Chapter 10
Skypaw lifted her head from where she was craftily plucking stems from the catmint plant and piling them beside her. WindClan? She thought in horror. She scented the air, hoping with all her heart that her sister was wrong. But her heart dropped to her paws as she detected a faint scent of WindClan on the breeze. Faint, but new. She jumped as a cat burst from the undergrowth, then relaxed.
"Reedpaw!" She heard Dawnpaw meow. "Reedpaw! Is that you?"
"Y-yes." The cat meowed shakily. "W-we need your help... Wind- WindClan attacked… ambush…"
"Who is in your patrol?" Owlwhisker demanded.
"B-Brambleclaw, Thornclaw and Redpaw." Skypaw froze as she heard her sister gulp. Oh, no! No, no, StarClan, no! Let him be alright! Skypaw could hear her sister's thoughts as clearly as her own. Could Dawnpaw have any feeling for a cat in that patrol? If so, which one?
"Hey, what's wrong?" Skypaw whispered, pressing herself comfortingly against her sister.
"Nothing." Skypaw could tell that Dawnpaw was struggling to keep her voice steady. Skypaw didn't press her any more. When Dawnpaw was ready to confide in her, she would. But in the meantime, they had a WindClan patrol to fight. "Go back to camp, and get some thyme from Jayfeather," Skypaw gently nosed the shocked apprentice towards the camp. "It'll ease the shock. Then you might be able to come back and fight, if Jayfeather lets you."
"Skypaw," Her father's gentle voice sounded behind her. "It may be best for you to wait at camp, too." Skypaw
bristled. "I'm just as capable to fight off WindClan as any other apprentice!" She turned and stormed off into the undergrowth, ignoring a surprised meow as she brushed past Velvetpaw. She could hear the screeching of Warriors in the distance and she pelted towards them, forgetting the patrol and the need for Catmint. As the yowls and screeches of the battle came closer Skypaw paused briefly as a dark thought crossed her mind. I haven't been trained to fight yet! Skypaw thought with a slight shiver. But… I can't give up now! I must prove that I'm worth something to my clanmates, not just a burden! Skypaw stepped through the undergrowth and found herself in the middle of a battle. It was Brambleclaw, Thornclaw and Redpaw against about six WindClan Warriors. They were badly outnumbered, but maybe… An idea was forming in Skypaw's mind. She turned tail and sped back to camp as fast as her paws would carry her.
Skypaw pelted up the Highledge and called into her leaders den. "Enter." Firestar rasped at last. With a jolt Skypaw realized that she'd probably woke him from his sleep. Mouse-dung! She thought. She shifted her paws nervously. "WindClan is attacking on the border. We're badly outnumbered. I was just wondering if you could spare a few warriors. Could you?" Skypaw heardFirestar grunt as he pulled himself to his paws. She rested her tail on his shoulder. "No." She mewed, her voice gentle but stern. "You must rest to get better. Just name the warriors." Firestar managed a rusty purr.
"You sound more like your mother every day." He sighed. "Okay, take Dustpelt, Sandstorm, Inkheart, Shallowpelt, Cloudtail and Tallpaw. Who exactly is on the patrol already?"
"Brambleclaw, Thornclaw, Reedpaw and Redpaw." She answered. "But I'm going to have to tell Thornclaw and Brambleclaw to come home. They're both sick!" Firestar sighed, and told her she was dismissed. She turned and raced out of his den, and called together her patrol.
"Where do you think you're going?" Skypaw jumped as a meow sounded behind her. She turned around to face her mentor.
"I'm leading this patrol into battle." She said defiantly.
"Oh, no you're not!" Jayfeather growled. "Now come and help me prepare herbs and poultices."
"But Firestar said I could!" Skypaw protested.
"Firestar is sick. His brain is not working properly. Now come on. I'll tell Sandstorm to lead the patrol." Jayfeather turned and padded over to the senior warrior before Skypaw could object. As she trailed towards the medicine den, she wondered, was that bitterness or jealousy in Jayfeather's meow? Or was it both?
Redpaw let out a fearsome battle cry and launched himself back into battle. They were badly outnumbered with Brambleclaw and Thornclaw not fighting very well because they were sick, and Reedpaw sent back to camp for help. Redpaw tried desperately to remember his training, but it was hard in the midst of the battle. Redpaw caught sight of a black and white apprentice that was attacking Thornclaw. His last thought before he launched himself at her was, she looks like Dawnpaw! Oh, how he loved her. Redpaw was glad that Dawnpaw was home, safe from lingering death. But he knew deep in his heart that they could never be together. It would be impossible with Brokentail anticipating his every move, swearing to kill him if he ever took a mate or had kits, because that meant it would delay his warrior duties. Brokentail held power over him, because Redpaw's father, Lionblaze, was Brokentail's kin. Or so Brokentail had said.
Suddenly Sandstorm raced into the clearing, interrupting Redpaw's thoughts and bringing a fresh band of warriors and apprentices behind her. There was Dustpelt, Inkheart, Shallowpelt, Cloudtail and Tallpaw as well as the hunting patrol which had Stonefoot, Owlwhisker, Leafpool and Velvetpaw. Suddenly a lithe black and white shape bounded down into the clearing, and Redpaw's blood ran cold. Dawnpaw!
"Okay, we'll need Cobwebs, comfrey, dock, goldenrod, horsetail, marigold, nettle, thyme and yarrow." Jayfeather meowed to her. Skypaw slithered into the supply store and called out softly,
"We have got cobwebs, dock, horsetail, marigold and a small pile of thyme but we're out of comfrey, goldenrod, nettle and yarrow." She pushed out the piles of the leaves they had.
"Good." Skypaw felt Jayfeather's hot breath in her ear. "Now let's go; wounded cats are waiting." Skypaw didn't reply; her mouth was full of herbs. Skypaw had come back to the medicine den and found Reedpaw sleeping peacefully in a nest; she was too shocked to go back into battle. Jayfeather must have given her poppy seeds. Skypaw had guessed.
She followed her mentor to the place where the battle was, and he gave a meow of greeting to someone who carried WindClan scent. Skypaw felt confused. Surely they should be fighting WindClan? She hissed at the newcomers. She wouldn't let those mangy flea-bitten cats beat her!
"Hush, Skypaw." Jayfeather meowed sternly. "This is Barkface, the WindClan medicine cat. And here is Kestrelflight, his apprentice."
"But shouldn't we be fighting them?" Skypaw asked, genuinely curious.
"No," Jayfeather sighed. "We will heal the wounded together. They have bought comfrey, dock, goldenrod, horsetail, nettle and yarrow. We don't have some of those. We can work together. We are not bound by the same code as the warriors; we have different boundaries." To the other cats, he meowed, "This is Skypaw, my new apprentice." The two older medicine cats started talking about which herb was best for healing clawed eyes. Skypaw listened for a while.
"Hi." A voice whispered in her ear, making her jump. She had been so intent at listening to the older cats that she hadn't heard him approach her.
"Hello," She mewed, suddenly feeling shy. "What's your name? Mine's Skypaw."
"I'm Kestrelflight. Being a medicine cat's great, isn't it? Healing your clanmates, seeing their faces when you tell them about a message from StarClan…" Skypaw was tempted to tell him that she couldn't see her clanmates faces because she was blind. But she had enough sense to hold her tongue. Two blind cats might make ThunderClan sound weak.
"Look, I didn't want to become a medicine cat." Too late, she realised she had just gave her blindness away. Kestrelflight tensed.
"You're not blind too, are you?" He asked. Skypaw nodded, knowing she couldn't hide the truth for a moment longer. She felt his gaze scorch her fur, finally stopping at her eyes.
"That's right, have a good long stare!" She growled. "Then maybe you'll be able to leave me alone!" She flattened her ears against her head and let out a threatening hiss; she heard pawsteps retreating and then Kestrelflight's complaint.
"Skypaw was being mean to me!" Skypaw rolled her eyes.
"You're bigger than me, mouse-brain!" She snapped, feeling fed up with him. He was acting like a kit just out of the nursery. "Skypaw!" Jayfeather murmured. "I told you, their our friends!" "There your friends, maybe, but I'm fed up with all this. Why can't I go into battle? Why can't I fight like the rest of our cla-" Skypaw broke off as the clearing beyond the bush went silent. "W-what's happening?" Skypaw whimpered, pressing against Jayfeather. He bent down to lick her head.
"It's alright," He soothed. "I'm sure it's nothing." But she could detect worry in his voice, and Skypaw was sure her mentor was trying to convince himself as much as her.
"Firestar and Onestar are fighting in the clearing!" Kestrelflight hissed in her ear. She nudged Jayfeather, about to repeat that to him when he murmured,
"I heard." Skypaw stood, rigid with shock, trying to hear what was happening. "B-"
A shriek cut off what he was about to say. After another shriek of pure agony, she pressed even closer to Jayfeather, shivering so much she could barely stand up.
"How many lives does Firestar have left?" She asked Jayfeather, her voice shaking with terror.
"Right now he is on his sixth life. Which means he only has three to go." Skypaw stumbled and fell to the ground, panting, as someone wailed, "Firestar is dead!"