Emberpaw groaned. Her head hurt, and badly. Dimly, she wondered if Sky or any of her other friends were worried about her, watching her maybe. Of course they would be. They were her friends, weren't they?
As her senses grew stronger, she could feel something soft, soft as Twoleg bedding, under her. The air around her was chillingly cold, and smelled of unfamiliar objects. Her breath came in calm, long puffs, misting the air in clouds of white fog.
Gradually, her hearing began to return too. Muffled voices surrounded her, sounding worried and scared. At one point she thought she could make out the words, "Do you think she's okay?"
The sticky, drying blood that clung to her fur wasn't okay, but it was better than having it freshly flowing from her wound. A silky cloth, slimy and thick, was plastered to her forehead along with something else to stem the blood.
"Fireheart..." she mumbled her brother's name, before remembering that he wasn't here and he never would be unless she did something about it. The image of her brother, lying broken and battered at Brokenstar's bloody paws gave her spirit, and she finally attempted to open her eyes.
They felt heavy, and it was hard to summon the little energy she had left. The urge and temptation to let herself fall asleep was hard to resist, but she managed it. Ravenpaw was the first thing she saw, his dark green eyes staring worriedly into her blazing amber ones.
"You're awake!" he exclaimed, relief lighting up his face. "How are you feeling? Is your wound okay? Does it hurt? Does it-"
"Yeah, yeah, not right now Ravenpaw," Emberpaw yawned, stretching her stiff limbs. "I could probably do with a nice rabbit right now. But this is Twolegplace, so I guess a mouse will do."
She pulled herself upright, and if she even noticed the blood, she didn't seem to care. The room was empty of cats apart from the two apprentices, and through the nearby window, she could see the inky black night. "How long have I been out for?" she questioned, a hint of worry in her eyes.
"Just a couple hours. Nothing to worry about, you were lucky it wasn't for a week with the amount of blood you lost." He tucked his paws neatly under his white- tipped tail, carefully avoiding the dark stains of dried blood. "No thanks to this Sky cat, rogue, whoever she is."
"You'll be thanking me when I clean up her wounds," a low, threatening voice growled from round the corner. Ravenpaw immediately fell quiet, quivering with apprehension. Sky stepped into the room, disgustedly eyeing the blood. "I can't imagine you Clan cats did a very good job if this is what happened."
Emberpaw ignored their brief argument, instead choosing to sit by the large window and gazing out wistfully into the sea of black velvet. The distant lights of Twoleg nests glittered on the horizon, an unnatural blue she had never seen before. Tiny stars were sprinkled across the sky like flakes of snow. She thought of StarClan, leaping across midnight skies on starry paws, watching their kin in the forest. Were they watching her too?
All she had wanted, from the moment she placed her paws in ThunderClan territory, was to be free. It had seemed like a possibility, in the wild nature of the Clans, but trouble and mischief got her nowhere in life. Held prisoner, separated from her family, dishonoured among cats... tasked to find her brother... she was far away from freedom.
"Stargazing, are we?" Sky padded up to where she was sitting, the light reflecting off her pale eyes. A favourite pastime of theirs was to find shapes in the patterns of the stars. Foxes, badgers, mice. But one Sky would never understand the spiritual aspect of the stars.
"You know, I understand if you're still mad at me." Emberpaw spoke softly, though her eyes were still laid upon the night sky. Her friend seemed to be uncertain, but the calm atmosphere soothed her temper. "No, don't apologize, don't act like it's your fault. I overreacted, and there was nothing you could have done about it." she mewed after a few moments.
"I could have stayed behind. I could have never gotten into the mess I'm in now. I could have stayed safe."
"And would the price of safety be worth it?"
"I'm not sure."
Emberpaw thought back to her brother, wounded, crying out for help, helpless in the paws of Brokenstar. Then herself, being gently held in the paws of a Twoleg, restrained in a ridiculous collar, never allowed to make her own decisions, never able to feel the wind running through her whiskers.
Sky chuckled. "Any cat can see you were destined to be wild. Kittypet life doesn't suit you one bit."
The white rogue dropped a bundle of herbs by Emberpaw's feet. They consisted mostly of dark green shriveled leaves, and gooey paste, and a sweet scent wafted up from them. "Finally," she grumbled, though her amber eyes glowed with delight.
"Lay down," Sky instructed her, and she obliged. Sky then proceeded to delicately sniff at the unappealing scabs that were plastered thickly to her wounds, and the russet blood that clung in clumps to her fur. As she licked away the dirt, Emberpaw shifted uncomfortably at the attention. It reminded her of the days when they would all groom each other after spending a large amount of time outside, and she wasn't sure if she was too ready for affection.
Sky gave her a sympathetic look, which explained how she was feeling more than words could. As a dry scab was torn brutally from her skin, she gave a pained yelp, the burning feeling pulsing through her body. However, it was soon relieved as the soothing herb juice dropped slowly onto the open wound, stinging slightly, but ultimately relaxing her aches and sores.
Bright golden flowers, dry, crumbly stalks, fresh green leaves. Sky used a variety of different herbs that only a medicine cat would know, occasionally muttering their names under her breath. Marigold, horsetail. Goldenrod, chervil. It was all meaningless as Twoleg rubbish to her.
At last, Sky finished padding her last cut with sticky, thick wads of cobwebs. Emberpaw felt much better, the healing plants already taking effect and the pain was flowing away like it was in a river. She hadn't noticed how sickly and weak she must have been before, as her head cleared and the world stopped swaying slightly. The bland colours of Twolegspace seemed much brighter and vivid.
Herb dust and remains lay scattered on the floor, and Sky frowned. "This took a gigantic chunk out of my herb supply," she murmured worriedly. True to her word, she had used almost the entire heap of plants she had first brought in.
"Well, you can just go find some more, can't you?" Emberpaw mumbled drowsily, lazily grooming her unkempt fur.
"Idiot." Sky growled, but her eyes glittered with amusement. "It surprises me how poor your memory is. Herbs don't grow well in Twolegplace, with all of those disgusting fumes and Twoleg kits trampling about the place."
"Mmmm," the apprentice agreed, but she was already half asleep, curling up on the softest, warmest patch of ground she could find and resting her head on her paws. Sky gave a sigh, then picked up her herbs and padded out of the room. Ravenpaw was snoring quietly on a mound of soft Twoleg bedding, his flank rising and falling as he dreamed on.
Sky collapsed into her own nest, with stiff muscles and sore bones. "Goodnight, Emberpaw," she whispered.