"Wake up, Slashpaw," Doom said, nudging his son with a forepaw. Slashpaw blinked open his eyes. He sighed inwardly. This crude nest that he shared with his father wasn't nearly as comfortable as his old nest in the PineClan apprentice den. Slashpaw got to his paws and stifled a groan. His muscles were sore from traveling so far and so fast. When he and Doom had left the camp, they had traveled almost nonstop until they reached the Twolegplace. He retraced the journey in his mind. The two had traveled west out of PineClan territory and skirted the northern edge of CliffClan hunting grounds. Then they had gone across a large field. They had stopped for a few hours of sleep in a big red Twoleg nest. Slashpaw remembered the strange bleating and lowing noises of the animals there: creatures Doom had called "sheep" and "cows". Then they had continued west. More and more Twoleg nests had appeared, until they had arrived at the Twolegplace.
Slashpaw didn't like it here.
It was noisy. There were too many Twolegs and their dogs. There were strange Twoleg things everywhere, and places called "roads" on which traveled scary "cars". Everything was cramped. The air was stale and full of the acrid stench of the cars and Twolegs.
Slashpaw missed the fresh breeze and the scent of pine trees. He missed the quiet serenity of the forest, where often the loudest sound was birdsong. He missed the other apprentices and his mentor.
"Doom?" he asked.
"Yes?"
"Why do you live here?"
"I know it's unlike the forest," Doom said slowly, "but this is where I was born and raised. Yet I do like to travel around and see new places. That's how I met Silvertail." He looked at Slashpaw. "You don't like it here, do you?" he asked.
"You're right," said Slashpaw. "It's so unlike the forest, as you said. It's so strange and loud and crowded here."
Doom was silent for a moment. "We could try to live somewhere else," he suggested. "We could go back to that farm we stayed at. Or there is another farm west of here, and then a big forest."
"A forest?" asked Slashpaw.
"It would mean more traveling," Doom warned. "But we could try to live there."
"Can we?" Slashpaw asked excitedly. "I'd take that over this Twolegplace any day!"
Doom purred. "We leave tomorrow."
"Ouch!"
Orchidpaw looked up. Briarpaw was hopping up and down on three paws, holding out one forepaw and shaking it around.
She had to stifle a purr of amusement. "What did you do now? You're as clumsy as a lopsided badger!"
Briarpaw stopped hopping around long enough to glare at his sister. "Am not! I just stepped on a thorn, that's all."
Orchidpaw got to her paws. "Let me see." She padded over to her brother, who tilted his paw to show her the thorn embedded in his pad.
Orchidpaw grimaced. "Ouch. That looks bad. You'd better see Blossomfur."
"It's just a thorn!" Briarpaw protested.
"Come on," Orchidpaw said, rolling her eyes. "It's in there really deep." She finally convinced Briarpaw to come with her and they both headed to the medicine cat den.
"Blossomfur?" called Orchidpaw as she stuck her head into the den.
"Hello, Orchidpaw," said the she-cat. "Come in. What can I do for you?"
"It's Briarpaw," said the apprentice. "He's got a thorn in his paw."
"Oh? Come here, Briarpaw. Let me see." Briarpaw reluctantly hobbled over to the medicine cat.
Blossomfur examined the thorn. "It's in there pretty deep. Forestpelt, could you get me some cobwebs? And a little marigold won't hurt either." Orchidpaw looked over her shoulder. She hadn't noticed Forestpelt – he was sitting in the shadows at the back of the den, apparently sorting herbs, along with Heatherkit. Orchidpaw felt hot under her fur when she remembered that she used to have a crush on him when she was a kit. How could I have been so stupid? she thought to herself. He's a medicine cat, anyway. They can't have mates.
After a moment, Forestpelt approached Blossomfur – leaves in his mouth and a forepaw wrapped with cobwebs. Heatherkit was trailing along after him, with one marigold leaf in her mouth.
"Here you are," he said. "Blossomfur, we should probably check to see if we can go out to gather any last herbs before the frost kills them all off."
Blossomfur nodded. She gripped the thorn in her teeth and pulled it out sharply. Briarpaw gave a little squeak of pain, and Orchidpaw had to stifle a meow of laughter once again. Forestpelt chewed up the marigold (including Heatherkit's leaf) into a poultice and smeared it over the wound. Blossomfur then wrapped Briarpaw's paw tightly with cobwebs.
"There you go, you're all set," she said. Orchidpaw felt a flash of respect for the medicine cat. She was always so kind and friendly, plus she was very good at her job. She always seemed confident in her abilities, and she knew exactly which herbs to use for every type of sickness and injury.
"Off you go, Heatherkit," said Blossomfur. "Whitefeather is probably looking for you." When Heatherkit looked a bit crestfallen, she added, "You've been a great help. Thank you."
"Bye," the kit purred, tail waving happily in the air. She skipped out of the den, toward the nursery.
"You're just encouraging her," Forestpelt said to his mentor. "You know full well she can't be a medicine cat, no matter how much she wants to."
"I know," sighed Blossomfur. "But I don't want to hurt her feelings."
"Blossomfur," Orchidpaw said after a brief silence, "if you and Forestpelt are going out to find herbs, you'll probably need a warrior escort. Doom's out there again, and I don't think Windystar would like you to go alone. I bet Stripefur and I can go with you."
"An apprentice on a warrior escort?" Forestpelt said teasingly.
Blossomfur shot a warning look at her apprentice, then turned to Orchidpaw. "That would be wonderful. Thank you, Orchidpaw. Forestpelt, you go with Orchidpaw to find Stripefur and ask her to escort us. I'll be with you in a moment. Now, Briarpaw, you'll need to stay off that paw for a little while..."
"Come on," Forestpelt said, leading Orchidpaw out of the den. "Now, where's your mentor?"
Orchidpaw scanned the camp. Willowfur, Whitefeather, Sandstripe, and the newest queen, Brookfur, were sitting outside, keeping a close eye on their kits as they enjoyed a rare outing from the nursery. Moosefur and Ferntail were sharing a piece of prey nearby.
"There she is," said the apprentice, spotting Stripefur at last. The two cats walked over to where Orchidpaw's mentor was. Stripefur looked up from sharing tongues with her brother Cloudstorm.
"Hello, Orchidpaw, Forestpelt," she said.
"Hello, Stripefur," Forestpelt said. "Blossomfur and I were looking to go gather herbs and stock up for leaf-bare, and Orchidpaw here volunteered your services for a warrior escort."
"Oh did she now?" purred Stripefur. "Well, I guess we could go along. But it seems as if we should have more than one warrior on our warrior escort."
Orchidpaw rolled her eyes. Why did she ever say the words "warrior escort"?
"I could come!" Orchidpaw looked over to see who had spoken. It was Roseheart. The warrior (with three whole sunrises under her belt) seemed eager to go on a "warrior mission".
Stripefur's whiskers twitched in amusement. "Of course you can come, Roseheart."
"Oh, thank you!" Roseheart purred. "So what are we doing?"
"I'm here," Blossomfur said as she approached. "Wow, what a big escort!"
"I'm not going along," said Cloudstorm as he got to his paws. "I'm off to find that lazy lump Bluepaw. Good luck on finding herbs." The warrior trotted away.
"Herbs?" asked Roseheart, sounding underwhelmed.
"Yes, herbs," Forestpelt said, flicking his tail. "We never said we were going to raid the OakClan camp or anything."
"Oh well," Roseheart said with a sigh.
"Let's go, then," said Stripefur, leading the patrol of cats out of the camp. "So, Blossomfur, what are we looking for?"
"Marigold, mostly, but we will need to stock up on as many herbs as possible," said the medicine cat. "There's a huge clump of marigold down near the OakClan border, and then I was thinking we could head up to the abandoned Twoleg nest and pick the last of the catmint."
Stripefur lead the cats south, past the Death Tree. Forestpelt found some juniper berries, and now his mouth was full, preventing him from talking (which Orchidpaw found was an improvement).
"Wait," Roseheart said. "What's that scent?"
Stripefur and Blossomfur sniffed the air. Forestpelt dropped his berries.
"Is that ... is that..." he stammered.
A small black tom stepped out of the shadows.
"You!" Roseheart hissed.
"Doom!" Stripefur growled.
"Yes, it is me, Doom," the cat said silkily.
"Where's Slashpaw?" Orchidpaw piped up. "What have you done with him?"
"Slashpaw?" said the rogue lazily. "Oh, I killed him, of course." Orchidpaw froze in horror.
"You monster!" Forestpelt hissed. "You killed your own son?!"
"I care for kin no more than I cared for your precious leader," laughed Doom. His eyes found Blossomfur. "Or that scrawny brown she-cat... she was a particular pleasure to kill."
With a shriek, the medicine cat leaped at Doom, claws out.
"Blossomfur, no!" screeched Stripefur.
Doom easily dodged the she-cat, and twisted around, claws outstretched.
"No!" screamed Forestpelt. The medicine cat was flung across the clearing, hitting a large tree with a sickening thud. Forestpelt and Roseheart both threw themselves forward, but they each ran to a different cat. Forestpelt was rushing toward his mentor, while Roseheart was moving in for the attack.
"Orchidpaw, come on," Stripefur said, running forward to help the young warrior. Orchidpaw followed. After some flying fur and screeches of pain, the three she-cats managed to pin the rogue down.
"Help!" Forestpelt cried. "I need cobwebs now!"
"Get out of here," hissed Stripefur at the rogue. "And never ever come back." She and Roseheart got off of Doom, and, surprisingly, he left. "Orchidpaw, Roseheart, go find cobwebs, and be quick!"
Breathing heavily, Orchidpaw nodded and rushed off, ignoring the stinging pain of a fresh wound on her shoulder.
Please, please, she thought. DreamClan, please let me find cobwebs! After what seemed like forever, she spotted a silvery bundle of precious cobwebs. She hurriedly wrapped as many as she could around a forepaw and raced back to where Forestpelt was.
"Here," she panted, thrusting her paw forward. She watched as the medicine cat apprentice worked on his mentor, trying to stop the blood from welling up through a terrible claw wound in her belly.
"We need to get her back to camp," Forestpelt said. "I need my supplies."
Stripefur nodded. She and Roseheart bent down to pick up Blossomfur.
"Be careful!" Forestpelt called. "Try not to jostle her."
After what seemed like days, the group arrived at camp.
"You're back," said Briarpaw as he approached his sister on three legs. When he glimpsed Blossomfur, he gasped. "What happened?"
"Doom happened," Orchidpaw said bitterly.
"He came back?" Briarpaw asked, his jaw agape.
"Yes. And do you know what he said?"
"What?"
"He said he had killed Slashpaw!" Orchidpaw felt a pang of grief when she said it. The quiet apprentice hadn't deserved to be murdered by his own father. Her brother stared at her in shock and anger.
"Do you think Blossomfur will be alright?" asked Briarpaw after a moment.
"I don't know," she said. "We should go see if we can help."
The two apprentices sat outside of the medicine cat's den for a long while. Roseheart came to join them, sitting near to Briarpaw. Orchidpaw licked her wound clean, as did Roseheart.
At around dusk, they heard a terrible howl from inside the den. Orchidpaw leaped to her paws and rushed inside, dreading what she might find.
Forestpelt was slumped against Blossomfur, his face buried in her fur.
"Forestpelt?" Orchidpaw asked tentatively.
The tom lifted his head. His eyes looked empty.
"She's gone," he murmured. "I couldn't save her."
"I'm sorry," Orchidpaw said quietly.
The den was quiet for a moment. The silence felt heavy to Orchidpaw; saturated with grief.
"What kind of a medicine cat am I?" Forestpelt said. "I couldn't save her! I'm worthless. Oh, Blossomfur... what am I going to do without you...?"
"Forestpelt..." Orchidpaw began, not knowing what to say. She felt a cat's tail rest upon her shoulders. She looked up, startled. Daisyheart had come in without Orchidpaw hearing her.
"Go now," the queen said. "I will take care of him. Tell Windystar what has happened." Orchidpaw nodded and stepped back outside.
Roseheart and Briarpaw looked up, eager for news.
"She's dead," Orchidpaw said. Roseheart gasped in shock. "I have to go tell Windystar." Her paws felt like stones as she walked the short distance to Windystar's den.
"Hello?" she called, halting at the entrance.
"Come in," the leader said. Orchidpaw pushed her way into the small den. Windystar sat on the side opposite of her.
"Blossomfur is dead," she said, a wave of grief washing over her. Windystar hung his head.
After a moment, Orchidpaw spoke. "Did – did Stripefur tell you about Slashpaw?"
"Yes," sighed Windystar. Orchidpaw felt a stab of hatred toward Doom. He had taken five PineClan cats' lives, including her father's. Why did that rogue hate PineClan so? Would he ever stop murdering her loved ones?