Chapter One
"Fishpaw! Pay attention!" A tom's voice broke her thoughts as she blinked and looked to her mentor. She shook her pelt and shook away any previous thought. "Sorry, Blizzardfur." Fishpaw looked down at her paws in embarrassment. Blizzardfur gave a low sigh and pushed an herb with many white flowers on it towards Fishpaw. "What herb is this?" Asked Blizzardfur, his angry tone receding. Fishpaw sniffed the plant and wrinkled her nose at the smell. "Feverfew?" She mewed unsurely. The thick, white furred mentor nodded and picked up the herb in his jaws and set it down behind him with the plentiful pile of Feverfew. "Good job, Fishpaw. Go get yourself some prey before gathering some more daisy leaves for Acornclaw. She won't leave me alone about her aching joints..." He said, his voice trailing off as he left the den.
Fishpaw took a step into the bright sunlight and padded towards the fresh-kill pile. From the corner of her eye, she saw Eaglepaw approaching her with his mentor at his side. Her brother plopped a fish with the rest of them in the pile. "Good catch!" Fishpaw mewed eyeing the large fish. The fish gazed back with its cold, dead eyes. "Thanks! Good catch to you too," he replied while flicking a small bit of some herb off of Fishpaw's pelt. Eaglepaw's mentor, Shadepelt, snorted with laughter. The black pelted mentor padded away and mewed back at Eaglepaw, "Eat up! I'll be over here if you need me." Being a warrior apprentice looks kind of fun. Fishpaw thought as she plucked a small fish from the top of the pile.
She sat next to Eaglepaw with her prey and began to eat. The sun was high above Riverclan camp and the heat that hung in the air was subsided by a cool breeze from the northeast. Fishleap finished and nudged the rest of her prey towards Eaglepaw. "You're probably tired from hunting, so you can have mine," she meowed and stood up. "I need to gather daisy leaves for Acornclaw," she added with a flick of her tail. Her brother looked up from his meal and tilted his head. "Acornclaw? That annoying elder? I always have to pick ticks from her pelt." Her brother rolled his eyes and continued eating again. "Be respectful to elders!" she scolded. Eaglepaw ignored her scolding and finished his prey quickly before turning away to join his mentor under the shade of a large, isolated tree that stood tall above the rest of the world. What's up with him?He's being weird." Fishpaw shook away the thought.
Fishpaw raised her nose to the air to take in the scents flowing through camp, carried by the breeze. She remembered when Blizzardfur had said, "Daisies grow almost everywhere. The flowers are in bloom until leaf-bare, but we only need the leaves." She pointed her ears upward and began to scan the clearing for daisies. She stepped forward and a white flash caught her eye. A patch of daisies were dancing in the calm wind. Fishpaw's whiskers twitched and she approached the daisies with her tail lightly brushing the grass as she walked. She lowered her head to sniff the daisies. Daisies have white petals, glossy dark green leaves, a stem that is about two mouse tails high, and a bulging yellow center, she recalled as she examined the plant.
Fishpaw plucked the leaves from the plant carefully and, though positive that the plant was a daisy plant, uncertainty pricked under her pelt. What if it's not a daisy plant? Daisies and chamomile look similar... She thought, but narrowed her eyes in determination. This is a daisy plant. Her silver and white fur reflected the bright sun. Fishpaw was mainly a white cat- besides half of her face, the top of her tail, and her back which had silver tabby fur. Her amber eyes scanned the clearing once again as she padded into the center of camp. The apprentice listened to the murmuring of cats and the sounds of the flowing stream. She approached the medicine cat den with a radiating confidence that she will make her mentor proud. In her opinion, Blizzardfur could be a bit short tempered with her.
She placed the bundle of leaves in a small pile. Fishpaw spun around and brushed her tail across the earth as she stalked from the den to be greeted by Blizzardfur. What a coincidence. "Funny I'd be seeing you here," mumbled Blizzardfur through a bundle of comfrey. He entered the den and placed the herb down.
"Did you eat and get the daisy leaves?" He asked, eyeing the piles of herbs in search for the leaves.
"Yup," mewed Fishpaw.
"Come with me to the elder's den so I can show you how to help Acornclaw with her aches." He mewed then added, "So she'll leave me alone." Blizzardfur chuckled and took two daisy leaves in his jaws, beckoning Fishpaw to follow.