Chapter 29

A cold wind blew into camp, bringing with it the scent of more snow. Duskpaw sighed. That was all they needed, more coldness.

She was sitting at the entrance of the medicine cat den and watching the clan wake up. It was something she enjoyed. Just then Shardclaw crawled out of the warriors den with Tundrafoot, Stormstep, Lichenheart, and Silvertear. Snowyowl had been on guard duty last night. Duskpaw watched in amusement as the warriors struggled through the thick snow that had piled up the last few days.

She sneezed as a snowflake drifted onto her nose. Silvertear looked at her when she did. Her sister waved her tail in greeting. Duskpaw dipped her head.

"Wanna come help us?" Silvertear asked. Duskpaw grinned and began to push her way through the snow towards them. It was bitter cold and stung her delicate paws. She ignored the pain and continued to them. "Thanks," Silvertear panted as Duskpaw arrived and began to help them push away the snow.

"Anything for my clan," Duskpaw replied. Shardclaw leapt onto a frost covered root when they reached the White Tree.

"I want Stormstep to stay here and make paths through the snow for everyone to use," Shardclaw ordered. The grey tom nodded. "Snowyowl can lead Lichenheart and Heronpaw on a hunting patrol. Go by the Moonclan border while you're out," Shardclaw added. "I'll take Tundrafoot to patrol the Oceanclan border," he finished.

Duskpaw noticed how he seemed to not be worried about Oceanclan attacking. They hadn't bothered them sense Silvertear had took away Belugastar's life, but that was no reason to get relaxed. She shrugged away the thought and began to trudge back to her den. With weather like this she would need to make sure her herb supply was ready.

"I need you to look for borage, catmint, and tansy today," Twigshade ordered when she entered.

"Alright," Duskpaw mewed. She turned back around and headed into the woods. Stormstep nodded to her as she passed. He was making a path to the nursery. She dipped her head before exciting camp.

The woods looked beautiful. The silvery trees glimmered with frost. The ground beneath her was covered in snow that had escaped their branches' grasps. The sun that managed to shine through the trees turned the snow gold. She marveled at its beauty as she searched for herbs.

Duskpaw scented the air. She was unable to detect any herb scents in the frosty air. Feeling disappointed she searched under a nearby bush. Underneath was a small patch of tansy. She plucked all of it. Crawling back out she looked under the next bush. It was empty.

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Duskpaw returned to camp with a small amount of tansy, some borage and two leaves of catmint. She sighed as she stored it in the medicine cat den. Twigshade watched her sadly. He shook his head in disappointment at the few herbs.

"Do you want me to go back out?" she asked. Twigshade considered it for a moment.

"You can go back out tomorrow. You shouldn't spend too much time in the woods, you might catch white-cough," he mewed. Duskpaw nodded. She grabbed some borage.

"I'll give this to the nursing queens," she mewed around her bundle. Twigshade nodded. Bounding into the camp she hurried towards the nursery. Whitefox and Foamfur looked up when she entered. Before they could utter hello she was attacked by Bigkit and Furledkit. Duskpaw stumbled to the ground.

"We got her Bigkit," Furledkit squealed. Bigkit let out a triumphant cry. You certainly have the right name, Duskpaw thought. The kit was almost as big as she was and was crushing her.

"Furledkit, Bigkit, get off of Duskpaw right now," Whitefox ordered. The kits let out disappointed mews and stumbled off her back. Duskpaw slowly got to her feet. Foamfur's eyes were shinning. She looked amused.

"I hope my kits won't be that wild," she purred. "I don't think I could handle them."

"They'll listen if your stern with them," Whitefox mewed. She eyed her son's. They looked at each other nervously. "What are you going to say to Duskpaw?" she asked. They shuffled their paws before answering.

"Sorry Duskpaw," they muttered.

"It's fine kits," Duskpaw answered, dropping her herbs. They brightened.

"Can we go outside?" Furledkit asked. Whitefox rolled her eyes.

"Is that all you ever want to do?" she asked. They nodded. "Fine, but don't get to cold," she called after them as they ran outside. Duskpaw pushed the herbs towards them.

"You should each eat half of these," she advised. Foamfur obediently licked up the herbs. Whitefox did as well. Duskpaw nodded to them. "Great Starclan am I happy you agree so easily. It takes me forever to get Paletree to eat her herbs," Duskpaw exclaimed. They laughed.

"She's just stubborn," Foamfur purred. Her eyes misted. "Orcafin was too," she whispered. Duskpaw looked down. The poor golden she-cat was still grieving over her mate's death. "If only he could meet his kits, just once," she sighed. Duskpaw felt sympathy towards her.

"I'd be devastated if Stormstep hadn't been able to meet his kits," Whitefox mewed. She looked out the nursery. Duskpaw followed her gaze. Bigkit and Furledkit where playing with their father. They had him pinned and were pummeling him with sheathed claws. "I'm so sorry Foamfur," Whitefox mewed. Foamfur shook her head to clear it.

"It's okay. I'm getting used to it," she mewed. Duskpaw could detect the pain behind her voice and guessed she was lying.

"Well I'd better go. See you later," she mewed. The two queens dipped their head to her as she left.

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Silvertear followed Tundrafoot into camp. After his border patrol Shardclaw had assigned him to hunt with her. They were returning to camp with a small amount of prey. Most of the prey had dug into their burrows to escape the snow.

Dropping their prey on the freshkill pile they separated. Silvertear walked to her sister, who was sitting outside the medicine cat den.

"Hi Duskpaw," Silvertear greeted her sister. Duskpaw glanced at her in surprise.

"Hi Silvertear. To what do I owe this honor?" she asked. Silvertear tipped her head. "Well you never seem to talk to me anymore," she explained. Silvertear realized that she was right. She never spent any time with her sister anymore. All she did was hangout with Snowyowl.

"I'm sorry," she sighed. "I promise to make it up to you," she promised. Duskpaw didn't look like she believed her.

"How?" she asked.

"What do you want me to do?" Silvertear asked. Duskpaw thought for a moment. Before she could answer there was an explosion of coughs from across the camp. Shardclaw was sitting next to Lichenheart with his fur fluffed up and his eyes glazed as he coughed. Duskpaw hurried over with Silvertear at her heels.

"Here," Twigshade growled. The old tabby tom pushed a wad of green herbs towards him. Shardclaw licked it up when he stopped coughing.

"Thanks," he wheezed.

"It's coltsfoot. It should help it go away before it gets serious," Twigshade explained. He glanced at Duskpaw. "You should gather some of that tomorrow too," he mewed. Duskpaw nodded.

"I'll help you gather it," Silvertear mewed. "I'll help you gather everything now," she added.

"Is that how you pan on repaying me?" Duskpaw asked. Silvertear nodded. "Let's see how it goes," she mewed.

A/N:

Filling chapter. Sorry it took me so long to get a boring chapter up here. I've been really busy with school and I had a cow show today that I just got back from. I'll try to get an interesting chapter up as soon as possible. Oh and I want you to remember that they live in the cold so it's not uncommon for it to snow in leaf-fall. I also want you guys to vote on the poll on my wall. Be honest. I think that's it so byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.