A/N: How could you guys! Only two reviews! Waa? I shouldn't even be posting this chapter when you guys apparently hate my book! Review, pleaseeeee! This chapter is dedicated to my two reviewers... Dawnfrost (Guest) and Guest. Thanks so much for reviewing! The rest of you... shame...
Ch.2
"Goodbye, Featherpaw, and remember what I told you!" the StarClan cat touched her nose.
Featherpaw stretched out her stiffened joints and leaped off the old oak branch that she had been sleeping on. The ground squished under her paws as she joined her mentor.
"Did you have good dreams?" Violetfur asked.
Featherpaw shrugged. "Yeah," she lied.
The RoseClan medicine cats joined them in the moonlight.
"It should be raining again, soon, better go back to camp. At least it wouldn't be snowing this time," Sandyleaf touched Violetfur's shoulders with her tail, her old voice cracking.
"Goodbye, old friend," Featherpaw's mentor nodded, "Come on, Featherpaw."
Featherpaw waved her tail goodbye before following Violetfur into BrightClan's open forest. Her steps faltered as she rehearsed, her StarClan mentor, Rosepetal's warning in her head.
'The dark of night can always cover the brightness of the sky leaving the storm to do the most damage. This is only a warning of what not to do, Featherpaw, not a prophecy. But ignore it and severe consequences will come. If you leave the hopeless to die the blood will be on your paws and will follow you to your destination. You will find one and become five.'
Featherpaw shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts.
"Something wrong, Featherpaw?" Violetfur asked.
"No… Well, yeah, but it's really nothing," Featherpaw replied.
Violetfur blinked, knowing Featherpaw wasn't telling the whole story. Before her mentor could reply, though, they reached camp. The dark outline of Blackclaw shown in the moonlight, his watchful green eyes picking up every detail in order to keep his clan safe, he nodded to them as they passed.
"I expect the journey went well?" Blackclaw asked.
Violetfur nodded, "The night is silent, the moon bright."
The camp, located in an open hill in the middle of the forest, gave the BrightClan cats the high ground, sheltering them both from common flooding and enemy attacks and facing the warm sun in the day and eerie glow of the moon during night. The warriors and apprentices slept in the tree branches on the outskirts of the small clearing, their snores drifting into the silent night. The nursery and elders den sat perched on the top of the hill under the shelter of a low sweeping pine tree, Graynose's tail poked out of one of the branches. Darkstar's den was located under a tall rock- centered in the middle of the hill and just a couple tail-lengths away from the pine tree- doubled as the place for her to sit on while she called clan meetings. The medicine den, however, was midway in between the outer-edge of the clearing and the pine tree, sheltering the herbs under a small jutting rock. Thick bushes provided equal shelter for patients and medicine cat and her apprentice, though the den was perfectly silent tonight.
Featherpaw quickly curled up under one of the bushes, thick moss and feathers padded the ground and immediately relaxed her tired muscles. Her stomach growled, but she silenced it with the thought of eating in the morning. Featherpaw's blue eyes slowly closed, her tail tightly wrapped around her paws as the world of sleep claimed her.
"Featherpaw, Featherpaw, wake up!" Featherpaw woke up to find brown fur in her nose.
"Breezepaw, how many times do I have to tell you not to wake me up before dawn after I get back late," Featherpaw grunted, blowing her friend's fur out of her nose.
Breezepaw backed away, "Sorry, Feather, I just kind of forgot. Blackclaw just said that I had the day off so I was wondering if we could hang out together!"
"Good for you, Breezepaw, but, unfortunately, I have duties that I have to do and I don't get days off like you warrior apprentices," Featherpaw crawled out of her nest and stretched, "But, perhaps you can help me with my duties."
"I could! Oh, that's wonderful Featherpaw! What are we going to do?" Breezepaw bounced up and down. "Are we going to High Oak to meet StarClan? Or, I know, we have to pull that thorn out of Redrose's paw!"
Featherpaw rolled her eyes, "I just go back from High Oak yesterday. We're going to collect cobwebs out of the caves."
"Oh, cool!" Breezepaw dashed out of the bush.
"Wait… did you say Redrose has a thorn in her paw?" Featherpaw asked.
Breezepaw nodded her head, "Hunting patrol yesterday."
"Ok, well before we go to collect cobwebs I'm going to get it out, you stay here," Featherpaw trotted over to the tree where Redrose normally stayed.
She unsheathed her claws and began to climb it, finally reaching the bare branch where the abnormally plumb dark ginger she-cat was resting. Featherpaw poked her with one claw.
"Huh?" Redrose yawned, "Oh, hello Featherpaw, I was just going to come over to see you. What do you need?"
"Breezepaw told me you got a thorn in your paw yesterday while on a hunting patrol, is that true?" Featherpaw asked, jumping up next to Redrose.
"Yeah," Redrose lifted up one of her front paws.
Featherpaw scowled, "You should have had us look at it yesterday when we got back from High Oak."
She picked up Redrose's paw; the tissue was red and swollen, a sharp gray thorn poked far down in the pad. Featherpaw gently got the barely visible thorn in her teeth before giving it a hard tug. The thorn popped out leaving blood oozing from Redrose's pad.
"Thank you, Featherpaw, I guess I better go hunting or something," Redrose sprang down from the tree.
Featherpaw blocked her path, "Oh, no you don't! I think that's the last night you'll be spending in that tree. Sorry Redrose, but you know you're expecting kits, you have for quite some time and you should have moved to the nursery sunrises ago."
"But-" Redrose protested.
"Moleclaw might not force you to move to the nursery but I am," Featherpaw nudged her towards the pine tree. "Graynose will keep you company and I'll go get some marigold and cobwebs to stop the bleeding and infection in your pad. And Redrose, you're not quite young anymore and neither is Moleclaw, most likely this will be your last litter. It wouldn't be as easy as Leopardfoot, Robinwing, Mudstripe, and Gingerkit."
Redrose's eyes darkened as she mentioned Mudstripe and Gingerkit, Leopardfoot and Robinwing's litter mates. Gingerkit had died of green cough when she was five moons old; Mudstripe had been killed by a fox just sunrises after Featherpaw and Spottedlily were born.
"Fine, how much longer until they're born?" Redrose asked.
"I would guess a moon… maybe a moon and a half," Featherpaw replied before turning towards the herb-ledge in search for the marigold and cobwebs.
The marigold was stacked in neat slightly wilted bundles, Featherpaw made a mental note to collect some fresher leaves once they came out. She remembered when she first arrived in the medicine den; the herbs where scattered all over the floor. Featherpaw had been so disgusted she immediately straightened everything up, no one could complain now of a messy herb storage area. She picked up two wilted marigold leaves before dapping up the last of the cobweb with her paw, shaking her head at how low she had allowed the stocks of cobweb to get. Featherpaw turned around and dashed underneath the pine tree. Redrose was already curled up in an old nest; the scent of the previous owner was already gone.
"Lift up your paw again," Featherpaw placed the marigold leaves and cobweb down on the floor.
She chewed up the marigold and worked it into Redrose's pad before wrapping the cobweb over her paw to keep the marigold on the paw.
"All done; now don't go on any hunting or border patrols, and try not to put much weight on your paw. Check back with me at sundown and then I might get a good idea of when you can go on short walks out of camp, for now stay in camp," Featherpaw dipped her head to the senior warrior.
"Again, thank you Featherpaw, you'll make a wonderful medicine cat for the clan," Redrose laid her tail on her muzzle.
Featherpaw trotted out of the den and collected Breezepaw before leaving camp.
"Silverspot says she's expecting kits again," Breezepaw smiled, "New sisters and brothers for me!"
Featherpaw had to purr, "You'll have to wait two more moons. The camp is sure to be full with kits this newleaf."
The caves, dotting a rocky slope, went several feet under the mountain. Oak trees, their branches bare, dotted the side and gave the cats a place to break their falls. Featherpaw ducked under one of the 'caves' and quickly gathered the abandoned webs, clotting them around her tail in order to keep them off of the forest floor. She then traveled to the next cave, and the next repeating the same process. By the time Breezepaw and she had got through all of the crevices and caves the sun was already begging to sink. Breezepaw meant her with a lop-sided grin.
"Hey, Featherpaw, I know what your full medicine cat name should be!" Breezepaw's eyes glittered.
"What?" Featherpaw groaned.
"Spiderpelt!" Breezepaw tossed two tiny black spiders at her.
Featherpaw yelped and dodged the spiders, "I know what your warrior name should be."
"Oh? And what is that?" Breezepaw frowned.
Featherpaw leaped onto one of the rocks, a thin lair of slowly melted snow chilled her paws, "Hey, Frozenhead!" She pushed a lump of snow onto Breezepaw, almost burying her friend.
Breezepaw shook her head making freezing drops splatter Featherpaw's tabby coat, "Spiderpelt!" her friend taunted.
"Did you enjoy your shower, Frozenhead?" Featherpaw retorted.
Breezepaw bit her lip and Featherpaw turned leading them both back to camp. Frosty air bit into Featherpaw's coat.
"Looks like Leaf-bare is making a final shove," Featherpaw commented.
Breezepaw nodded and pressed up against Featherpaw. The sweet sound of voices came from the camp and the both picked up their pace; quickly making it back.
"Featherpaw!" Violetfur immediately approached them. "I'll take the cobwebs- Darkstar want to talk to you."
Featherpaw nodded, wondering why the clan leader would want to see her, surely Darkstar would be busy. She trotted up the hill finally reaching the pine tree. Darkstar's stony den was located on the slope down but happened to still be in the center of the camp. The black tabby leader sat perched outside of her den, her coat slowly blended in with fading light.
"Darkstar," Featherpaw dipped her head, "Violetfur said you would like to see me."
"Yes," Darkstar's voice was brisk, "Tonight meet me at the Song Pool- by RoseClan's border; don't tell anyone about this."
Featherpaw paused before finally nodding, "Tonight."
"Tonight," Darkstar repeated.
"Featherpaw, thank you for coming," Darkstar dapped one of her paws into the sparkling silver pool, a single moonbeam shown from the sky; evading the towering oak trees and landing gracefully on the water.
"What is this about?" Featherpaw asked.
Darkstar let out a challenging growl, "I think I'm expecting kits."
"Really? Whose are they?" Featherpaw asked.
Darkstar hissed, "The father is none of your business, remember who I am. See how many."
Featherpaw reached out and rested her paw on Darkstar's belly, "One."
Darkstar's eyes glowed, "What herbs do you have to get rid of it?"
The apprentice medicine cat took a stiff step back, "You have no right to get rid of an innocent living kit."
"And who's going to stop me?" Darkstar sneered.
"I am," Featherpaw replied. "I refuse to tell you."
Darkstar growled, "You fool! Tell me or I'll make your life more miserable than you can believe."
"I can't," Featherpaw struggled to keep her voice calm, "and I won't. It's only one kit. If you are careful no one will know you are carrying it and I'll help you with the delivery. Redrose will have her kits hopefully before then and I can say I found the kit in the forest if you want."
The dark leader knew she had lost, "You will pay for this, I guarantee it! I will go with your plan, but be silent or you might just find claws at your throat during the night."
Featherpaw spat, "Goodnight, Darkstar."
A/N: Get me at least three reviews before I post the next chapter. By the way- sorry for this chapter taking so long. Feather wasn't cooperating this time. Please review or I'll *sop* cry! Next chappie is Blizz & Cloudy!