Chapter 1
Dappled light came streaming into the medicine cat den, touching the tall grass that shielded the herb stores from the view of the rest of the camp. Pepperleaf, now a fully-fledged medicine cat, blinked in the morning light.
Stretching each of her legs in turn, she tried to remember her dream from the previous night. She recalled seeing her irresponsible brother, Eaglefeather, and a few other FeildClan warriors, sprinting across the windswept plain not far from FeildClan territory. Titch, the creepy kittypet, speaking with a mischievous glint in his eye. Wild noises coming from the Twoleg nest as the night lengthened.
Pepperleaf shook her head. It had been going on for seasons. Generations of FeildClan toms jumping at the chance to risk their lives for a thrilling night. She thought sadly of her father, Reedtail, who had died one night when the group, drunk on adrenalin and catmint, decided to see if it was possible to fly off a cliff. She hung her head in despair. Reedtail had been the dominant member, the leader of rebels, and it looked like Eaglefeather had followed in his paw prints.
Pepperleaf pushed the long grass back to check her stores. The nest beside the pile of marigold was empty.
Grasspelt, Pepperleaf's mentor, had travelled to the Skyrock on her once-a-season trip to speak with StarClan about FeildClan's problem. They had tried everything. Closing off the warrior den at night, taking warrior privileges from the toms, isolating kits from the older toms, making them chant the Warrior Code every day until it was drilled into their minds. They had even exiled an apprentice and a young warrior from their Clan.
What a loss, Pepperleaf thought. They could have been great warriors.
The problem was, even though they were breaking the Warrior Code, FeildClan couldn't exile all of the offenders – they would be left exposed without the toms, for they made up most of their ranks.
The fact that most of their warriors were toms made it even harder. She-cats practically ran FeildClan. The leader, the medicine cat and the medicine cat apprentice were all she-cats. There were no mentors that weren't she-cats.
Pepperleaf decided they needed more tansy. She padded up to Oakstep, one of the few loyal toms, and asked him to organise an escort. He flicked his tail at Ivytail, a white warrior, as she dropped a thrush on the fresh-kill pile. She dismissed her apprentice, Sandypaw, and came towards the deputy.
"Escort Pepperleaf to find tansy in the forest." Oakstep meowed. "And look out for Eaglefeather and the rest of them. They might as well make themselves useful by hunting."
Ivytail dipped her head respectfully and Pepperleaf led the way out of camp and into the lush forest. "Do you know what tansy looks like, Ivytail?"
"Yes, you used it on my scratches a few moons ago," the senior warrior reminded her of when she had scratched her pelt on a bramble bush.
Pepperleaf nodded. "Try over there," She flicked her tail towards a ferny dip in the ground. Ivytail bounded over and stuck her muzzle into the ferns, scenting the moist air for any trace of the healing herb. Pepperleaf went off herself to look in amongst some shrubs.
She had barely looked over a fox-length of the ground before she heard a crashing through the undergrowth. It was either a dog, or…
Eaglefeather's triumphant face appeared through the grass. Skypelt, Eaglefeather's 'deputy' of sorts, emerged beside him. Behind him trailed Darkwish, Sharpear, Shimmersun, Oceanfoot, Ashstorm, Redpaw, Icepaw, and a bedraggled Cloudfur. All were jeering at Cloudfur, pushing and shoving him with such force that Pepperleaf stepped forward and barred the way in between the group and the white elder.
"Stop." She meowed. They ignored her.
"Get outta the way, Grassy, old cat here's been annoying us all night…" Eaglefeather's croaky words tumbled out into the morning air.
"Stop," Pepperleaf interrupted her brother's jerky attempts to dodge her to get to Cloudfur. "Stop it, Eaglefeather! You've had a bad night. Just…" now several of them were having trouble keeping upright. "Go back to camp. As your medicine cat, I order you to get up on your paws and get back to camp."
Skypelt shook his head but they all managed to drag themselves behind her as she led the way to the middle of their territory.
Ivytail bounded up as soon as she saw the sorry group. "Rough night, huh?" she remarked. Pepperleaf didn't reply.
As soon as they entered the camp, the she-cat warriors and queens stuck their heads out of their dens, rolled their eyes in frustration and went back inside.
A flash of dark ginger on the edge of Pepperleaf's vision told her that her leader, Rosestar, had decided to retreat behind the small spring that ran through the camp and that led to her den. Rosestar was sick of the toms' constant partying and adrenalin-seeking. At first, she had lectured them every morning when they had come back, but now she preferred not to even look upon them. Pepperleaf didn't blame her.
She helped Cloudfur to the elders' den and examined him. A claw was missing from his hind paw and his skin was bruised under his pelt.
A blue-grey warrior padded up to Pepperleaf. "Hey Pepperleaf." She meowed.
"Hi, Fernfrost." Pepperleaf looked up at her friend. She flicked her tail to lead her towards the medicine den. "Here. Chew these up into a poultice, can you?"
Fernfrost stabbed the herbs with her claws and started to chew them up. "Eaglefeather looked bad today," she remarked.
"When doesn't he?" Pepperleaf mumbled, flicking through a pile of leaves.
Fernfrost spat out the herb. "I mean, worse than usual."
The medicine cat apprentice nodded. "I still didn't get my tansy, thanks to them. And now I need this poultice because they injured Cloudfur."
Fernfrost gasped. "They usually don't do stuff like that,"
"Every season it gets worse," Pepperleaf reminded her. She wrapped her paw in cobwebs. She placed the poultice onto a dock leaf and carried it in her jaws to the elders' den. She rubbed it onto Cloudfur's bruises carefully, and began to wrap the elder's paw in cobwebs where his claw had been ripped out.
"How did you come to be with the group, eh, Cloudfur?" she asked him.
He took a breath in. "Well, I occasionally go out with the lads, you know, survey the scene," Pepperleaf decided that it must have been a long time ago. "And then about half way through, they gots violent, you know, not unsheathed claws like, but a bit pushy."
Pepperleaf nodded as she finished wrapping his paw. "Thank you, darling. Don't know how we would cope whith'ou you."
Pepperleaf said her goodbyes as she pushed out of the entrance and into the sunlight.
There was a commotion near the entrance to the camp. Grasspelt and Duskbreeze, a dark grey tabby warrior, had returned from the Skyrock. Ivytail, Sunheart and Moonpaw greeted them as they entered. Grasspelt left Duskbreeze to talk with them as she flicked her tail towards Pepperleaf.
We need to talk.
