Warriors: Poisoned Loyalty

Chapter 1

Poppypool basked in the sunlight as she laid on the sun-warmed stone outside her den in the GlacierClan camp. She purred softly as she let her fur soak in the welcome sunlight after the relatively calm leafbare that just passed. Newleaf is here at last. She thought as she turned her head and gazed out at the Clan. Even at sunhigh, the camp was bustling with life and it brought a gentle smile to her face as she watched the cats she fought so hard to keep alive during the cold moons.

Spiritsight was conversing with her mate Hickorytree whilst sharing a rabbit at their paws. The black she-cat fought hard to overcome her greencough, emerging with only a mild, lingering cough– a harmless and normal aftereffect of her severe case of the illness. Now, Poppypool was watching the indigo-eyed she-cat carefully for any indication of having a litter of kits with her new mate.

A dark gray pelt caught her eye as she watched her apprentice duck into the elder's den, a bundle of herbs clasped between his jaws. Poppypool smiled fondly as Newtflake disappeared inside the cave, proud of how far he'd come since first becoming her apprentice. He'd been nervous and timid as a young tom, afraid of making a mistake and accidentally causing another cat harm. When Poppypool agreed to take him on as her apprentice, he'd expressed to her that the thought of hurting another cat made him feel sick and shaky. Poppypool hadn't thought of having an apprentice at such a young age, but was eager to train Newtpaw to be a knowledgeable and skilled medicine cat.

Now that he'd earned his full name a few moons ago, Poppypool could relax and let him run things for a while before she joined in on the daily routines. During leafbare, Poppypool leaned on Newtflake a lot for support. Her mother had fallen ill with greencough and Poppypool wasn't sure if Tawnyheart would survive. Newtflake took on a lot of the burden of helping his mentor's mother, giving her herbs, cleaning her nest, and bringing her food. Poppypool was relieved and forever thankful when Tawnyheart recovered from her illness and returned to her warrior duties.

Greencough and whitecough had also entered the nursery as well. The young kits of Fawnstripe and Talonclaw were relatively unaffected other than one– Birchkit's case of whitecough hadn't quite developed into greencough thanks to quick thinking and isolation. He'd returned to the nursery a few days beforehand and seemed ecstatic to get out of the stuffy medicine den.

"You look quite comfortable," purred a voice as a dark gray-and-cream tabby tom padded up to the lounging she-cat. Poppypool rolled her eyes and sat up, her tail flicking with amusement. "Don't you have herbs to collect and sort through? Or elders to give their medicine to?"

Poppypool flicked the tom's shoulder with her tail-tip. "Newtflake is handling the elders, and I have all of my herbs." She sniffed, feigning offense as she broke into a smile. "Don't you have some hunting to do? Isn't there an OakClan patrol you need to be attacking?" The two shared a laugh before pressing their heads together affectionately. "How are you doing, Hawkflight?"

Her brother pulled away, his eyes shining in the sunlight. "I'm okay, I guess," he shrugged. "Mom's been paranoid and untrusting, as usual. I don't know how to help her." He sighed, his shoulders slumping as he spoke. "I wish you had a plant that could help her. It can't be healthy to live like...that."

"I wish I could help her more than I have." Poppypool confessed as she gazed out at the Clan. "She refuses to talk to me about what she's going through, only asking for poppyseeds to help with sleep and chamomile to calm her. Sometimes, even other cats bring her to me when she's erratic and behaving strongly."

The two siblings fell into silence as they watched the camp together. They didn't dare bring up their father within the camp walls, knowing very well that his name was scorned by the entirety of GlacierClan. Tawnyheart especially would be thrown into a fit if she heard her kits discussing the cat who fathered them. It wasn't without good reason, though. Poppypool knew Rowantail was a disgraceful tom who had betrayed his Clan and killed Deerstripe and Gorsewhisper of OakClan before being exiled during a Gathering. It was before Poppypool and Hawkflight were born, but she could retell the story as if she'd been present like a bird on a branch watching the scene unfold.