Indigo Twilight

Chapter Three

Two Lives

Wavepool replenished the scent marks before turning back to the rest of the patrol. It was two days after she had had the strange dream in which the warriors of StarClan had spoken to her.

Fuzzypelt licked one paw and then drew it over his ear. "Let's head back to camp," he mewed.

"We should probably check and make sure there aren't any rouges around, don't you think?" Cedarbranch mewed to Wavepool.

She nodded. "We should." She flicked her tail towards the other side of the mountain. "Let's check by the Frosted Tree."Puddlepaw groaned. "Aww…! My paws are all sore from walking this far, don't tell me that we have to walk all the way back and then some?"

Cedarbranch cuffed his apprentice over the ear. "Don't complain," he scolded. "It's either that or collect feathers and moss for the elders."

Puddlepaw perked up a bit as the patrol made its way towards the Frosted Tree. "Maybe I'll get to fight!" she mewed excitedly. She leaped and slashed at an invisible foe, keeping her claws sheathed.

"You need to work on your speed a bit," Fuzzypelt commented. "And try to aim at a specific point, not all over the place."

"Since when did you become a mentor?" Cedarbranch asked, glaring at Fuzzypelt.

He shrugged. "I was just giving advice."

Drizzlefoot sniffed a rock up ahead. "There's rouge scent here. You can't trust those rouges," she spat.

Wavepool scented the rock too. The scent of rouge was there, but stale. "It's old," she mewed. "Maybe by a few days."

Puddlepaw bounded ahead, then came back, her eyes shining. "I found some fresh scent over here!" she meowed, racing back over the ridge. "Come on!"

The patrol followed Puddlepaw slowly. Cedarbranch stiffened. "Did you hear that?"

Wavepool silenced the patrol with a flick of her tail, and gestured for them to follow. She dropped down into a crouch and slowly made her way to a boulder. Behind it she could hear voices.

"What if they find us?" one cat mewed.

"They won't," another one snapped.

Wavepool peered around the boulder to see a few cats huddled around together. She counted three.

A muscular brown tom stepped forward. "We must keep hidden, until the right time."

A brown she-cat curled her lip. "That's all we do, Dock. Hide and cower like little pieces of prey."Dock turned on the she-cat, snarling. "I guess you have a better idea then, Thistle?"

Thistle didn't flinch. "I don't. But Shade does." She gazed fondly at a black tom.

"I propose that we go and just destroy the Clan ourselves," he mewed boldly.

Behind her, Wavepool could hear her Clanmates' claws scratch against the rock. She signalled with her tail for Cedarbranch and Puddlepaw to go around the other side. They crept around to another boulder as the rouges continued talking. Wavepool crouched on the boulder.

"Now!" she yowled.

The patrol dashed into the three cats, startling them. Dock dusked just out of Wavepool's reach, but before he could attack, she leaped on top of him and rolled him onto his back, digging her hind claws into his belly fur. He let out a yowl of pain before scrabbling out from underneath her and fleeing, calling over his shoulder, "Let's get out of here!"Thistle gave Cedarbranch a final scratch before following Dock, and Shade followed close behind her.

Wavepool padded through her patrol. "Well fought," she mewed.

Drizzlefoot licked a long scratch on her side that Shade had given her. "Stupid flea-bag!" she spat, licking the wound fiercely.

"Let's get back to camp," Cedarbranch mewed, glancing at Drizzlefoot's side and Fuzzypelt's slightly torn ear.

When the patrol got back inside the caves, Feathersong dashed out of his den to aid the injured cats, with Echostream close behind him.

"Get me some cobwebs," he mewed quickly. "We need to stop Drizzlefoot's wound from bleeding."

Echostream raced back inside the medicine cat den to get the cobwebs for the wound.

Wavepool padded over to Fogstar's den, poking her head inside and calling out, "Fogstar, our patrol just came back. We have news."

"Come in, Wavepool," he rasped.

Wavepool padded inside the leader's cave and saw that Fogstar was shaking and tired looking.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

He began to reply, but gave a hard cough. "Not really," he mewed, his voice rough.

"Have you seen Feathersong about that cough?""Yes. I wanted to talk to you about this…" He coughed again. "I think I have greencough."

Wavepool bristled. Greencough was extremely contagious, and quite fatal. "Will you lose a life?""Not if I can help it," Feathersong mumbled around a bundle of herbs. He had just padded into the cave. "Has it gotten worse, Fogstar?"Fogstar's response was a harsh cough that made Wavepool flinch.

Feathersong padded over to Fogstar and placed the bundle of herbs beside him. He put a paw to Fogstar's flank. Fogstar was wracked by another cough.

"It has," Feathersong murmured. He pulled a strong smelling herb out of the leaf wrap. "Eat this catmint, Fogstar. It will make you feel better."Wavepool watched as her leader chewed up the catmint, giving a smaller cough after swallowing. Feathersong pushed a small pile of dried yellow flowers. "And some tansy," he mewed. ""It will help you with your cough."

Wavepool suddenly remembered something. "We chased off some rouges today," she meowed. "They put up a bit of a fight."

"Not from the wounds that I saw," Feathersong muttered as Fogstar chewed the tansy.

"Well done," Fogstar meowed after licking his jaws. He then curled up in his nest, and fell asleep.

"I need to speak with you, Wavepool," Feathersong meowed softly, picking up the herbs. She nodded.

Wavepool followed Feathersong out of the cave. Echostream was seeing to Drizzlefoot's wound.

"These cobwebs aren't working," she muttered, frustrated.

"Don't forget to use marigold and comfrey," Feathersong mewed through his mouthful of herbs. "We don't want things to get infected."

Echostream waved her tail to let him know she had heard.

Feathersong lead Wavepool into the medicine cat den, a wide cave that led off into two separate parts; one for storing herbs, the other for the cats to sleep in.

He went inside the store to put away his leftover herbs. When he came out, he mewed, "Come sit."

He sat down in one of the moss lined nests. He sighed. "Fogstar may not live through this bout of greencough."

"What do you mean?" Wavepool asked, bewildered.

Lowering his voice, Feathersong mewed, "He only has two lives left and he is getting old so it's harder for him to fight off sickness. He's not going to live for too long." He gazed at Wavepool with his yellow eyes. "And when that time comes, you must be prepared to bear the weight of your destiny."

Wavepool shuffled her paws. "I guess Echostream told you about her vision."

Feathersong nodded. "A strong prophecy indeed, one that predicts power and the future of our Clan. Now then," Feathersong meowed, his tone lightening as he got up and padded into the medicine store, emerging with a few herbs in his jaws. "I have to bring this lamb's ear to Fogstar. It'll keep his strength up so he can fight the green cough." With that Feathersong padded out of the cave.

Wavepool stood, shook a few clumps of moss from her fur, and exited the medicine cat den, her thoughts trailing behind her like an ominous cloud.