Warriors: A New Life ~Series 2 Book 1~

Chapter 20

Silvershy's POV:

She proudly placed her catch on the fresh-kill pile. A plump squirrel. Silvershy saw Loveheart and Fluffystream eyeing her kill hungrily from the elders den. She flashed a smile at the two elders as they padded across the main clearing to meet her. Silvershy saw Flowerstream drop her prey, a robin, onto the pile just as Loveheart reached them.

"What a big squirrel!" Loveheart purred at Silvershy. "Such great skills you have, Silvershy. Just like Silverstar."

Silvershy tried to hide her wince. Everyone always compared her to Silverstar. It wasn't a bad thing; Silvershy loved the fact that her clan saw her as a mirror image as the great leader in both looks and skills. But truthfully, Silvershy wanted to be better than Silverstar. She had started to grow tired of the endless compliments about her and Silverstar being alike. She wanted her clan mates to see her as herself. She wanted them to see her as a single cat and not one hiding under the shadow of her reincarnation.

Silvershy was jerked out of her thoughts by Fluffystream's gravely voice. "I prefer robin." The old tom winked at Flowerstream.

A mixture of embarrassment and pride flowed off Flowerstream. Silvershy smiled at her sister and nudged her playfully. "Wanna eat?"

"Sure." Flowerstream smiled back and picked up a mouse, leaving the robin and squirrel for Loveheart and Fluffystream.

Silvershy settled down beside Flowerstream as they shared the mouse. It was nearing sundown and the hunting patrol returned to camp. Eagleflight broke away from his patrol to join Flowerstream and Silvershy. "Hey." He greeted with a happy twitch of his whiskers.

"Hi." Silvershy purred. "You hungry?"

"As hungry as a badger." Eagleflight chuckled and leaned down to take a small bite of the mouse. "So what have you been up to today? Have you been on any patrols?"

"No, but I did go hunting with Flowerstream earlier." Silvershy replied.

"What did you catch?" Eagleflight asked.

"Flowerstream caught a robin and I caught a squirrel." Silvershy smiled.

"The robin was delicious by the way." Fluffystream spoke up from the elders den.

"So was the squirrel." Loveheart added with a small smile at Silvershy. Eagleflight grinned and lay down beside Silvershy to finish the mouse.

Once they finished the mouse, Eagleflight and Silvershy shared-tongues for a short while before relaxing in the warm rays of the setting sun.

The sound of pawsteps brought Silvershy out of a peaceful daydream and she glanced up to see Nutwhisker come into camp with Watersplash. The two medicine cats held a large bundle of herbs between them as they hurriedly headed down the medicine den tunnel.

Not long after Nutwhisker and Watersplash, Stormstar came crashing in with a patrol following him. Silvershy tensed when the scent of blood reached her nose and she saw Flamefur covered in wounds. Eagleflight sat up from beside her. "Oh no. What happened?"

"Ravenclan cats." Stormstar growled. Then he turned to Flamefur. "Go to the medicine den." He ordered. "You too, Darkfeather. I don't want that bite of yours getting infected."

As Darkfeather and Flamefur headed down the tunnel into the medicine den, Stormstar yowled. "Cats of Lightclan, gather here!" He didn't need to wait for long as most warriors were already out of their dens.

"Ravenclan cats tried to cross our borders today. Thanks to Flamefur, she held them off until I got a battle patrol down their to chase them back to their territory." Stormstar began. "I fear that Ravenclan are trying to kick us out, just as Magiclan and Monsterclan once did."

"But we won't let them!" Eagleflight yowled, tail lashing. "This is our home now!"

Stormstar nodded. "Yes. We will fight for our territory." His voice rose into a yowl as his gaze turned to look up at the darkening sky. "We will not be chased out again!"

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Flamefur's POV:

"Ouch. That hurt." Flamefur winced as Nutwhisker gently rubbed a strong smelling herb into her wounds.

"Then stop moving." Nutwhisker shot back.

Watersplash piped up from where she was treating Darkfeather deep bite wound. "Don't be rude, Nutwhisker."

Flamefur could see Nutwhisker tense and prepare to shoot a retort at Watersplash but his words never left his mouth. He just clamped his jaws shut and continued to smooth the poultice into Flamefur's wounds.

"I think I'm gonna need some nettle leaves." Watersplash meowed. "There's dirt inside the wound that I can't flush out and it's getting swollen."

"The nettle leaves should bring down the swelling." Nutwhisker agreed. "Also try some marigold to keep away any infection that might set in. Do we have any moss? We could dab it in water and soak the wound to get the dirt out."

Watersplash nodded. "I was thinking about that. Shinewing could you grab some spare moss from the pile? Dip it in some water from the stream outside camp."

As Shinewing pelted out of the den, Nutwhisker finished with Flamefur's wounds. "You took quite a beating." The medicine cat commented as he glanced at her cobweb-covered wounds.

"I was on my own against four cats, of course I did." Flamefur sighed as she limped to the exit but Nutwhisker stopped her.

"Stay in here for tonight. I want to monitor your wounds incase they get infected. Sleep on a nest beside Hazefang."

Flamefur grumbled but listened to Nutwhisker. She grabbed some moss and made a small nest for herself. Hazefang smiled at her, "It's not so bad in here."

"Of course you think that, you've been cooped up in here for the past six moons!" Flamefur snapped angrily.

A flash of hurt passed over Hazefang's features but the grey she cat masked the emotions so quickly, Flamefur wondered if she had just imagined it.

Then, Shinewing came crashing back inside with a moss ball soaked in water. Watersplash sighed softly. "Shinewing your splashing water everywhere I didn't mean for you to completely soak the moss."

"Oops." Shinewing giggled while water droplets went everywhere in the den.

"Nevermind, just give the moss to me." Watersplash rolled her eyes with a small smile as she took the moss and squeezed the water into the wound.

Immediately, Darkfeather let out a pained cry and scrambled away. "It stings!"

Watersplash looked confused, "It's just water..." Then she sniffed the moss ball and a look of realisation came across her features. "Salt water..." She spun around to face Shinewing. "You got water from the sea?!"

Shinewing cowered beneath Watersplash's blazing amber gaze. "I-I'm sorry I didn't realise!"

Watersplash growled and was about to retort when Nutwhisker snatched the ball from her paws. "Wait! The salt might help heal the wounds!"

"How?" Watersplash narrowed her eyes.

"A while ago, I had a scratch on my pawpad from grazing it over a sharp stone. I dipped my paw in the sea water to calm the swelling and within a day the scratch was gone." Nutwhisker explained. "The salt healed my scratch faster than any herbs I've ever come across!"

Watersplash twitched her whiskers in curiousity. "I suppose we could try..."

"No! It hurts!" Darkfeather whined. "And I'm not being a test subject! Just give me real herbs and I'll be fine!"

Watersplash smiled softly. "Don't worry, everything will be okay."

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