Bitterpaw paced back and forth across camp, waiting impatiently. Wolfwhisper had come bolting back to camp, panting and sweating. "ShadowClan…. Patrol….," She had managed to wheeze before falling to the ground. Frostmouse had ran up to her and made sure she was okay.
I hope Badgerpaw is okay, Bitterpaw thought. If ShadowClan has Olivepaw, and I know ShadowClan, they won't give him up easily. His legs started getting tired, so Bitterpaw retreated to the apprentices' den to take a nap while the Clan nervously awaited Wolfwhisper's patrol's return.
He curled up and fell asleep.
Bitterpaw yawned and blinked, looking around the apprentices' den. He felt as though he hadn't slept very long, although his legs weren't so tired anymore. His throat felt dry with thirst, so he stretched and padded out of the apprentices' den to get a drink. But he quickly scrambled back inside the den when he saw the clearing.
The whole clearing was flooded with water, several ThunderClan cats splashing desperately in the churning waves. Bitterpaw gasped and looked around fearfully. Was Badgerpaw in there? To Bitterpaw's horror, he spotted his brother's familiar pelt thrashing in the water. Bitterpaw leaped into the water to save his brother, splashing awkwardly towards him.
Water sucked at Bitterpaw's legs and belly fur, threatening to pull him into its depths, but Bitterpaw determinedly continued towards Badgerpaw. When he finally reached his brother, Badgerpaw had stopped thrashing and was just floating in the water. Bitterpaw sniffed his brother's unmoving body nervously.
"Badgerpaw?" He meowed. Bitterpaw looked up and saw, to his horror, none of the other ThunderClan cats were splashing about anymore, either. But they were nowhere in sight. Surely they hadn't sunk? Bitterpaw glanced anxiously back at Badgerpaw, and gasped when he saw nothing but water. He drew in a deep breath and dove under the water, searching desperately for Badgerpaw in the dark depths.
His lungs screamed for air, and Bitterpaw tried kicking up towards the surface for a breath, but the water pulled at him and dragged him under, and Bitterpaw felt the air leave him. He stopped trying to escape the water. Bitterpaw let the darkness enclose him.
Bitterpaw gasped as he woke up. Another dream about water? Perhaps he would talk to Frostmouse about that later. Is Badgerpaw back? Bitterpaw wondered, desperate to change the subject of his thoughts. He got quickly to his paws and padded out of the apprentices' den.
Bitterpaw felt a flood of relief when he saw the patrol had returned. He raced up to his brother. "Where's Olivepaw?" Bitterpaw asked Badgerpaw. Badgerpaw angled his ears towards Blackice, who was talking with Smokestar.
"...want a fight," Blackice was saying.
"Oh, no," Smokestar whispered, shaking his head sadly. Wolfwhisper, who had been resting in the medicine den, came charging out and looked wildly around.
"Where's my son?" She asked, crestfallen, when she didn't see him among the cats. Cactustail wrapped her tail around Wolfwhisper's shoulders and guided her towards the nursery.
"We'll get him back, don't worry, Wolfwhisper," Cactustail murmured, "But for now, you have other kits to take care of." Wolfwhisper nodded, still looking stunned. Sunspiral looked relieved to see his mate was okay.
"So ShadowClan's not giving back Olivepaw?" Bitterpaw asked, turning back to his brother. Badgerpaw nodded.
"They want a fight," he replied.
"That's absurd!" Bitterpaw meowed.
"Apparently not to Nettlestar. He made us leave and told us if we still wanted Olivepaw, we'd have to fight to get him back."
"Still? What do you mean, still?" Bitterpaw asked.
"Well, we ran into a patrol…" Badgerpaw's meow trailed off. Bitterpaw looked his brother up and down and gasped when he realized how much blood was covering his pelt. Blood was spilling from a wound on his shoulder, and several scratches on his belly. Blood was already pooling on the ground.
"How did you even get back to camp?" Bitterpaw gasped. "We need to take you to Frostmouse!" He let Badgerpaw lean on him as they padded to the medicine den.
"The rest of the patrol was fighting, too," Badgerpaw protested.
"Fighting?" Frostmouse's meow came from the back of the medicine den. He padded up to meet them and gasped when he saw Badgerpaw. "Great StarClan! You're no more than a few scraps of fur! Look at all that blood…" He turned to his herb supply. "Do I even have enough cobwebs?" He murmured to himself.
"If you don't have enough, you should use them on the other cats in the patrol," Badgerpaw insisted.
"No, no." Frostmouse shook his head. He grabbed a wad of cobwebs. "The belly is one of the weakest spots on a cat! Whoever fought you sure got a good grip…"
"I would've ripped him to shreds if Blackice had told us not to fight back," Badgerpaw growled. He winced as Frostmouse made him sit down and rubbed some sort of mixture on his belly scratches.
"It's a mixture of horsetail and marigold," Frostmouse explained. "Horsetail helps stop the bleeding, and marigold is good for stopping infection." After he was finished rubbing the mixture on, he put on some cobwebs and handed Badgerpaw a poppy seed. Badgerpaw eagerly licked it up.
"Thanks, Frostmouse," He murmured. Frostmouse led him over to one of the nests for patients and Badgerpaw curled up without protest.