Chapter 54: Flowers from Ashes
Something was different in the air this morning. It felt like static, the calm before a storm. Something big was coming. Darkstripe had always been observant. His eyes were naturally drawn to the medicine cats. Something had Cinderpelt on edge. Her actions were stiffer than usual, and she babied her bad leg a bit more than average. Darkstripe figured either Tigerstar would make a move soon or Tiny's warning hadn't been idle. He needed to know.
Darkstripe made his way over to Cinderpelt. The medicine cat was nervously resorting herbs in her den. The scattered fragments of leaves and herbs hinted that she'd done this several times that morning. She was severely on edge.
"Cinderpelt."
The poor cat near hit the roof with how much she jumped. She spun on Darkstripe, clearly spooked. She settled down upon realizing it was just him.
"Darkstripe What do you need? I'm kind of busy."
Darkstripe raised an eyebrow noting she'd destroyed a portion of her medicinal herbs in her constant resorting.
"I can tell. Something's got you scared, and I don't know what. Are you willing to tell me about it?"
Cinderpelt got defensive. "No! or at least not yet. I don't know what it means, but it was terrifying. I… I need time to work it out."
Cinderpelt began sorting her herbs again except it was a tad to rushed. It was a nervous frenzy.
"Cinderpelt!"
She turned back to the warrior.
"You need to calm down. I'm sure you got a message from Starclan, but killing yourself with worry won't solve anything. Let's go for a walk."
Cinderpelt didn't look too keen on the idea.
"But what if I'm needed? I have to be ready."
"You're shredding your herbs. Listen. Just walk with me for a bit. Don't think about what is worrying you. Sometimes clarity needs time. I'm sure you'll figure it out, but first we need you to calm down."
Cinderpelt looked at the scraps of herbs littering her paws and the floor before reluctantly agreeing.
"I… Ok. Just for a bit. I want to stay within earshot of the camp though."
Darkstripe couldn't fault her caution. He decided to humor her. He slowly guided her out of the camp. The ashes of the fire were starting to be buried under the new undergrowth emerging from the ground. The only visible markings of the fire were a few trees with high sitting scorch marks and the soil being more blackish grey than usual. Otherwise, the forest had mostly recovered. Prey was a bit scarcer than previous years, but it was abundant enough to finally close out the Windclan and Riverclan deals. No cat was going hungry. Darkstripe guided Cinderpelt in a big circle around camp. He had a destination in mind, but the need to walk would help settle the medicine cat's nerves.
"Have you noticed the forest Cinderpelt?"
Cinderpelt emerged from her thoughts. It was clear she was still thinking about her omen.
"What? What about the forest?"
"Look at it again. Do you see the grass growing around here? Do you see the bushes developing leaves and flowers?"
Cinderpelt paused to look around. She hadn't realized how much had changed after the fire. There always seemed to be a new crisis to avert. She never had time to notice.
"It's beautiful. How long ago did this start?"
Darkstripe nodded to the grass.
"This started sprouting only three days after the fire. The bushes began blooming after a moon. If you notice closely, even the trees are coming back to life."
Again Cinderpelt looked around, this time to take it all in. Darkstripe remained silent as he continued guiding Cinderpelt along. She needed this silence. She needed a break from the worry. Finally Darkstripe spotted his destination. It was a little known field protected by a stream that branched around it. Its plants had been buried under the ashes and the stream had taken time to clear away the obstructing ash, but the field had revived. It wasn't overly large, but it had one thing that made it worth visiting. A collection of colorful flowers cut through the black soil. They were brilliant to behold. Darkstripe knew they had no medicinal value, but sometimes the best medicine is beauty.
Cinderpelt stared in awe at the little stubborn flowers. They had survived the impossible of the fire and bloomed in radiant colors. She barely noticed Darkstripe approach her.
"This is what I wanted you to see. This is the truth. This is Thunderclan. We may appear weak and dainty at times. We may even bend or rip under pressure but…"
Darkstripe pushed at a small ash pile revealing another growing flower underneath. It was a vibrant orange and matched a certain deputy's fur.
"We are survivors, and we are beautiful. We've weathered Tigerclaw, Shadowclan, the fire, and even a harsh Leaf-bare. That hasn't broken us yet. Whatever is worrying you, know we will survive. We always do. I think you just needed to be reminded of that. Just like the forest, we'll grow back stronger."
Cinderpelt just sat there staring out at the flowers. Their survival defied all logic she knew, but here they were blooming in their own little field from the ashes of tragedy. It felt like this was something special. Maybe, just maybe, this was also a sign from Starclan that they would survive their troubles. She decided to free some of the buried flowers if only to take a moment to admire the scene longer. Near the orange flower was a yellow one. Its form was simple, but is showed a remarkable resilience. Another adjacent to the orange flower was a white flower with two heads. The larger of the two heads was complex with many petals. The other was a bud with a single white petal peeking out. It felt symbolic, but she couldn't decide what it meant. She'd been so focused on deciphering meaning that even this simplicity was puzzling her. As she stared, she realized maybe it didn't matter. The flower, despite all its unusuality, was that, a flower. It didn't need more meaning than to give pleasure to the one who observed it. Maybe she could take some time to simply be.
After their walk, Cinderpelt felt much more relaxed. Whatever was to come, she felt sure they'd survive again. They had a habit of doing so. After all, Thunderclan was a flower that couldn't be killed and bloomed brilliantly.