It was morning in Skyclan camp, and the warriors were surrounding the clearing, ready to be assigned to a patrol. Leafdrop, the clan deputy, stood in the center, sending a call for attention for the warriors. The clan's eyes gleamed with hunger and exhaustion, yet each held a fire of determination in their depths. Despite the illness that ravaged their clan, the Skyclan warriors were holding on, brave and hopeful. That is, except for a lone warrior, that cowered in the far reaches of the warrior's den, fearful and hidden.
Oakleap huddled in the farthest corner of the den. He had barely went outside in days, terror seizing his heart in a cold grip every time he left. He stared warrily at the entrance. The pale light of morning shining through the opening.
Voices were muttering outside the den. He prayed that they weren't discussing him. Patrols must be starting soon, but he hoped they would simply forget about him. Leafdrop had thrown an angry fit his second day of hiding, and now he was on his fifth.
Oakleap felt guilty about hiding away while his clanmates were working, but... He didn't want to die. He was scared, no, terrified. Cats were getting sick, and Bushfang wasn't healing them. Just the other day he had been speaking with Mistblaze, and she was perfectly fine... And then the next day... She wasn't... He had convinced himself that if he stayed put, maybe the disease wouldn't find him.
A shadow suddenly blocked the light from the entrance. Wait... Not a shadow, but a black furred cat. A black cat that was storming her way into the den. She stopped right infront of Oakleap and glared down at him, outrage gleaming in her eyes. Day five was not his lucky day.
"Oakleap," Ravenstar hissed, tail lashing as she stared down at her cowardly warrior, "now, I know you're not trying to skip out on your duties again are you?" Oakleap flinched beneath her glare, his pelt spiked with fear and alarm.
"I-I-" He began to stammer, looking for something to say, but the Skyclan leader cut him off.
"Outside. Now." Ravenstar spat, cuffing him over the head with her paw. The gray tom scrabbled to his paws and tried to cower away from her, desperately searching for something to say. He couldn't leave... He couldn't!
"B-but the sickness!" He wailed, desperate for her to understand his fear, but Ravenstar was not having it. He looked back up to her face, and flinched at the dark expression she wore.
"The sickness should be the last thing you're scared of when facing me. I gave you an order. Act like a warrior or you'll be banished. Skyclan will not tolerate cowards." She hissed, hatred leaking out of every word.
Oakleap didn't need to be told a third time. He scrambled out of the den, the light blinding him momentarily. As his eyes adjusted, he saw the other warriors watching him with narrowed eyes. He'd made them all work harder to make up for his slack the past few days, so it was clear that they were unhappy with him.
He trembled slightly, and slowly made his way to where the others were gathered, sitting himself a little distance away from them. Ravenstar exited the warrior's den, and sent him one last glare before making her way to the Medicean den. Ravenstar had been helping Bushfang recently now that the Medicean cat was becoming overworked.
Leafdrop sent him a smirk before beginning to assign the patrols. Oakleap could aware that the deputy was always after him.
"Finally deciding to be of use to your clan I see." He sneered, contempt in his mew. The tabby tom had no patience or pity for those who would hide away rather than protect their clan. He dispised cowards.
Oakleap bowed his head in shame, daring not to meet the gazes of his clanmates. He knew that he'd caused them trouble, but why didn't they understand? Weren't they scared too?
"You'll join Sunfox and Cloudfluff. Search for herbs and moss to replenish the Medicean den. Pull your weight for once." The tabby ordered, turning away to pad towards a small group of warriors. No doubt a patrol that he was leading himself. Oakleap could see the rest of the warriors leaving camp...probably the hunting party. Since it was becoming difficult to find prey, most of the warriors were being assigned to hunt for the entire day recently.
He snapped back to attention when he noticed two warriors walking over to greet him. Sunfox gave him a pitying smile, while Cloudfluff would barely look at him. She huffed and stalked towards the entrance, flicking her tail to summon the others to follow.
Sunfox was a younger warrior, barely out of apprenticeship when the illness started. His name truly matched his pelt, which was deep ginger color. The illness had certainly made the young tom mature quickly, Oakleap noted as he followed the two warriors out of the camp. When apprenticed, Sunpaw was known to be impulsive, reckless and to constantly throw himself into fights. Now, he acted more like a senior warrior, patient, calm and... Tired...
Cloudfluff on the other paw had barely changed since the pandemic started. The long-furred white queen had always been a bit moody and strict. Despite having decided to serve the clan by taking care of the kits, she now had to fulfill the duties she had trained to do.
"Let's split up." Cloudfluff spoke up, causing the other warriors to stop in their tracks, as she turned to face them. She surveyed the area for a few moments, deep in thought. "We'll find a wider variety if we search different places. Sunfox, search the territory around the Thunderclan border. I'll search around the Shadowclan border, and Oakleap will take the area by the lake. If any of us find more than we can carry in our third of the territory, then we get the others to regroup, understand?"
Sunfox dipped his head in acknowledgement and preceded to make his way towards the territory by the Thunderclan border. Oakleap watched his dark ginger pelt disappear in the bushes ahead of them. He turned back towards Cloudfluff, but she was already farther ahead, towards the other border.
With no other choice, Oakleap slowly made his way towards the lake. His pelt was still spiked with fear, and he kept gazing around warily. He investigated the terriory, looking around at the plants he could find. After a while, he realized he actually didn't know what many of the herbs looked like, or which the clan even needed. It was probably something that the clan was informed about while he had been hiding away from the illness outside.
He began feeling a wave of hopelessness. I can't even do this right, can I? He thought, wallowing in self pity. His paws touched water, and he leapt backwards, realizing that he had reached the lake. Oakleap gazed over the waters. He could just make out the other side. Skyclan shared no borders with Windclan or Riverclan, and he vaguely wondered for a moment which territory he was looking at.
Oakleap shook his head slightly, turning away from the lake. He couldn't get distracted, he had to find something to bring back. He had no time for his mind drifting off. Besides, what if he caught the sickness while sitting around here.
He hurriedly resumed his search. Moss. I know what moss is. I can collect that. He decided, reassuring himself that he could do something to help.
Author note: Hi! Thank you for reading! This chapter introduced one of my favorite characters, Oakleap. I tried to properly portray his cowardice and how it negatively effects his clan. Out of the main characters, he has the most growing to do. All of them have some lesson or maturing they need to experience on their journey to overcome a personal problem, and guess what his is going to be.