Chapter 7!
Hailpaw sat back, letting out the deep breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. Yellowfang did the same, before motioning to the pale tabby with her tail. Picking up the borage leaves beside him, Hailpaw moved forward, laying the herbs down near Ferncloud's nose.
"You need to eat as much of this as you can, Ferncloud." Yellowfang was murmuring quietly. Ferncloud nodded, though her green eyes never left the two tiny forms nestled into her belly-fur. Hailpaw let his own gaze fell to the two little scraps of fur. There was one tom and one she-cat—the tom with fur as black as night, and the she-cat with a lighter brown tabby pelt. After giving each of the small kits another brisk lick on the head, Ferncloud began lapping up the herbs and Yellowfang beckoned Hailpaw away. Obediently, Hailpaw left the queen and her kits, following Yellowfang out into the dim light of the moon that now hung high in the sky.
Dustpelt whirled around to face them, his amber eyes flashing with a combination of concern and fear. "Well?" He demanded, his tail lashing furiously from side to side.
Yellowfang let a small purr of amusement rise from her throat. "Keep your whiskers on, Dustpelt—they're all fine. Ferncloud just ate her herbs, you may see her if you'd like, but don't expect her to stay awake for very long."
For a moment, Dustpelt looked back and forth between the two medicine cats, before bowing his head in deep respect. "Thank-you." With that, he pushed his way through the brambles to be with his mate. Hailpaw felt his paws tingle, his heart swelling with pride for the help he had given to his clan. Is this what it means to be a medicine cat?
"Come, Hailpaw," Yellowfang padded towards the center of camp, sitting down where warriors normally held their vigils. "Tonight we watch the stars for glimpses of the kits' destinies."
The silver tabby nodded, sitting dutifully beside his mentor and turning his gaze to the stars of Silverpelt, which—though masked by thin clouds—shone as bright as ever. Their ancestors must have been pleased with Ferncloud's kitting. As they sat through the chilly night, Hailpaw kept his eyes fixed on the stars, hoping to glimpse the destinies Yellowfang had been speaking of. Instead, his mind wandered to his dreams of two moons ago—at his apprentice ceremony at the Moonstone. Yellowfang had said nothing about her own dreams, except to hope that the peace in the forest lasted. But now, Hailpaw couldn't help but to wonder if his mentor knew more than she let on.
If she glimpsed at our destinies the night we were born, could she have seen the same thing as I did on that night?
The image of Foxpaw standing at the crest of the hill flickered back into Hailpaw's mind; the enemy cats rushing towards him—and the blood that broke over the hill in a huge wave and stained the snow between them red. The smell filled his nose and throat, and Hailpaw forced himself to take a deep breath, trying to bring himself back to the ThunderClan camp. He stole a glance at Yellowfang, but the old medicine cat still had her gaze fixed on Silverpelt.
Maybe I'll ask her… He watched with mixed awe and wonder as her eyes widened, the fur on her spine raising slightly as she glimpsed at something in the stars. He knew the sign was meant only for his mentor, so he turned his gaze to another swath of stars that painted the sky. Maybe she can help me figure it out… But even as he thought it, Hailpaw knew that just as the sign of the kits' destinies was meant for Yellowfang, his dreams at the Moonstone were meant only for him.
Despite reminding himself of the large amount of herbs that needed to be collected in the morning, Hailpaw didn't wake until the sun was well in the sky, most of the warriors out searching for the Clan's sunhigh meal. With a startled gasp, the silver tabby leaped from his nest, darting out into the main clearing where he saw Yellowfang emerging from the nursery. She padded stiffly towards him, as if an old injury was bothering her.
"Glad to see you're finally awake." She growled in a mock-annoyed tone. "I was beginning to think I was going to have to force these stiff old bones out herb collecting."
"Why didn't you wake me?" Hailpaw shook the remaining moss from his pelt as an afterthought, his mind scrambling to add up the time needed versus the time he now had. "I told you I would get it all done today, but I needed to get up earlier…" He trailed off as Yellowfang's whiskers began to twitch in blatant amusement.
"You were exhausted, Hailpaw," she finally purred gruffly. "The first kitting is always the hardest. Besides, I've just been speaking with Dustpelt, and he said that until the kits open their eyes Foxpaw is to belong to us. He says that he's excelling almost too well in his warrior training, and that he could use some of your patience."
Hailpaw purred as he thought about his very impatient brother. "If it hasn't changed yet then I doubt it ever will."
Yellowfang let out a sigh, "Unfortunately I'm afraid you're right."
"Well," the pale tabby glanced at the sun again, wincing at how little time he had left. "I'm going to get him now. Do you know where he is?"
The old she-cat nodded towards the gorse tunnel. "I gave him permission to battle train with Whitestorm and Stormpaw until you were up and ready to go, so he should be in the sandy hollow."
"Thanks Yellowfang!" With that, Hailpaw jumped to his feet, rushing to the gorse tunnel and out into the forest. It was getting warmer—all around him signs of spring were beginning to show. Small green buds decorated formerly bare tree branches, and melting snow was slowly dripping onto the ground. Hailpaw forced himself to hurry, despite the temptation of enjoying the first signs of spring, making it to the sandy hollow to see Foxpaw and Stormpaw locked in an intense mock-battle.
Stormpaw was slightly bigger than Foxpaw now, he realized quietly, moving forward and sitting next to Whitestorm to watch more closely. His shoulders were a bit wider, and his paws a bit larger—but Foxpaw made up for what he lacked in size with stunning speed, darting between the other apprentice's blows and still managing to land attacks of his own. To Hailpaw, the most amazing part was how Foxpaw seemed to turn every disadvantage into something he could use to win. Stormpaw was bigger, so he focused on speed; Stormpaw pinned him to the ground, Foxpaw used the ground as leverage to get free. For a moment, Hailpaw wondered if he would have made as good of a warrior as Foxpaw or Stormpaw, but he quickly shook the thought from his head. He didn't want to fight in battles like the one that had nearly taken his life so long ago—he wanted to prevent them from ever happening in the first place.
Finally, Foxpaw subdued his dark-furred opponent, both of their flanks heaving as they fought to regain their breath.
"Well done!" Whitestorm called, rising to his paws. "I really thought Stormpaw had you down for a moment Foxpaw."
Stormpaw let out a purr of amusement as the red-ginger apprentice let him up. "Yeah, so did I…that was brilliant! You have to show me how to pull that off, Foxpaw."
"Any time." Foxpaw shook the dust from his ruffled pelt, his dark blue eyes finding Hailpaw almost immediately. "Hey sleepy, are you finally ready to go gather herbs? If you took much longer me and Stormpaw were going to go hunting and leave Featherpaw to help you."
Hailpaw rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "You could have woken me, so don't tease me about it."
"Alright, alright." Foxpaw purred, his whiskers twitching. "We'll go hunting tomorrow, okay Stormpaw?"
The dark gray tom nodded. "Good luck finding you herbs."
Whitestorm bowed his head, giving them a quiet farewell before turning and beckoning for his apprentice to follow him deeper into the woods. Hailpaw stood and began padding away in the opposite direction.
"So, besides last night, have you seen the kits?" Foxpaw hurried to catch up with him, his eyes flashing brightly.
"No, not yet," Hailpaw admitted regretfully. "I slept in, remember? I'm surprised Yellowfang didn't claw my ears off."
The dark ginger tom murmured a knowing agreement, before shaking his head. "Anyways, they're really tiny, and Ferncloud has already named them."
"Oh?" Hailpaw pricked his ears, remembering the two tiny kits he had seen. One tom and one she-cat, with contrasting fur colors.
"Yeah, the she-kit—that's the brown tabby one—is Thistlekit, and the tom—"
"The one with the black fur," Hailpaw noted, earning a swift nod from his brother.
"That one is Sagekit."
Hailpaw thought about the two kits and their names for a moment, before nodding. "They suit them."
Foxpaw shrugged. "I guess so. I think we'll really be able to tell if they fit once we mentor them!"
Even as he began digging for the roots of the first herb he needed, Hailpaw sighed. "You know we're nowhere near ready to mentor apprentices, Foxpaw…"
The warriors apprentice rolled his eyes. "I don't mean like that you serious fur-ball! I mean when they start exploring camp—we can help them like Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw helped us."
"I guess so." Hailpaw shook his head, his whiskers twitching in mild amusement at his brother's enthusiasm.
"It'll be like training for training our own apprentices one day."
"If you say so." Hailpaw purred quietly, before pushing the unearthed roots towards his brother. "Here, carry these." Without waiting long, he got to his paws and began moving to the next herb he needed, purring again as he heard Foxpaw scrambling behind him.
The tabby apprentice was right about one thing—having Foxpaw helped a lot. He chatted idly around his slowly growing mouthful herbs, sitting them and helping Hailpaw break off little bit of the fresh growth peeking through the melting snow. He certainly never would have completed the task if it wasn't for Foxpaw's help. HE wondered quietly as they padded back towards camp, if that was how Foxpaw felt when he practiced warrior duties with him.
But warriors help medicine cats all the time. He reminded himself silently. One day, when I'm the only medicine cat ThunderClan has, I won't be able to go hunting with Foxpaw like I do now—I won't be able to battle train with him and take time just to practice climbing trees…
And though their pelts brushed ever-so-slightly as they maneuvered through the forest, the distance between them seemed suddenly too large; a gaping rift in the earth between them carved out by a river of blood.
Wooowww…. It's been way too long since I've updated this… Honestly, Ihad their names picked out the last time I updated, and I actually cannot remember the ones I decided on. Iam so lucky to have you guys for readers—thanks for sticking with me if you have, it really means the world to me(: Be sure to drop a review and let me know what you thought, and since I'm experiencing this memory loss, I'm still searching for warrior names, though some of the suggestions I've gotten so far are very, very good;) Thanks again for reading! Next update should be soon!