Swiftstar's Prophecy - Unofficial version

Chapter Sixty-one

Swiftblossom's heart dropped to her paws when her eyes rested on her mate. Her body grew numb. His body was covered in dry blood, limp, and his left eye had a scratch extending down vertically, touching his cheek. He was being carried by both Blizzardtail and Blazestripe on their backs, accompanied by a motionless Lichenface, who lay on Chivewhisker's back. The chattering of the clan halted once the warriors from the fox patrol entered camp; there was a deafening silence.

"WOLFSPIRIT!" The calico cried, dashing away from her littermates and going to reunite with her mate. Dear StarClan, let him be alive! She begged as she approached him, her nose prodding his in an effort to wake him up. Her mind began to flashback to when Echoflower died, Swiftblossom remembering perfectly how limp her mother had been. Every bad thing invaded her mind as she kept touching his nose. "Love? Love!"

She could hear the wailing of Flaxpaw as her half-brother laid eyes on his dead mother. Swiftblossom glanced over at the dead Lichenface; the gray warrior had died with her eyes closed. She looked to be sleeping. Flaxpaw sniffed his mother's neck, nothing but wails and moans of pain coming from his mouth. The calico's eyes narrowed and she went to comfort her apprentice, her tail-tip resting on his spine. 

"I can't believe it," Flaxpaw breathed as he watched Chivewhisker set Lichenface's body down in the middle of the clearing, "She's gone, just like that."

"It's the cost of being a warrior," Swiftblossom meowed gently. The calico closed her eyes, waiting for Wolfspirit's body to rest beside Lichenface but she heard a familiar murmur. Her ears perked and her heart skipped a beat. Slowly, she turned her head towards the medicine cat den, where Blizzardtail and Blazestripe were delivering Wolfspirit.

"L-love..." Wolfspirit murmured weakly, lifting his head and blinking his good right eye. Swiftblossom's emotions overcame her and she wailed, "Wolfspirit!" Happiness hit her like a wave but then a heavy realization hit her. His body... it's mangled! Will he be alright? And how did he survive? She blindly followed Blizzardtail and Blazestripe inside, each step bringing back feeling into her body. 

The two large warriors squeezed through the entrance and informed Baydawn and Brookpelt of Wolfspirit. Swiftblossom was a few steps behind, her amber eyes only focused on her mate. He was then set down gently on a reed bed.

Swiftblossom hurried over to Blizzardtail, pressing her face into his bloodstained neck, "Thank you for bringing him back." The mottled tom gave Swiftblossom a reassuring lick to her ear and calmly told her, "He fought bravely and took on a fox himself. You should be proud of him." Swiftblossom lifted her head and saw the tom's blue eyes gleaming with pride. Blazestripe passed by the she-cat and he murmured, "We're also relieved he's alive. He's an amazing warrior."

Blazestripe and Blizzardtail went to lay down in other nests to be treated. Swiftblossom sat down by Wolfspirit's head, her tail stroking his ears affectionately. Baydawn and Brookpelt were gathering their herbs from their store before padding out, Brookpelt off to treat the warriors while Baydawn handled Wolfspirit.

Baydawn approached Wolfspirit, his blue eyes wide. "He's still alive!" he purred and set down his herbs. Swiftblossom let out a soft purr and informed Baydawn, "Well, Wolfspirit is no ordinary warrior." The gray medicine cat then began to do his work, first by observing Wolfspirit. As Baydawn examined him, Wolfspirit began to meow, "Swiftblossom, I--"

"Hush, save your breath," Swiftblossom insisted, her ears flattening. Her heart ached for him and she knew he was in a myriad of pain. Wolfspirit's ears flickered and he whispered, "I'm so glad I can see you." His green eyes lifted to see her and the she-cat let out a bittersweet purr. Lowering her head, Swiftblossom gently licked his lips before moving out of the way for Baydawn.

Wolfspirit was a mess. He had scratches all through-out his flanks, his front left leg was broken, his left eye was scratched, some of his claws were strained, his throat and shoulders had deep scratches, and the muscles in his hind legs were exhausted to the point where walking would be postponed for a while. But he still lived. Swiftblossom admired his strength and his bravery; Wolfspirit was not a cat to mess with.

"I'll be right back. I need to rub Lichenface's body with rosemary before the scent of death lingers. Swiftblossom, I need you to go by the uprooted willow trees by the Grand River and select an herb. It is celandine, a yellow flower with four petals. Bring it back to me for Wolfspirit's eyes." Baydawn explained calmly, his blue eyes filling with slight worry for Wolfspirit. She nodded and hurried out of camp, passing by a mourning Flaxpaw sitting beside his mother. Quickly, she rested her tail-tip on his shoulder before she began to sprint, wanting to grab the herb as quickly as she could.

An exhausted Baydawn exhaled in relief, his paw pads sweating heavily. The moon was now at its highest peak, casting rays of light into the medicine cat clearing. None of the warriors suffered as many injuries as Wolfspirit, so the clearing was mostly empty. Wolfspirit was awake with Swiftblossom, the two gently curled up together. He was telling her how he took on the fox.

His left leg was awkwardly laid out with rush, a long and narrow leaf, wrapped tightly around his leg for the broken bone. His eye was slowly improving, so he could only see out of his right for now. Swiftblossom listened to every word he said, envisioning the fox in front of her. 

"I was pinned down by the beast and it was ready to kill me. That was until the other warriors took it down at the right moment." He meowed, blinking slowly. He was drifting off to sleep; she was surprised that he was able to stay awake. Swiftblossom rested her head in the crook of his head, closing her eyes to fall asleep.

But Wolfspirit inhaled softly, his tail slowly entwining with hers. She felt his nose touch hers and her eyes opened. There, she saw his right eye staring back at her, filled with love. "When I was fighting the fox, I didn't want to die. You were my moving force to continue living." he meowed truthfully. Swiftblossom's amber eyes softly stared at him, her heart swelling lovingly.

She pressed her nose against his, and he affectionately purred, "I love you, Swiftblossom. Nothing more, nothing less. I'm sorry for last night and I vow to never talk to you like that again."

Swiftblossom closed her eyes and sighed, "I love you too, but there's something I must tell you; tomorrow I'm meeting with those rogues again. They aren't harmful..."

He paused, his tail bushing slightly before he meowed, "That's a good plan. If you were to get rogues on our side, we can find out the weaknesses of our main threat."

"Our main threat is Ash. A friend told me that he's rounding up more cats," she meowed quietly.

Wolfspirit closed his eyes and grunted, "Ash... the tom who took away Dapplefur? Yes... that seems to be a proper name for a psychopath." She opened her eyes slowly and took in the scent of her mate. Tomorrow, she would have to do something that would greatly affect TideClan. But whether her clanmates will listen to her would be questionable.

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Wolfspirit is going to stay with us for a long time. He's not going anywhere.

Also, small fun fact for you guys: currently I'm in the process of creating my own dictionary of warrior cat prefixes and suffixes, with some additions to it. I'm doing this just to keep naming consistent.

-Morgan