It didn't take Rainbowheart long to find a few herbs, but remembering what they were for was a bit harder. Luckily though, she was able to recognize poppy seeds and dock, which would help a lot for the particular situation they were needed for. Once she'd picked a decently sized amount, she began her way back to the tree with the burrow. It was along the way back, that she spotted some dried leaves, which had her making note to go back for them later.
Whenever she had helped Mintheart as an apprentice, he had given her a few lessons on the different herbs, for emergency purposes of course. She remembered that dried leaves could help stop infection, which were of a great need in this case, given the wounds that the injured she-cat had been dealt. Later though, Rainbowheart would go back. First things first…
Just as she had guessed, by the time Rainbowheart got back the bleeding in Jade's shoulder and chest had stopped significantly, and her wounds were dressed with some of the cobwebs that Streak had brought. Streak and the kits were now sitting around the white cat, cleaning Jade's fur. Upon the sounds of pawsteps, they looked up to see their helper's arrival back.
"How is she?" Rainbowheart asked as she slowly padded over to her patient and placed the herbs on the ground.
"The bleeding has stopped more, but she doesn't seem any better than that. I've been trying to keep her awake until you came back." A moment's look directed at Rainbowheart was filled with uncertainty, before Streak turned her head slightly so that her gaze was elsewhere, slightly hardened. "Forgive my doubtfulness, but I wasn't sure you would come back."
Rainbowheart could just barely catch that last part.
Though there was plenty reason to have just left these cats to themselves, there was also plenty of reason to stay if only or a while to help. Rainbowheart didn't bother to question the other cat's reasons for doubting, as it was definitely hard to trust a stranger. She didn't know these cats and they didn't know her, and despite the fact that she had fought alongside Streak, they were not friends.
This aside, Rainbowheart was still a young and curious cat, and wondered if there were other answers to Streak's statement. She drove the curiosity to the back of her mind, as she began to work on getting Jade's wounds mended.
There must have been a sense of the warrior's curiosity, or maybe it was just something Streak wanted to get off her mind. Whatever the case, the black she-cat addressed the doubt she had. "We haven't had much luck with others keeping promises." It was a simple statement, but it was enough said.
Streak looked up to stare at Rainbowheart, a grateful expression on her face, green eyes bright. "Thank you for coming to help us."
Rainbowheart spit the chewed poultice on a couple of leaves. "Don't think anything of it. I'm sure you would have done the same thing if I had been in your position. Here." Rainbowheart placed one of the leaves in front of Streak. "Place the sticky side on her wound and rub it around. You take her shoulder and I'll take the cut on her chest." It wasn't time for idle talk now, but a time for working diligently.
Both cats removed the cobwebs from Jade's shoulder and began rubbing the chewed dock around the cuts. The occasional hiss of pain from the white cat could be heard, as they treated her wounds. Once done, they set aside the used up leaves and Rainbowheart asked Streak to bring her a couple of poppy seeds from the pile of herbs, telling her to use her paw and not her mouth to carry them, lest she swallow some and be out for a bit.
Jade wasn't breathing as hard as she was in the beginning, though it was still a bit irregular; she would need to sleep off the pain if she was to get better. That is where the poppy seeds would come into play for the finishing touch of the day. As was instructed, Streak set a couple of poppy seeds down at Rainbowheart's feet, shaking them slightly and easily off of her own paw.
Rainbowheart nodded in acknowledgement, before she leaned down to the white she-cat on the ground, addressing her in a low and comforting and caring voice. "Jade how do you feel, any better?"
Green eyes blinked open slightly, and Jade took a steady breath before speaking, "Y-yes, a little better, but it still hurts." There was a wince when she tried to move, until a black and white paw pressed her back down, red eyes staring at her and telling her not to move anymore.
The red-eyed warrior nodded at the response, taking note that at least the cat could feel pain, because it would be bad if she couldn't. "Yes, that gash on your chest was deep. You should be better soon though, and to do that I'll need you to eat a couple of these seeds."
Jade turned her head to look at the seeds that Rainbowheart had pushed in front of her. "What will they do?" Though a bit disoriented, the she-cat was eyeing the seeds cautiously.
"Nothing terribly bad, they will just make it so that it's easier for you to sleep."
The injured cat widened her eyes a bit. "No I can't go to sleep," came an urgent reply. She weakly pushed the seeds away with her nose.
Rainbowheart pushed them back insistently, just the slightest bit irritated, though there was sincere pity that the cat seemed scared of sleeping. "You must eat them if you are to get better. You need the rest."
Jade shook her head, or at least tried to with her bit of strength. "Please don't make me eat them. What if I don't wake up? My kits, my sister, what will they do without me to help protect them?" She looked at Rainbowheart pleadingly, willing her to agree.
"Don't worry, I promise that you will wake up. But you may not if you don't get the rest now, rather than later," Rainbowheart said sternly, eyeing her with a hard gaze.
Jade looked at her sister hoping that she would agree with her view of the situation. Of course when she glimpsed her, the black she-cat looked back at her with a pleading look that said she did not.
"Please, eat the seeds," Streak pleaded with her sister, not truly sure if they really would help, but anything was better than letting her sister suffer through pain any longer.
Defeated by a vote of two to one, Jade sighed, eyes back on the tiny things of herbs. "Alright…" And she began to lap up the seeds. They hit her tongue, then went down her throat, eventually she began to nod off, the pain starting to ebb away. She glanced up to look at Rainbowheart once more, giving her a grateful smile, before she fell asleep.
Once Jade was asleep, she began to breath close to normally, and the fear of her getting any worse momentarily was gone. She would be fine after getting regular treatment. Rainbowheart ordered- not told- Streak to get some sleep, seeing as the cat would be fretting over her sister's condition, which could get her sick, and Rainbowheart didn't feel like treating two sick cats with only kits to help her. That really wasn't the best thing to have happen.
Rainbowheart promised Streak that she would stay there with them for a while more and take care of Jade. This thankfully got the fidgeting cat to go to sleep quicker. The black she-cat had scooted the kits to an area of the burrow that had a poorly made up moss bed.
Soon all three of them were asleep, and Rainbowheart chose that time to go out and collect more herbs, and some better bedding.
That night, Streak woke up to the sound of shuffling around the burrow. She carefully inched her eyes open, poised to defend the kits, expecting to see a badger or fox. No large and dangerous form was seen however, instead she saw Rainbowheart, tediously making sure Jade's wounds stayed clean. The way the cat's form moved around gave hint to her being tired, and Streak guessed that she hadn't gotten much sleep.
She's taking her time to help us when she could have ditched us for dead. Why….? Streak thought. It was during her trailed off thinking, that her jaws parted in a wide yawn, evident that she was still quite not ready to fully wake. Streak eventually found herself drifting back off to sleep and all was quiet, save for Rainbowheart trying to make sure that the cat's sister remained alive.
Unlike the others, it had taken a while for Rainbowheart to settle down and get some sleep. Her mind had been on other things while she had been re-dressing Jade's wounds once more. More or less, her mind was on what was to happen after she was done here.
She was certain that StarClan would want her to continue traveling further north, though she hadn't a sign from them in a while. A sigh escaped her, and she briefly wondered if StarClan had left her already. Maybe she had messed up somehow?
Whatever the deal was, it would have to be mulled over later, for the many hours of staying awake with little sleep were taking their toll on her. It was evident in her drooping red eyes and wobbling stance. She parted her jaws and yawned, and once she was sure that Jade was fine and she would need no more medical attention for a couple of hours, she curled up into a ball and began to close her eyes.
As she fell asleep she prayed that StarClan would visit her, and confirm that she would still be on the right path after this was over. Then again, she also secretly prayed that they wouldn't show up….
When Rainbowheart opened her eyes she expected it to be daytime, which was the only reason she would have woken up. Instead however, she was greeted by the familiar star-lit hunting grounds of StarClan. It was easy to tell where she was, just by the heavenly scenery. Only when she felt eyes boring into her, did she finally turn to acknowledge the bright ginger she-cat that was there to greet her, standing a few fox-lengths away.
It was like a second nature to her, to pad over and greet the she-cat with a dip of the head. "Foxflower," she mewed, only a light smile gracing her features. It was probably the only genuine smile she would give to any StarClan.
Foxflower, as she was called, gave a small laugh, "Oh, as polite as ever aren't we. Too bad Mintheart can't more like you."
Rainbowheart lifted up her head and gave her fur an embarrassing lick. "It's good to see you too Foxflower. How is Mintheart by the way, still as prickly as ever?" She chuckled at the last part; Mintheart was like an elder in a young cat's body. Prickly as a pine cone, though Rainbowheart had managed to tolerate the tom. She had been a bit prickly herself at times.
The old she-cat seemed to roll her eyes before commenting, "Eh, he's gotten better."
"Are badgers flying already then?" Rainbowheart joked, her red eyes glittering, before she sighed and just sat there looking at the other cat.
Foxflower smiled, but didn't say anything. It was clear that she had other things on her mind, and Rainbowheart could sense that the old medicine cat was there for other things besides that of idle talk.
"So," Rainbowheart began, "what brings you here to this neck of the woods?" Her black and white head swiveled to the left and right, gesturing to the empty grounds which obviously were not used by StarClan cats, as it was obviously farther away from the lake. Her eyes spoke that she knew the other cat was not here without reason.
At the question, the smile on the ginger's face disappeared. "I'm here to check up on you is all." Her paws shifted slightly, giving Rainbowheart a clue to the fact that she was lying, or not telling her everything. The old cat did not elaborate further to anything though. "I'm also here to congratulate you with the way you treated that she-cat." Her amber eyes blinked, not going any further than that.
Both she-cats were laying on their stomachs now, and although Rainbowheart wished that the other cat would tell her what was really up, she let it slide. "I didn't know how hard it was for medicine cats until now. No wonder Mintheart was always so grumpy… no wonder you're almost always grumpy."
Pretending to ignore the grimace and glare that Foxflower sent her, she went on, "How do medicine cats do it?"
A shrug was the other feline's response. "It's just something that one is born to do. It takes interest, skill, and a true love for your clan; just like being a warrior."
Foxflower placed a paw on top of Rainbowheart's. "I must say though, that you did quite well for a warrior. If I didn't know you, I would have thought that you were a seasoned medicine cat."
This made Rainbowheart gleam with pride, thought she couldn't help feel like Foxflower stretched the truth a bit.
"I'm sure Mintheart would be proud; Maplepelt and Razorstar too. The way you fought that fox off, you'd be having your warrior ceremony again," Foxflower chuckled.
It had always been hard to believe that someone actually could acknowledge her achievements, however coming from Foxflower, Rainbowheart could take the compliment easily without too much doubt. "Thanks, Foxflower….. You know I think you have gotten softer." The black and white she-cat smirked, getting a paw to the side of her face. It didn't hurt, but it was enough to knock her over, with the ginger cat above her donning an innocent look.
"I'm sorry, what did you say now?" the old medicine cat asked, a teasing expression on her face.
The young warrior grunted as she sat up, flicking her ears, and tilting her head. "Ok, ok. Now, what was it that you wanted to tell me?" Rainbowheart asked finally, scoffing when Foxflower gave her an incredulous look. "I'm not mouse-brained. Something is up, or you wouldn't be here."
Moments passed on in silence, the medicine cat mulling things over in her mind before she spoke. "I'm here to give you a message that concerns the future." Her amber orbs narrowed, "You will have to make a great many decisions soon, young one, which will shape your future as well as the future of others." The she-cat sighed, her head dropping downwards, "I really hate being the bringer of bad news…"
Immediately, the young warrior sat up. "What do you mean bad news?"
All of a sudden the trees around them disappeared, and they were left in darkness. Rainbowheart looked around them then back at Foxflower, who looked like she was frozen in place. The old she-cat's form was beginning to fade, and Rainbowheart knew immediately what was happening, though she prayed it wasn't-
"Beware the blood that falls before the storm," Foxflower hissed before she disappeared into the blackness.