"Are you sure you don't want anything more to eat, Fireheart?"
"I'm fine, Tigerclaw," Fireheart purred, looking rather amused. "The three mice and two voles you gave me earlier were more than enough. Mind you, I had to share two of the mice with Stormflare and Mosspetal, but even so."
"Alright, but make sure you eat again if you get hungry later. You need to keep your strength up, after all," Tigerclaw reminded her.
Bluefur chuckled to herself as she listened to the dark tabby fussing over his mate. For the past three days, he had refused to leave her side and brought her something to eat or drink almost every time he saw her. Her amusement only increased when she caught sight of the exhausted expression on Fireheart's face. If Fireheart was feeling well enough to be worn down by Tigerclaw's constant worrying, it was a good indication that she was back to her normal self again.
Not that she could blame Tigerclaw, she supposed. After seeing Fireheart nearly lose the will to live for good, it was all Bluefur could do not to smother her former apprentice as well. The younger molly had recovered some of her strength, but her illness was still sapping most of it by the day, and Bluefur worried that all of Fireheart's bravado would be for nothing. She shook her head, trying to toss the negative thoughts away.
She'll be fine, Bluefur thought, trying to convince herself that it was true. Fireheart's a strong cat. Sooner or later, she'll be able to kick her sickness aside just like she did to her greencough when she was an apprentice. Right?
True, the future didn't look favorable for the flame-colored queen. She had known that for a while–everyone had, really. In some part of her mind, however, Bluefur was still convinced that Fireheart was going to be alright in the end–that she was so good at fighting, she could overcome anything. But it was merely wishful thinking and, she knew, only borne of a deeply buried unwillingness to accept the fact that she was going to lose someone else.
"Hey, Bluefur." Fireheart's cheerful–if more tired than usual–voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "You look a little bored there. Want to come with me and Tigerclaw to the training hollow?"
Bluefur blinked at her friend in confusion. "Why are you going to the training hollow?"
"I wanted to do some battle practice," the flame-pelted warrior explained. "If I'm ever going to fight for ThunderClan again, I need to get my strength back. Or, well, as much of it as I can."
"I tried telling her that she doesn't need to push herself too hard," Tigerclaw informed Bluefur, shaking his head. "But she's a stubborn one. I think it's obvious who Stormflare and Briarkit take after."
Fireheart rolled her eyes and nudged him playfully with her shoulder. "Oh, come off it. I won't keel over that easily, you know. I've got a lot more stamina than you think."
Bluefur watched the exchange in silence before meowing, "Well, I suppose I don't have anything to do until the sunset patrol, so I might as well come along."
"Great! Let's go, then," Fireheart meowed happily, turning around and bounding across the camp before disappearing through the gorse tunnel.
For someone who's deathly ill, she sure does move quickly, Bluefur thought, staring after her former apprentice.
Fireheart had disappeared by the time she and Tigerclaw got out of the camp, and Bluefur guessed that she had already gone to the sandy hollow. At least that was what she told herself, although a part of her worried that Fireheart might have collapsed somewhere in the forest. She tried to shake the idea away, but she couldn't quite manage it. After all, it wouldn't be the first time she had collapsed out of nowhere.
"Bluefur?" Tigerclaw meowed suddenly.
"Yes, Tigerclaw? Is something the matter?" she asked, glancing over at her companion.
The dark tabby hesitated for a moment, then replied, "I–I just wanted to thank you."
"Whatever for?" Bluefur asked, puzzled.
"For everything that you've done for Fireheart," Tigerclaw elaborated. He was silent for a few heartbeats before continuing, "I don't know what you said to her, but whatever it was worked. She had...well, I'm sure you know since you saw it for yourself...but she had given up. She was going to just let her illness run its course. But now...she's trying to be a regular warrior again."
"I mean, I didn't really do anything special," Bluefur meowed, feeling pleased all the same that she had been able to help Fireheart. "Besides, it wasn't just me. You helped too, you know, with that mock battle you held with Petalpaw and Beepaw."
"Perhaps," Tigerclaw agreed. He paused, then meowed, "You know, they were supposed to receive their warrior names about a moon ago."
"I know," she meowed, feeling a twinge of guilt. "We haven't forgotten, don't worry. It's just that Sunstar's health hasn't been the best lately either, and with everything that's going on with Fireheart, I guess we just haven't found the time."
"Don't worry, they understand," the dark tabby reassured her. His whiskers twitched as he added, "Just make sure they get their names soon, okay? I think Fireheart's hoping to be able to see at least one more of our litters receive their warrior names."
"Understandable," Bluefur chuckled. "I'll tell you what, we'll hold the ceremony at sunset tomorrow. I can inform Sunstar about it tonight."
"Fair enough," Tigerclaw agreed. "Now come on, we should probably hurry. Don't want to keep Fireheart waiting too long."
Fireheart, as it turned out, was already waiting in the sandy hollow by the time Bluefur and Tigerclaw caught up to her. Bluefur noted with relief that while she seemed a little tired from her run through the territory, she still looked perfectly alert and raring to start the training session. As soon as she spotted them, Fireheart bounded over to greet them, her head and tail held high.
"What took you so long?" she demanded, though without any real anger or annoyance in her voice. She shook her head. "Never mind. Let's get started already."
"Alright, alright," Bluefur meowed, flicking the younger queen over her ears affectionately. "Why don't you and Tigerclaw go at it first and I'll watch? Just make sure not to push yourself too hard. Then if you still have enough energy later, you can battle me."
"Sounds good to me," Fireheart agreed. She spun around so that she was facing Tigerclaw. "Ready when you are!"
For the next several moments, Bluefur sat down and watched as Fireheart and Tigerclaw engaged in a relatively intense mock battle. Of course, with Fireheart's illness, they couldn't battle each other at full strength, but it was clear that both cats were putting in a fair amount of effort. It was also clear that while the flame-colored warrior's strength had diminished, she was still a clever fighter. At one point during the fight, Tigerclaw tried to perform an upright lock, only for Fireheart to duck underneath him and kick her back legs into his exposed belly, sending him toppling over into the dirt. Before he could recover fully, she slammed her paw into the ground, temporarily blinding the dark tabby with a cloud of dust.
"Whoa, now!" Tigerclaw exclaimed, shutting his eyes.
"Oh, sorry," Fireheart meowed, looking guilty. "I didn't mean to kick up so much."
"No, no, I'm alright," Tigerclaw assured her quickly, blinking rapidly. "There wasn't that much anyway. That was a clever move, though. What made you think of it?"
Fireheart twitched her ear. "Well, no matter what, I'll never be able to recover all of my strength," she pointed out. "So if I ever do get to fight in a real battle again, I'll need to do everything I can to get the upper hand over my opponents. I guess kicking dust in someone's eyes isn't necessarily the most honorable tactic in the world, but you know, you have to do what you have to do. As long as I don't kill anyone, I think I can get a pass."
Smart idea, Bluefur thought to herself. Although she is right, doing something like that would probably be frowned upon. Then again, it's not as if the other Clans don't use dishonorable tactics themselves. All's fair in battle, I guess.
They continued their battle session for a while longer, with Fireheart fighting against Bluefur twice and Tigerclaw three more times. Eventually, however, Bluefur noticed her sister figure growing considerably weaker and called it a day. For once, Fireheart didn't protest, and she guessed that she had been right in thinking she was too tired to continue any longer. Despite her exhaustion, however, Fireheart's eyes were shining as they walked back to the camp. Bluefur purred to herself. All in all, it had been a good day, and Fireheart was finally on her way to reclaiming her warrior pride.
Suddenly, the sound of sharp, deep gasps brought Bluefur back down to earth. Snapping her head to the side, she saw that Fireheart had nearly collapsed, her eyes wide with fear and her flanks heaving as Tigerclaw frantically tried to comfort her. It looked as though she was struggling to breathe. Bluefur stared at the fiery molly in horror. How could this be happening to her? She had been fine only a few moments ago!
"Easy, Fireheart. Just take a deep breath," Tigerclaw meowed, the fear in his eyes betraying his worry.
"I–I can't," Fireheart managed to gasp out. "My chest. It's too tight."
"I'll go get Featherwhisker," Bluefur meowed. "He might have some herbs that can help."
Without waiting for a response, she spun around and raced off in the direction of the ThunderClan camp. A few moments later, however, she came to a halt, shaking her head in frustration. It would take too long to fetch Featherwhisker from his den, not to mention she didn't even know if he or Spottedleaf were there at the moment. She didn't have time to risk it. Fireheart needed help now. Quickly, Bluefur racked her brain, trying to remember if either Featherwhisker or Goosefeather had ever mentioned any herbs that could help with breathing issues.
Catmint? No, that's for greencough and she isn't coughing at all. Poppy seeds? Definitely not, I don't think putting Fireheart to sleep would do any good now. I know chamomile is used to soothe a cat's heart and comfort them, but I don't think that's why this is happening right now. Comfrey...that's the herb that Goosefeather used to treat my wrenched claw, so I doubt that's the answer either. Okay, think about this rationally, Bluefur. Fireheart said that her chest felt tight, right? There must be an herb for that. I think I remember...borage leaves! Yes, borage leaves soothe tight chests–I remember Featherwhisker telling me that once.
Breathing out a sigh of relief that she had been able to recall the correct herb, Bluefur turned to her left and started running again. There was no time to get any borage from the medicine den, so she would have to find it in the wild. She knew from experience that there was a patch of borage growing not far from where she was. Bluefur sent a silent prayer of thanks to StarClan that she had spent enough time in the nursery that she was able to recognize the plant at a glance.
Ripping off a few of the leaves, she turned around and raced back over to where Tigerclaw was still waiting with Fireheart. Bluefur felt her heart clench with fear at the sight of her friend. Fireheart's chest and flanks were still heaving, but the molly had collapsed onto her side now as if standing up while trying to breathe took too much effort. Quickly, Bluefur pushed the leaves in front of Fireheart, who stared at them in bewilderment.
"Here, eat these," she meowed urgently. "They'll help ease your chest. Do it now."
Unable to speak, Fireheart nodded and leaned over, picking up the leaves and chewing them slowly. For a few moments, Bluefur worried that she wouldn't be able to swallow them and cursed herself for bringing too much. At last, however, Fireheart managed to get all of the leaves down her throat and let out a sigh of relief, leaning her head against her paws.
"Thanks," she meowed, sounding much more comfortable than she had a few moments ago. "That was weird, huh? Let's get back to the camp now."
"I agree," Tigerclaw meowed, gently helping Fireheart back to her paws. "You should see Featherwhisker when you get back. He'll want to know about this."
Bluefur watched as Tigerclaw and Fireheart padded off in the direction of the camp, the flame-colored molly leaning on her mate for support, then followed suit. The good mood from earlier had vanished like dew on a greenleaf morning. StarClan could not have sent them a clearer message. Fireheart wasn't only fighting her illness anymore. If she wanted a chance of ever battling again, she was in a race against time as well.
