Thorncloud awoke with a start. Her head was throbbing, and despite the warmth of newleaf, she was shivering. She stood up and grit her teeth when pain shot through her shoulder.
Limping over to Tallfeather's den, her mind turned over why she could be in pain. She had been taking it easy since the fight with RainClan. She was fit to hunt, and she had gone all the way to RainClan's territory to talk to Mottledfur… and now, suddenly, a stabbing pain engulfed her.
"Tallfeather?" she called as she entered the small clearing of the medicine den.
The handsome tom appeared, his head poking out of the rock crevice where she knew he slept. He blinked at her, and his tired expression turned to one of concern. "What's wrong?" he asked, walking closer.
"My shoulder," Thorncloud said. "I woke up and it hurts, I don't know why."
Tallfeather leaned close to examine her. Normally the proximity would make Thorncloud swoon, but right now she was in too much pain to care. "It's infected," he announced.
"What?" Thorncloud shook her head. "How could it be?"
"Did you get wounded outside RainClan's camp?" Tallfeather asked. He prodded her shoulder tenderly, trying to push back her fur to get a closer look. "You had that scratch on your cheek that I treated, but you never mentioned another wound."
Thorncloud cursed under her breath. "Creekbelly jumped on me," she said. "I felt his claws on my shoulder, but I didn't think he broke the skin."
Tallfeather let out a mrrow of amusement. "You're tough," he said, eyes sparkling with playfulness. "Wait here, I'll see what I can do."
Tallfeather cleaned out her wound with ferns, and treated her with marigold, and feverfew for the chill. When he was done, he sat back and wiped his dirtied paws on the grass beneath him. "That should do for now," he said. "If it keeps bothering you, I'll try something else. You need to take it easy for the next few days. Medicine cat's orders."
"Why do you think it got infected?" Thorncloud asked.
"Well, if you were out in the forest doing something strenuous, it might have reopened the wound. Dirt may have got inside, or something like that."
Thorncloud thought of her journey to RainClan, and nodded. She had been skulking around RainClan territory for a while. That must have done it.
"Anything else I can do for you?" Tallfeather asked. His eyes glimmered expectantly, and Thorncloud got the impression that he wanted her to stay and chat.
She looked up at him. He was sitting close enough that she could entwine her tail with his, so she did. His ears twitched in surprise. She gave his shoulder a lick. "Were you a medicine cat yet when my mother died?" she asked.
Tallfeather's eyes widened. "No," he said. "I mean, yes, kind of. I was a young apprentice then. I had only just received my blessing from StarClan to start my training. That was the first time I had experienced losing a cat. Not that I was responsible for her life, but…" He sighed. "I watched as Poppytail tried to cure her illness. There was nothing I could do."
Thorncloud leaned her head on his shoulder. "I know. I wasn't blaming you," she said sincerely. "I was just curious about her. Springfoot told me a bit about her. Even though I never knew her, I miss her."
Tallfeather just nodded. They sat in silence for a long while. Thorncloud would have stayed there with him forever. Right now, he was the only cat in SnowClan that she truly felt connected to.
And then her stomach rumbled. Tallfeather's laugh rumbled loud enough for her to feel it through his fur. "Alright, you go get something to eat," he said, nudging her slightly, being careful of her shoulder. "The last thing I want to do is let you wither away to fur and bones... what kind of medicine cat would I be then?"
With her shoulder putting her out of commission, Thorncloud lounged around camp for a quarter moon, nursing her infection. Tigerfang pointedly ignored her whenever she came near, and actually seemed to be settling in better with the clique of apprentices than with her former warrior denmates. That suited the warriors just fine, as none of them had regained their lost respect for Tigerfang just yet.
Springfoot rarely came to talk to Thorncloud, and Thorncloud noticed that she was avoiding Tigerfang, too. Probably afraid of offending either of us, Thorncloud thought bitterly. If she was wrong about her relationship with Tigerfang, maybe she was wrong about how Springfoot saw her, too. She wasn't Springfoot's daughter, after all. It would be natural for her to prioritize her true kin.
News had also spread of what Tigerfang had said to Thorncloud at Sunningrocks. Thorncloud got a few sympathetic looks from the other warriors. If there was one positive thing that came out of Brookpelt's death, it was that everyone seemed to have forgotten Thorncloud's so-called treachery of talking to Bumblestripe and Cloudstorm at Sunningrocks. Tigerfang was now the focus when it came to unacceptable behaviour.
The only notable event during her time stuck in camp was Rosewhisker giving birth to her kits. Thorncloud was almost happy that she was confined to camp, because she was among the first to see the little bundles of fur. There were three of them, two toms and a she-cat. All were all mostly cream-coloured: one tom was cream with a white belly, while the other was fully cream, and the she-cat had a black spot on her back. Rosewhisker was prompt in naming them: Tansykit and Silk-kit where the toms, and Petalkit was the she-cat.
Thorncloud noted that Berryleaf was hanging around the nursery more often after that. At first she wondered why the deputy was taking so much interest in the kits, but then stupidly she realized he was probably the father.
On the seventh day of being stuck in camp, Thorncloud's shoulder was feeling a lot better. Tallfeather had been applying herbs to it every day, and despite the stiffness, it was mostly back to normal. She had been helping with the in-camp duties, like changing bedding and bringing fresh-kill to the elders. It might have been an apprentice's job, but she didn't mind.
A plump vole was in her jaws as she padded over to the elders' den. She had already brought a mouse for Pinetail and a finch for Crowpelt, so all that was left was Blizzardpelt. She deposited the vole at his paws and then stretched her shoulder, wishing she could get back out and hunt again.
"Have you eaten?" Blizzardpelt asked, watching her with a smile.
"I'm not quite hungry yet," Thorncloud said. "I'll wait for the hunting patrol to come back, then I'll eat. Did you hear Berryleaf's letting me stand guard outside tonight? I can finally get out of this camp!"
"That's great," Blizzardpelt praised. "Would you like to sit with me? I could use some company from a youngster for once."
Thorncloud nodded and settled down across from him. He began to eat, and Thorncloud watched him sadly. It seemed like not long ago that she and Blizzardpelt had been patrolling the border together with Twigpaw. She missed the old cat's lively spirit.
"You seem to be settling into the life of a warrior well," Blizzardpelt commented. "Seeing you strut around, you look like a seasoned warrior, not one that was given her warrior name only a few moons ago."
"Hey, I don't strut!" Thorncloud protested, but she was smiling. The elder chuckled. "But thank you, Blizzardpelt. I'm trying to be the best warrior I can be." Besides breaking the warrior code every few days to talk to enemy cats, that is.
"It's strange," Blizzardpelt said, "I don't see you hanging out with the other warriors that much." He watched her carefully as he finished off his vole and licked his lips.
"I don't get on with the others very well," Thorncloud confessed.
"Not even Copperfur? You two seemed like good friends, even when he was your mentor."
Thorncloud's tail twitched angrily. "No, he's definitely not my friend," she said, unable to mask her anger.
Blizzardpelt's look of surprise faded into one of concern. "Your business is your own, but if you'd like a friend to listen…."
Thorncloud smiled appreciatively. "It's just that he seems to think that just because he, er…" She felt awkward even saying the words. "He has feelings for me, and thinks that means I should have feelings for him, too."
"Ah, I see." Blizzardpelt frowned. "Copperfur has led a comfortable life since becoming a warrior. He's not used to rejection."
Thorncloud nodded. "He and I haven't spoken in a long time. I just couldn't be friends with him after he treated me like that," she said. "And then Tigerfang – I mean Tigerpaw –"
"Oh yes, I heard about the incident at Sunningrocks."
"Honestly, there aren't any other cats that I'm close to besides you and Tallfeather. But he's a medicine cat, and he's very busy. It's not like we can go hunt together like I can do with other warriors. I just feel very…"
"Alone?" Blizzardpelt finished. "I understand. While I believe that retiring to the elders' den was the right choice, I often feel lonely here, too. Only the apprentices tend to visit, and my company isn't exactly lively…"
"My ears still work even if my eyes don't, Blizzardpelt!" Pinetail called from the other side of the den, where he had appeared to be sleeping. Blizzardpelt laughed, and Thorncloud suppressed a smile.
"I can come visit you more," Thorncloud said.
"That's nice of you, Thorncloud," Blizzardpelt said. "And I appreciate it. But you've got better things to do than hang out with an old cat like me." He winked. His fading eyes squinted across the clearing, and Thorncloud turned to see the hunting patrol returning with plenty of fresh-kill. "You should go eat before your night watch," he said, nodding in the direction of the fresh-kill pile.
Thorncloud stood and brushed her tail against Blizzardpelt's shoulder, thankful to have him as a friend. "Don't be silly, I will come visit, whenever I can," she promised, and blinked a goodbye before racing off to satiate her hunger.
At moonrise, she headed for the camp exit and climbed the ravine. The dawn patrol was just returning, among them Springfoot; the she-cat smiled at Thorncloud as she passed by, but said nothing. Thorncloud sighed. One day soon she would have to talk to her foster mother again, to make sure things were okay between them.
She took up her position to watch over the forest. The trees darkened into silhouettes, and Silverpelt sparkled like frost above her head. It was the half-moon tonight; Tallfeather had left earlier to travel to Highstones with the other medicine cats. That was the only downside of standing guard that night. She wasn't able to ask Tallfeather if she could tag along. It was for the best, however, because her stiff shoulder would have made it difficult to travel. She and Bumblestripe would just have to wait until the next half-moon.
She suppressed a yawn; she needed to stay awake and guard the clan until morning. A gentle night breeze drifted through the trees. Thorncloud took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh scents from the forest – and paused as an unfamiliar scent reached her.
It was a cat-scent, that was for sure. At first Thorncloud thought it was a RainClan cat, because the scent was similar, but when she smelled again, it was something distinctly different. RainClan, but not. It could have been a rogue, but there was something that told her it was something else… something more sinister.
The forest was unnaturally quiet. The fur on Thorncloud's neck stood up. There was a strange feeling like she was being watched.
A noise startled her. Thorncloud looked behind her, and turned to see Rainstar climbing up the ravine. "Rainstar?" she called, surprised to see the leader out so late.
"Good evening, Thorncloud," Rainstar said as she reached the top of the ravine. "I hope the night has been quiet?"
Thorncloud hesitated, looking out into the forest. The feeling of being watched was gone now, but that scent still clouded her mind. Rainstar didn't seem to notice anything strange, however, so she just nodded. "I haven't seen anything out of place," she said, which was true. She hadn't seen any evidence of another cat, after all.
"Good to hear." The blue-grey cat settled down, surprising Thorncloud. Had the SnowClan warrior come to chat with her? "I wanted to ask your opinion on Tigerpaw."
Thorncloud's eyes fell to the forest floor. "Oh," she said. "If this is about her assessment, Rainstar, I'm not the right cat to ask. Tigerpaw and I have barely spoken."
"Ah, yes. I heard about your conversation by Sunningrocks." Rainstar stared at Thorncloud levelly, with an expression that was unreadable. "Thorncloud, please be assured that you have a place in this clan as much as any cat. Though your kin may have passed on to StarClan, your heart still remains here. Don't forget that."
Thorncloud blinked at Rainstar. "Th-thank you, Rainstar," she said.
Rainstar nodded. "Anyhow, what I came to ask was your thoughts on Tigerpaw's actions at the RainClan fight," she said. She added, "I won't tell her what you say."
Thorncloud thought carefully before speaking. She had given a lot of thought to what had happened. "Rainstar, I don't think she's a bad cat," she said. "She has a thirst to prove herself. I can only speculate, but… I believe she would never intentionally kill another cat over something like a border fight. My heart tells me that in her need to prove herself, she went too far and did more damage than she thought she would."
Rainstar nodded thoughtfully, taking in her words. After a few moments, she stood. "Thank you, Thorncloud, for your perspective. I'll leave you to your duty." She turned and made her way back down the ravine. Thorncloud watched until the tip of her tail had disappeared into the tunnel, then turned back to stare at the forest.
By the time the sun rose, the strange scent and the ominous feeling of being watched had slipped from her mind, and life returned to normal.