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A/N Wazzup my muffintastic superspecialawesome audience? Goooooood Mornin to ye all!
OMG LUCKY CHARMS REFRENCE!
lol Here's the story...
Windclan: Silver Fire
Chapter 3
"Oh Snowbird." Onestar whispered, licking the top of her head and trying to take in the last of her sweet scent before the smell of death overcame it.
"Father," Lakepaw spoke out. He turned around to face her. "Before Mother died, she told us to tell you something."
"What?" he asked, leaning in curiously.
"She said that the prophecy meant nothing, whatever that means." she replied, and Onestar's face lookedfearful for a moment.
He nodded and ushered them out of the den, towards the center of the clearing. A group of cats sat in the middle, around a small brown tabby body. Lakepaw let out a wail and scrambled towards the limp form.
Silverpaw stood at the mouth of the den, awestruck. How could this group of somber, bedraggled cats be the strong clan that had sat before him a few hours earlier? He moved forward towards the group, stumbling over his tired paws when pain shot through his flank.
Kestrelpaw moved from out of the circle of cats towards him and looked at his wound.
"Just a scratch, nothing to be afraid of." he said soothingly and led him to the medicine den. Upon entering, Kestrelpaw grabbed a bundle of herbs with his teeth and added another few leaves to the mix.
"Crush these and spread it on the scratch," he muttered, and then put the other leaves next to Silverpaw. "And then eat these whole."
Silverpaw chewed on the leaves, lost in thought. He spat out the bitter clumps onto the scratch and sighed when the juice seeped into the open wound. Then he ate the other leaves and suddenly felt very sleepy, even though he knew that he would have to stay awake for the vigil anyway.
Kestrelpaw left the den and came back in with Lakepaw, who was sporting a large gash above her eye. For her, though, he chewed and applied the herbs and then gave her the leaves and a bit of honey to eat.
'It must be that prophecy,' Silverpaw thought angrily. 'That's why they hate me so much.'
He stood up and left the den, just as Kestrelpaw swiftly licked Lakepaw's shoulder and ushered her out as well.
Onestar had appeared at the top of the highslope and was about to give a speech to the clan when the two apprentices had reached the grassy clearing.
"I am so sorry for the events that took place tonight," he said, his eyes filled with pain. "And we have lost two cats to Shadowclan."
He ran swiftly down the highslope to the middle of the clearing and laid down next to his dead mate who had apparently been carried from the apprentices' den earlier that night.
"There will now be a vigil," he yowled. "For all the cats who can stay awake."
Lakepaw sat at her mother's other shoulder, and Silverpaw next to her flank. Cats began to lay beside them, and Silverpaw couldn't help but notice that Kestrelpaw had taken a seat next to his sister and rested his head against her shoulder.
Onestar, however, took no notice to the things occurring around him. He just sat there, glassy eyed, looking but not seeing. Trying to preserve the memories.
Light splattered his closed eyelids, making the red dance before his eyes. Silverpaw blinked and let out a yawn before stiffening. All the warriors, his sister, and Kestrelpaw were looking at him.
'I fell asleep?' he thought stupidly. 'How did I fall asleep?"
Lakepaw stared at him for a moment longer, stood up, and began to make her way through the sea of cats to the apprentices' den. Kestrelpaw followed her.
Silverpaw made to stand up and walk over, but he felt a tail on his shoulder. Ashfoot had stopped him from seeing why his sister and Kestrelpaw were-
"You don't need any sleep." she growled, her eyes turning black. "Go change the bedding in your den and the elders' den."
Silverpaw blinked stupidly, and Ashfoot nipped him sharply on the shoulder.
"NOW!"
A few cats laughed as he stumbled through the crowd. His shoulder hurt like a Shadowclan warrior had scratched it open, but he did not complain.
His mouth was full of bracken when he approached the mouth of the apprentices' den and he heard... nothing. The den was empty.
Silverpaw could see why, though. The floor where his mother had laid was covered in a pool of dried blood.
He cringed away, whining softly, and then began to clear the den out. Carefully, as to not get any blood in his mouth, he dragged the soiled bedding outside and began to carefully spread the new bedding out along the floor.
There weren't any feathers left that Silverpaw could scavenge, so he just decided to do without. A moment later, a drop of blood splattered on his paw and he looked down to see blood welling out of his shoulder.
'Oh fox-dung!' he thought angrily, trying to lick the blood off of his paw. 'Stupid Ashfoot and her stupid rules.'
He walked to the medicine den and waited impatiently at the mouth. Then after a few minutes, he walked inside to find Barkface asleep on the floor and Kestrelpaw and Lakepaw in the nest to the right.
Silverpaw gave Barkface a gentle nudge and he awoke, shaking his head furiously from side to side to wake himself up.
"Right, herbs." he said, turning around to enter the crevice where all the herbs were kept. "Wait, what's wrong with you?"
Silverpaw tilted his head towards his shoulder and Barkface nodded.
"Lets get you a little marigold to make that heal." he said quietly, and slunk off into the crevice.
Silverpaw took this time alone to swiftly glance over at his sister and the medicine cat apprentice. Kestrelpaw's head was resting on her shoulder, and she was curled up beside him.
Silverpaw unsheathed his claws angrily and began to tear at the muddy floor of the den. Barkface reappeared and applied the marigold to his shoulder.
"Looks like you're done." he murmured, and Silverpaw reluctantly left the den.
Heatherfire was waiting outside, and she looked terrible. Her eye was swollen and she had several gashes and missing clumps of fur along her flanks.
"Are you ready to train?" she asked, her throat raspy. Silverpaw looked at her, surprised, and then nodded. "Good, let's go."
Will Lakepaw learn to feel again? Will Ashfoot and Onestar be even more pissed off at Silverpaw? Will Kestrelpaw- OOPS!! DON'T WANNA GIVE AWAY THE PLOT!
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