Warrior cats: The Making of Destruction #2: Trouble in the Forest

Chapter 19

Fireclaw's POV

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Fireclaw raced back to the medicine den to get some herbs. He had offered to help Birdfall, their medicine cat, treat cats. Birdfall's apprentice, Swiftpaw, was out collecting herbs.

"Birdfall, we've treated most cats here but I can't tell who still needs to be treated!" Fireclaw meowed to Birdfall, who was noisily sorting herbs.

"Tell all the injured cats to group in a certain area." Birdfall grunted as if she didn't really care.

"Okay." Fireclaw dipped his head and backed up of the medicine den.

"All injured cats, please come and stay at the front of the medicine den! Once or if you've been treated, stay away from the medicine den because these cats need to be helped!" Fireclaw meowed loudly, getting the cats' attention. Slowly, one white cat started to move towards the medicine den which apparently triggered a silent signal for all the other injured cats to follow. Fireclaw sighed in relief, and picked out some cobwebs and poppy seeds, since those were the main herbs used for battle treatments.

"Where does it hurt?" Fireclaw asked the first cat, a black tom with white speckles on his back. The tom shifted to show Fireclaw his front left leg. Fireclaw quickly wrapped a few cobwebs around it, then gave the tom two poppy seeds.

"Eat these when it starts to hurt again, and then go to the warriors den to rest. You can use my nest." Fireclaw tore a tiny amount of his fur and stuck it to the other cat's fur.

"So you'll know my scent and where to go," Fireclaw replied when the tom looked confused. The next ones were three kits, one white she-kit with black ears, a white she-kit with black paws and a black tail, and the last was a black tom kit with white spots.

"Where is Winter?" The white she-kit asked as Fireclaw started to sniff the cats. Fireclaw paused. Winter? Then he thought he knew who they meant.

"Winter is taking a small journey, she'll be back though," Fireclaw meowed, trying to make him believe his own words more than the kits did. He also almost said Winterfrost, which would have been extremely bad. Fireclaw didn't know what Winterfrost had done to make these cats believe her name was Winter, but he wouldn't change their minds.

The white she-kit didn't seem injured, but she had a tiny scratch on her tail that she probably got from whoever had carried her, probably accidentally rubbed her up against something. He applied a tiny cobweb to her tail and she stepped back to allow Fireclaw to examine the others. The black tom kit had a gash on his shoulder, which Fireclaw groomed clean and placed some cobwebs neatly on, and a bruise on his back that Fireclaw put a thick coat of cobwebs over to protect it. Fireclaw knew how powerful poppyseeds could be, so he used a sharp claw to break one in half and gave it to the black tom kit.

"Don't eat it yet!" Fireclaw exclaimed as the kit leaned down to lap it up.

"Eat it when you get into the nursery. You will have an easier sleep." Fireclaw meowed, knowing his words where true. He thought again, and gave the other half to the white she-kit, and broke another one in half to give to the last kit, who wasn't injured at all but seemed quick fightened.

"Now get to the nursery, the more rest you get the more time your body has to recover." Fireclaw instructed. With their tails held high, the kits trailed into the nursery.

Gradually the amount of cats that needed treating started to shrink until there was only one cat left, then none. Fireclaw padded tiredly back to the medicine den. Nobody was there, so Fireclaw left what herbs he had left over in plain sight and trotted to the warriors den. The den was filled with cats, and he backed out. He lightly regretted giving his nest away, but shook the thought out of his mind quickly. Fireclaw padded out of the den and looked around. There was a tall tree that's branches hung over the camp, so he climbed up it's huge trunk to the branch nearest to the warriors den. With a huge yawn, he layed down so the branch would support him. His last thought was, Where could Winterfrost be at this time? Before the grasp of the dream-world took him.