Warriors: The Prophecy of Fire

Chapter Eight

It was still early, the sun had just broke the horizon, and Hawthornepaw was out of the camp, wading in the stream. The cool water was coursing beneath her belly, her sleek fur pressed against her sides. She looked up, the pinks and yellows of the sky blending beautifully together, the trees' leaves turning gold and red in the early Leaf-Fall. She could hear the creek babbling around her, the fish splashing in the lake. Lowering her head, she lapped up some of the crystal clear water, sweet and refreshing she could feel it go down her throat and into her belly. She took one last look at the rushing stream and stepped out, knowing that she should get back to the medicine cat den to start working, and stepped out. She shakes out her fur and licks it smooth, untangling her tortoiseshell coat. She pads back to camp and sees Dovepaw and Twigpaw arguing.

"Why'd you tell her? You're such a Cleanpaw." Twigpaw hisses.

"What? You really think I wouldn't tell Berrytail that you lined her nest with thorns? She could get seriously hurt!" Hawthornepaw opened her jaws to tell Twigpaw that his littermate was right, but decided against it, not wanting to interfere. She continues over to the den and peeks in, seeing Mosstail still curled up in his nest sleeping. Deciding against waking him up, she quietly walks over to the stocks and starts organizing the left over herbs from yesterday. She hears pawsteps behind her and turns around, seeing Lakeclaw standing behind her, her tail flicking nervously.

"Umm," she meows hesitantly, "I was going to tell Mosstail but since he's not awake, I wanted to let you know that I'm expecting Hawkheart's kits." Hawthornepaw's eyes widen.

"Great StarClan! Congratulations!" She purrs, nuzzling her former mentor.

"Thank you. I was just wondering if I needed any herbs yet or if that was later?" 

Hawthornepaw thought back to her training, "Not yet. One moon in you'll be released of your warrior duties move into the Nursery and have prey brought to you. When you have your kits we'll give you some Borage Leaves to help produce more milk. If you need anything, let us know." Lakeclaw thanks her and walks away, her eyes glowing in joy. She sees her walk up to Pebblestar's den to let her know, and soon hears the familiar yowl.

"All cats old enough to swim gather beneath High Tree for a clan meeting!" Mosstail stretches and yawns, stepping out of his nest. The rest of the Clan gathers beneath High Tree, murmuring in confusion, there were no kits and no apprentices were old enough to become warriors. "Lakeclaw has an announcement to make." 

Lakeclaw padded forward, "Yeah," she meowed hesitantly, "I'm expecting Hawkheart's kits." 

"Congratulations!"

"I'm so happy for you!" The clan yowled out as Hawkheart leaned into his mate, purring. Mosstail ushered Hawthornepaw over to the medicine cat den.

"Did you know about this?"

"Yeah, she came in this morning to tell me, we didn't want to wake you up."

"What did you tell her?" Hawthornepaw repeats what she had told Lakeclaw, and his eyes gleam in pride. "That's exactly what I would have said, great job!" he purrs. "Tonight's the gathering, I know you've been to one before, but this is your first time as a medicine cat apprentice." Hawthornepaw nods in understanding.

"I know, do we get to talk with anyone who isn't a medicine cat, though?"

Mosstail mrows with laughter, "Of course, Hawthornepaw. It's a gathering, you can talk to anyone you want." 

"Oh, right." She meows, ducking her head, embarrassed. She goes over to the stocks and starts organizing the herbs, sorting them into their piles. Mosstail pads over and joins her, they work together in a comfortable silence until all the herbs are sorted. With Mosstail's permission she then leaves the den to go hunting. She heads down to the lake and crouches over it, making sure her shadow isn't over the water. She tucks her tail around her paws, waiting for a fish. Eventually she sees a shadow darting by and unsheathes her claws, snagging the silver fish. She continued this, ending up catching a total of six fish. Grabbing the fish in her jaws, she padded back to camp, placing the fish in the fresh-kill pile. Suddenly, she sees Twigpaw racing back to camp, panting. 

"Attack, at the Thunderpath. ShadowClan, like six cats! Dawnsky sent me back to get help, it was just us and Sunpelt." Hawthornepaw's heart leapt at the sound of her dad's name. 

"Breezecloud, Berrytail, Willowwing, Brushbranch, and Nightsky, go help." Pebblestar yowls, they bolt off and Twigpaw follows, close on their tails. "Not you, Twigpaw." His tail and head droop, and Pebblestar quickly adds on, "We need you, Dovepaw, Silverfeather, Lilypelt, and Lakeclaw to protect the camp and elders." He raises his head back up and puffs out his chest, getting in a fighting stance, ready for any cat coming his way. Hawthornepaw purrs and heads back to the medicine cat den, ready for any incoming cats that are ready, making nests just in case. Sure enough, in came Breezecloud, leaning on Sunpelt and Berrytail's flanks. Hawthornepaw and Mosstail rush over, helping him into a nest. He has a deep slash on his flank and his eye has a cut through it. They take some Calendine and squeeze it into his damaged eye, then apply some goldenrod to the scratches, covering them up in cobwebs. The rest of the Clan that got sent out soon follows, the most injured making their way to the medicine cat den, the majority covered in pretty bad cuts. Mosstail and Hawthornepaw worked quick and efficiently, applying herbs and cobwebs, checking on every cat to make sure that they weren't injured too seriously. When they finished it was just Breezecloud, Brushbranch, who had his ear clawed off, and Willowwing, her entire coat covered in blood from scratches. Dovepaw was sitting next to Brushbranch chatting with him, making sure he was ok. Before she knew it, the sky was dark, and it was almost Moonhigh, time for the Gathering. Explaining this battle today will be fun she thought as she followed her Clan to the island where the Gathering would take place, hoping that no disputes about the battle would break out.