Warriors: The Darkness Within

Chapter 11

Pinepaw paced restlessly, the tough rogue guard that stood outside his prison sat ridged at the only exit and entrance, the bramble tendrils curled around it. The prison was a hole in the ground covered by brambles and guarded heavily, Pinepaw threw another scowl at the bulky tortoiseshell tom, and continued pacing in the small space he had been in for almost a day now. His clan would come for him, he knew it, they wouldn't leave him, especially not his parents and litter mates.
They will come for me, He told himself firmly, they will.
He pricked his ears, the sudden battle cry sent his heart hammering in his chest, the rogue guarding him was knocked off his paws, thrown back with a loud thump, the golden pelt of Nettlestar flashed and Pinepaw heard the two cats fighting. He leaped up, trying to shove the brambles aside, they scratched at his ears and torn at the fur on top of his head. He winced but kept pushing, his front paws on the edge of the hole and his paws on the bottom. He wasn't tall enough, he tried harder, stretching and pushing until he felt the thorns pierce his skin, blood welling up on his head, he pulled his head away, his ear getting caught in the process, he fell, his ear ripped and he cried out. He felt it with a paw and it came away bloody, Pinepaw yowled over the loud battle; "Help! Down here! It's me Pinepaw!"
A cat poked his head over the brambles and Pinepaw felt relief engulf him, Lighteningstreak started tucking the brambles and Pinepaw helped push them from his side.
They managed to clear a hole wide enough for him to squeeze through with a little help from his father, a rogue knocked them over as soon as Pinepaw was free.
Lighteningstreak immediately attacked clawing the mangy ginger tabby tom, which, from the description, looked like Fang.
His father lunged at Fang and they wrestled, claws and teeth flashing, Pinepaw wanted to help but had no idea how, they were in an intense battle so Pinepaw glanced around for other clan mates to help. Nettlestar still battled the beefy rogue, who had his back to the apprentice, without thinking Pinepaw ran over and slashed his claws across the tom's back and tail. He whipped around and Nettlestar leaped, attacking from above while Pinepaw barely avoided heavy blows as he attacked from below. A few landed, knocking him off-balance but he regained it and stuck again while the clan leader clawed the tortoiseshell. He cried out in agony and fled, stumbling away into the bushes, headed for the edge of LightClan territory, Pinepaw felt triumph flow over him, he only had one battle training session and he had battled evil cats in his dreams and in real life. The claw marks from Brokenlight stung and he was pretty sure they were infected because they had had no treatment, his ear was bleeding heavily and it hurt a lot more than his new scratches he had gained from the guard. He soon realised that Nettlestar had gone to assist another clan mate and Pinepaw was left by himself on the battlefield.
Run.
That was the word that echoed in Pinepaw's mind, but he didn't want to, he needed to help his clan.
"Run Pinepaw!" A cat yowled voicing his thoughts, he managed to ignore the burning sensation on his ear, he ran into the bushes in the direction of camp, as fast as his exhausted limbs would carry him. Ignoring the hunger gnoring at his stomach, he threw up dirt with his paws, ignoring the infected cuts on his back he raced through the forest.
He burst into camp, the only ones there were Branchfall, the kits and elders and the medicine cats, "Pinepaw?!" Exclaimed Palepaw, dropping her bundle of herbs, she ran over to him and bounced in the air in excitement.
"You're alive! Quickfox! Pinepaw's here! He's alive!" She squealed. Quickfox's figure emerged from the medicine den and her whole face lit up as she hurriedly rushed over to her kit.
"Pinepaw! Did they hurt you, oh Starclan your ear! They did hurt you! Those rogues I will shred them into..."
"Quickfox!" Pinepaw interrupted his mother, licking her cheek, she returned the lick and pulled him into her, she nuzzled his fur and whispered,
"Your home now."
Pinepaw felt calmed by his mother's presence, he leaned into her and closed his eyes, breathing in her gentle scent.
A sudden cry for for help made them both jump back to reality, Crowpaw was limping into camp, dragging a limp body in behind her, she was assisted by Eaglefeather. Pinepaw's heart sank, was a clanmate dead? His heart seemed to stop when he saw who it was.
"Birdpaw! No,please StarClan no!" He cried racing over to his sister, panic engulfed him and he forgot how to breath as he leaned in to check if her heart was beating.
Silence. Then... thump... thump... thump...
Her weak heartbeat echoed through his mind, she was alive, he noticed her shallow breathing, he was so concerned about his sister he hardly realised Pebblefoot leaning over her.
"Please help my kit! Please StarClan, don't take her today." Quickfox cried, following the medicine cat's every move with her eyes.
"Pinepaw!" A voice came from the lookout tree, a moment later Firepaw emerged, from the look of happiness on his face at the sight of his returned brother her obviously had not seen Birdpaw.
"You're back, what happened? Did they do that to your ear? How? Tell me everything!" His brother begged, Pinepaw looked at him, "Pinepaw? What's wrong?" His eyes landed on the body behind him, with blood matting the fur, it was hard to tell who it was.
"Oh StarClan. Who?" Firepaw asked.
"Birdpaw." Pinepaw breathed, looking down at his paws. His brother's face fell, he pushed gently in between Pinepaw and Lighteningstreak and nearly collapsed.
"No! No, Birdpaw!" Grief shook him and Pinepaw whispered,
"She's still alive." Firepaw nodded, settling down to watch Pebblefoot work. Others separated to help the injured cats but Quickfox, Lighteningstreak, Pinepaw, Pebblefoot and Firepaw stayed by Birdpaw, Pinepaw was vaguely aware that Palepaw was darting around tending to other wounds.
"Pinepaw? Who..." the cream apprentice's mouth fell open, "Birdpaw? Is she..."
"No, just very badly injured." Pebblefoot replied, "I can treat her, you need to handle Waterclaw's leg." He meowed.
"I need help, Pinepaw?" She asked, grateful for the distraction, Pinepaw followed her. Waterclaw lay on his side, his leg back leg on an odd angle and groaning in agony. Even without being a medicine cat, Pinepaw could tell his leg was broken, "Hold him down." She instructed Ambercloud and Pinepaw.
They got over the deputy and held him to the ground, "Pinepaw!" The deputy said in surprise, still wincing from his severe injury.
"Please don't struggle, this will hurt." Palepaw asked, Pinepaw couldn't look he focused his attention on doing as he was asked and holding down the deputy.
Palepaw bound and splinted his leg and also used a herb call comfrey, she then instructed Ambercloud to help find the next heavily injured cat, Pinepaw helped the medicine cat apprentice to transport the injured deputy to the medicine den.
Once in a nest, Waterclaw seemed more in pain than before, Palepaw gave him a poppyseed to help with the pain and help him to sleep.
"Thanks for all your help Pinepaw." She said, Ambercloud entered the den with her news.
"Just scratches and cuts now, except Pinepaw." The Red-brown she-cat announced.
"What, no there are cats who need more help than I do." He protested.
"No Pinepaw, no one treated those scratches on your back so now they are infected, you ear need treatment as well and don't even get me started on the new scratches from the battle and..."
"Ok, we get it just treat them." Ambercloud huffed, she was a nice warrior but got very grumpy under stress, she never had kits and her mate, Silverwater, hadn't either.
"Yes, ok. Oh, Ambercloud, can you take some herbs to treat other's scratches?" The warrior nodded in reply and followed the medicine cat apprentice into the herb storage, when Palepaw had finished explaining, Ambercloud left the den, herbs grasped in her jaw.
"Right, now..." Palepaw started using herbs and cobweb and some other stuff that Pinepaw could not describe, but all he could think about was his sister. Was she ok? Would she survive?
Just as Palepaw was finishing him up, Pebblefootentered the den, Birdpaw followed, still unconscious being carried by Eaglefeather and Lighteningstreak. They placed her carefully in a comfortable looking nest and Eaglefeather exited the den, Quickfox replaced him and the two parents looked down at their injured kit.
Quickfox lay next to Birdpaw on the floor of the medicine den, Lighteningstreak leant forward and gently licked his mate's head. Pinepaw wandered over to his parents and watched his sister sleep, Firepaw also came in, just as anxious as the rest of them. The medicine cats exited the den to continue treating the others and the family was left to themselves, Pinepaw noticed Birdpaw's breathing was deeper and when he got closer to listen to her heart it was beating stronger.
He hoped with everything he had, that StarClan would spare her.