The young tabby turned over the moss bedding. She yelped as she lied on a thorn
I'll make Duskpaw in crowfood, she thought grimly. She rose up off her side and walked out of the den, her pelt sore. As she padded to the medicine cat's den, the thorn lodged further into her flank.
"Aldershade!" she called.
A gray speckled tom rose to his paws, stretching and gave a lazy yawn. He looked past the she-cat and looked outside.
"Can you atleast bother to wake me at sun-high?" he muttered.
The tabby looked behind her. She hadn't noticed but it was about moon-high; midnight.
"Well," Aldershade growled. "What's the problem?"
"When I asked Duskpaw to fetch me fresh moss yesterday, I expected him to give a thurough search for thorns," she snarled. "Now one's stuck in my pelt."
Aldershade walked over to her. He looked around, moving around her fur with his paw. When he found the thorn, he accidently gave it a push and blood starting oozing out. The tabby winced in pain.
"This is pretty bad, Brindlelight," he said. "It may be infected."
"If it is," Brindlelight started. "I'll flay Duskpaw like a badger with fleas!"
Aldershade gave a mrrrow of amusement. He pressed his muzzle against her flank, searching for the thorn. He found it, carefully tugging it out of her side. The wound let out more blood, making Alderthorn quick to run over to his herb store. He grabbed some cobwebs and splayed them along Brindlelight's pelt.
"Yup," he said. "You can go and turn that apprentice to crow-food. It's infected."
The tabby groaned. "Will I have to stay away from my warrior duties?"
Aldershade nodded, getting more herbs. He grabbed some chervil and headed back to Brindlelight. He beckoned his tail to tell her to lay down, chewing up the leaves. He removed the cobwebs when the blood was soaked up and applied the juice of the chervil. He looked so content as a medicine cat.
"How do you do it?" Brindlelight asked.
"Do what?" Aldershade questioned, cocking his head as he sat down beside her.
"Being a medicine cat, healing cats and everything," she explained. "How do you do it without wanting to be a warrior?"
"Well," he started. "The life of hunting and fighting doesn't appeal to me. Plus-" he added, sitting up straight. "I feel closer to StarClan. Our warrior ancestors are the ones who shape our destinies. Wouldn't it be cool to be close to those who shape the cats around us?"
Brindlelight nodded, blinking as if she was saying "good point".
Aldershade got back up. "Well, I'll be going collecting some herbs," he said, going towards the entrance. "I'm low on borage. I'll need it with all the kits around."
The brown tabby lied down, and soon enough, she fell back asleep.