Warriors: Fire and Ice - Book Two (Completed)

Chapter Sixteen

The very next sunrise, a frosty dew covered the air. Waterlily shivered in the cold and blinked open her eyes. The air was bitter, and she could see her breath as she breathed deeply. It was just turning new-leaf, why was it so cold? Waterlily got to her paws and padded to the entrance of the den. She sniffed the air. It felt like the middle of leaf-bare. Was StarClan angry with them? She took another step out and could feel the frost on the soft, marshy ground. Yellowfang blinked open her eyes and padded next to Waterlily. "I believe StarClan is angry with our attack." She softly rasped in Waterlily's ear. It was like she could read Waterlily's mind. 

"Why would StarClan want us to let RiverClan steal our prey?" Mewed Waterlily. Even though she did not think they were ready to fight, she did, however, believe Clans should know better not to steal their prey. RiverClan especially should not, because all they eat is fish.

"Perhaps there's a different way on approaching this." 

Waterlily shot a confused glance at Yellowfang. She was acting weird these past couple of days and Waterlily didn't know how to react. It's like Yellowfang didn't know what mood she was in and just suddenly changed to a nicer cat. 

"There's frost everywhere!" Yowled Tigerclaw as he padded into the clearing. The other cats emerged from their dens and hissed in agreement. Fireheart padded out into the clearing. He was trembling. Waterlily noticed this and wondered if he was excited about the attack or nervous. He had to be excited. What did he have to be nervous about? She searched Tigerclaw for any signs of trembling as well, but he showed no emotions. He fluffed out his fur and scanned the camp. 

"Are we about to go?" Tigerclaw hissed, impatiently. 

Bluestar finally emerged from her den and gave Tigerclaw a quick nod. They were off to the RiverClan border. Darkstripe, Longtail, and Willowpelt sped after Tigerclaw and Fireheart followed Bluestar as she thundered through the gorse tunnel and headed up the ravine, toward RiverClan territory. 

Waterlily and Yellowfang exchanged glances then padded into the den and began chewing up some leaves to make poultices and put them neatly into a bigger bay leaf, to keep the juices together without getting lost in the ground. Some of the bitter poultice stuck to Waterlily's jaws and she wanted shake her head and yowl like a kit, but she resisted and kept her calm. They did about two piles of leaves and Waterlily was about to grab some comfrey roots when she heard the patrol trudge back into camp. She alerted her ears and peered to the direction of the cats as they stopped in the middle of the clearing. 

"The river was too cold for us to swim across." Hissed Tigerclaw.

"We'll have to do it later then?" Mewed Willowpelt, padding out into the clearing along with Mousefur and Runningwind a few tail-lengths behind her.

Waterlily stopped getting ready for battle and pushed the chewed up leaves into a neater pile near the back of the den. Cinderpaw woke up and blinked her eyes a few times. "Wasn't there supposed to be a battle?" She mewed, still groggy from sleep.

"There was, but it seems the water was too cold for them to go through." Waterlily explained. Yellowfang was attempting push back the other herbs into a neat pile and put them back up into the herb store. Waterlily glanced at her and rolled her eyes. For once in her life, could she make something neat? Waterlily felt like she was the mentor and Yellowfang was the apprentice. 

"I don't need protecting!" Screeched a voice from the just behind the nursery. Cats from the clearing pricked their ears and veered their gaze to the sound. Two bundles of fur flashed before them. A gray tom and a flame-colored pelt rolled out into the clearing. The cats in the clearing sprang out of the way as the two young warriors bundled into them. The orange tom yowled with rage as the gray tom bit his foreleg. 

Waterlily padded to the entrance of the den and bristled her fur. Why was Fireheart and Graystripe fighting? Weren't they best friends? Waterlily rolled her eyes again. This Clan was going completely mad. This was not the Clan she originally joined.

"Stop this!" Hissed Bluestar. Graystripe and Fireheart quickly got to their paws and looked up at Bluestar, hot with embarrassment. "Fireheart, I want to see you in my den—now!" Bluestar growled, her blue eyes flashing with fury. "Graystripe, go to your nest and stay there!" 

Fireheart padded after Bluestar, wincing at almost every paw step. Fireheart then padded out of Bluestar's den and limped into the clearing, heading towards the warriors' den. Waterlily trekked towards him with some goldenrod in her jaws. "I thought you would like something to help with your scratches." She muffled through the flowers. She quickly chewed them into an a poultice and applied it onto his scratches on his shoulder and hind leg. 

"Thanks." Fireheart purred. He was just about to slip away into the den to sleep when Waterlily shouted after him.

"Wait!" She mewed. "There is something you must know."

Fireheart stepped mid-step, then looked back at Waterlily with curious eyes. He was exhausted with worry and fear of his best friend, but he guessed that whatever she had to talk about was important. 

"Fire alone will save our clan." She began.

Fireheart cocked his head to the side. He had heard this prophecy before. Confused, he meowed. "You've been given this prophecy too?"

Waterlily nodded, "Spottedleaf told you it long ago. You did not understand it at the time, did you?"

Fireheart shook his head reluctantly. 

"Your name suits you, Fireheart. If fire is to save us, then let it be." Waterlily mewed softly, then padded away, letting Fireheart stand in dismay. She dared not to look back. She didn't want to answer any questions he may have had. She sighed with relief. It felt good to finally have Bluestar and Fireheart know. Maybe now, StarClan can finally tell her something different when they go to the Moonstone!

Waterlily felt exhausted to the bones. She couldn't sleep almost all night because the raid on RiverClan kept haunting her. Now that the raid didn't happen, it was like the whole of StarClan was on her side. She circled around the moss nest and tucked her paws underneath her chest and closed her eyes to sleep. 

***

"Give it another try, Cinderpaw." Meowed Yellowfang. 

Cinderpaw pushed up her chest with her front paws. She then lifted up her hind legs to an unsturdy stand. She wobbled a bit, then caught her balance. Yellowfang stood near her in case she wobbled too much. "I did it!" She squeaked.

Waterlily opened her eyes and glanced, tiredly at Cinderpaw. She got to her paws, stretched out forelegs and yawned. "You're doing much better!" Purred Waterlily as she padded closer to Cinderpaw. 

"Am I on my way to going back to training to be a warrior?"

Yellowfang looked at Waterlily like she didn't know what to answer. Waterlily nodded, happily. "Yes and it will be sooner than you think." She sniffed the leg, then grabbed some cobwebs. "I'll bind it with this so can you move it better. Take it slow. If you want, do some easy tasks like treating the elders with ticks and clearing out their bedding."

Cinderpaw wrinkled her nose in disgust, but nodded her thanks to Waterlily. She was able to walk around the camp thanks to Waterlily and she was on her way to being a warrior at last!