Jaggedstar's Choice {COMPLETE}

Chapter 13

Coughing woke Jaggedpaw from slumber. He sat up in alarm, looking instantly to Elmpaw and Maplepaw who slept beside him. Neither of them were coughing, or even awake. He tried to calm his racing heartbeat. He had been so concerned with one of them getting sick, but he assumed that the coughing came from outside the den. Jaggedpaw stood up, wide awake now and climbed out. It was just past dawn and snow fell at a steady pace. He bared through the freezing morning air as he looked around.

The coughing seemed to come from near the entrance of the camp. The dawn patrol had returned and Daisyfern was coughing heavily, Breezefall was at her side, looking panicked. "Are you okay, Daisyfern?"

"I'm fine." Daisyfern's voice was dry. "Just swallowed a snowflake." Her blue eyes tried to convince Breezefall but neither him nor the cats around them were convinced.

"I'm taking you to Sagefeather, that's more than just swallowing a snowflake. You know Poppywing is sick too, you need to be treated right away."

Poppywing is sick? Jaggedpaw didn't know that. Please, StarClan, let this only be whitecough." He hoped that Sagefeather and Stormsong had plenty of catmint to treat this sickness.

Jaggedpaw let out a sigh, shivering in the cold air. I guess leaf-bare truly has begun. He cast a look towards the nursery, praying that sickness didn't reach any of the cats in there. Jaggedpaw couldn't find Hareclaw so he decided to go hunting on his own, he wanted to catch as much prey as possible and refused to waste time.

By the time he returned he noticed that Fieldfoot was leading Gingerdust to the medicine cat den, the ginger she-cat coughing furiously. Jaggedpaw was instantly on edge. He deposited his small catch of two mice and went to where Elmpaw was bringing prey to the elder's

"Hey." He greeted.

"Hi." Elmpaw replied through the squirrel in his jaws. Jaggedpaw followed him to the elders where Rockflower was up against the wall, almost as if she was trying to hide herself.

"Rockflower?" Jaggedpaw called into the den, Dustfang sat on the other side, looking annoyed. "What's going on?"

"Rockflower is being weird." Dustfang snorted. "She's staying over there and won't come near me."

"Please, Dustfang." Rockflower replied, Jaggedpaw was alarmed at how dry her voice sounded. "I just need my space."

"Yeah, right." Dustfang rolled his eyes and turned away from the old she-cat. Jaggedpaw narrowed his eyes, looking at Rockflower. Her eyes and nose were streaming, Jaggedpaw tensed.

"Rockflower," He made his voice as calm as possibly, Elmpaw gave him a confused look. "Are you sick?"

There was a moment of silence, Dustfang suddenly looked at Rockflower in realization. Rockflower hid her face. "No," She replied, clearly holding back a cough. "I'm fine."

"Rockflower." Dustfang stood up, approaching his den mate. "Don't tell me that, there's a reason you're acting this way."

"Get back!" She spat, Dustfang stopped and looked at the apprentices, pleading for help.

"Rockflower," Elmpaw stepped closer to her, she pressed her gray fur further against the wall. "If you don't want Dustfang to get sick then the best way to do that is to go to the medicine cat den where Sagefeather and Stormsong can look after you."

"I'm fine." Rockflower urged. "Sagefeather and Stormsong need to use their herbs on younger cats. I'll be just fine."

Elmpaw and Jaggedpaw shared an uneasy glance. "Rockflower, Sagefeather will feel horrible if she doesn't help you. You're part of the Clan just as Daisyfern, Poppywing and Gingerdust are." Jaggedpaw hoped he could reason with her. "You need to let Sagefeather treat you."

"Please, Rockflower." Dustfang added, sadness clouding his eyes. "I don't want to live in this den alone, after losing Tigercloud last season I don't want to lose you too."

Rockflower was silent for a moment before letting out a sigh. "Very well." The old she-cat stood up and looked at the other apprentices. "I'll go see Sagefeather." She didn't sound very thrilled about it. Jaggedpaw and Elmpaw helped her to the medicine cat den. Inside, Gingerdust, Poppywing and Daisyfern were all in nests and being looked after by the medicine cats.

"Sagefeather," Jaggedpaw called, getting the medicine cat's attention. She looked incredibly frantic. "Rockflower is sick." He could see even more light leaving Sagefeather's green eyes.

"Alright," She took a deep breath. "Stormsong, make her nest and get Rockflower some tansy. We need to hold on to our catmint if things get worse."

Jaggedpaw couldn't stay and watch any longer, he and Elmpaw turned away. "I can't believe it's coming on so quickly." Elmpaw mewed, staring at the snowy ground. "Just yesterday, every cat seemed fine." Jaggedpaw nodded, it had only been half a moon since they made their trip to the moonstone and how four cats were sick. How many more?

Two days had passed since whitecough had broken out in the camp and even more cats had joined them in the medicine cat den. Kestrelflame and Patchfoot had both come down with sickness and were now being cared for by Sagefeather and Stormsong. The Clan was starting to get nervous.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather around the High Stump for a Clan meeting!" Birdstar's call suddenly rang out through the camp. Jaggedpaw looked at Maplepaw who was eating prey with confusion. Elmpaw joined them as they gathered around their leader, none of them knew what was going on. "As many of you know," Birdstar started speaking. "Sickness is spreading through LichenClan quickly. To avoid getting sick it is recommended that all cats stay away from the medicine cat den. If you feel any signs of sickness then you are to go to Sagefeather and Stormsong immediately. We've survived sickness before but we don't want any cats lost this leaf-bare. Sagefeather and Stormsong are doing their absolute best and I want to thank them for their service." The Clan cheered for their medicine cats. Jaggedpaw was grateful that they had such good medicine cats.

"On another note," Birdstar continued. "MoonClan has been making aggressive notions on the border. We've scented them across the border and the scent is stronger than usual. I don't want MoonClan to think they can do whatever they want but now is not the time for a fight. If you encounter any MoonClan cats on the border, please do not challange them."

Beside Jaggedpaw, Elmpaw tensed. He must think they're talking about what he did. He looked at Elmpaw, hoping that one day his friend would be able to forgive himself for what he did.

"This meeting is dismissed." Birdstar dipped her head and jumped down from the high stump, going to speak to Jumpheart. Jaggedpaw twitched his ears, sickness was stressful enough, why did MoonClan have to continuously cause trouble? Jaggedpaw let out a sigh and went to find Hareclaw to see if he could keep his paws busy. I can't sit around in the cold waiting to see what happens with the sickness or MoonClan, I need to hunt and keep my Clan fed.