Woo hoo! Last chapter! (For now) It gets kinda crazy in this one.
Chapter Thirteen
Dovewing tried to get back to sleep. The nursery had been comfortably quiet since Fernkit had stopped coughing. Still, she couldn't get to sleep. Dovewing tried eating a mouse, but it didn't help. She'd tried walking around the clearing and rearranging her nest. She just couldn't get to sleep. Cinderheart blinked up at her from her nest.
"Why aren't you asleep Dovewing?" Dovewing shrugged.
"I guess I'm just not tired." Cinderheart glanced at her sympathetically.
"Come on, let's go to the medicine den. I'm going to see If Jayfeather can tell me how many kits I'm going to have." Dovewing figured she didn't have anything better to do, so she might as well go along. They walked out of the nursery and into the medicine den.
"Hello Jayfeather." Jayfeather turned his head towards the sound of her voice. He was busy wrapping piles of herbs. "What are you doing?" Cinderheart sounded perplexed.
"I'm getting herbs ready for when the patrol comes back."
"What patrol?" Cinderheart was still confused, but Dovewing had a horrible feeling that she knew what the patrol was doing.
"The patrol that went to go fight the badgers." Oh no. I was right. Dovewing thought miserably. She hoped that all the cats would come back alive. "Anyway," Jayfeather continued brusquely, "I can give an estimate on how many kits you'll have if you help me with wrapping these herbs." Cinderheart nodded, and Dovewing murmured in agreement. Jayfeather told Cinderheart to lie down. She carefully settled on the sandy floor. Jayfeather pressed his mottled gray paws on her stomach.
"It seems that you're going to have at least four kits. That's quite a big litter." Cinderheart's eyes lit up.
"That's fantastic! Thanks Jayfeather. Now, how can we help with the herbs?" Jayfeather instructed them on how to wrap the dock and marigold in oak leaves. Dovewing sighed as she rolled a juniper berry in a leaf with some marigold.
Ivypool nipped at one of the badgers. It snarled ferociously at her, and she flattened herself to the ground. She sprang up and clamped her teeth around its ear. The badger reared up and let out an angry bellow. It batted her aside with a massive paw, and she twisted in midair, barely avoiding smashing into a tree trunk
"No!" Ivypool though heard Cloudtail yowl. As if things weren't bad enough, a heavy sleet began to fall. Ivypool struggled to stand, but a gash on her hind leg made it almost impossible. She slammed into sopping fur, and lashed out. Her claws dug into the flesh.
"Ivypool! It's me!" Ivypool recognized Toadstep's mew and released her grip.
"I'm so sorry! Toadstep, are you okay?"
"No worse than before." He assured her ruefully. Ivypool glanced around, the sleet had turned to snow and hail. The white powder blew in swirls around her. She flattened to the ground.
"Where are the badgers?" she whispered to Toadstep.
"I don't know. Maybe they left." Toadstep responded, "I don't see anyone else." Ivypool pressed closer to him.
"Cloudtail! Lionblaze! Berrynose!" She tried to call loudly, but her words were lost in the wind. Ivypool crouched, pressing her fur against Toadstep's. She closed her eyes and prayed to StarClan for the storm to be over. When she opened her eyes, she found the snow and wind had lessened. Thank you. She didn't know if any of the cats in StarClan had heard, but she guessed at least one did, because she saw a pale gray she-cat staring peacefully at her from the middle of the clearing.
"Ferncloud?" she mewed in a hushed voice. "Is this The queen dipped her head, and then disappeared into the forest.
"What was that Ivypool?" Ivypool blinked, she'd almost forgotten that Toadstep was with her.
"I said, um... look! The snow stopped. We'd better try to find the rest of the patrol now."
Jayfeather paced back and forth around the clearing. He tasted the air every few heartbeats, and he pricked his ears so he would hear any cats that entered the clearing. He heard Brightheart pad past him.
"Why aren't they back yet?" he snapped, talking about the patrol that had left to fight the badgers. "We're not getting anything done around camp. We need fresh-kill!" Brightheart stopped walking to respond.
"It's fine Jayfeather. We still have plenty of strong warriors back here at camp. And I can go hunting if you want. Plus, I'm sure they'll be back soon." Jayfeather flicked his tail.
"Could you go hunting? I know I'm not in charge of patrols, but Millie's probably hungry, and I bet the elders are too." Brightheart nodded and hurried out of camp. Jayfeather walked into his den and began listing remedies that would help battle wounds. Dock for scratches. Marigold stops infection. He didn't want to doubt the patrol, but he couldn't help thinking if they weren't back by now, something must have gone wrong. Jayfeather heard a shocked yowl, and raced into the clearing. Snow and hail swirled around the clearing. He fought his way through the strong wind, and slammed into a den. He grunted and pulled himself out of the branches of the nursery. Jayfeather ducked inside. The queens were staring at him from their cozy nests.
"What's going on?" mewed Cinderheart as Millie pulled her kits closer to her, tucking them into the moss.
"It's just a sudden storm. I'm sure it'll be over soon." Shadekit shook her mother off, and padded up to him.
"Are you the medicine cat?" she squeaked. Her sister leaped out of the nest as well.
"Why do your eyes look like that?" Fernkit questioned boldly.
"Hush!" snapped Millie, dragging them both back into her nest. Jayfeather's ear twitched, but he didn't say anything. "Don't mind them." She meowed apologetically.
"It's fine." He muttered. Jayfeather couldn't afford to be angry at the kits, not while they were in the middle of a potential crisis. As he poked his muzzle back into the clearing, he realized with shock that the winds and snow had died down. He was surprised that it had happened so quickly, but he was pleased.
"The snow's stopped!" he announced.
Is it a sign from StarClan that Ferncloud appeared in the middle of a random storm? R&R.