Shadowpaw worked tirelessly beside Puddleshine in an effort to care for the sick and starving. Prey in the pine forests had become entirely too scarce in recent days, and in the quarter moon since the meeting at the gathering island, ShadowClan had become weak with hunger. Cats of all ages were losing weight much too quickly.
Whatever prey had been caught went to Cinnamontail before anyone else. She was the only nursing queen and Tigerstar was adamant about not letting her kits die to the coming starvation. The rest of the clan respected that and felt the same way, even though they were all suffering as a result.
Shadowpaw himself felt weak. His stomach felt like it would start to eat itself soon if he didn't get food. Tigerstar sent out ten hunting parties a day, but each patrol came back with a maximum of two pieces of prey. Most came back with nothing, no matter how much time they spent away hunting. The best piece of prey had been caught by Blazeheart two days ago: a skinny rabbit with enough meat on its bones to give Cinnamontail and Puddleshine strength for the next day.
Tigerstar set up a system to assure that each of his cats were fed well enough to survive. Cinnamontail always got first pick of the fresh-kill pile, no matter the circumstances. Puddleshine and Shadowpaw were allowed next, if there was anything left to choose from- the clan needed its medicine cats if they wanted to survive the sickness that was sure to follow the starvation. Oakfur and Ratscar took whatever they could. Then, if there was ever anything left to choose from, the apprentices got to eat. Warriors ate if they were lucky. Tigerstar and Scorchfur only took prey if everyone else in the clan had taken at least a bite to eat. That hadn't happened in several sunrises.
In the medicine den, Puddleshine and Shadowpaw did what they could for Ratscar, who had grown weak quicker than anyone had expected. His pelt clung to his bones, leaving Shadowpaw to count all of his ribs effortlessly. Even his legs looked like they had been stripped of any and all muscle. He looked like a living skeleton.
"Ratscar, when was the last time you ate anything?" Puddleshine asked him sternly.
Ratscar wheezed a few breaths before responding weakly with, "The young cats need it more… I've been giving my prey to Berryheart's kits. They need their strength for training."
"Ratscar, you need to eat, too!" Puddleshine scolded the elder. "When Tawnypelt's patrol gets back, you're taking something to eat immediately! Understand?"
Ratscar laughed without humor. "Save it. The stars are already whispering to me. I don't have long; you and I both know that."
"Do you really care so little about yourself that you would just give up? That doesn't sound like you, Ratscar," Puddleshine pleaded.
The elder shrugged away the medicine cat's plea. He sighed and said, "It's not about that… I've served ShadowClan well. I'm old- just another mouth to feed, and I contribute nothing but stories for the young. Maybe some see worth in that, but I don't. I'm ready to join StarClan's ranks. At least I can die saying I did something for my clan. I fed those who can care for others. I can die fulfilled."
Ratscar settled into his makeshift nest and closed his eyes. His breathing became shallow and quick, but he didn't appear to mind. He simply said, "Just... leave me... in peace…"
Shadowpaw and Puddleshine looked at each other for a moment, sharing a wordless conversation about whether or not to let Ratscar do what he wanted to do. The morality of the decision was questionable at best, but the elder had made up his mind. They couldn't force him to eat, especially when they had no prey to offer him at that exact point in time.
They didn't have to discuss anything further than that. When just moments before he had been speaking coherently, Ratscar stopped breathing. Puddleshine and his apprentice stared at the elder and almost felt his spirit leave his body. Shadowpaw couldn't help but wonder if Ratscar would find his way to StarClan when their warrior ancestors couldn't even seem to find them.
"Help me take his body out into the clearing," Puddleshine ordered solemnly.
Shadowpaw nodded and helped get Ratscar's body onto Puddleshine's back. Shadowpaw used his own shoulders to hold up the elder's hindquarters. Walking carefully and slowly, the medicine cats carried their fallen clanmate out into the middle of the camp.
Around them, their starving clanmates watched as they lightly laid Ratscar down in the snow. Puddleshine whispered the words that would hopefully guide the elder to StarClan, then he padded away with his tail trailing behind him. Shadowpaw sat beside Ratscar with his tail curled around his paws. He waited for someone- anyone- to come forward and sit with their clanmate. For the longest time, nobody did.
Ratscar had no family in the clan, except for his younger sister, Snowbird. With their age difference, the two of them had never been close. Their parents were long dead. Ratscar never took a mate, and therefore he had no kits. Nobody in ShadowClan was particularly close to him. When he was younger, Ratscar wasn't the nicest of cats. He was abrasive and unfriendly. Since he retired, however, he had mellowed out a bit. Still, the older warriors found it hard to respect him. The young cats only knew him for his stories.
Finally, Ratscar's denmate, Oakfur, stepped forward. The old cat looked almost as frail as Ratscar did, but Shadowpaw knew he had been eating whatever he was allowed to. Oakfur was well respected in the clan, and he had served it well for many seasons. When he stepped forward to sit with Ratscar for his vigil, other cats began to as well.
Berryheart's kits- Hollowpaw, Spirepaw, and Sunpaw- came to sit with the elder, too. Shadowpaw stayed with them until he felt he was no longer needed. He stood up and trudged through the snow in order to return to the medicine den.
As he was about to enter the medicine den, Shadowpaw heard rustling at the entrance to the camp. He glanced over and saw Tawnypelt pad through the entry tunnel with Juniperclaw leaning against her shoulder. Behind them, Lightpaw and Conepaw walked with their fur bristling in fear. Shadowpaw called for Puddleshine, then ran to meet them in the clearing.
"What's going on?" Shadowpaw asked them quickly.
"Nothing," Juniperclaw answered flatly. "They're making a big deal out of something unimportant."
"You have an infection, Juniperclaw! That's not nothing," Tawnypelt argued.
"For StarClan's sake, I was just scratched by a thorn! It's nothing! Honestly," Juniperclaw responded in annoyance.
"Thorn scratches can be deadly if left untreated," Shadowpaw corrected. "How long ago were you scratched?"
"I don't know… two, three days ago? I was on a hunting patrol! Feeding the clan seemed more important than some stupid scratch that barely even bled," Juniperclaw argued further.
Puddleshine exited the medicine den and ran to join them. He had a bundle of herbs in his jaws. He stopped beside Juniperclaw and began fussing over the wound in his shoulder. Shadowpaw noticed that it was red and puffy. It was certainly infected.
"Juniperclaw, if this infection gets any worse, it could very easily kill you," Puddleshine informed the warrior. "You should have come to us straight away!"
The lithe black tom lowered his head, saying, "I'm sorry… I didn't know. I thought it was fine."
Puddleshine next looked to Tawnypelt, nodding towards Conepaw in the process. "Tell Tigerstar to give him a temporary mentor until we can clear Juniperclaw's infection. I want to stay positive for now, but do tell him that this readjustment may be a bit more permanent than he would like it to be."
Tawnypelt agreed to Puddleshine's terms, then padded over to Tigerstar's den. Puddleshine led Juniperclaw to the medicine den, where Shadowpaw couldn't help but think would be the last place the young warrior walked. The infection itself was bad, but with the constant hunger on top of it, Shadowpaw feared the worst.
"My mentor's going to die, isn't he?" Conepaw asked tiredly. It wasn't even really a question. It was more like Conepaw already knew how this would turn out.
"It's too soon to tell," Shadowpaw replied hopefully.
Lightpaw touched her tail to Conepaw's shoulder. She said, "If anybody can save your mentor, my brother can. He's going to be the best medicine cat in all of the clans soon!"
"It's not a competition, Lightpaw," Shadowpaw reminded his littermate. "Boast again if I can save Juniperclaw, but not until then."
Shadowpaw bid his sister and the older apprentice farewell before turning and running back to the medicine den. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the small gathering of cats around Ratscar's body. He hoped Juniperclaw wouldn't be joining Ratscar in the ground come morning.
…
Juniperclaw's condition quickly deteriorated over the next couple of days. The infection kept getting worse, no matter what herbs Puddleshine and Shadowpaw used on him. Nothing they did seemed to help, and before long, Puddleshine was forced to call it. Two sunrises after Ratscar's death to starvation, Juniperclaw succumbed to his infection.
After his vigil, Oakfur took the young tom's body for burial. Strikestone, Juniperclaw's only remaining littermate, joined Oakfur in doing so. His brother's death had hit him hard, Shadowpaw knew. The two of them were all each other had; now Strikestone had nobody.
Shadowpaw sat outside of the medicine den with his head lowered. He felt like a failure for having lost two clanmates so close to each other. He knew Puddleshine felt the same. After all, what was the point in being a medicine cat if they lost more cats than they saved? But the fact remained: there was no cure for starvation. Only food could cure that. Traveling herbs may have kept their clanmates feeling full, but they wouldn't help them in the long run. They would still starve, even if they didn't feel like they were.
Shadowpaw perked his ears up as he heard Scorchfur whispering with Tigerstar.
"Strikestone wants to go searching for his sister…" the deputy began cautiously.
"Sleekwhisker?" Tigerstar responded, clearly appalled at the suggestion. "Why would he want to go looking for that traitor? She killed Rowanclaw!"
"She's still his sister, as well as the last surviving member of his family. I think he may have the right, if he wants to put himself in that situation," Scorchfur suggested gently.
The ShadowClan leader shook his head in frustration, saying, "Even if I allowed it, now is far from the best time. ShadowClan is starving. We need every healthy warrior to hunt, and that includes Strikestone. That's the end of it, understand?"
"I agree, Tigerstar, but I fear he may go even if we say no. I recall you doing something similar not all that long ago," the deputy pointed out.
"That was different," Tigerstar replied indignantly. "Dovewing wasn't dangerous. She was scared, alone, and carrying my kits. Sleekwhisker is dangerous, and it's impossible to know if she is alone or not. She may be with other rogues, waiting for us to find her. She's not worth the risk. If I have to, I'll have somebody assigned to watch Strikestone. I can't let him leave."
Shadowpaw stopped eavesdropping at that point, though he suspected that the conversation was over anyway. He remembered hearing stories of the traitorous rogue named Sleekwhisker. She had been a loyal follower of Darktail when he and his Kin took control of Clan territory. She had taken part in several brutal murders of Clan cats, including Rowanclaw and Needletail. If ever there was an evil cat to walk amongst the clans, she was it.
But what if it were Lightpaw or Pouncepaw? Shadowpaw wondered. Would I go searching for them?
Undecided, Shadowpaw turned and entered the medicine den once more. He was exhausted, as he hadn't slept since Juniperclaw revealed his infection. Puddleshine was already curled up in his own nest, passed out after days of work. His tail twitched as if he was dreaming.
Shadowpaw found his own nest and sat down. He plopped down and curled his tail over his eyes to block out the light coming from the entrance of the den. It was early in the morning, and the sunrise reflected brightly against the fallen snow. The medicine cat apprentice still had no trouble falling asleep, as exhaustion took its toll.
Shadowpaw felt as if he had been asleep for a heartbeat when his eyes opened once more. He found himself no longer protected by the walls and the roof of the medicine den. Instead, he found himself in a snow-covered clearing, far away from any territory he knew of in the waking world. Above him, the sky was dark and starless. The moon was nowhere to be seen, leaving Shadowpaw in complete darkness.
Suddenly, a single star appeared in the sky. Shadowpaw's eyes focused on the single star, burning brightly in the middle of the abyss. Then, without warning, the star began to fall from the sky. It hurtled straight towards him.
Every instinct told Shadowpaw to run, but he stood his ground. He watched as the light of the falling star took over all of his sight, until there was nothing but the white, shining light. His mind spun with the possibilities.
Dozens of voices began to speak all at once, all muttering the same thing over and over again.
All of the voices chanted,"The skies have darkened. Seek the light of the fallen star."
Just as quickly as the light had arrived, it vanished, leaving Shadowpaw in the dark again.
