Chapter Four
Talonpaw let out a wail as she plummeted to the forest floor. Her cat instincts were kicking in, her tail waved to balance her so she would land on her paws. Branches and twigs flew in front of her, scratching her and jabbing.
Thud!
She hit the forest floor, all four paws on the ground. The impact sent pain jolting through her, and she crumpled to the ground. She was faintly aware of Snowpaw, Thrushpaw and Stormtail crowding over her. She felt a pounding in her head, and a burning in her side. The last thing she saw were Thrushpaw's forest green eyes, before she was enveloped by darkness.
"Talonpaw! Talonpaw, please wake up!" Talonpaw could hear a faint whimpering.
"Sshh! Don't disturb her!" came another voice, sharp with worry.
"It's alright Swiftbreeze. See? She is already awake."
The injured apprentice opened her eyes. She was in the medicine cat's den, Swiftbreeze, Snowpaw and Shadowclaw, ThunderClan's medicine cat, standing over her.
"Talonpaw?" Adderfang pushed through the entrance of the den. Adderfang was usually stoic, and showed little emotion, but now his face was creased with worry.
Swiftbreeze brushed her head against his shoulder. "She just woke up." The pretty queen swung her head to face Shadowclaw. "How is she doing?"
"She is a strong cat, and I think will be able to pull through this ordeal. But I'm not sure how long she will have to stay with me. She took a very bad fall."
"What could Larksong and the other mentors have been thinking?" Swiftbreeze's face hardened. She was angry. "They aught to know better! Larksong, our most seasoned warrior! She should know that not all cats are as good at climbing as she is!"
"I'm sorry Swiftbreeze," a voice murmured sadly from the den entrance. "You are right."
Talonpaw tried to turn her head to see Larksong, but fell back with a gasp of pain. Her neck felt twisted and her head burned like fire.
Shadowclaw pushed her down with a paw. "Do not try to move, understand? You fell out of the Great Sycamore when you weren't even half way down." He turned to his patient's kin. "Out you go now, Goosepaw and I will take care of her. I need plenty of room to put a fresh compress on her side. Larksong, you can come see her later."
After they had left, the black cat turned to Talonpaw and began to remove cobwebs and sticky herb pulp from her side. "Talonpaw, do you want to know exactly what happened to you?"
She nodded weakly.
"Well, I'm going to be very straight forward with you. While you were falling, a branch stabbed you in the side. You were exceedingly lucky, it fell just a whisker's length of puncturing your stomach. You also got hit in the head." He tried to lighten the situation with a small purr. "When I got to where you were, you had a lump on your head the size of High Rock! Thank StarClan though, you didn't break any of your legs. You are doing fine, and will recover soon enough. It's sunset of the same day."
He padded away and came back a few minutes later with more herbs. "This is marigold, it will keep away infection."
"Can I stand?" Talonpaw asked suddenly.
The other cat looked surprised. "Why don't you try?"
She shifted around in her nest until she was on her belly. Painfully, very slowly she put her weight on her paws. She stood, legs trembling with the effort. She fell back with a gasp.
"She should lie still now." She looked up and saw Goosepaw coming in. He carried a stinking ball of moss.
Mouse bile. Ew, that better not be for me.
"Yes." Shadowclaw agreed. "Would you like any visitors Talonpaw?"
She nodded. "May I see Stormtail and Larksong? And -" She stopped.
Shadowclaw narrowed his eyes. "Who?"
Goosepaw's eyes gleamed with mischief. "I'll tell Thrushpaw you want to see him."
"No!" Talonpaw bit her lip, embarrassed. "OK, fine, whatever." She turned her head, hoping her ears weren't red. News got around fast in the clan, and she was trying to keep it a secret that she liked Thrushpaw. She couldn't bear being told she was mooning over him again, the way Leopardpaw and Snowpaw had said. She had tried hard not to make it obvious.
Moments later, Stormtail and Larksong walked in. They mumbled hello, and seemed sad. They started muttering a few jumbled words about the fresh kill pile being well stocked. Talonpaw interrupted them.
"It isn't your fault that I fell."
"Yes it is!" Larksong nearly wailed. "I should have known better than to let a couple of apprentices to climb the Great Sycamore!"
"I should have stopped you from doing it." Stormtail's tail tip twitched. "I'm your mentor, and it's my duty to protect you."
"Hey, it was mine and Patchpaw's decision in the end. And it was stupid of me to climb that high. I hadn't really realized how high I had gotten, until I was there." The tabby apprentice couldn't help but sound a little boastful. "I climbed to the very top of the Great Sycamore! It was amazing. I was so high, I felt that if I reached out my paw, I would touch the pelt's of our ancestors."
"But you got hurt." Larksong's eyes were large, dark and sad.
"I survived." Talonpaw pointed out. "I know I'm stuck here in the medicine den, but hey, I'm not going to die. Pretty soon I'll be out of here, and I can have my final assessment, and become a warrior with Thrushpaw and Snowpaw. Right?"
Larksong and Stormtail exchanged a look. Stormtail looked angry, with Larksong or some one.
"Talonpaw," Larksong began gently. "The race was your final assessment. Thrushpaw and Snowpaw are being made warriors tonight."
