Ferretstar's Leadership

Chapter 2

This is my month and a half old niece left. Isn't she adorable!🥰😍

Struggling for breath I gazed around the territory, awe warming my blood as I breathed in the fresh wind, carrying scents of stone and grass. Down below laid a field of golden grass surrounded by towering mountains, the mountains only circled around half of the field while the other half was exposed and seemed to dip down. " It's beautiful," I breathed, snapping out of my daze at Appleblossom's warm chuckle.

" Yes it is," the calico she-cat purred, lifting her tail she pointed towards a far-off river. I had to squint my eyes to see the blue blur in the distance. " That's Star Stream, follow it up into the mountains and you'll reach the Star Cave, it's also the border with Breezeclan. Follow it down the mountains you'll eventually reach Mapleclan's border. Come on." Trotting after Appleblossom I struggled to stay at the same steady trot as we walked down the mountainside, my paw pads ached from the hard ground, reaching the bottom I followed the trail she made through the tall grass, if she stretched she'd be able to see over the grass while all I saw was thick, golden grass. " Stay on the trail, it's easy to get lost in here if you don't know where you're going." I nodded, sneezing as a stalk of grass brushed against my nose.

" What's that smell?" I asked, wrinkling my nose as a foreign scent invaded my nose.

" Rogue scent," Appleblossom meowed, pausing to sniff the air. " Cypresspaw and Orangepaw chased away some rogues a few days ago. Sniff again, can you tell me how many rogues there was?" Parting my jaws I drew in several deep breaths, concentrating on distinguishing the different scents I easily recognized Cypresspaw and Orangepaw's scent but underneath that was three other scents, ones I wasn't familiar with.

" Three," I meowed, sneezing once more as my eyes began to sting, welling with tears. Stiffening in surprise I blinked hard, trying to get rid of them and it seemed to work. " Four days ago?"

" Yes," Appleblossom meowed, continuing deeper into the grass. After a few minutes of walking my paws began to burn and my eyes watered once more, sneezing I grimaced as a tear ran down my cheek. Shaking out my pelt I sped up, throat aching as I followed Appleblossom through the maze of grass, sneezing once more. " Are you alright?"

" I'm fine," I croaked, wincing at the hoarse sound of my voice. Sneezing, I growled as tears poured from my eyes, dripping onto the ground as a burn began to form in my throat. A cough racked through my body, followed by a sneeze, stumbling slightly I winced as my pelt brushed against the tall grass, pricks of pain burrowing into my skin. " Actually, I don't feel good."

" Ferretpaw," Appleblossom meowed, a cold nose pressing against my cheek as my skin flushed with heat, more tears and sneezing followed as I sat down, wheezing harshly. " Let's get you back to camp and have Rockblaze take a look at you." I wanted to protest, I'd barely seen any of the territory and we were already going back to camp, but another cough raked through my body, lighting my throat on fire. Panting hard I scrambled to my paws, light-headed as I leaned against Appleblossom for support as we made the short trek back through the grass, the heat in my skin began to fade as we exited the field.

Sneezing again I forced my shaking legs up the slope and into a deserted camp. Well, mostly deserted camp, a few cats were lounging around camp, sunbathing and sharing tongues. " What are you two doing back so soon?" Gustwind asked, his voice sending a sharp pain through my head that left me stumbling. " What's wrong with him?"

" We barely made it into the grass before he started acting weird so I brought him back to get checked by Rockblaze," Appleblossom meowed, the stone underpaw feeling cool against my hot paws. She pulled away for a few heartbeats, murmuring something to Gustwind before pressing back against me and leading me into the medicine den. Spotting the blurry shapes of four cats through teary eyes I winced as I felt someone's gaze burning into my pelt, it was embarrassing to have someone see me like this. " Rockblaze, can you spare a moment?"