Chapter 8
Sagepaw felt oddly pleasant. The darkness swirled around her. If pain was there she didn't feel it. The darkness swarmed, chasing it all away. A wave of light headiness swept through her, making her stumble. "Sagepaw, wake up. Sagepaw! Sagepaw!" a voice exclaimed, ringing loudly in her ears. Sagepaw cringed away from it, tempted to turn away and into the darkness.
"Sagepaw!" The voice was insistent, dragging her away from the comforting darkness and into a world of confusion and pain.
Sagepaw opened one eye slowly. She was shocked to feel the pain, her back hurt horribly, and her head ached. Her paw seemed to screech with pain. Blinded with pain she was slowly realized that voices surrounded her.
Wincing, she unhurriedly opened her other eye. Around her were Fawnstep, Graypaw, and Quickbreeze. Fawnstep looked worried, her face pinched into a frown. Graypaw looked wretched, her fur in clumps and her blue eyes widened in distress. Quickbreeze looked terrified, her claws working on the mossy ground. Wait, mossy? She was settled in a warm, mossy nest.
It upset Sagepaw to see them unhappy so she made a big effort to sit up. Wrong choice. It was as if a lightning shock had struck her spine, radiating up and down it. She let out a wail, her claws working on the moss. Her clan-mates looked shocked and horrified, leaping to their paws to gently push her down again. Terror laced her thoughts. What if I can't walk anymore, what then? "You shouldn't do that sweetie, we don't know the damage to your back yet. Please, just lie back as Fawnstep looks you over" Quickbreeze's voice was quiet and controlled but Sagepaw could hear the strain under it. Graypaw said nothing, only watching with wide eyes.
"Stretch your paws like this, that's it" Fawnstep ordered quietly. Everything went smoothly until Fawnstep asked her to stand up. Sagepaw struggled to stand up but finally did it. She was standing for three seconds before the pain started. It rolled up and down her backbone with furious pain. Sagepaw collapsed into her nest, her eyes half closed. Graypaw backed away "I'll get Fogpaw, he must be really worried" before vanishing. Sagepaw looked up at her mother, hoping to find comfort in her expression.
Her mother was desperately trying to conceal something from her. Sagepaw saw a flash of panic enter Quickbreeze's eyes for a slit second. Fawnstep pushed some little black seeds to Sagepaw, which she recognized as poppy seeds. "Take these, they will make the pain go away" Fawnstep murmured. Sagepaw licked them up and a wave of tiredness rose over her. Her eyes drooped and her vision became fuzzy. Dimly she was aware of her mother gently pushing her down in her nest before Sagepaw was swept away into sleep.
