The Search

| Chapter 10 |

The bright sun shone overhead, casting RiverClan into a lazy mood. The hunting patrols had been done, and the river was now still and undisturbed by the movement or ruckus of fishing cats. The patrols had been done, the prey had been caught. Another day had gone by in the camp, no cat hinting at any troublesome activity.

That is, except for Poolripple. The medicine cat was working diligently to find a cure for Mistrose's sick condition. The symptoms that the senior warrior was giving off frightened Poolripple. To add to her stress, the clan had noticed Mistrose's lack of participation in clan life. It only served as more annoying pests when Poolripple would head out of her den and hear the clan whispering about her. The anger began to slip through, and tended to make Poolripple more snappy.

Especially towards Pebblefall. Currently the gray tom was attempting to sort out the different herbs and put them back into the storage. With the lack of skill and knowledge, Pebblefall's paw ended up scattering the herbs across the den floor, mixing up all of the piles that he had worked on to keep organized. The tom began to frantically pick up the herbs, but only succeeded in scatter them even more with his bushy tail that swept them away with one single flick. The RiverClan medicine cat stood there in horror, not quite sure what to do.

"Stupid herbs, just stay still for a bit!" Pebblefall growled, snatching up some catmint that had been blown away. Poolripple saw his paw crush some other herbs and tail flick even more herbs away. "For StarClan's sake!" Pebblefall cursed, and scattered even more herbs.

"Stop it!" Poolripple snapped, her anger unleashed, causing her apprentice to freeze. All he had to do was collect the herbs! Why can't he do that!? The medicine cat marched forward, careful not to crush any herbs as she came face-to-face with Pebblefall. "Get out," she snarled through her gritted teeth, ripping the herbs that Pebblefall had already collected. Her fur was beginning to rise up on her back, but she forced it down to look calm. She'd have to clean up his mess once again.

"But-"

"Get out now!" she snarled, raising an unsheathed paw. The apprentice showed no fear of her threat, but before Poolripple could attempt a small swipe, Pebblefall had already leaped over the herbs, landing away from them and turning tail to flee out of the medicine cat den and away from the medicine cat's rage. The medicine cat apprentice backed away from the den, and tried to hide his face as his clanmates gave him curious glances.

Pebblefall looked around the camp to find a cat he could hang out with. It could take his mind off of Poolripple, and going back in there would be a grave mistake. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he trotted off towards Sandwhisker. Relief flooded through him in waves, having the chance to talk to his best friend after so long.

His brown tabby friend perked his head up as he heard the paw steps of Pebblefall. Sandwhisker broke out in a smile, and Pebblefall settled himself beside his friend.

"Hey, haven't seen you in awhile, since you're sticking your nose in the herbs all the time," Sandwhisker joked, and Pebblefall playfully slapped him with his tail. "What's she been making you do now?"

Pebblefall was ready to answer, but what should he tell him? The goldenrod situation? Ravenpaw? Pebblefall looked at Sandwhisker, who was waiting patiently for him to answer. I trust him not to tell it to the whole clan, right?

Leaning closer to his ear, Pebblefall whispered. "The goldenrod is running low now." Sandwhisker didn't respond quite yet, Pebblefall assumed he was waiting for more description of the problem. "Me and Poolripple went searching for it to help Mistrose, but the last of it has died off. Now we don't know what to do and Poolripple's even more crankier than usual."

"Try hiding that to the whole clan!" Sandwhisker hissed back. "If they found out, you know that Spottedstar wouldn't be able to handle it all, and even worse, Poolripple would get even more stressed."