Flowerstar's Judgement {COMPLETE}

Chapter 31

"Take a deep breath, please." Honeywing instructed Flowerpelt. She listened while Honeying pressed her ear on her herb coated chest. Flowerpelt had been finally slightly better in the two days since Falconclaw's exile, but only physical. She still felt guilty, for sending Thornpelt's uncle away. I shouldn't feel guilty. Flowerpelt thought. He tried to kill me, but still...what if Thornpelt hates me for it? He hadn't come to visit her at all, but his siblings had. All of them, including Hawktalon told her that they weren't mad at her but Flowerpelt still felt insanely guilty.

"Your breathing sounds fine," Honeywing replied, looking at a pile of herbs she had. "But your wound still needs a lot of healing." Flowerpelt just nodded along, she hated this feeling. Her heart felt hollow and broken. Things had been so perfect between her and Thornpelt just moments before Falconclaw showed up...

Flowerpelt laid down in her nest, trying to shove her painful thoughts about Thornpelt into the back of her mind. Flowerpelt had spent a lot of time in the medicine cat during her lifetime, both times when she injured her leg and now because of Falconclaw.

"Is there anything you'll need for tonight?" Honeywing questioned. "Poppypaw and I have to go the moonstone."

"No I'll be okay." Flowerpelt replied, letting out a yawn. "Maybe some poppy seeds so I can sleep." The poppy seeds were only partially to deal with the pain from her actual wound, but they also helped her sleep and forget about Thornpelt.

"I'll leave some out for you." Honeywing nodded. "You shouldn't have any other issues but if you do ask Moonfur, she has some good knowledge about herbs."

"Thanks, Honeywing." Flowerpelt purred, her voice genuine. She was grateful for the medicine cat's dedication, she made sure that Flowerpelt was incredibly comfortable at all times during her stay in the medicine cat, just as Feathernose had done.

Flowerpelt curled into a ball, not trying to sleep but wanting Honeywing and Poppypaw to think she was sleeping. She closed her eyes and rested her nose over her tail, listening to the medicine cats talk about various herbs until they left for the moonstone. After they were gone, Flowerpelt lifted her head and rested her chin on her paws, letting out a deep sigh.

She was bored, but she didn't to go into camp. She just wanted to lay down and forget about the world. So many things ran through her mind, Falconclaw, Thornpelt and her dream with Feathernose. You have an incredibly strong destiny ahead of you. What did that mean? What destiny could she possibly have?

"Flowerpelt?" A familiar voice made Flowerpelt's entire body tense up. She looked up, towards the entrance of the den where she saw Thornpelt standing. His amber gaze was directed at the floor, he was avoiding hers. "Sorry I haven't come to check on you I just--this has been hard for me deal with."

Flowerpelt snorted, suddenly feeling very angry. She should be happy that he was finally visiting her, but she wasn't happy that he lied about Falconclaw and ignored her. "I think it's been harder for me." She lashed her tail, turning away. "I know Falconclaw is your uncle but I really couldn't lie about what he did to me, unlike you." The last part was growled under her breath but loud enough for him to hear.

"I sent Mallownose's patrol after you." Thornpelt argued.

"But you didn't tell the Clan who did this right away!" Flowerpelt spat, turning to face him once more. The movement hurt her wound, she winced. "What if I died? Would you have told them then? Or would you let Falconclaw stay here until he killed my sister too."

Thornpelt dropped his head, defeated. "You don't understand, Flowerpelt. If I would've told the Clan up front about Falconclaw he would've killed me. If you died I would've spoken up."

"You should've spoken up about it in the first place!" Flowerpelt was shouting now, her claws tearing at her nest. Thornpelt winced and took a step back but she was too upset to feel bad. Flowerpelt lashed her tail. "I almost died because of your uncle and you knew it was him, but you said nothing because you're scared of him. Clearly your fear is stronger than whatever it was you felt for me."

"It's not like I lied and said it wasn't him!" Thornpelt shouted in return, his claws scraping at the stone floor.

"You might as well have!" A million emotions ran through Flowerpelt's head, anger, sadness, fear. "By not speaking up for me and keeping your silence you might as well have spoken up for him."

Flowerpelt turned away, trying to calm herself down. All the yelling had aggravated her wound, she was breathing heavily. "Are you okay?" She heard Thornpelt taking a timid step forward.

"No." Flowerpelt said grit teeth. "But that's not your problem." Flowerpelt laid down, lapping up the poppy seeds Honeywing left for her. "Leave me alone, Thornpelt. I need to rest." She closed her eyes, listening to his pawsteps as they left the medicine cat den. Flowerpelt was in so much pain, and not just from her wound.

She buried her nose under her paws, now that her anger had subsided she was just left with sadness and regret. She wished she didn't yell at Thornpelt, but she also knew that she had to. He had chosen his murderous uncle over her, she couldn't just stand for that. I thought that Thornpelt would be different from Falconclaw, maybe they're the same after all.

Flowerpelt woke up to the sun shining on her face. She opened her eyes, her vision still foggy from sleep. Honeywing was sitting by her herb store with Poppypaw, both were setting leaves out to dry. Flowerpelt let out a yawn and sat up, getting the medicine cat's attention. Honeywing stood up and quickly padded over to Flowerpelt.

"How are you feeling?"

Horrible. "I feel okay. Not that much pain from my wound." That's not a lie. She sat still as Honeywing examined her wound then applied a fresh coating of cobwebs and herbs to it.

"I don't see any signs of infection so that's good. Let me know if you feel hot or if it smells infected, okay?" Flowerpelt gave a nod of acknowledgement. "Okay, I'm gonna go out and collect some more cobwebs." Honeywing turned her attention to Poppypaw. "I'll be right back, keep these herbs drying."

Poppypaw nodded and stared at the leaves, organizing them slowly. Flowerpelt watched her for a while, something seemed wrong with her. There was a shadow of doubt and sadness in her eyes, along with something that Flowerpelt couldn't recognize but seemed familiar. It looks like...what I'm feeling. Flowerpelt twitched her ears. But medicine cats can't have mates...

Flowerpelt opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by an ear splitting cry from outside. Poppypaw was on her paws in a second and sprinting out of the medicine cat den, kicking up several of the drying leaves as she did so. With her blood cold, Flowerpelt stood up and limped her way over to the medicine cat den entrance.

Flowerpelt's eyes took a moment to adjust to the sunlight after being in the dim medicine cat den, but she could see the cry came from Moonfur. Across from Moonfur was Brightclaw who had something on his back. Flowerpelt strained her eyes to see what it was, then her stomach twisted in knots. It was a dead cat.

It was Owlfoot.