Disclaimer: If I owned Warriors Ferncloud wouldn't have had so many kits.
A/N: I don't own the idea, either, that right goes to Russell-Scottie. Thanks for letting me adopt this story from you and for beta-reading this. :)
"We all make mistakes. Some have echoes that last forever."
-Littlecloud in Fading Echoes, page 213
Sunlight filtered through the leaves of the trees overhead, amber eyes blinking through the haze that clouded her mind from her recent doze in the warriors' den. She glanced around, amber eyes shifting hesitantly, her mottled brown tabby fur standing out against the bright blue of the lake, the patrol weaving around the curve of the ThunderClan territory. Her brown coat soaked up the rays, which would be few to spare with the oncoming leaf-bare season.
"Leafpool!"
Perking her ears, she glanced over towards the voice, humming in greeting as the golden-brown tabby tom approached her. Dipping her head, she offered a small ghost of a smile that seemed to have been plastered on her face for the past few moons. "Jayfeather sent me to escort you back to camp. Something about Briarlight." Blinking her warm amber eyes she nodded, before starting to trek towards the camp. "Hey! I was supposed to escort you!"
"...Oh, I'm very sure you'd want to escort me, Thornclaw," Leafpool called over her shoulder, her tone very sour and bitter, rivaling that of Yellowfang's and severely startling the older warrior. "I can walk there by myself, thank you."
Trotting carefully, she glanced up a few times, warily, as if expecting something to just fall from the sky. Sighing, she trotted on; dragging her small white paws up through the frost-ridden leaves that clung to the ground is a wet bundle. She shook her head, scolding herself, You shouldn't have said those things to Thornclaw. He still tolerates you. She blinked and frowned somberly, the rather-negative voice in her head whispering back, Unlike the rest of your Clan.
Brushing it aside, she continued to march on, the mud staining her paws brown, a rather dirty color compared to her soft and gentle fawn-colored coat. Her amber eyes, an uneven mix between a brown and a yellow, looking browner but still in fact amber, flickered around the territory. She drank in the scent of the forest, her paws tingling with anticipation. A small smile pulled the corner of her lips upwards, her long white whiskers twitching gently, her pale pink nose wiggling ever so slightly, her ears flicking forward and backward. She didn't know why she suddenly got all jittery, perhaps because Jayfeather had requested to see her. Yes, that was most likely it. Her kits, her wondrous kits, had dislocated themselves from her, and it came as a great joy to know that her own son had wanted to see her, even if it was for something like helping Briarlight, because that still meant he acknowledged her.
She meowed happily to herself, her tail flagging out behind her as she trotted on her way. The gentle sound of splashing caught her attention and she turned to glance over, the strong scent of ShadowClan reaching her nose. Her nose wrinkled a little as she shook her head, her ears flattening against her skull, the gentle whisper of fur against fur being muffled, her sharp eyes glancing around, before narrowing her eyes finally. The familiar scent of ThunderClan wafting through her nostrils confirmed that she was still in ThunderClan territory, which meant that she wasn't too far from ShadowClan territory then. We were near the Halfbridge, she mused to herself, I haven't traveled too far anyways. So ShadowClan cats are bound to be near here and-
"Leafpool?"
She mentally stumbled over her musings, her train of thought lost, and she glanced over uncertainly, momentarily forgetting the name of the tom who spoke to her. She blinked into the darkness, the scent of ShadowClan invading her nose, causing her to sneeze involuntarily. She shivered, blinking through the confusion that the voice had caused her. Crowfeather..? Her inner monologue involuntarily murmurered, before she chuckled. Crowfeather isn't in ShadowClan.
"Do you have a chill, Leafpool? Feverfew can cool down your bodily temperature, but I'm sure you already know that, but I don't think it grows in your territory.. Lavender could help too."
Suddenly, she understood, and she shook her head, smiling, "No, Littlecloud." She chuckled, "I'm fine. You.. just surprised me... that's all." She smiled tensely, barely making out the form of the other brown tabby tom. The light blue eyes glittered in the darkness, small brown paws shuffling forward as the ShadowClan tom moved forward, smiling gently in reassurance as he seated himself on his side of the border, his fur and skin clinging to his frame, making him look dreadfully skinny, but then again he had always been a very small tom anyways. She blinked before dipping her head in a late greeting, "Looking for a herb, I presume?"
"Yes."
The silence that greeted them was a comfortable one, and she smiled at him, the thought of having to go to camp left her mind momentarily. She wrapped her tail around her petite paws, which were small, even compared to Littlecloud's own, her thicker but shorter tail flicking gently at the tip. "Are you going to the Gathering, Littlecloud?"
His blue eyes widened in surprise momentarily, before he nodded, his brown nose wiggling ever so slightly as Leafpool stared intently at his face, realizing a bit too late at her error. "Yes, I will, all medicine cats are required to go, including their apprentices." What is he... realization hit. He has an apprentice? He coughed, then nodded, as if reading Leafpool's mind, before breaking down into a mini-coughing fit, a pair of amber eyes watching him curiously. "Kinkfur's kit, Mistkit, or I suppose, Mistpaw, is my apprentice. She became an apprentice this moon," he managed to muster. He glanced down at his paws, suddenly somber and withdrawn, as they both recalled Flametail, the former medicine cat apprentice who unfortunately drowned a few moons back. "I took another apprentice because I'll need one soon." The silence between them stretched and suddenly grew uncomfortable, the former medicine cat tensing as if bracing for a storm. But all that Littlecloud spoke was, "I know she'll make an excellent medicine cat." He broke into a coughing fit and Leafpool glanced meaningfully at him but he brushed it off, "I'm fine, just a small cough. Don't look at me like that, Leafpool." She continued to stare at him and he sighed, "Alright, alright. I promise to make sure the cough doesn't progress." He chuckled lightly, "Satisfied?"
She smiled coyly and nodded curtly. "Yes. But I'd prefer if you ate some catmint as well, to help prevent the whitecough." He tensed briefly, and Leafpool noticed this and opened her mouth to add something else when he relaxed and nodded. ..Perhaps it wasn't whitecough he had caught? She blinked warily at him, her amber eyes flickering briefly over his frame. Everything seemed fine... Maybe he just only had a cough, but she knew, as an ex-medicine cat that the cough could quickly grow into whitecough and then the deadly greencough, which has already claimed the lives of many before them. Suddenly she blanched and leapt to her petite paws, "I must be off, Littlecloud. Jayfeather has need of me."
"Of course, I mustn't keep you long, I was only intending to inquire if it really was you. It was nice seeing you again," Littlecloud meowed with amusement as Leafpool nodded, then flicked the tip of her tail in a form of goodbye and bolted away, her speed rivaling that of a WindClan cat's, her steps quick and hurried and quite sloppy as she almost stumbled, then caught herself and continued on her way. Her brown and white paws moved with a slight blur, and she passed by Thornclaw again, who merely muttered after her to hurry up despite her being the one running past him, and to stop messing around, or something like that. Her paws suddenly slowed, and the ache filled her chest, a sort of hollowness and she suddenly took on a grim expression, her amber eyes blinking, a haunted look filling the depths, making them look more brown then ever and less amber than they actually were.
She had been brimmed with fear at the sound of Littlecloud's voice, before she had realized who it was, the foreign swampy-pine scent of ShadowClan had drifted over her, and for once she had felt accepted. Littlecloud had been a sort of father-figure to her for the longest time, a sort of substitute for Firestar when he was fussing over StarClan-knows-what. They were the best of friends after Cinderpelt died, all those many moons ago, but of course she knew that Cinderheart was really the reincarnated form of Cinderpelt, but it just wasn't the same. There was Mothwing still, but they weren't on good terms, if Leafpool recalled correctly, although she couldn't recall why. Maybe they had always been distant, in a way, ever since Leafpool became a warrior. But Littlecloud... he had always accepted her, even when he found out that she had kits and that she had stepped down from her position as medicine cat. He accepted her more than her own Clan ever did, even when she had once tried explaining that it was for the good of her Clan, which she had chosen over her heart. She could have run away with Crowfeather, but she didn't, no, she had decided her Clan was worth it. This was the thanks she gets?
She shook her head in disbelief, the ache consuming her, almost causing her to stumble when she tried walking again. She huffed in slight annoyance, the ache becoming a filtering pain that flitted throughout her entire body. She blinked, her eyes narrowing a bit as she endured it. Guilt bit at her like rabid dogs tearing her apart, and she wondered briefly if this was how it felt when Brightheart was mauled by them. Then rejection set in after the guilt and she realized that no matter how hard she could cry, ThunderClan would never completely accept her, never forgive her for her lies and treachery.
She sighed, shaking her head grimly. Perhaps the upcoming Gathering can change all that.. Hm, I wonder if Littlecloud can make it.. She would probably request to go, even if it was just to see her best medicine cat friend again. She chuckled at the thought. What an odd pair they must be, an ex-medicine cat who mothered the Three -of course she knew about the Prophecy, since the Great Battle being over- and a frail medicine cat who mentored an apprentice who drowned. She frowned, thinking that over, shaking her head lightly, it just didn't sound right anyways. Hm.. She nearly choked on her saliva, doing a double-take. Littlecloud had looked frail, how could they be certain he would make it to the Gathering the next night? He had been coughing up a storm! How had she brushed it off? Would he even be able to manage an apprentice by himself, Leafpool wondered. Perhaps I can be of assistance... She thought brightly. The brown tabby's pace quickened to what it was before, the ache in her chest throbbing to the rhythm of her paws. She had to tend to Jayfeather and Briarloght first, before she proposed her plan. And, oh StarClan, was it a brilliant plan, even by her standards.