Chapter One
Rain. It poured through the camp, washing away the blood-filled dirt and hair. The gore from the battle, and hopefully the past tragedies, were being cleansed. SunClan was starting anew. Contrary to this, the howls of agony still filled the camp. Screams for the lost loved ones, screams for the wounds inflicted upon them, and screams from the dying. It was purifying and terrifying all at once.
Poppykit gazed on with wonder as her clanmates flitted through the camp like birds. Most of them were covered in mud, blood, or a mixture of both. Her foster mother, Rosebloom, was in the center of camp. She stood guard over Icekit and Jaykit's bodies. Face as stony as a rock.
She could see the bodies of the dead lined up in the clearing. BreezeClan's were off to the side. And the rogues were being dragged out of the camp as she watched. Then, there was a shift in attention. All of the BreezeClan cats suddenly began moving towards the medicine cat den where Lilystream had just walked out. The pounding of the rain let up just enough to where she could hear the medicine cat speak.
"You're leader will be fine, mostly. Her wound was deep, but with the help of StarClan, I was able to save her before it drained all of her lives." The cats sighed with relief, happy that they weren't left hanging by a thread, "On the other paw," Lilystream continued, "Her kits were early. I'm not sure if they'll survive the trauma." Suddenly the entire clearing was silent.
The SunClan cats, busy attending to the dead, had stopped their work. Lilystream looked on as she finished, "Amberstar will stay here with the kits until I see fit that they can go back to BreezeClan's camp."
Gingerlight, the BreezeClan deputy and Amberstar's sister, stepped forward, "We had no knowledge of Amberstar's kits until a moment ago. BreezeClan will return to our camp. We trust that you will harbor Amberstar safely until her kits are strong enough to go." She flicked her tail to signal to the others.
Slowly, they filtered out of camp, shouldering their fallen clanmates as they went. When they had all left Hawkstar limped up to the medicine cat. Poppykit strained to hear their conversation, but it was too low and rushed.
Giving up on that point of interest, she scanned the camp for any further excitement. Her eye lingered on an unfamiliar she-cat. She must've been a leftover rogue. She had long, brindle fur with a white underbelly. Her eyes were sharp and yellow. She held herself with a sort of dignity Poppykit was unused to. Surrounding her was a guard of four cats.
Glancing over her shoulder she noticed that all the queens were busy fixing the damages done to the nursery. Also, the rest of the kits had fallen back asleep in one of the corners. Nobody would notice if she slipped out. Carefully, she padded around the rest of the wall and skirted into the shadows cast by the tall oak trees surrounding camp.
Slowly, she padded underneath roots and twigs poking out from the thorn-stick barrier. When she got close to the warrior guard around the she-cat she paused, hiding underneath a large cluster of weeds. Poppykit stared intently, looking for any way she could sneak past them.
Her hopes were dashed when Hawkstar and Blackear suddenly came forward to talk to her, "Rogue! What is your name?" her leader demanded.
The she-cat narrowed her eyes and hissed back, "What use is my name to you, forest cat?"
Hawkstar spat back, equally as furious, "You will do as I say and tell me what I need to know!" Calming down slightly he added, "Or, I can let my warriors take care of you. I'm sure they're more than willing to take their revenge for their fallen clanmates."
The she-cat's opened her eyes a bit more but her angry demeanor did not vanish, "My name is Ruisseau."
"Ruisseau…were you one of Off's followers?" he asked next.
"Oui…I mean, yes." She replied, "But, I was more forced than anything else."
Hawkstar nodded his head warily, "How many of you are left?"
Ruisseau seemed to think for a while, "Ten to fifteen. It's hard to keep an exact number anymore."
Blackear's eyes widened, "Hawkstar, we cannot take another attack by so many. We can't survive that."
Ruisseau spoke up again, "They are mostly queens and kits, forced into Off's service. There are only several, as you would call it, warriors left of our group."
Badgerstorm padded up to the group, "There are thirteen rogues dead, Hawkstar. I've talked with the other warriors too. They seem to think there are four or five wandering the woods or returned to their camp that escaped."
Hawkstar nodded his head thoughtfully, "Blackear, organize a patrol of any able-bodied warriors left. That includes apprentices. Then, go into the twoleg-place and break up the group left."
"What if they don't believe us?" Blackear asked.
"Take Ruisseau, she'll be able to confirm that Off's dead." Hawkstar replied.
At this point Poppykit was nearly shaking with excitement. If only she were an apprentice…
Her thoughts of joining the raiding party suddenly vanished. She had watched as the cats were killed in the battle. She had seen Icekit and Jaykit murdered by one of the rogues. Did she really want to be a part of that?
Slowly, she backed up, out of the weeds, right into Lilystream's leg. She froze for a second before turning around. The medicine cat, jaws full of cobweb, was staring down at the kit in dismay.
She set down the bundle of web before saying anything, "What are you doing out of the nursery?"
Poppykit, thinking of nothing good to say, just shrugged her shoulders.
Lilystream shook her head, "Honestly, if you aren't the most adventurous thing ever…!"
Poppykit knew that she was about to take her back to the nursery. Thinking fast she asked, "I was wondering if I could help you with the herbs!" she rushed.
Lilystream was slightly taken aback for a moment, "Well, I am shorthanded at the moment…alright, but you must do exactly as I say." Poppykit nearly sighed with relief. She definitely didn't want to get scolded by any of the queens.
The medicine cat led her to her den. Inside it was cool and comfortable, not stuffy like the rest of the camp felt. On the far side of the den were two nests with various herbs piled near them. Each separate pile was on its own large leaf. All of it was neat and orderly.
Nearer to the front were nests, some of them full, some of them empty. A foreign cat, who Poppykit guessed was Amberstar, slept peacefully along with three tiny kits. Each no longer than her tail.
Feathertail padded into the den just as Lilystream was about to hand her some herbs.
Seeing the kit with her Feathertail said, "Is something wrong with Poppykit?"
Lilystream shook her head, "No, she just wanted to help with the hurt, didn't you?" Poppykit nodded her head.
"Lilystream?" Feathertail asked.
"Yes, what is it?"
The warriors eyes rested on Poppykit's for a moment, "We need to talk outside…"
Sensing the urgency in her tone the medicine cat turned to the kit, "I'll be right back. Don't touch or eat anything."
Once they had left the den, she dashed up to the entrance and strained to hear what the two she-cat were saying.
"-found him by the stream. I'm so sorry." Feathertail finished.
Lilystream's voice sounded choked up, "He was a brave cat. I'm sure his sister will help him to StarClan safely."
"I can help finish up with healing. You should rest."
The medicine cat's voice was suddenly free of emotion, "No. It's my duty to heal and comfort the clan. And that is exactly what I'm going to do. I can't afford to fail them now." Her pawsteps suddenly started coming back towards the den. Poppykit started backwards and tripped over a rock.
The next thing she knew she had landed head-first in a large pile of roots. Lilystream came in, paused for a moment, and burst out laughing. Poppykit wriggled her way out of the mess of roots and sat indignant, smoothing her fur.
"I'm sorry Poppykit. I guess with all of the terrible things happening, my body just needed to be cheered up in one way or another." Lilystream apologized.
Poppykit decided to act like it didn't happen and continued on, "Could you please tell me the herbs please?"
Lilystream smiled, "Sure." She pointed her tail at a pile of small blue berries, "These are juniper berries. I want you to start out by taking these to the elders for me." She separated several of them and wrapped them in a leaf so that Poppykit could carry them easily.
"What do they do?" Poppykit asked. She was genuinely curious, but she didn't want it to show.
"It does a lot of different things, but we're going to use it today to help calm down the elders. I don't want them to go into shock. Give them two berries each."
Poppykit nodded her head and picked up the small bundle. Pacing herself, so that she didn't spill any, she padded out of the den. Thankfully, the elders' den was directly behind the large tangle of roots that was the medicine cat den. It was carefully woven into the wall of the SunClan camp. Wildflowers covered its entrance, making it seemingly invisible. If the attack had been predicted, the queens and kits would've been hidden inside this den.
She also noted that several of these flowers were in tiny piles inside Lilystream's den. They must've doubled as herbs for something. She shouldered her way through the flowers into the den, nearly dropping her bundle in the process.
Brightstripe saw her first, "Poppykit! What are you doing outside of the nursery in a time like this?" she asked worriedly.
"I helping Lilystream wif da herb." She said through the bundle of herbs.
Brightstripe smiled and called Pooltree over, who was sleeping in the corner. When he joined the two she-cats Poppykit dropped the leaf on the ground. She separated the four berries into two piles of two.
"Lilystream told me to give you two each." Brightstripe nodded her head and licked up her share. Pooltree did the same, but more cautiously.
"Thank you Poppykit." The elder she-cat said. When Pooltree said nothing she tapped him with her tail and shot him a glare.
He cleared his throat gruffly, "Uh, yah, thanks." He then returned to his nest and curled back up.
Poppykit rolled her eyes and left. Even though Pooltree had been less than nice, she had liked helping him. When she got back to the medicine den, Lilystream was mostly done tending to warriors. She and Feathertail had gotten most of the work done. Petalpaw, Amberstar, and several other seriously injured warriors were all sleeping.
But, a new sadness hung in the air. Lilystream was in the back of the den, rolling up one of the two nests. Poppykit sat down in the entrance instead of walking up to the medicine cat. She sensed that whatever had happened wasn't good, and that she shouldn't intrude.
When Lilystream finished cleaning the nest up she picked it up in her jaws. When she turned around she finally noticed Poppykit standing in her den. She dropped the ball of moss and said, "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't see you there. What can I do for you?"
Not wanting to bring up what she guessed had happened to Thrushtail she said, "I was wondering what some of the other herbs did. Could you tell me?"
Lilystream smiled sadly and nodded her head, "Sure, come with me."
Poppykit followed her to the back of the den where a pile of seeds lay, "These are poppy seeds. I mostly use them to make cats go to sleep, but they can also be used to alleviate some minor pain."
The black kit looked incredulously at the pile, "Those tiny seeds can do that much?"
Lilystream nodded her head, "That and more. But, there are too many uses to describe right now.
Poppykit pointed at a pile set aside from the others, "What about those? Those look just like poppy seeds."
Lilystream, seeing where she was pointing, narrowed her eyes, "Those are foxglove seeds. They are very poisonous when used incorrectly."
"Why do you have them in here then?"
"If you use the right dosage, at the right time, for the right reason, they can save a cat. But, other than that, they can cause your heart to stop or paralysis."
Poppykit's eyes widened. She was suddenly glad that she was named after a helpful herb rather than its deadly look-a-like.
After a while, she lost track of how much time she had spent in the medicine cat den. Every herb proved to be just as interesting as the last. One of them, comfrey root, could repair broken bones, wrenched claws, and itching!
As she padded back to the nursery, the only thing she could think of was helping heal other cats. Unlike some of her denmates, who dreamt of becoming great fighters and defenders of SunClan, she could only think of healing. Being a peaceful mediator rather than starting a fray.
But, did she really want to be a medicine cat, or was it a spur-of-the-moment decision. Her uncle had been a medicine cat apprentice until this night. That meant that Lilystream could have an apprentice. And even though Thrushtail had died, she knew that he would support her no matter what.
Seeing that her sisters were asleep she closed her eyes tight and sent a pray to StarClan, "Thrushtail, if you can hear me, please send me some sort of sign. A sign telling me what I should do."
Before long she was asleep. Her dreams were filled with scenes from the battle, replaying over and over in her head. The worst part was when the rogues broke into the nursery. Only Cinderfur, Bluepaw, and Brownpaw had been defending them. Rosebloom had left to help with the bulk of the attack.
She had cowered behind the gray queen as she watched the two apprentices get killed. Stepping over their bodies they had entered the nursery. Cinderfur had leapt at them, hoping to tear them apart bit by bit. But they had been too much for her. While one fought with Cinderfur, the other moved onto the kits.
Berrykit and Jaykit had run forward and bit his legs, trying to distract him. He shook off Berrykit, sending him flying into a wall, and picked up the smaller Jaykit by his neck. With one powerful bite he had snapped his neck. He dropped the now dead kit on the ground and returned to the rest of them.
Luckily, Rosebloom returned to the nursery to help with Cinderfur. They chased off the cat she had been fighting and turned on the other rogue. He was fast though, with one swift movement he had picked up Icekit, who was the closest, and killed her in the same manner as her brother.
Rosebloom and Cinderfur attacked him, killing him right in front of them. By that time the battle was almost over. They had enough time to drag the rogue's body out of the den. Both she-cats gingerly picked up the kits' bodies and took them out of the nursery too.
Her eyes fluttered open. It was long past sun-high when she woke up. But, considering the previous night had kept her awake nearly 'til dawn, she wasn't ashamed. She stretched when she got up and padded out of the nursery. The camp was still buzzing with activity as she observed. Her eyes eventually fell on Lilystream, who was sharing some prey with Rosebloom. As she watched, something red caught her vision. Falling from the trees was a small, red poppy flower. A bird must've dropped it.
Poppykit watched amused as it sailed through the air. It floated until if finally landed on the ground, right next to Lilystream. She sucked in her breath, could this be the sign she had asked for? Almost as if she had heard her thoughts, Lilystream turned around. The flower rolled on a small breeze until it stopped right on her paws.
She looked down on it in wonder and then looked right at Poppykit standing in the nursery's entrance. Poppykit glanced away; embarrassed that she had been caught staring. Out of the corner of her vision she saw Lilystream smile. She picked up the flower and returned to her den.
Poppykit shoulders sank in relief. She finally knew what she wanted to do. She wasn't cut out to fight. She didn't want to be around killing and destruction her whole life. She wanted to be a medicine cat.
