impossible to see anything in the dark.
The yellow tom sighed again, and began to lead the way back to camp.
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Morningwish accompanied Frostpaw, while several other WindClan warriors ranged out around them to ensure no one snuck up on them. Foxthistle walked on his other side, a bundle of herbs in her jaws. The dark blue apprentice's gaze flicked around nervously. Despite her boldness, she was wary of going outside of camp by herself to avoid the same fate of her mentor.
The tom helped carry the last of the feverfew, the soft leaves held carefully in his mouth. He ducked into the camp behind Foxthistle and Frostpaw, emerging into the sunny, open clearing. The rest of the escort followed and scattered to various places in the camp. When they reached the medicine den, he set the herbs down near the rest, and turned to leave the den.
"I'll be waiting near the entrance after I grab something to eat," he dipped his head to Foxthistle.
The gray and white medicine cat nodded, and went to help the WindClan medicine apprentice put the rest of the herbs away. Morningwish picked up a small rabbit and went to sit near Nightstem, who was watching Breezekit, Tumblekit, and Aspenkit.
The white and ginger she-cat looked over at him, "any luck locating Baycrest?"
"No, unfortunately," Morningwish sighed, "we're going to search the tunnels once Foxthistle is done putting the herbs we collected away." He took a small bite of the rabbit before speaking again, "the scent trail ended there, so he was likely taken through there. All evidence points towards a kidnapping. I have no idea what reason someone would have for that though."
Nightstem narrowed her eyes, the fur on her spine rising, "why on earth would someone kidnap a medicine cat? Unless they have a personal grudge, or want to cause general chaos, I see no reason for that."
He snorted, chewing a bite of his rabbit. Morningwish shook his head, "we'll figure it out eventually."
Aspenkit bounced up, her pale brown eyes shining, "Morningwish! There you are!"
He purred at the kit, "I was out helping the medicine cats collect herbs. I have to go out again soon though, so I can't stay and play with you."
Her ears drooped, "you've been out of camp so much lately. Can't you stay with us for a bit?"
Morningwish touched his muzzle to the kit's head, "it's for a good reason, I promise. If it were less important, I would spend more time with you." From across the clearing, Hawkglare stared at Morningwish with narrowed eyes, as if contemplating something. He returned the stare, his gray eyes questioning, with faint hints of challenge. She eventually snorted and looked away, turning back to her conversation with the lithe brown tom beside her. Darkswipe glanced over towards the medicine den as Foxthistle emerged, then continued talking.
Foxthistle paused beside him, glancing between the other two cats and Morningwish for a second, "what was that about?"
"Not a clue, but I'd bet that those two," He waved a paw towards Darkswipe and Hawkglare, "know something." He finished off his rabbit, then stood to discard the bones.
The medicine cat flicked her tail at the tom, "come on, everyone else is almost ready to go." Dappledjay, Archberry, and Tigerdust were waiting by the entrance. Tigerdust was pacing agitatedly, tail lashing. The other two were mildly calm, if not still concerned about the well-being of their medicine cat.
The white tabby tom jumped up when he spotted Foxthistle and Morningwish approaching, and led the patrol out of the camp and towards the entrance to the tunnels. Foxthistle sniffed the ground in front of it, her tail swishing slowly, "I'm only picking up very faint WindClan scent that clung to edges. No other Clan or rogue scents."
The implication settled heavily over the four WindClan cats. Dappledjay ventured slowly, "so you're saying one of our Clan did this." The light brown and tabby striped she-cat beside him seemed to be in disbelief.
Her soft blue gaze was serious, "it's the only plausible explanation. The scents are too faint for me to get anything else out of it, but I highly doubt an outsider could find their way so well on the open moor like WindClan cats can."
Morningwish took a deep breath, "I say we should leave at least two of us out here to watch the entrance. Just in case."
His Clanmates nodded in agreement, "I'll stay out here and watch. If you aren't back by the time the sun has almost reached the horizon, I'll know something's wrong on your end," Archberry offered.
Tigerdust headed towards Morningwish, "I'll go with you. Dappledjay can stay out here with Archberry."
"I don't like going down there anyways," the white tabby tom nodded in agreement, taking a spot on the opposite side of the entrance from his Clanmate. Archberry settled on the other side, coiling her tail over her paws.
Morningwish ducked into the tunnel with Foxthistle behind him, and Tigerdust behind her. When they reached a bigger tunnel, Foxthistle ducked ahead of him to check for scent trails. She suddenly froze, ears going back.
He almost didn't dare to speak, "Foxthistle...what is it?"
"I smell several ThunderClan scents. Fresh. On WindClan's side of the tunnels," Her voice was both scared and angry.
Morningwish moved forward to sniff at the scents. Recognition flickered through his gaze. Baycrest's scent was barely discernible from the other tangle of scents. The RiverClan medicine cat looked over at the dark blur of his shape, "who is it?"
"Rowansand and Rippleshade," His voice was low, "let's keep going and see where the trail ends. If any of you get the feeling we're in too much danger for us to handle, tell anyone nearby, and we'll get out of here."
Tigerdust nodded slowly, the fur on her spine rising as she followed the other two cats. As they slowly moved toward the cavern with the river, a scrabble of claws on stone sounded in a nearby tunnel. His head whipped around, attempting to see who was there. While he did so, Foxthistle gave a cry of alarm just as something big and heavy hit him on the head. Tigerdust gave a low hiss that abruptly cut off as she too was hit over the head.
Morningwish attempted to raise his head, eyesight blurring. Not that he had been able to see much in the first place. Claws raked along his side, and the stone tang of blood filled his nose. Dark spots flecked in his vision as he spotted rich green eyes glinting from the shadows. A darker blur was dragging the now-limp medicine cat away from their group. He gritted his teeth and tried to stand, but someone shoved him into the nearby tunnel wall so that he hit his head again, and he lost consciousness.
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"Morningwish!" A voice spoke softly into his ear, "come on, get up." He blinked open his eyes blearily to find Archberry's concerned face in front of him. His head hurt fiercely, and he felt the sting of the wounds along his side, "we can't carry you the whole way to the camp. Come on."
The tom suddenly realized he was no longer in the tunnels, but on soft grass. A sky filled with stars met his vision as he looked upward and immediately regretted it as his headache spiked once more. He laid down again with a faint groan, "my head hurts too much."
Dappledjay poked him, "you can get poppy seeds for the pain when we get back. Tigerdust is far more unconscious than you were. Do you know where Foxthistle is? We couldn't find her when we found you...nothing other than ThunderClan scent blending with hers."
He sat up at the words, remembering. Morningwish winced, ignoring the pain in his head for the moment, "they took her. Rowansand, Rippleshade, and someone else I couldn't scent." The tom turned towards where they had laid the russet she-cat down. Her muzzle had a long claw mark on it, as well as a bite wound on her flank. His gray eyes flicked to her throat, where someone had managed to get a mild blow, as if attempting to slice through it completely and failing.
He gave a heavy sigh, wincing, "let's get her back to camp." The yellow tom helped support his Clanmate as they carried her between them, eventually making it to the camp. The tom that was guarding the entrance glanced up, relief filling his gaze, "there you are! We were beginning to wonder if a badger ate you." Irisflare looked them over, realizing someone was missing, "where's Foxthistle?"
Morningwish only shook his head, "I'll explain later. First, we need to get our wounds treated. Mainly Tigerdust." They made their way to the medicine den, where Frostpaw was very much awake.
Her head shot up in alarm as she darted over from her nest, "what happened?! Get her into a nest, now. Morningwish, sit down before you fall over." The tom flopped gratefully into a nest, attempting to ignore his growing headache.
Dappledjaw and Archberry moved aside to let the medicine apprentice inspect and treat the two cats' wounds, watching in concern. Frostpaw looked over at them, finishing up applying a poultice to the russet she-cat's wounds, "how long has Tigerdust been unconscious?"
"Ask Morningwish, he'll have a better guess than we will. We went to find them after the specified time they said they would be back above ground," the white tabby tom swished his tail.
"I'd say since at least...a bit before sundown? It's hard to say. I got hit on the head pretty badly as well," Morningwish flicked an ear. At least his wounds felt better. He sighed, resting his head on his paws.
Dappledjay muttered, "at least we have confirmation only medicine cats are being targeted."
Morningwish raised his head, gray gaze grave, "oh, I'm certain things are going to get far worse than just medicine cats going missing. Things are going to get, far, far worse."