After the strange attack by the badger, Darkfrost had recovered well. He had given up on finding his sister, falling even deeper into a brooding depression. Always quiet, only confiding only in Redpaw and Talonshadow, he continued to work harder than most of the warriors. He had become short and always angry.
The constant teasing from Spidernose led to several fights between the two warriors.
Gorsestar, while running out of patience for the two, refused to punish Darkfrost. Both toms strived for approval, the need to be accepted by the Clan.
Even with Spidernoses' Clanborn heritage, he had been born from consequence of breaking the warrior code. The former medicine cat, Runninghawk took a mate within the Clan, Cloudyfern. She died giving birth, with Spidernose being the only surviving kit. In shame, Runninghawk left the clan, abandoning his son and leaving Willowcreek to take up the mantle of medicine cat.
In the season cycle after Larkpaw's and Flightsong's kits disappearance, Gorsestar had become reserved, more distant. Archstar and Thornstar became regulars, discussing the abductions from all three clans. No action could be taken since no cat knew where they were coming from, just that they were ruthless, with nothing stopping them from killing.
"Redsky, please go get some catnip," Willowcreek meowed as she glanced worriedly at Sagekit,"Take Darkfrost with you, and Spidernose. Be quick, please."
Her mentors concerning meow jolted the red tabby out of a distracted daze,"Okay." She darted out of the medicine cat den, her gaze immediately searching for the toms. Redsky quickly found Darkfrost and trotted over to him,"Willowcreek needs us to get catnip, Spidernose is coming too." She glanced back at the medicine den, knowing that Sagekit's too young to survive the cough for long.
"Anyone but him…" he groaned, ears flattening against his skull.
Redsky ignored him, calling out into the warriors den for the creamy tom. Within a few moments, he sulked out of the den, scowling in annoyance that he was forced to be running herb errands. Spidernose grumbled to himself, but oddly enough didn't say anything.
"We have to be fast, please, no fighting." Redsky growled,"Sagekits life is at risk." Both toms just glanced at eachother, but said nothing. A kits life was more important than their petty feud, and they both knew it.
Wordlessly, the trio bounded out of camp. They moved swiftly through the forest, heading towards the Twolegplace. Catnip was scarce, with the only way to find it was scavenging the Twoleplace for the addicting leaves.
"Keep your eyes open," Darkfrost advised as they entered the Twolegplace. The group slowed to a fast walk, with all three cats peeking into Twoleg gardens. They started hopeful, assuming that it would take no time at all to find the herb. But time stretched on as they failed to find any catnip, each heartbeat felt like eternity.
They rested in a dark alley as the sun started to lower, out of sight from any Twolegs. "We won't ever find catnip…" Spidernose growled as he began to pace. His tail whisked angrily, claws uncomfortably scrapping the dark, hard ground.
"Catnip? Why are you so desperate for that?" A feathery sand brown she-cat jumped down from a weird hollow tree trunk. Her head was tilted curiously, her dark brown eyes searched the group of cats.
"Who are you?" Spidernose meowed, hackles rising. He padded over to face her, eyes narrowed. Darkfrost slid in front of Redsky, claws extended.
"Oh calm down, I have no intention of hurting you," She laughed,"Can't I be curious on why you're here? It's obvious you don't belong here." The rogue peered around Spidernose and Darkfrost to see Redsky,"Obviously I'm not going to get through to these two, what do you want with catnip?"
The cream tabby tom looked taken aback that this random loner wasn't threatened by either of the warriors.
"Please…" Redsky slipped passed Darkfrost to talk with the sandy she-cat.
"Korra." She meowed, nodding for the medicine cat to continue.
"We have a kit, back in our Clan, she has a bad cough…" Redsky trailed off, looking down at her paws, fearing to finish the sentence.
Immediately, with alarm flashing in her eyes, Korra meowed,"Keep up." With that, she took off into Twolegplace. The three cats sped after her, struggling to keep her in sight. Redsky was falling behind, but pushed herself as harder, paws barely skimming the tar surface.
Within mere moments, they arrived at a Twoleg nest, the garden filled with various herbs and plants. "Over here," Korra called when she spotted the catnip,"Is this enough?" She pointed a claw at a huge clump of catnip.
Redsky nodded,"This should be enough, everyone, grab what you can." Darkfrost and Spidernose each took what they could, mouths packed with the juicy leaves.
"You need a way home right? I can lead you back to the forest." The bronze she-cat offered, eyes bright with amusement.
"Thank you, Korra," she meowed in gratitude towards the rogue,"We couldn't have found this without you." Korra nodded and bounded over the fence with ease, followed by Darkfrost and Spidernose. Redsky gathered the remaining leaves in her mouth, scrambling after her clanmates.
It took far less time than before to find their way back to the forest, saying a quick good-bye to Korra. The patrol sped off, running as fast as they could to get back to camp. Exhaustion tugged at all of their paws, wandering around the Twolegplace was certainly a tiring task.
"You're back! Thank StarClan!" Willowcreek greeted them at the entrance,"And with so much catnip!" She led the three into the medicine cat den, which had increased in number. Flystream and Hawkfire were curled up near Sagekit, suffering from the same cough. "I worry that we'll have greencough epidemic…"
She pointed to where she wanted the catnip with an extended claw. The three cats
gently unloaded the catnip, with Willowcreek ordering the two warriors out to rest."Give Sagekit a half leaf, I'll handle Flystream and Hawkfire."
Redsky quietly coaxed the small ginger kit to take a bit,"Little one, please, it's really good," she murmured giving the scrawny kit a couple licks. Sagekit carefully nibbled on the leaf, letting out a joyful squeal, and inhaled the rest. Within a few moments, she had fallen asleep, looking even the slightest better.
"I don't want you in here unless I need you," her mentor meowed, not looking up from her examination of Flystream,"I don't need you getting sick. Help out with hunting, if you see any herbs, pick them up, sleep in the warriors den."
"Don't you need me to help take care of the sick cats?" Redsky questioned,"Surely I can be helpful?"
"No, I can handle these three. If both of us get greencough, IceClan would be doomed. I'm just taking precaution, now go." She replied, her attention remained on the sick tortoiseshell.
The red tabby nodded, leaving with a simple good-bye. Unsure of what to do, she padded over to the prey pile, picking up a scrawny vole. Redsky sat down alone, picking at her food. What am I supposed to do? I'm not allowed in the medicine den... Lost in her thoughts, she hadn't noticed Darkfrost sitting next to her.
"Hey," he meowed, sitting close to her,"I just told Gorsestar about the catnip, and Korra."
Startled by his appearance, it took her a few moments to respond,"Why did you tell him about Korra?" Jealousy pierced at her heart, a feeling she had gotten used to since the badger incident.
"If she ever comes searching for our help, we owe her to not be attacked while coming for us," he pointed out, resting her tail on hers,"We got the catnip, Sagekit is going to be okay."
"You have a point I suppose," she sighed, pushing down the jealousy,"Flystream and Hawkfire have a cough too, but we don't know if it's greencough yet." Redsky paused, taking a bite of the vole,"I've also been ordered out of the medicine cat den until they're better." She pushed away the vole, her stomach hollow.
"What are you supposed to do? Where are you supposed to sleep?" He questioned, concerned that she wasn't eating,"You have to eat, you have to stay strong." Darkfrost pointed out, nudging the vole towards her,"I can help you pick herbs tomorrow and we can hunt." Darkfrost offered eagerly.
"Fine." Redsky grumbled and slowly picked at the vole. Darkfrost watched with a satisfied gleam in his eyes.
They sat in silence as the day darkened, transitioning to night. Most of the Clan cats, save for the two warriors standing guard, had retreated into Redsky lifted her head, watching the moonrise into the sky. Her ear flicked at the hoot of an owl far off into the woods.
"Come, you can share my nest in the warriors den." The dark tabby tom whispered in her ear.
"I can't." Redsky whispered painfully. She knew that her clanmates would question her and Darkfrost's friendship, if they hadn't already.
Agony lit the dark tabby eyes, as well as hurt. He had taken it personally, that she didn't care for him enough to share a nest for a couple of nights. Wordlessly, he got to his paws and began sulking away towards the warriors den.
"Wait." She meowed louder than she intended to. I shouldn't… but… Whisperheart turned as she asked. Redsky visibly flinched at the desperation and lonliness embedded in his dark eyes. Her heart ached for him, but she had to consider the warrior code.
The red tabby shook her head, forcing away the concern she had about the warrior code and followed him into the warrior's den. What harm can one night do, really?