Jayson glanced around the medicine den. It's so lonely without Yarrow. Yarrow, the group's last Healer had died in the past few days. It'd been getting dangerous for the group in the freezing leaf-fall, and Yarrow decided to go and search for some catmint just in case of an outbreak. However, it turned out that Yarrow had found the catmint, it's just that he'd been killed for it. Stupid Clan cats…they killed an innocent cat for their own! They could've just warned him lightly and let him go! Yarrow had left Jayson all on his own, without any training whatsoever. And no one actually knows any good herbs or how to find them. I can't tell which is which.
"Are you still up, Jayson?" Holly, the dark tortoiseshell she-cat yawned from her nest. "Go back to sleep. There's no point in worrying about it." She's going to cost her place here if she keeps loafing about! Jayson fought back the urge to rake her muzzle, looking back at the herbs. "Neither of us know any herbs, so why do you think that we'll be able to help?"
He sighed, closing his eyes. "We can't just let our entire group die, Holly. That's not what we're supposed to do." If only I'd paid more attention to Yarrow when he was showing me the herbs…the whole group is doomed because of me. "It's all my fault. I'm such an idiot."
"Shut up, Jayson! That's not true and you know it!" snapped Holly, her fur bristling wildly. But it is. She sighed, padding up to Jayson. "Are you okay, Jayson? Would you like to take a walk and see if that'll help you out?" Maybe. But our group is in trouble and we can't just- "We're going on a walk, whether you like it or not. You've been hiding in here ever since Yarrow's death."
Jayson glared at her. "You never knew Yarrow!" He hissed, baring his teeth. "You don't have the right to say that." Holly closed her eyes, dipping her head. Oh, I didn't mean to hurt her… "Holly, look I'm-"
"I get it, okay? You hate me for forcing you to take me and Spiritpaw with you to your group. Stop rubbing it in. I have feelings too, you know." Holly growled, stomping off to her nest. I messed that up really bad. "Anyways, I'm taking another nap. Don't wake me up or I'll bite your head off." H-Holly, I'm sorry… The dark tortoiseshell she-cat flopped back onto her nest, causing a rather large 'thud' to echo in the Healer's den. I'm such an idiot for yelling at her like that. I need to make it up to her somehow.
A grunt sounded from the other side of the den. "Are you two done acting like kits yet?" Oh, by the stars no. She woke up Spider. Spider was one of the leaders of the Ten Flames, with his mate Maple being the other. The previous leader before Maple had died to greencough, and Jayson didn't want to lose another cat to it. The group's already lost one leader. They can't lose another. The brown tabby tom glared at Jayson, his amber eyes shining with sickness. "Get to work, apprentice. I don't want to get greencough. I already have whitecough."
"I told you Spider, Yarrow didn't have enough time to teach me everything about herbs. I don't know any of these." He sighed, staring at his paws.
Spider weakly hissed at him. "Don't give me any of that nonsense! Are you letting your leader die the same way as Owl, our previous leader? For shame. And here I thought you were a good cat." He sneered.
"Just go back to sleep, Spider." snapped Jayson, his claws digging into the earth. Spider rolled his eyes and curled back up in his nest. Annoying feather-brain. What does Maple even see in him? Jayson cast another glance at Holly. Is she okay? Maybe I should check if she's sick. She's been sleeping most of the time since she got here. Padding up to the dark tortoiseshell she-cat, he leaned closer to her to listen to her breathing. If her breathing's any similar to Spider's, then she has…whitecough. Hopefully she doesn't. Holly's snores were congested, occasionally breaking into a coughing while she was asleep. "She has whitecough." He whispered in horror. Jayson's ears pricked to the sound of pawsteps entering the Healer's den. Oh, what now? Spiritpaw burst into the entrance, his red eyes wide with excitement. Could my day get any worse?
Spiritpaw grinned. "Hi, Jayson! How's Holly doing? Is she taking one of her naps again? Is she having a good dream? I hope so! Are you-" He meowed all at once.
"Will you shut up for five heartbeats?!" snapped Jayson, baring his teeth at the young albino tom. Spiritpaw's eyes flashed with hurt, his tail now lying on the cold ground. "I'm sorry, Spiritpaw. I've just been…troubled recently." Spiritpaw tilted his head. Right. He's training to become a mediator. Maybe he can help.
The young albino tom padded up to him, his red eyes brimming with sympathy. "Aw, it's okay. Do you wanna talk about it?" He mewed. Giving into defeat, Jayson nodded. It's better than nothing. "What happened? Was it something with Holly?"
"Yes. She thinks I regret having both of you come here to the Ten Flames, and now she doesn't want to talk to me. It really hurts, and I want to make it up to her." Jayson sighed, wrapping his tail around his paws. Holly, I'm so sorry… "And now she's sick with whitecough and it could turn into greencough. I don't want to lose her, Spiritpaw…"
Spiritpaw licked his shoulder fur. "Aw, don't be upset. We'll go out and find something for her! Come on, let's go look for some lilac!" Why…? "Lilacs are her favorite flower! She's bound to forgive you if we get some of those!" Maybe Holly will forgive me! Spiritpaw ran straight out of the den, his tail lashing excitedly. Jayson stifled a purr. He's always so enthusiastic, it's hard not to enjoy him. He cast one last glance at Holly, who was already sleeping in her nest. I hope she has good dreams… Padding out into camp, Jayson looked around the clearing for Spiritpaw. He's disappeared already, hasn't he? Jayson's ears pricked up to the sound of chatter in the center of the clearing. What's going on? Maple, one of the leaders of the Ten Flames was looking down at three young cats that seemed to be around the same age as Jayson. What're rogues doing here? Has Maple gone mad?!
"I will allow you three to stay here as members as the Ten Flames, then. Your brother can recover here." Maple meowed, her voice shaky. Is Maple alright? I hope she is, because we can't afford to have anymore sick cats! "But first I must announce your acceptance into the group." Maple leaped onto the Perched Rock behind her, looking down at all of the cats below. Great. More cats that can possibly get sick with whitecough and spread it further, killing us all. "Cats of the Ten Flames, gather under Perched Rock for a meeting!" All the cats looked up at Maple, their eyes locked onto her. "Today we have three young cats joining us!"
"What?!"
"We don't want more sick cats!"
"Drive them away!"
Maple snarled at them. "Hush! Now, Star, Silver and Hazel, will you please step forward?" The three cats stepped forward like directed. The tiny dark ginger tabby tom glanced back at the Healer's den urgently. What's his problem? Is he sick? He'd better not be. "Star, I name you Starpaw. Silver, I name you Silverpaw and Hazel, I name you-"
"Hold up. I'm not going by 'Hazelpaw'. I go by Hazel, nothing else." The dark ginger tabby she-cat hissed, her fur bristling. Feisty, isn't she? He could feel Spiritpaw's fur brushing up against his. When did he get here? Spiritpaw smiled dreamily.
"She's so bold." He sighed, his red eyes lighting up with joy. Now where is this coming from? Jayson shook his head. No point in dwelling on it.
Maple growled. "Fine. I don't really care. Starpaw, since we don't have any fully trained Healers and that you're the only apprentice that actually knows any herbs…you'd best get started teaching the other two. Silverpaw, your mentor will be Springlark. Hazel, your mentor shall be…me." She snapped. I don't think Maple trusts anyone else to mentor her and put up with her behavior, does she? "Meeting over!"
Spiritpaw purred. "Hazel's so bold and brave and now she's being mentored by one of the leaders? I must be dreaming…" Jayson rolled his eyes. Idiot. What kind of cat can be infatuated with someone like her?! Shame pricked his pelt. Oh right. Holly and me. "I'm going to go and try to make friends with her. Maybe she'll like me!" What about you helping me with Holly?! Oh well. Maybe that Starpaw can help me since he knows so much about herbs. Spiritpaw bounded towards Hazel, his tail lashing excitedly. At least he has confidence. From the corner of his eyes, Jayson could see Starpaw padding up to him. Great. He's probably some know-it-all apprentice, isn't he?
"Hello. You must be Jayson, the other Healer apprentice I've been hearing about. Is this the Healer's den?" Starpaw mewed, his pale silver eyes shining with eagerness. He actually wants to heal others? I'm impressed. I only did it because I wanted to get away from my brother Frost… Frost was Jayson's older brother, who'd died from greencough days before Owl died. I'm such an idiot…I never even tried to talk to him before his death. Why, Yarrow? Why did you have to leave me? "J-Jayson? Are you alright?"
Jayson nodded, still distracted from his brief daze. "Yeah. I'll show you. The other apprentice, Holly, she's sick too and she's too stubborn to admit it. And don't wake her up, she'll kill you for it." Starpaw just sighed and walked into the Healer's den. Jayson followed him in, his heart about to burst from his chest. Will he teach me and Holly about herbs? I hope so. But…he's not Yarrow. Will Starpaw even be willing to teach us?
Starpaw was already sorting out the herbs inside. "Ugh, you both made such a mess! Your herbs would be doing better if you had them sorted out! For example: Keep your chervil and bindweed separate! And don't mix up your poppy seeds with foxglove, you feather-brains!" Oh, so he IS the know-it-all. I hate him already.
"You know, our mentor Yarrow died before he could teach me and Holly. It's not like we know anything, but apparently you know everything!" Jayson snapped, his claws unsheathing and sheathing. Starpaw's eyes flashed with hurt. "Why don't you become our mentor then and replace Yarrow? After all, only you know about herbs!" He turned away, glaring at his paws. Stupid Starpaw. Why did he want to become a Healer anyways? So he could mock us to death? Jayson's claws dug into the dirt. I miss Yarrow. He was so calm and patient with me, and I blew it…I should've paid attention to him. Pawsteps padded up from behind him. Starpaw. He grumbled to himself. Starpaw sat next to Jayson, looking at his paws. "What? Come to rub it in about how great you are at healing?" He sneered.
"No. Look Jayson, I'm sorry if I hurt you." Starpaw apologized, his mew heavy with regret. "I don't want to start out our relationship like this. I know I will never replace Yarrow, and I wouldn't want to. I could never replace someone so important to you, Jayson. Just give me a chance. Please."
Jayson sighed. "One chance. Screw it up and I'm putting you on my fox-dung list." Starpaw purred, his pale silver gaze lighting up with relief. And maybe I might like you after all.