Chapter 9

Ripplepaw pushed his way through the reeds, a bundle of borage hanging from his jaws. The young tom had spent all morning gathering herbs with his mentor. As he listened to her chattering on like a starling, Ripplepaw flattened his ears to his head. Does she ever shut up?

"Come look at this leaf!" Nightsky called, her eyes gleaming like an excited kit.

Sighing, Ripplepaw set the borage down and trotted over to where Nightsky was standing. The black she-cat flicked her tail towards a small bush. One of the leaves vaguely resembled a cat. "Isn't that so neat?" she purred, plucking the leaf off the bush.

A low growl rose in Ripplepaw's throat. "We don't have time for this," he reminded her. "We're supposed to be gathering herbs."

Nightsky gave him an annoyed look. "Cheer up, would you? There's no harm in having fun!"

"We're medicine cats," he said. "Our job isn't to have fun. It's to gather herbs and protect our Clanmates." Alderpelt should have never picked Nightsky as his apprentice! She's such an air head, and she can't do anything right. Ripplepaw thought angrily.

"Since when do you care about being a medicine cat?" Nightsky snapped, rolling her eyes. Before he could answer, she stalked over to some herbs she had gathered earlier. Picking them up, Nightsky headed in the direction of camp.

Ripplepaw slowly followed after her. While he hated his job, he couldn't stand the idea of Nightsky being responsible for the entire Clan. She had tried to poison him. Who knew how many other cats she had attempted to kill before? Or how many cats she had successfully killed? I'm the only cat who can protect RiverClan from Nightsky, Ripplepaw thought, narrowing his eyes at his mentor.

When they reached camp, the two cats began to sort out the herbs they had gathered. As they worked, Ripplepaw noticed Brambletail was heading towards them. The she-cat had a worried expression on her face. "What's wrong?" he called out, standing to his paws.

"It's Frogkit," Brambletail confessed. "He has a bad bellyache, and I don't know what to do for him."

"I'll-"

"Don't worry, I can handle this." Ripplepaw glared at Nightsky, before going to fetch the watermint from the den. After he had enough for the young kit, Ripplepaw followed Brambletail towards the nursery. Inside, Frogkit was hunched over in his nest, groaning. Reedkit stared at him worriedly.

"What's wrong with him?" she squeaked, blinking up at her mother.

"He has a bellyache," Brambletail responded, before nudging her son towards Ripplepaw. "He's brought you some medicine to make you feel better," she whispered to her kit.

Ripplepaw slowly placed the watermint down in front of Frogkit, before stepping back. "Make sure he eats all of it," he told the queen.

Brambletail nodded. Slowly, Frogkit began to chew on the herbs. As he ate, the little brown tom gagged. "It's so yucky," he complained, scrunching his nose up.

"It'll make you feel better," Ripplepaw explained. As he watched the kit swallow up the last of the watermint, his memories flooded back to his time in ThunderClan. If only there was an herb to fix my breathing, the silver tom thought sadly.

As he padded back into his own den, he felt Nightsky's gaze burning into his pelt. "Good job!" she praised, her amber eyes shining.

"Yeah." Ripplepaw let out a grunt as he settled down in his nest. If I hadn't of stepped in, you would have killed Frogkit!

"I'm so glad you've changed your mind about being a medicine cat," Nightsky purred. "I always knew that I would be able to change your destiny."

The silver tom angrily clenched his teeth. Stay calm! He couldn't allow himself to get mad at Nightsky, otherwise she would realize he was only faking and she would want to kill him again. "Yeah, me too," he muttered.

"I can tell you're going to be a wonderful medicine cat," Nightsky went on. "I bet you'll even be remembered for seasons to come!" To his surprise, Nightsky padded over to him and gave him a quick nuzzle. "I'm really sorry about the other day..." she apologized. "I-I just wanted to protect RiverClan, is all. My Clan means so much to me, and I couldn't bear the idea of them being destroyed."

Ripplepaw suppressed a growl. "I forgive you," he lied. He would never forgive her, not in a million years! Nightsky didn't deserve his forgiveness after everything she had done to him. The only thing Nightsky deserved was to rot in the Dark Forest for all of eternity.

Nightsky smiled at him, completely unaware of any hostility. "Well, I'm going to take a quick nap. Wake me up if you need anything!" As she curled up in her nest, Ripplepaw slipped out into the clearing.

As he made his way over to the fresh-kill pile, a gentle breeze ruffled his long coat. In the distance, he could hear excited mews as cats splashed through the river, catching fish. Maybe I should go watch them, Ripplepaw thought as he picked up a bass. As he pushed his way through the reeds, he could see his Clanmates swimming around like otters. They're so lucky, he thought enviously as he settled down on the sandy river bank.

Ripplepaw leaned down to take a bite of his fish. As he ate, another breeze came by, blowing the familiar scent of ThunderClan towards him. At first, the medicine cat apprentice thought nothing of it. After all, it was sunhigh. A ThunderClan patrol had probably just come by not too long ago. As he continued to eat, the scent grew stronger and stronger. Unable to ignore it any longer, Ripplepaw stood to his paws and looked into the forest on the opposite bank.

"I think something's going on," he called out to Puddlefur.

Puddlefur quickly climbed out onto the shore. "What?"

Ripplepaw flicked his tail towards the ThunderClan border. "I think something's going on," he repeatedly quietly.

Before Puddlefur could respond, Ravenstar leaped out of the undergrowth. "ThunderClan, attack!" she yowled, racing towards the stepping stones.

The RiverClan warriors quickly swam towards the stepping stones, hoping to knock the ThunderClan leader off. As they struggled to defend their home, Puddlefur turned to Ripplepaw. "Run back to camp to warn the others!"

Ripplepaw gulped, unsure he would make it back to camp in time. Without saying a word, the silver tom slipped through the reeds and began racing towards RiverClan's camp. As he ran, he could feel his chest tightening as his lungs struggled for air. Ripplepaw continued on, doing his best to ignore his screaming lungs. He had to reach RiverClan's camp before ThunderClan did!

Just as he was about to run into camp, Ripplepaw was knocked to the ground. Hissing, he rolled over onto his back. A large tabby apprentice stared down at Ripplepaw, his teeth barred in a snarl. "Looks like you're too slow, fish-face!" the ThunderClan apprentice taunted as he pinned Ripplepaw down.

Ripplepaw struggled under the apprentice, his chest burning. "I can't breathe," he choked out, hoping the ThunderClan tom would show him some compassion.

To his annoyance, the smug furball pressed down harder on his lungs. "Ha! You're so pathetic. Do RiverClan warriors even teach their apprentices anything? Besides lounging around and being fat, that is."

Ripplepaw let out a panicked cry, hoping someone would come to his rescue. Suddenly, Waveheart came crashing through the reeds, his green eyes full of fury. Before the ThunderClan apprentice could react, Waveheart pushed him off of Ripplepaw with a force so heavy, he was thrown to the ground. As the brown tabby apprentice struggled to his paws, Waveheart pinned him down. "Don't you ever come near my son again, is that understood?" he snarled.

The apprentice stared up at Waveheart, before nodding slowly. When Waveheart stepped off, the apprentice quickly stood to his paws and raced off through the reeds. Once he was gone, the large white warrior turned to face his son. "Are you okay?" he demanded, giving Ripplepaw a lick on the head.

Ripplepaw nodded slowly as he struggled to catch his breath. "Yeah, just give me a minute." Once he had caught his breath, he asked, "Has ThunderClan reached our camp yet?" His stomach churned nervously as he waited for his father's answer.

"Yes." Waveheart flattened his ears to his head.

Ripplepaw stared down at his paws, ashamed. "I tried to make it back in time-"

"It's not your fault," Waveheart told him. "You tried your best, and that's all that counts." The white tom glanced around before adding, "I think it's best if you stay here, away from the battle. It's far too dangerous for you back at camp."

"I'll be fine!" Ripplepaw insisted.

Waveheart shook his head. "Stay here," he ordered, before racing back in the direction of camp. As Ripplepaw watched his father go, his neck fur bristled. He was perfectly capable of taking care of himself! Sure, that ThunderClan apprentice had surprised him, but that was different. As the battle cries continued on, Ripplepaw began to panic. His Clanmates were getting hurt, and there was nothing he could do to help them.

Suddenly, the battles cries vanished. The battle is over! Ripplepaw thought as he headed back to camp. As he neared camp, the silver tom pressed against the ground and peered through the reeds. To his surprise, Morningstar was laying completely still on the ground. Birchtail stood over her, his eyes wide with fear.

The RiverClan deputy then turned to face Ravenstar, his eyes blazing with fury. "You've won this battle, now leave!"

Ravenstar smirked. "StarClan was in our favor," she commented, before padding in the direction of the camp entrance. As the ThunderClan cats filed out of RiverClan's camp, Ripplepaw could hear them chanting happily. Those cruel foxhearts! he thought bitterly, before padding into camp.

"Is she dead?" he asked quietly.

Birchtail shrugged. "I don't know," he whispered. "I hope not." Glancing around the clearing, he yowled, "Where is Nightsky?"

Nightsky slowly poked her head out of the medicine den. Her fur was ruffled from sleep, and her eyes looked tired. "What's going on?" she grumbled.

"Morningstar is hurt," Birchtail growled.

Nightsky's amber eyes widened as she hurried over to her sister's side. "Great StarClan!" she exclaimed. "How did this happen?"

"If you had been awake, you would know that ThunderClan attacked us!" Lilypelt spat, her cream fur bristling furiously.

Nightsky turned to face Ripplepaw, her eyes wide. "Why didn't you come wake me up?" she demanded, completely oblivious to the bleeding scratch on his shoulder.

"I was fighting," Ripplepaw meowed coldly. He quickly pushed his way past her, before heading towards their den. Inside, he gathered several herbs he would need to use to treat Morningstar's wounds. What if she's dead? he thought panicked.

As he padded out into the clearing, he saw that the dark tortoiseshell leader was slowly sitting up. Thank StarClan! As he set the herbs down beside her, Ripplepaw asked, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Morningstar rasped, before looking around the camp. "Is everyone all right?" she called out.

"Everyone is fine," Lilypelt told her. "We have a couple of scratches, but nothing too life threatening." The cream-colored warrior glared at Nightsky as if she wanted to say more, but Lilypelt kept her mouth shut.

As Ripplepaw dressed Morningstar's wounds, he could feel Nightsky's gaze burning into his pelt. "I'll take over from here," she snapped, pushing him out of the way.

Ripplepaw flattened his ears. I wish I could rake my claws across your face! As Nightsky worked, Ripplepaw decided to check on his family.

"Are you okay?" he asked Minnowpaw.

Minnowpaw's blue eyes were wide with shock. "I think so," she muttered, before slowly looking over her pelt.

"I'm going to give you some poppy seeds anyways," he said. "They'll help you calm down." After fetching the tiny black seeds for his sister, Ripplepaw padded over in the direction of his parents. Right away, he noticed something was not right with his mother. Splashflower was hunched over, growling in pain.

"What happened?" Ripplepaw demanded.

"Splashflower has a belly wound," Waveheart replied, his voice cracking slightly.

"It's nothing," Splashflower insisted, grunting.

"Let me see it," Ripplepaw demanded.

Splashflower hesitated for a moment, before slowly laying down. As Ripplepaw examined her stomach, his eyes widened in shock. Blood was pouring out of a large gash on her lower stomach, causing her white belly fur to turn red with blood. "I'll be right back!" Ripplepaw exclaimed as he rushed back to the medicine cats den. As he snatched up a wad of cobweb, Nightsky padded into the den.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"Splashflower's hurt!"

"I need that for Morningstar," Nightsky told him as she attempted to snatch the cobweb from his jaws.

Ripplepaw pulled back. "My mother will die if I don't give this to her," he snarled.

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but Morningstar's life is more important that your mother!" Ripplepaw's eyes widened in surprise. Growling, he knocked Nightsky to the side and rushed over to his mother. In the distance, he could hear Nightsky letting out cries of protest, but he ignored her. How dare she say that about my mother!

As the silver apprentice pressed the cobweb to his mother's wounds, his heart thumped wildly in his chest. Don't let her die! Ripplepaw begged StarClan as he continued to dress her sounds. To his relief, the bleeding seemed to ease up. Turning to face his father Ripplepaw meowed, "I think she'll be fine. I'll just have to keep a close eye on her."

Waveheart nodded sadly. "I'm so proud of you," he whispered as he leaned forward to nuzzle his son. Waveheart then directed his attention back towards Splashflower. "Everything is going to be all right."

Splashflower let out a small purr. "Thank you, Ripplepaw."

Ripplepaw nodded, his throat tightening up. He had come this close to losing his mother, all because of Nightsky's recklessness. What bothered him ever more was the fact that Nightsky had claimed his mother's life wasn't important! As a medicine cat, wasn't it her job to value all lives as equal? I'll make her pay for this, one way or another.


I wanted to get this chapter up sooner, but my laptop is broken. I don't know what happened to it, but it refuses to connect to wifi anymore. For this reason, I had to borrow my grandma's laptop, which I am not allowed to use very often. I'm not sure when the next update will be, but I will try my best to post the next chapter as soon as I can.

As always, thank you for reading and reviewing! See you next time.