Chapter 9

I wake up to someone poking me. "Meet me outside," Silentstorm whispered. What the?

I walk outside the den as Silentstorm directed feeling pretty confused. I'm followed closely by Boulderfang and then Tallblaze. Silentstorm then came out.

"Come on," she whispered.

We followed her out of camp. "What is this about?" I asked.

"I saw Deathfire leave camp a while ago and thought you would all be concerned," she said.

"And you didn't get us when you saw Deathfire up in the middle of the night?" Boulderfang asked.

"It's not my business what she gets up to," Silentstorm answered.

"What were you doing up anyway?" I asked. She chose to ignore that question.

"Are you sure we're not following her scent from earlier?" Tallblaze asked. "We're almost at Tall Tree. Why would she be there?"

"I wouldn't know. It's not like it's my job to know what Deathfire is doing at any given moment," Silentstorm responded.

"I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be your job, Tallblaze," Boulderfang said.

"Since when?" Tallblaze asked.

"Just like it's Silentstorm's job to know what I'm doing," I said.

"That is true," Silentstorm agreed.

"But why me? And why did nobody tell me?" Tallblaze asked. "I would've taken my job more seriously if I'd known."

"I'd be a little quieter. There's a few someones up ahead," Silentstorm said.

We emerged at Tall Tree. I heard both brothers gasp. I could tell Deathfire was here along with three SunClan cats, Grasstail, Coldclaw, and Skystorm if I'm not mistaken.

"What can you guys see that I can't?" I asked.

"Deathfire's hanging limply by her scruff in Grasstail's jaw which means there are two things she could be," Silentstorm said.

"Is she dead?" Boulderfang asked.

"Nope. At least not yet," Grasstail responded.

"What did you do to her?" Tallblaze asked.

"Just gave her some poppy seeds," Grasstail answered.

"Some?" I asked. "I've never seen Dawnfur give anyone more than one. How many?"

"Five," he answered. That does not sound good.

"Leave and no one gets hurt," Boulderfang threatened, sounding angrier than I could ever imagine him getting.

"Without Shorty," Tallblaze added. "Set her down."

"Fine then," Grasstail said. "You won't be around to save her every time."

After he left, we immediately went to Deathfire. As Grasstail had said, she was alive.

"It almost looks like there was no fight," Boulderfang observed. "Not a single scratch or bite."

"She's small and could easily be overtaken without the use of claws," Silentstorm said.

"What we need to focus on is getting her back to camp," Tallblaze said. "It shouldn't be too hard. I'll carry her."

So we headed back to camp. Her breathing remained steady throughout the trip, a definite good sign. I could feel the first beams of sunlight as we arrived back at camp. We ignored the stairs and headed toward Dawnfur's den.

"Dawnfur! We need you!" I called.

"What is it Silkshade?" She asked. "Oh. What happened?"

"We won't know what the full story is until she wakes up, but some mouse-brained rouges decides to stuff poppy seeds down her throat," I told Dawnfur. "Five to be exact."

"Will she be okay?" Boulderfang asked.

"I honestly don't know," Dawnfur said. "I've always heard never give a cat more than two poppy seeds, less for smaller cats. No one has ever told me what happens if you do. So we'll see how this plays out."

"Is there anything you can do to help?" I asked.

"Not that I know of. With the whitecough and greencough patients in my den I wouldn't want to take her in there or get to close unless it was life or death," Dawnfur said. "Could you guys help me out?"

We, of course, all agreed.

"I want you guys to take turns watching her. Just make sure her breathing stays steady and nothing out of the ordinary happens. If so, tell me. We could probably set up a nest in the apprentice den since no one's in there so no one disturbs any one's sleep," she said.

"I'll take her there," Tallblaze volunteered.

"I'll go get some moss to make a nest," I said.

"I'll go with you," Silentstorm said.

"I'll tell Pineclaw about the arrangement so he doesn't put us on a patrol when we're busy," Boulderfang said.

"If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask," Dawnfur said. "Thanks for the assistance. The help is appreciated."

"Wait. Since I'm blind will I be able to help?" I asked.

"Breathing and any weird things I could think of make at least a bit of sound. I'd say so," Dawnfur answered. "I mean, there's been at least one blind medicine cat so I don't see why not."

"Okay," I said. She's the medicine cat, she knows what she's talking about.

We went our separate ways to do as promised. Silentstorm and I left camp in search of moss.

I still had a lot of unanswered questions. What was Deathfire doing? How'd she end up getting dragged away by Grasstail? Why did she think it was a good idea to do whatever she went to do in the middle of the night? Only she could answer these questions though, and she couldn't at the moment as she was unconscious.

We gathered moss and took it back to camp. Tallblaze had already taken Deathfire to the apprentice den. Silentstorm and I made a nest for her, and Tallblaze placed her in it.

"I told Pineclaw," Boulderfang said, coming in. "He understands."

"So are we going to make a schedule?" Silentstorm asked.

"Who's willing to do it over night?" Tallblaze asked.

"I will," Silentstorm said.

"I'll do it," I said.

"Then I say Silentstorm watches her from dusk to moonhigh, Silkshade then takes over until dawn, I'll then take shift until sunhigh, and it's Boulderfang's turn until dusk," Tallblaze suggested.

"Sounds good to me," I said.

"I'm fine with it," Boulderfang said.

"Sure," Silentstorm said.

"It's settled then," Tallblaze said. "The next thing we need to discuss is how to murder Grasstail."

"As much as I'd like to, we can't just run off and kill him without us seeming in the wrong," Boulderfang said.

"Trap him and let him slowly starve, but make sure to leave some awful wounds that slowly become infected. His body will slowly and painfully shut down from the lack of water and food," I said. No one responded for a moment.

"This sounds inspired by personal experiences and leaves me with one question," Tallblaze said. "Are you okay?"

"Never would I have expected such violence from you," Boulderfang said.

"I believe this feeling is known as pride," Silentstorm said.

"I say we go with Silkshade's method," Tallblaze said.

"We'll deal with Grasstail eventually," I said. "Believe me, whatever his death is it'll be too merciful for that fox-heart."

"Some of us have things to do," Silentstorm said. "Silkshade and I have training to do."

"Right," I said. "I'll see you two later!"

We left and headed out into the forest. I sure hoped Deathfire would be okay. I also hoped Grasstail would get a taste of karma.

Author Note: The website hasn't been letting me publish the chapter! I've been trying for three days, let's see if this finally works...

-Rowan W