Moonheart woke by the sound of the rain making sound on the ferns. Thornwhisker… Thornwhisker was a cat she almost loved. She trusted him a lot, and many cats in all four clans trusted him. He was a strong and brave tom with bright blue eyes. His mate, Ripplestream, was her sister. Oh, no! Ripplestream! Is she in danger? Moonheart shook her head in the thought of her sister. No, it's not Thornwhisker. Even if it was him, Ripplestream is safe for now. The two cats have been in a fight recently, and they seemed very annoyed by each other.
"Moonheart, Raindrop has caught greencough. Do you want me to go fetch catmint?" Her apprentice, Cherrypaw asked.
"Yes, please. Oh, and Cherrypaw, will you look out for horsetail too? Sunstream has an infected wound."
The pretty orange tabby replied. "Sure." The apprentice bounded off, and she saw Thornwhisker padding into the warriors den. She scented stiffness in the cat. She called, "Thornwhisker! Come over here. I think you need goldenrods!"
"Ok, just a moment." The tom walked toward his apprentice, Whitepaw. He murmured something into his ears and walked away. She saw Whitepaw's ear twitch.
"What got you so stiff?"
"I fell into the lake yesterday. I caught a cough, but Cherrypaw gave me tansy and I recovered. I think this stiffness came from the fall."
"I see. But Cherrypaw never mentioned it to me. Here, the poultice is done."
"Thanks."
"Keep good care of yourself. You shouldn't go on patrols until you have recovered completely."
"Ok."
The warrior walked away. Moonheart watched him head into the den for a good sleep. Good. She told herself. He would recover sooner if he gets good rests.
The hunting patrol has returned and the fresh-kill pile was full. Two kits from the nursery came bouncing to the pile.
"Look! This vole looks fat and tasty!"
"I'm going to catch voles like that when I become an apprentice!"
"Yeah, right. You make too much noise when you move. The prey would run away before you say mouse."
"I can learn, you mouse-brain!" Then the two kits carried the vole into the nursery. Moonheart padded over to her leader's den.
"Come in." her leader mewed from inside.
"Firestar, can you send some warriors to find herbs? We are running out of herbs, only enough of each kind to treat only one cat. Tansy has already ran out."
"Ok. You can collect warriors by your choice. But make sure you bring Darkwhisker with you. He is a good finder of all creatures."
"Sure." Moonheart raced over to her sister.
"Ripplestream! Can you bring some warriors and find herbs for me?"
"Ok, what do you need?"
"I need poppy seeds, honey, borage leaves, juniper berries, and poison ivy. Just those for now. And if you can find marigold, that would be awesome."
"So much! How am I supposed to memorize all of them?" Her sister joked. Knowing that her sister had a great skill of memorizing, she concluded that her sister was just tired.
"We have run out of most of them after the battle with WindClan. And there was the daylight Gathering incident that used up the herbs too."
"Ok, fine. Where's Cherrypaw?"
"She's off looking for catmint."
"Oh. Ok, I'll see you later!" The she-cat trotted off to find warriors to help her. Moonheart caught a glimpse of Thornwhisker, staring at Ripplestream. She shook her head and headed in the nursery to check that Soottail was fine. She has caught cough just a few weeks ago.
"Soottail, it's me. I have come to check up with your health."
"I'm fine."
"You look really tired. I can hold onto your kits for a while. Do you want me to?"
"That would be nice. I want a good night's sleep."
"Ok, you don't mind me bringing these kits in my den right?"
"I'm fine with that."
"I'll fetch you some borage leaves when Ripplestream returns from her herbs expedition." But the white queen's eyes were already closed.
"Creamkit, Goldkit, Beigekit!" She called out. Three small blobs of white and beige came running to her. "What were you kits doing out there? Your mother is tired. Come on, let's go to my den. We'll have some fun there."
Though Moonheart could never know the feeling of love, the feeling of having kits, the feeling of her kits running around in the nursery, she knew kits well enough to keep them on the ground. She called Creamkit, the one who looked most interested in medicine cat business. "Creamkit, I want you to help me sort out nettle leaves."
The kit's face brightened. "Sure!" Then Moonheart looked at Beigekit, the naughtiest one. His face was unreadable, but she was guessing he would only cause trouble if she doesn't keep the cat busy.
"Beigekit, I want you to help the apprentices find good places for fresh moss. You know where fresh mosses grow, don't you? I remember you going around in the ThunderClan territory looking for trouble, and you had a fresh scent of moss on your pelt. And when you're done with it, you may help the apprentices with ticks in the elder's pelt.
"Yuck! Why do I have the most disgusting job? It's unfair!"
"Beigekit, I'm giving you an apprentice's job. That means I trust you. I'm sure you would become a fine apprentice."
Beigekit looked happier. He smiled at her, and mewed, "Ok. I'll come and help Creamkit when I'm done with my work."
Moonheart looked at Goldkit, the slowest one. Goldkit was born earlier than the other two and stronger ever since he was born. She knew Goldkit would be a fine warrior if he tried, but his laziness slowed him. She was going to change this kit into a jumpier one.
"Goldkit, I want you to follow Ripplestream's patrol and find as many herbs you can collect for me. The warriors and apprentices won't wait for you till you catch up with them, so I want you to move fast, keeping pace with them so you don't get lost."
"I can go out of camp?"
"Yes, you are healthier than most kits and you are bigger, too. But you must keep up with the warriors, or I will tell Firestar about delaying your apprenticeship." The gold-pelted kit's apprenticeship was already delayed, and he was going to be an apprentice tomorrow. She knew this kit was dying to become one.
"Ok, I could be sure I will keep up with them. And plus, I'm eight moons old now!"Moonheart knew this kit was right. Goldkit was older than Creamkit and Beigekit. His littermate, Moonkit, died so he was alone for a few moons. He was lonely ever since that and his slowness kept him in more. After Moonheart assigned these kits their jobs, she looked for nettle leaves for Creamkit and borage leaves for Soottail. There was just enough of borage leaves for Soottail.
When night has fallen, her herbs were restocked. Moonheart was tired. She wanted to sleep, but she couldn't. Her mind was whirling around by the thought of her endangered sister. Then she saw a flicker of movement outside of the den. She noticed a strong and muscular tom going out of camp alone. Is that…Thornwhisker?