A/N: So, here's another chapter. I'm sorry it took me so long to upload, but I finally finished it today (also sorry if it seems a bit rushed). A huge thanks to everyone who reviewed and added the story to their alerts/favorites. I'm glad you guys still like it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors or the concept of it. The only things I own are the characters.
Spottedcloud
The kits were doing well, for the most part. Lake and Kestrel had slept soundlessly throughout the night, but Thorn had been waking up every few minutes, his sleep disturbed by a bout of coughing every time. No cat in the Clan thought he would live another day.
Swallowpaw, on the other hand, had been slowly recovering from her injuries. Snowfern had found comfrey and goldenrod completely by accident the other day, and despite Hazelstar's protests she'd managed, with Spottedcloud's help, to apply the herbs to Swallowpaw's wounds. Really, it was a miracle that Hazelstar had allowed them to treat Swallowpaw in any way. Perhaps she'd finally realized that the apprentice was a valuable asset to the Clan.
Spottedcloud looked over at the young apprentice, who was lying down near the kits, watching them as they played. A few times, Kestrel and Lake tried to get their brother to join in the games, but he just rested his head on his paws and stared blankly at them with glassy green eyes.
Spottedcloud blinked sympathetically at them and returned her attention to the half-eaten squirrel at her paws. Hazelstar had confined her to camp for a few days, probably to keep an eye on her. She was still suspicious, and had been ever since Spottedcloud and Birchpaw had returned to camp with the kits. Spottedcloud hated to leave Mosspaw alone for too long, but the apprentice could take care of herself by now. Maybe she could even come home soon.
Half-heartedly, Spottedcloud nibbled at the squirrel some more. Birchpaw had brought it to her earlier on, and was now out showing Ashpetal some good places to hunt so they'd be able to feed themselves, Swallowpaw, and the kits
"Spottedcloud, watch this!"
The warrior looked up at the sound of Lake's voice. The small silver kit reared up on her hind legs and batted at a moss ball that Kestrel tossed her way, sending it flying until it finally landed against Swallowpaw's flank. The apprentice smiled weakly and pawed it back.
"Very good," Spottedcloud purred, twitching her whiskers. "You're going to make a great warrior, Lake."
Speaking of, why hadn't the kits gotten proper Clan names yet? Hazelstar might be waiting for them to decide whether they wanted to stay yet, but something told Spottedcloud that it was more than that. Was the Clan leader simply too paranoid or was there something else going on?
Her thoughts were interrupted as the moss ball hit her ear. She blinked in slight confusion as it fell to the ground, and then looked up to see Lake watching her eagerly, claws out and fur bristling playfully.
"Come on, toss it back!" Lake urged. Spottedcloud obeyed the kit, scooping up the moss ball with her paw and throwing it back over to the kits. Kestrel immediately smacked it with his paw, but he misjudged his aim and it flew straight towards Thorn, smacking the small tortoiseshell on the back of the head and jolting him awake.
"Whassat?" Thorn mewed groggily, eyes wide with panic. "Mama?" He began looking around and spotted his siblings watching him, their eyes glowing with worry.
"I'm really sorry, Thorn," Kestrel mewed sheepishly, taking a step closer to his brother. "You can go back to sleep."
Thorn blinked a few times before pressing his muzzle against his paws. His voice was muffled when he spoke. "I miss mama. I wanna go home…"
"I know," Lake reassured him sympathetically, pressing her nose against his shoulder. "It's okay, we'll be fine."
She jumped back suddenly as Thorn's body convulsed and the kit started coughing violently, his breath rasping as he struggled. Spottedcloud immediately jumped up and darted over to him, nudging the other two kits away as she started licking Thorn's fur anxiously, not knowing what to do.
The other cats lying around the camp – Snowfern, Cherrynose, Rippleclaw, and Darkpaw – realized what was happening and rose to their paws anxiously. Snowfern ran over at once, easing Thorn away from Spottedcloud and beginning to massage his chest, helping him breathe.
Thorn coughed a few more times before he sucked in a shaking breath and went limp, his eyes beginning to glaze over.
"What's happening?" Lake squealed anxiously, glancing up at the warriors with wide eyes. Spottedcloud was too shocked to move, just staring at Thorn. For a moment, she didn't see Thorn, but her brother, lying dead in the snow as their mother curled up next to him. Spottedcloud could remember that she'd watched him die, but she'd done nothing. She'd been oblivious to the situation, just like Lake and Kestrel were now.
Snowfern drew back from Thorn's still body, blinking in shock. "I'm sorry," she murmured after a few more moments of silence. "He's… gone."
"Gone? Do you mean…" Kestrel trailed off, wide-eyed, as Lake let out a heart-wrenching wail, leaning against her brother. When she finally looked up, she glared straight at Spottedcloud.
"You told us we'd be safe here," she mewed accusingly, her voice trembling. "You said you'd take care of us, but you didn't… Thorn is dead…"
"What's wrong?" came a new voice from the camp entrance. Hazelstar was making her way through the small crowd of cats surrounding the scene, Ashpetal and Birchpaw trailing behind her.
"No!" Ashpetal screeched when she saw Thorn's body. She immediately lay down beside the dead kit, licking his fur anxiously as though she could bring him back to life somehow. Birchpaw quietly stood next to the kits, comforting Lake as best as he could.
"How could you let this happen?" he murmured quietly. Spottedcloud flinched, knowing the question was directed at her.
"He was going to die already…" she began, but broke off as Birchpaw glared at her angrily.
"You should have known what to do," he hissed quietly. "You've had no trouble taking care of cats in the past. Why couldn't you use your knowledge of herbs to save him?"
Spottedcloud quietly stared at her paws, refusing to answer. It wasn't her fault. Hazelstar didn't allow for any treatment of cats unless she or an important cat was injured. That was the reason why Mosspaw had been thrown out in the first place – she'd been sick, and Hazelstar hadn't wanted to cure her. Spottedcloud felt anger course through her, and for a moment she was surprised at her own rage. She carefully kept it bottled, however, soothing her own guilt with the thought that it was Hazelstar's fault Thorn had died and not hers.
Ashpetal went out to bury Thorn after a few more warriors returned to the camp. She'd told Lake and Kestrel they could come if they wanted, but they'd refused. Ever since her brother's death, Lake had been sticking to Birchpaw like a burr, and Kestrel had been comforting her as well.
This brought a new thought to Spottedcloud's head. What if Kestrel and Lake decided they didn't want to stay in the Clan after all? She knew that Hazelstar wouldn't really care if she had to leave kits out in the forest to die, but the very thought of the two kits, waiting quietly for death so they could join their brother, made Spottedcloud feel sick.
Snowfern had been quiet, too, and Spottedcloud guessed that she was probably blaming herself for Thorn's death. She would have gone over to comfort the younger warrior if she hadn't been thinking the exact same thing. Spottedcloud wasn't sure if she'd be able to comfort any cat at the moment.
She felt another cat lie down next to her, and a moment later Rippleclaw began grooming her fur with long, soothing strokes. "It'll be okay," he murmured between licks. "Nobody blames you."
Spottedcloud just stared at the ground forlornly, too tired to tell him to go away. "The kits and Birchpaw do," she mewed quietly. "They hate me."
Rippleclaw paused in his licking and blinked at her. "I don't hate you," he replied, gently brushing his muzzle against hers. "You're the most amazing cat I know."
Spottedcloud's ears perked up. "Really?" She didn't want to be hopeful, but a part of her was thinking that maybe she could have a future with Rippleclaw. Maybe she could even have kits.
Thinking of kits only made her think back to Lake and Kestrel, and Thorn, and her thoughts grew dark and dismal again. Then, for some reason, she suddenly thought back to where they'd first found the kits.
Mosspaw! She jolted suddenly, her head shooting straight up. She had to go visit Mosspaw. The apprentice deserved to know that Thorn had died.
Rippleclaw frowned at her. "Something wrong?" he asked, a note of concern in his voice.
Spottedcloud stood up, shaking her head slightly. "No, no, I'm fine… I just need to step outside for some fresh air."
"Hazelstar's confined you to the camp," he reminded her, standing up as well. "I can come for a walk with you if you really want to, though…"
"No!" Spottedcloud mewed anxiously, and immediately regretted saying it. Rippleclaw looked crushed. "I… I'm sorry, Rippleclaw, I can't. I just need to be alone for a while."
The gray tabby still looked disappointed, but he nodded and allowed her to go. Spottedcloud managed to keep her composure as she left the camp, but as soon as she was sure no cat could see her, she broke into a sprint, heading for the fox den where Mosspaw was staying.
She couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt as she noticed a few catmint leaves lying by the path, weighed down slightly with frost. They were probably fresh earlier on, and could have been used to treat Thorn before his cough got too serious.
Another thing that was Hazelstar's fault. Spottedcloud would have been able to go out looking for herbs if she hadn't been confined to camp.
She spotted a few more catmint leaves as she made her way through the forest, along with a clump of coltsfoot. The herbs seemed to be mocking her at this point. Why hadn't she noticed these earlier, especially when she'd been going back to camp with Birchpaw? Thorn had been sick then, too. She'd just been too ignorant to think about helping him – that was definitely her fault, not Hazelstar's.
Thinking about Birchpaw made Spottedcloud's train of thought jump immediately to Mosspaw. What if the other apprentice also blamed her for letting Thorn die? Would Mosspaw even want to be looked after anymore?
Not that she really needed care at this point, though. Spottedcloud had thought a few times about just letting Mosspaw live out her life in the forest, but one conversation she'd had with the apprentice had made her change her mind.
They'd been sharing a rabbit one night, not speaking, when Mosspaw had suddenly brought up the topic of the Clan.
"They've probably all forgotten about me," she'd meowed quietly. "How's Darkpaw doing?"
"He's coping," Spottedcloud answered, taking another bite of the rabbit. "He hasn't shown any signs of missing you, though."
Mosspaw sighed, pushing the rabbit away. "I miss him." She looked sad for a moment before she gave a bitter laugh. "You know, we always trained together, before… you know. He'd always be begging Darkstream to take him out training with me and Rippleclaw, and she'd always let him, and he'd be so happy…" she broke off and took a deep, slightly shaky breath before continuing. "You know, Spottedcloud, he's family. All we ever needed was each other, but now… I don't know."
She looked up at the warrior, her amber eyes wide and pleading. "Could you maybe talk to him? Find out if he really misses me? Please, I need to know."
Spottedcloud hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "I will. I promise."
She'd never actually talked to Darkpaw, not even after the conversation. After a while, Mosspaw had stopped mentioning it, and Spottedcloud had just assumed she'd forgotten. But what Mosspaw had said, about her brother, it had made Spottedcloud rethink her plans for the apprentice's future. If only she could get Hazelstar to accept Mosspaw back into the Clan.
She was finally at the fox den, and she paused a few fox-lengths away from the entrance before heading towards it, steeling herself for the anger that would surely come once Mosspaw heard about what had happened to Thorn.
Spottedcloud was about to poke her head inside when she heard something, a familiar voice, that made her blood run cold.
"Now, you little wretch, why don't you tell me how you managed to survive for so long?"
A/N: Next chapter (Hazelstar chapter!) will also be a bit dramatic, sorry. I'll just let you guys speculate about who found Mosspaw, though you've probably already guessed by now.
