Chapter 36: A Favor Owed
Darkstripe was wary of all the cats in the camp except Bluestar and his adopted son. Their eyes always seemed to be staring at him. The green and yellow piercing gazes would not stop. He knew they weren't really staring at him all that often, but the illusion his brain conjured on the cats made him see them as always staring. The eyes never blinked and never wavered. They'd just follow him. The green eyes held such deceit that it was radiant. Being in their proximity made him nervous. What lies and illusions would those cats cast upon him? The yellow eyes held extreme malice. They threatened to shred him if he so much as looked at them wrong. They were tyrannical in their power over him. Darkstripe feared he'd only see those sets of eyes on every cat he'd ever see. Even the new apprentices were starting to get those eyes. He couldn't be trusted with one nor could he trust them. They'd soon be tainted by their mentors in his mind.
He was proven wrong when Littlecloud and Whitethroat made an appearance in the camp. Their eyes were normal, or at least more normal than the rest of the camp. Their eyes were weary with sickness and their bodies were gaunt and patchy. Darkstripe had known Whitethroat as the most recent iteration of the dealer Shadow. He carried with him a stone. The stone was one Darkstripe recognized. It was the stone from the first time Darkstripe ever asked for a favor for his clan. It had tremendous power over him since he made it a point to avoid owing favors. He could not turn away these cats, but he also couldn't trust his clan to help them.
The two cats asked for herbs and treatment for their illness. Yellowfang saw a plague that she did not want to be spread to the camp. Darkstripe saw Yellowfang's eyes change from green to yellow. She was no longer a liar in his eyes, but a merciless tyrant. He trusted her even less as the two cats left. The stone they brought lay waiting, taunting, begging for a favor to be returned. He could not abide by Yellowfang's wishes. His dealer name, the only source of pride he had left, was on the line. He also knew he didn't have the skills to solve the issue. His only choice was to try and trust a liar.
Darkstripe mustered what was left of his courage and authority to protect his one last vice that kept him from true insanity. It took him an embarrassingly long time to identify Cinderpaw. It was the bad leg that gave it away. The eyes made it so difficult to identify any cat. He approached with the closest he could to confidence.
"I need you to treat those two Shadowclan cats."
Cinderpaw was nervous. She wanted to help those cats too, but Yellowfang was the medicine cat.
"Are you sure? Yellowfang said they are too dangerous to treat."
"This is more important than that. If you can even made the symptoms easier to bear, then you'll have done enough. Then we'll have paid our favor owed. Take whatever precautions you want. Make them grab the herbs at a half-way point or something. I don't trust you or anyone, but I'm giving you the chance to prove me wrong. Prove you are a cat who honors favors and doing the right thing, and I may be able to see you instead of the eyes."
So much information was dumped on Cinderpaw that her head was spinning. What did Thunderclan owe Shadowclan? Her eyes drifted to that stone they brought. Darkstripe had brought it over when he'd asked for her assistance. It was the same shade as the stone Bluestar called clan meetings from. Darkstripe held it gingerly to keep it from scuffing or scratching. It was obviously symbolic.
'That must be the favor, 'Cinderpaw thought. Then what was that about Darkstripe not trusting anyone? Sure, he was skittish since the big reveal, but Cinderpaw never took the time to notice how avoidant of all cats he was. Then there was "The Eyes." What were The Eyes and why did they keep Darkstripe from seeing her? She thought back on what Yellowfang taught her. There were diseases of the mind that medicine couldn't treat as she recalled. There were some like what elders get where their memory becomes foggy. There were some like flashbacks from trauma. The one she settled on was the misleading of senses. Cats with certain traumas manifest their paranoia as illusions to their senses. Some hear sounds that don't exist. Some see shadows moving in the corners of their eyes. In some special cases, the illusions are symbolic. The Eyes had to be one of these cases. She'd have to look into it once she had gotten Darkstripe's trust. Right now, Darkstripe wouldn't likely talk to her given how he reacted to The Eyes he'd seen on her.
Cinderpaw shook off her thoughts. She had cats to save. She snuck out of camp and followed the Shadow Clan cats' scent. It led to the two cats relatively close to the border. The two were clearly too sick to return, so Cinderpaw knew she'd have to make an impromptu medicine camp. The two spotted her.
"You're the medicine cat's apprentice, right? Did Bluestar change her mind?"
"No. I snuck out to help at Darkstripe's behest. He said something about a favor owed. It doesn't matter. I swore as a medicine cat that I'd help all cats regardless of clan, so I am here to help. I will be playing it safe by leaving the herbs here and having you collect it, so I am less likely to catch what you've got. I'll also be asking you to tell me about how you feel. If you are as sick as Yellowfang suggests, I might only be able to make things more comfortable, but no less deadly."
She interviewed the cats from what she felt like was a safe distance. In her head she tried to figure out which herbs settled which symptoms. She discounted herbs that had difficult preparations because she'd have to apply them then. Maybe she could increment to it if the two got better enough to trust the disease wouldn't jump to her. She promised the two she'd be back soon as she went off to collect the herbs that would help the sick cats. She knew she was defying Yellowfang, but something in her told her she was doing the right thing. Medicine cats cannot be cowards to diseases. This is their battlefield. They were the warriors who kept their camps free of death and pestilence. They couldn't be cowards when they had the knowledge to save lives. Cinderpaw finally knew this was her calling. This is where she was a defender of the weak. She was a warrior in soul.