The winds were harsh this high up on the plains. The mornings were cruel, the days bearable and the nights you could hear the cries of discomfort. Thankfully, it was a nice day, the winds were not so active and the sun was shining bright. Windclan was up and doing their duties. The warriors hunted and patrolled, the apprentices helped and trained, the deputy was giving orders, Sweetstar was in her den, and Mosspetal, the medicine cat was with her.
Sweetstar had always been a small, thin cat but she seemed even more small and thin curled up in her nest. It was strange to see Sweetstar in a nest, she often slept out in the open with her clan. The sickness was bad in Windclan. It was something that Mosspetal had never seen before. The sickness was not noticeable by any imediate physical aspects but they had lost clanmates to this sickness.
"You should drink some water, Sweetstar." Mosspetal said softly.
Sweetstar sighed and took a small sip of the water soaked moss. "What did you think of the Gathering last night?" She asked quietly.
"Fallenstar did not look well. And he, such a young leader." Mosspetal said softly.
"Yes, he did look rather ill…." Sweetstar said, her amber eyes staring down at her paws.
"Badgerstar and Adderstar were at it again. Always accusing someone of being on their territory or eating their prey. It gets tiresome." Mosspetal said, a bit huffily.
"Times are hard. Everyone is paranoid." Sweetstar replied.
A moment of silence passed between the two she-cats. Sweetstar glanced up at the medicine cat and softly said. "Have you heard from Starclan?"
"Yes. No. I…" Mosspetal looked away from Sweetstar's searching gaze.
"What? What is it?" Sweetstar demanded.
"Whether it was a cat from the stars or the shadows I don't know. But whoever they were, they told me this. 'If you place your trust in me, I may save the clans'." Mosspetal said, sounding defeated.
"That doesn't sound much like a prophecy." Sweetstar said gently.
"No, that is why I think it might be a cat from the Dark Forest. It may be wise to ignore them." Mosspetal said.
Sweetstar nodded, she seemed distracted by something. Mosspetal sighed and said. "Is there something wrong?"
"Hm? No, there isn't. I was just thinking about someone…." Sweetstar said.
"May I ask who?" Mosspetal asked.
Sweetstar just looked at her sadly. At that moment, Silentstorm, Mosspetal's apprentice came rushing in. The gray tabby she-cat looked very worried, her eyes were darting everywhere. Mosspetal glared at her.
"Silentstorm! What is the meaning of this?" She snarled.
"One of the elders, I went in..and….they are dead… It's the sickness." Silentstorm whispered.
Sweetstar got to her feet. "Come, we must tell the clan and let them mourn." She said.
Mosspetal watched her leader walk through the entrance. She swirled around to Silentstorm. "I want you to help them bury the elder. When they all go back to bed, come get me and show me exactly where."
"What?" Silentstorm asked, cocking her head slightly.
Her mentor let out an agitated sigh. "What I'm asking you to do is highly against the Warrior Code, I understand if you won't do it and tell Sweetstar but it is very important."
"What are you going to do, Mosspetal?" Silentstorm asked.
"We are going to dig up that body and examine it. I want to know what is killing off our clanmates." Mosspetal said quietly.
"You want us to dig up the body of an elder and pull it apart to find what killed it." Silentstorm summed up.
"I understand if you are against it." Mosspetal began but Silentstorm stopped her with the flick of a tail.
"No, no. I think it is a good idea. But, Sweetstar and the rest of the clan will be furious if they ever find out." Silentstorm said.
"Yes…What do you have in mind? You have your 'I have a great idea' look about you." Mosspetal said, eyeing her student.
"Everyone knows that Honeyspots is dying to know what is going on with the sickness. If we bring her into this she can act as a guard for tonight and a cover-up if anyone gets suspicious." Silentstorm explained.
"What am I covering up?"
The two she-cats spun around and saw that Honeyspots was standing there looking rather confused and worried. "You guys are not planning to kill someone are you?" She cried.
"What? No, hush up! We need your help in discovering what is killing off our clanmates." Mosspetal said irritated.
Honeyspots ears perked up at that. "Oh! Good! What do you have in mind?" She asked, excitedly.
"Examining the body of the dead elder. We need you to stand guard while we work. If anyone starts asking questions you cover us. Everyone listens to the deputy after all." Mosspetal said.
"This is wrong and tricky. But, I agree. Something has to be done about this sickness! Our clan is growing smaller and smaller each moon. You guys come get me when you go to look at the body. I'll do all I can to help." Honeyspots said.
The three she-cats nodded at each other then went to go join the mourning.
*time skip*
It was a full moon that night, three she-cats were at the burial place quickly working to dig the body of the elder up. Mosspetal dropped her bunch of herbs and bowed her head, praying to Starclan for forgiveness and understanding of her actions.
"Poor Beaverbelly." Honeyspots whispered.
"Let's get to work." Mosspetal said.
"Remember, we need to be careful. If this can be spread by contact, that is." Silentstorm said.
Mosspetal nodded. She covered her front paws with spider webs and began to examine the body of Beaverbelly. Her paws passed over the thin frame of the elder and stopped.
"We are naturally thin and lean. But, I can feel all of her bones. Her coat is a mess which I know is wrong because she took great pride in keeping herself looking well. Maybe this is signs of the sickness." Mosspetal said, sounding worried.
Mosspetal opened Beaverbelly's mouth and grimaced. She quickly pulled her paw away and shook her head.
"What is it?" Silentstorm asked.
"Her gums and mouth were inflamed. Did you find anything?" Mosspetal asked.
Silentstorm nodded. "Her eyes looked a bit off and there was some kind of discharge. There was also a tick bite on one of her legs that seemed to never have healed. I don't really know what this is."
"We should cover the body back up and wash our paws in a puddle. Not stream. We will also eat some herbs after dealing with this. We can discuss this in the morning." Mosspetal instructed.
After the three of them had washed their paws, gotten rid of the spider webs, and ate the herbs they were sitting in Mosspetal's den.
"I'm scared." Honeyspots whispered.
"So am I." Mosspetal said gently. "So am I."