It was a sight when they got back to the Temporary Camp at the Catmint place, the moon had risen significantly, and its large shape in the sky was enough to produce dim illumination that highlighted the fur of the Skyclanian Apprentice. Frostpaw could see his fur better now, a Dark Gray mixed with lighter stripes and he had a very long tail. He was also a bit smaller than Frostpaw, and he could have sworn he was bigger before, but now in better light he seemed so small compared to even the other apprentices.
"So this is him." Applefern said as he padded to meet him, Frostpaw inferred that meant Graypaw had done his job and told them successfully, as if he ever doubted he would.
"Yes, we found him near the Outlands border." Brambleheart said as he set the little cat down gently. "He looks hurt, I didn't notice much of it earlier, but I can see it now."
Frostpaw looked at the apprentice closer, and realized Brambleheart was right, the apprentice had plenty of smaller wounds, although none appeared serious, they were in great numbers, and several were still bloody. His fur reeked of Skyclan scent, he could smell it now, and although the apprentice was certainly Skyclan he seemed different. When he was at the gathering the other Skyclan Cats reeked of a stench that resembled pure evil, even if he didn't know what evil was back then, or rather he did know but chose not to think of it as evil.
"Skyclan attacked their own apprentice?" Applefern asked.
"Yes." Whitepelt meowed, "His claw marks had fur that smelled of Skyclan, when we found him we weren't even much of a distance away from the border, although we weren't exactly close either." Whitepelt finished, and Applefern suddenly had an expression that seemed of disappointment on her face.
"Not much of a distance you say?" Applefern questioned.
"Well, as I said, not too close…" Whitepelt said, trailing off as she must have noticed Appleferns gaze drifting Toward Brambleheart.
"Brambleheart, did I not tell you to stay away from the Border?" She said with disappointment.
"Applefern, we weren't that close, and we brought back plenty of catmint." Brambleheart said, "And if we hadn't gone all the way to the Abandoned Twolegplace, then we wouldn't have found this apprentice or the catmint, so I think It was a…good choice?" Brambleheart sounded unsure of himself, and Applefern let out a sigh.
"Perhaps it was the right choice, but you still violated an order and put young Apprentices in harm's way." She said, "Brambleheart, I need to see you after this is dealt with."
"Yes, Applefern." He meowed
"As for you Whitepelt, I want you, Frostpaw and Dawnpaw to take both the Catmint and the apprentice to Ravenheart at once so he can be treated, He is in the Catmint place with the Elders and Foxstep." The Deputy said, "Graypaw, Shrewpaw and Viperpaw, you go rest."
"Yes, Applefern." Shrewpaw said, being followed by the other apprentices, it was strange seeing him lead Graypaw, who was much older than he was, but he did remember that typically Shrewpaw won the play fights in the nursery. Tales of his Fighting Adventures must have reached the older Graypaw, who seemed to have a respect for the Younger apprentice. Why that was Frostpaw still didn't get, with all the apprentices' older training he wouldn't doubt Shrewpaw would be bested quickly by Graypaw. He would let it stay a mystery for now, and he'd focus on the task at his paws.
Whitepelt dropped some catmint for the 2 apprentices to pick up, and as soon as Frostpaw picked it up nearly coughed it out. It had the strangest texture, one he didn't need to taste to hate. Whitepelt must have noticed it for she stared at him and simply said 'You get used to it'
"How does Ravenheart even use this stuff to cure Greencough anyway?" Frostpaw asked.
"I'm not sure myself Since I haven't had Greencough, or seen him apply it to a cat." Whitepelt said, "But I'm sure the Cat who gets it will appreciate not dying."
"Yeah." Frostpaw said as he carried it into the Catmint place. Whitepelt had the smaller apprentice by his scruff, and Frostpaw wondered if not for a moment that the apprentice could be dead, for he was still unconscious. In the Dim light under the moon he could see the apprentice's chest slowly heaving and falling, but it was so slowly he might have missed it. He wondered if the apprentice would make it or not.
When they entered the Catmint place they saw Ravenheart tending to Foxstep. The Queen was expecting kits after all, so it made sense he paid extra attention to her. The Elders were talking to each other in another corner of the den, and he realized that no other warrior was there. It was strange to see the home of the cats (at least the temporary one) completely empty.
"Where are all the warriors?" Frostpaw asked as he approached the medicine cat.
"They are on Patrol, Brackenstar wanted the borders to be as secure as possible right now, they are hunting too since we didn't have time to grab Fresh kill before we fled the camp." Ravenheart told them as he padded up to him. His eyes widened when he saw the apprentice dangling from Whitepelts jaws.
"What-Oh dear Starclan who is this?" Ravenheart said as he stumbled over to the Unconscious cat.
"He's a Skyclan Apprentice his own clan drove out." Whitepelt said.
He quickly checked over the young cat, nosing over wounds and scratches and torn out fur. How he did it was beyond Frostpaw, it was nearly Pitch Black inside, and as he watched the Medicine cat do his work he heard a loud rustling.
"Oh hey your back." Brackenstar said as he padded into the Catmint place, "The Borders are secure! No threats will be coming from Skyclan…." He said, before noticing the Apprentice being Treated by Ravenheart.
"We found him in the Outlands, covered in wounds from his Clan of Origin, which would be Skyclan." Whitepelt growled.
"Can't Skyclan try not to kill a cat for a couple of days…" Brackenstar said in a low voice, "Is he going to live?"
"I'm not sure, I can stop the bleeding, but I don't have all the herbs I want." Ravenheart said, "He's young, and he looks strong, but if it gets infected I won't be able to treat it, he is truly in Starclans Paws now."
Brackenstar sighed, his head was lowered and his eyes glowed in the darkness. He seemed saddened at the idea of this young cat passing away.
"Do we at least know his name?" The Tabby Tom asked.
"We don't even know that." Whitepelt said, "He has been unconscious since we found him, and I've never seen him at a gathering."
"I wish I could do more, but the Herbs were all lost when the Camp was flooded, now our supplies are dwindling, and even this is less catmint than I'd like to have." Ravenheart meowed as he nosed the catmint.
"Should we go to Riverclan or Shadowclan to help?" Whitepelt asked the Leader and the Medicine cat.
"They don't have enough in their territory for two clans." Brackenstar said."They'd never say yes, and I don't want the other Clans to know we are weak at a time like this given we don't even have a proper home anymore." The Thunderclan leader said, and Frostpaw could pick up how stressed his tone was in his voice. He wondered how much work it was to keep Thunderclan together, particularly at a time like this.
"Even if Riverclan is larger, that means they simply have more cats to feed, Same for Shadowclan, they might not have enough Catmint for themselves as it is." Whitepelt muttered, casting a glance at Ravenheart. "Did I get that right?" She asked.
"You're fine." He said, "But these Expeditions ... .we need more of them if we want to have enough Catmint to survive the winter and the greencough it brings."
"I don't like having to send out expeditions….Remember what happened to Lionfur and Sunclaw?" Brackenstar said
"All too well." Ravenheart whispered.
"I've never heard of them." Frostpaw said.
"Lionfur and Sunclaw were….headstrong warriors to say the least." Brackenstar said. "It wasn't too long ago, I was already Leader and Ravenheart was still in training to become a Medicine cat. Sunclaw and Lionfur were both siblings, each seemed to always back up the other even if they were wrong." The Tabby Toms words reminded him of The Kinship he and his own brother shared, and that of Viperpaw and Dawnpaw.
"So of course, one day our friend Nettlepelt, who had just finished training as a warrior along with Lionfur and Sunclaw, decided it would be funnier to make a snarky comment about the outlands." Brackenstar continued the tale, and Frostpaw along with Dawnpaw listened with great curiosity. "Apparently, he said every single thing the elders told him was simply to scare the cats away from the best prey, then he made a dare that they couldn't go and catch it."
"But it isn't that scary!" Dawnpaw said, "we went there today and all we saw was a bunch of trees and rocks!"
"You saw a small part, the true outlands stretch much further…" Brackenstar said, his whiskers and tail twitched a bit. "Did you guys go to the Twolegplace near the abandoned Thunderpath?" The Leader asked.
"Yes." Frostpaw answered
"Then you saw those mountains in the distance?" Brackenstar asked.
"Yes." Frostpaw replied.
"Those mountains are the true outlands, we know everything up to the twoleg place, but beyond that is all unknown, and Lionfur and Sunclaw were dared to go there, I always was against it when they announced it to the near whole clan, but I didn't do enough to stop them, I was younger back then, more foolish." The Leader said with regret, "They left the same day, and we waited for them to come back. Two and a half nights they were gone, and only Lionfur came back, his fur was bloody and torn, and his wounds were deep. We asked where Sunclaw was, but he simply said the Dogs got him, he died later that night of his wounds, it was a miracle he made it back to camp at all….It was the first time we had seen dogs since Nightstars early days, and Applefern...She was the third sibling of the group, and when they went she was hit hard, I almost chose another Deputy since ours had passed recently of Greencough, but I knew she had what it took." He said.
"We didn't see Dogs until…." Brackenstar started, but then stopped upon realizing that the story could have an effect on the 2 apprentices given they lost someone in the particular attack he was about to mention.
"...we think those Dogs roam in great numbers in the true Outlands." Brackenstar awkwardly continued, "And Dogs are simply one of many threats, Badgers and Foxes roam there too, there are reasons we rarely go out there." Brackenstar finished.
"So is that why Applefern was so mad at Brambleheart for taking us to the Border?" Frostpaw asked.
"Partially, she doesn't want to lose a cat again at all, but given it's near the border she is right, it's best we don't get into more fights." Brackenstar meowed.
"Alright, enough storytime for you apprentices, you too Whitepelt, you all need rest." Ravenheart meowed, and Frostpaw knew the medicine cat's advice was good.
"Finally, some sleep!" Dawnpaw said, and he didn't realize she hadn't slept well either, the floors seemed to be made of tree-trunks, for they were hard and brittle. He had gotten little to no sleep over the last few days, and as he laid on the corner of the den the apprentices granted he finally, finally, fell into the sleep he had been waiting for all that time.
Only hours later, He'd be wishing he stayed awake instead.