Waging War Book 3: Blood Red Moon {COMPLETE}

Chapter 17

Owlpaw rose from her nest. She could feel the harsh, leaf-bare winds outside, breaking through the entrance of the medicine cat den. Her body shivered and she slowly opened her eyes, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. She lifted her head and yawned as her eyes slowly came into focus. She could see from the den entrance that it was still early morning out, the sky was almost white from the snow-filled clouds as snow fell heavily from the sky.

Owlpaw stretched out her limbs and noticed a faint stinging in her throat. She ignored it, knowing that it was probably from the cold weather. She hadn't been feeling the effects of her lingering sickness for a while, so she wasn't concerned. She looked around the den and noticed that Honeyfrost's nest was empty, and Pebblestep had clearly just woke up as well. The older medicine cat was washing her paws and smoothing down her fur.

"Good morning." Pebblestep greeted once she noticed Owlpaw had woken up.

"Good morning." Owlpaw spoke the words, but they came out weak and incredibly rough. She surprised herself at how bad she sounded. Pebblestep's eyes immediately filled with concern.

"Are you alright?" Pebblestep was on her paws and rushed over to Owlpaw, touching her tail to the apprentice's forehead.

"I'm fine, Pebblestep." Owlpaw assured her after clearing her throat. "The cold weather is just hurting my throat."

Pebblestep took a small step back and met Owlpaw's gaze. "We can't just ignore signs of sickness with you." She explained. "You know exactly what you went through as a kit, just because you are doing better doesn't mean you aren't still at risk of greencough."

Owlpaw knew that arguing with Pebblestep wouldn't get her anywhere so she just sat down and let Pebblestep look her over. "I haven't been feeling any struggles with my breathing lately." Owlpaw explained.

"That could be because you aren't doing as much physical work. You're not hunting or patrolling anymore."

"No but I still go all over the place gathering herbs." Owlpaw thought about maybe once or twice when she had felt shortness of breath after a particularly long herb gathering session, but they were few and far between.

"You should take some catmint." Pebblestep replied after looking her over.

Owlpaw shook her head. "I don't even have whitecough, there's no need to waste the herb on me. I'll be okay without herbs, I'll just take it easy today."

"At least take some chickweed. We have plenty. Medicine cats need to take herbs too, our Clan is relying on us to stay healthy." Pebblestep assured her. The medicine cat touched her muzzle to Owlpaw's forehead. "I may be the senior medicine cat but I am also your aunt and I promise Yarrowtail I would take care of you."

"I know, Pebblestep." Owlpaw let out a sigh, admitting defeat. "I'll take the herbs, I don't want anyone worrying about me."

"Thank you." Pebblestep purred softly. "I'm going to go check on the elders, Honeyfrost is out collecting herbs. After you take your herbs, head to the nursery and make sure there's no sickness in there. Maybe give the kits some juniper berries to keep their strength up just in case."

"Will do." Owlpaw dipped her head and watched Pebblestep vanish into the falling snow outside. Owlpaw let out a defeated sigh once the medicine cat was gone and turned her attention to the herb store. She looked at the neat pile of chickweed and flicked her tail. She knew that Pebblestep meant well, and that she was just caring for her but Owlpaw felt like she was back in the days where every cat looked at her like she was one strong breeze from falling apart.

She felt a sense of spite rising deep within her chest and grabbed some juniper berries before turning away from the herb store, without taking the chickweed.. She would simply just tell Pebblestep she took a small amount, she wasn't going to waste herbs when she wasn't even sick to begin with.