Chapter 86: Crippling Wounds

When I got back to the initial clearing, I had to make some choices. Likely only a couple minutes had elapsed. I still had time to act. Assessing the two fallen apprentices, I assumed Brightpaw was the worse off given the amount of blood. I rushed to gather some cobwebs and very basic dressing herbs to stanch the bleeding. She was clearly unconscious, but her breathing was steady, and any wounds on her besides the facial one were superficial.

I ended up having to roll the apprentice over to get keep the wounded side of her face up while I dressed it. The wound, well, it was an ugly one. The rip began right above her lip. Heading upward over her left eye, a raw and bloody swath of flesh remained. A decent chunk of her ear came off with that wound as well. The worst of it was her eye. When those teeth raked across her skull, they managed to pierce her eyeball and take an amount with it. It was a nausea inducing sight. I covered it with bandages as best I could. I finished up rather quickly. It wasn't a perfect patch job, but it'd buy enough time for Cinderpelt to deal with it. With that, I turned away from Brightpaw to deal with Swiftpaw.

It turns out I was incorrect on which was in the most critical condition. While Swiftpaw was bleeding less and had smaller wounds, it was the location of the wounds that concerned me. Several puncture wounds were on both sides of his rib cage, fanning out as they went up his back. I had to feel them out. It was a slow process, tracking the puncture wound entry points and where they hit. I had to breath a sigh of relief when most turned out to have bounced off his ribs, but I believed a couple were cracked under the biteforce. No, the wounds that concerned me most were the ones further up his back. My breath actually hitched when I spotted one. I could see white through the gap in the wound. I tentatively felt up his back, following his spine, hoping I was wrong. I was not wrong. One of the teeth managed to find the gap between two vertebrae and dig a wound into the intervertebral disk. The whole vertebrae below was out of alignment. I had to take a chance and manually align it and hope the spinal cord hadn't been damaged.

It was a tensely slow process as I forcibly realigned Swiftpaw's back. The vertebrae in question was right above his shoulder blade. Finally, after a careful push, I felt the bone pop back into alignment. After that, I dressed the wound. He was stable again. I didn't know if I really saved Swiftpaw at that moment. There was a very real chance that he could have been paralyzed by that wound, and it could have been more merciful to end him right there, but that was not for me to decide. I would just have to hope fate was kind to the apprentice.

I was still leaning over Swiftpaw when I heard paws thundering my way. I turned to face those who approached. It was Fireheart and most of Thunderclan's able bodied warriors. Longtail was immediately at my side fussing over his apprentice. I had to interpose myself between his apprentice when he went to try and pick him up by his scruff.

"Don't!" I commanded, freezing the worried mentor. "Swiftpaw took a major hit to his spine. I had to realign it, but any unusual pressure on it could pop it back out of alignment. I'm going to be honest with you Longtail. I don't fully know Swiftpaw's condition. Spinal injuries are tricky. We could be lucky and he would just walk it off when he wakes up, but I can't promise you that. There is a chance it hit his spinal cord. Besides outright paralysis, there is also a chance for signal crossing or other nervous issues. I don't know, and I won't know until he wakes up. I did everything I could, but I can't promise he'll be fine."

Longtail froze, overcome with a mixture of sorrow and rage. After a couple seconds, he gasped before muttering out, "what did this to him?" His fangs flashed out in a feral snarl, clearly wanting some sort of revenge.

I hung my head as I answered. "Dogs. Four of them, and plenty big. I couldn't afford to interfere until I could get all four's attention. After Brightpaw went down, Swiftpaw took them on solo. A one V four is never pretty, and he got caught. I managed to get their attention before they could do anything worse. If I could have acted any sooner, I would have."

Longtail looked at me with fury, taking in my hunched form for a couple moments before his rage cooled. "I know… I know… But that doesn't make this hurt any less. I wish Swiftpaw wasn't hurt. I wish I wouldn't need to continue to worry… I know…" He mewed, breaking down into a choked sob.

I pressed myself against him as I answered. "I wish he wasn't hurt either. I wish I could have acted sooner. I wish all my clanmates were safe and healthy… At least I put the one who did this down."

Longtail turned to me firmly, determination in his eyes. "Show me!" He demanded.

The rescue patrol broke in two, half remaining with the injured to ensure the dogs didn't come back, and the other half followed me as I guided them to the cooling corpse of the behemoth. There was a level of shock at the sheer size of the beast. A moment of silence followed before Longtail begged to ask, "How?"

"Do you remember the old tale of Mapleshade? She killed one of her former clanmates with a beast hidden within Snakerocks. I used the same tactic, allowing one of the snakes free to strike the dog at the opportune moment. It scared the rest off, but I don't think the trick will work twice." I reported, a bit of my cruel amusement slipping through as I recounted my trap.

Thankfully, the snake was gone. The dog was already long dead, but that did not prevent Longtail from venting his rage on the corpse. I didn't stop him. He needed this. I stole his revenge from him, and I could never give it back. Despite all Longtail's effort, there wasn't too much noticeable damage to the body. Cat claws are just not made to fight something that big. It was at best a punching bag. Finally, he broke down in a sobbing fit. Me, not being the most emotional cat, took a cue from Ravenfeather. I gently pressed into Longtail's side, guiding him back to camp. There'd be no more blood today, only tears. The apprentices had already been relocated into the medicine den.

In a way, I wanted to grieve as much as the rest of us. What happened today should have never happened. Two apprentices were at minimum crippled. They were apprentices of my clan, and somewhere along the line we had failed them. The self-loathing that always seemed to remain in the back of my mind was rekindled. I'd gotten revenge on a beast, but Longtail's words echoed back to me. He had smelled Tigerstar when he first scented Snakerocks. I kept my visible emotions under wraps, but I wanted to grind my teeth in rage at what Tigerstar had done. He'd stolen from me again, and it would not go unpunished.

I briefly went in to check n how Cinderpelt was doing with the apprentices. Much to my surprise, Cloudtail was in there with her, grooming the two under her instruction while she went about creating poultices and a couple other remedies. Cinderpelt noticed me entering.

"You did well on field dressing these two. Though not perfect, it bought me enough time. They'll survive. Brightpaw is the easiest for me to diagnose. She lost an eye, but nothing else vital. Swiftpaw is a mystery. Whether he'll recover or not is up to Starclan. Right now I'm mixing up a poultice that I'll use at Sunhigh, so I got a little time to look at you. Come here." She commanded.

She peeked under the bandage over my left eye and nodded, seemingly happy with what she saw. "That healed a bit quicker than expected. We can pull the bandage off." She mewed, but I stopped her.

"No. I want to wait, not that I think you are incorrect. Right now, I'm probably the only cat that has experience acting as a warrior with one eye. Brightpaw will need someone to reteach her how to navigate the world with that disadvantage, and I'm willing to sacrifice my time to give her that edge. I don't mind if you want to swap the bandage, but let's keep it on a little longer." I stated in a half command.

"You're kinder than I gave you credit for Smudgefoot." She mewed teasingly.

"I do what is best for all my clanmates. It is my responsibility as the acting deputy." I dismissed.

"Then I'll have something ready for you tomorrow to replace that bandage, something you can remove on your own." She replied with a half purr.

Great. I just inspired the first cat eyepatch. Hopefully that didn't mean Riverclan would turn to piracy.