Warriors: Lilyshine's Destiny (Warriors Fanfiction)

Chapter 6

The stench of herbs made Lilypaw's nostrils flare. She forced herself to open her eyes, adjusting to the dim light. The familiar walls of the ThunderClan medicine cat den surrounded her. Outside she could hear the elders grumbling about wet bedding and warriors reporting to Cloudstar. Lilypaw shifted in her mossy nest, her back and hind leg burning like fire.

"You're awake," Violetwing purred as she entered the den. "Everyone's so worried about you!"

Lilypaw lifted her head stiffly, then flopped down with a wail. "My neck hurts!"

Violetwing rushed towards the injured apprentice and sniffed at her fur. "I couldn't do much until you wake up, it seems like it's just some ripped muscles and fur." she turned around and took a mouthful of marigold. "If we're not careful, there could be an infection." Violetwing smeared some marigold onto Lilypaw's pelt. "Your hind leg needs the most attention, so you must stay here until I am certain that it is properly healed."

"Aww, that's going to take forever!" Lilypaw complained. "I can't do anything! What if my sister becomes a warrior before me?"

The long-furred medicine cat let out a mrrow of laughter. "Calm down, your body needs to heal." she flicked her bushy tail. "In the meantime, you can help me sort out these herbs. They've been mixed by the wind."

Lilypaw sniffed uncertainly at the pile of icky-smelling plants, uninterested in helping. "I'm not a medicine cat though. Plus, how will I tell them apart? They all smell the same..."

Violetwing crouched down. "You can identify blackberry leaves as they have small prickly teeth on the side, borage leaves however have an oval shape." she gently pawed a group together. "See those spikes? These are blackberry leaves."

Lilypaw nodded in understanding. "Ohh okay." Wanting to do something productive and not be a burden to her clan, she got to work immediately.

Time flew past like lightning; before she knew it, it was near sundown. "Lilypaw!" Silverwing entered the medicine cat's den, her shadow looming over Lilypaw who was dosing after her long day of work sorting out herbs. "How are you feeling?"

Lilypaw blinked sleepily, adjusting to the dim orange glow of the setting sun. She lifted her head with difficulty. "Hi mother, I'm feeling better than this morning."

Silverwing curled beside her kit, her blue eyes warm. "I'm sorry for not visiting you this morning, I was assigned with patrols. Anyways, how was your day?"

"It was alright, I helped Violetwing sort out some herbs. Look!" Lilypaw flicked her tail towards the two neatly stacked piles of herbs in the corner. "I thought it was impossible to tell the difference between blackberry and borage leaves, but it was pretty straightforward."

"Eww, it seems like you enjoyed it." Skypaw wrinkled her nose. While Lilypaw was chatting, Skypaw dropped by with a vole in her jaws. She flung the plump vole at her littermate. "Enjoy, I caught it."

A pang of jealousy hit Lilypaw. While she was stuck here in this stuffy den, her sister got to enjoy going on patrols and hunting in the ThunderClan territory. "That's great, thank you!" Lilypaw forced a positive word out of her jaws. With effort, she took a bite into the vole, feeling better as the warm blood soaked through.

Skypaw's ears pricked up hearing her name called. "Stormpaw's calling me, hope you feel better Lilypaw." she dipped her head before leaving the den.

"Skypaw and Stormpaw seem close eh?" Silverwing teased.

"I heard you!" Skypaw's meow came as she bounded away.

Soon, Silverwing stood up, shaking her silver fur. "I must get going, Violetwing wouldn't want too many cats crowding in her workspace. I will bring you a meal when I go out on patrol. Rest and get well." she gave her injured kit an affectionate lick and ducked back out, leaving Lilypaw for the evening. "By the way, your mentor is very hard on himself. It isn't my place to gossip about this, but just so you know. Letting an apprentice get hurt, especially their first ever apprentice can be super difficult to overcome."

* * *

"How are you feeling?" Violetwing prompted, drawing her paw over her face. "Hopefully by a quarter-moon, you will be able to continue your training."

Lilypaw sniffed at her gooey herb-covered pelt. "I feel gross." it was a day later and the ThunderClan medicine cat fussed over the injured apprentice. Whether it was Lilypaw being the medicine cat's sister's kit or Violetwing was just extra fussy over her.

"Today I am going out to collect some catmint, just in case there's whitecough in camp." Violetwing meowed. "While I'm at it, would you like to help me sort out the herb store and throw away all those herbs that smell faint or look shriveled and black"

Lilypaw heaved herself into a sitting position. "Sure!" every day she had been in the medicine cat den helping with Violetwing. The ThunderClan medicine cat tossed a sparrow to her patient and left, leaving Lilypaw in with her herb store.

"Lilypaw?" a familiar meow came from outside the den. The injured apprentice made her way slowly towards the entrance and peeked out, letting out a purr as she faced her tabby mentor.

"Flamewhisker!" 

"Hey Lilypaw, how are you?" The orange tabby meowed a greeting.

"I'm fine, just a bit bored. I can't wait to go back to training!" Lilypaw's replied, her blue eyes glowing with enthusiasm. "I'll train extra hard once I am released."

Flamewhisker's green eyes dimmed ever so slightly but forced a happy tone. "I'm sure you will," he heard his name being called and looked outside. "Next time I drop by I will bring a plump squirrel for you."

Lilypaw sensed the guilt and uneasiness coming off her mentor like huge waves and blinked reassuringly. "Thank you! Also, Flamewhisker, don't be sad. Things ought to happen for a reason."

Flamewhisker dipped his head gratefully as he ducked out. Only stopped by Violetwing who happened to be nearby, overhearing the conversation. "Now Flamewhisker, I know she's your apprentice and all, but please don't give her that plump squirrel you talked about. We mustn't spoil her ya know?"

* * *

"Lilypaw, are you hungry?" Violetwing called from the fresh-kill pile. "You've worked your paws off and I don't want you to starve," it was another few days later and the medicine cat den looked more organized with Lilypaw's help, cleaning and sorting the herbs daily.

Soon enough, Lilypaw was sharing prey with the medicine cat under the sun-high sky. "It is almost greenleaf, meaning it will be very warm, and prey will practically roam the territory." Violetwing meowed.

"I can't wait to hunt again," Lilypaw slid her claws out. "I hope I can catch up."

Violetwing looked at the apprentice. "What about your other option?" she whisked her fluffy tail over her paws. "Remember your dreams in StarClan, and what you know about herbs." The medicine cat saw Lilypaw's blue eyes slowly turn cold. "I'm just reminding you," she finished her share of the prey and stood up. "I'm going, rest well tonight, and hopefully tomorrow you can ease back into your apprentice duties..." she sighed.

* * *

Lilypaw woke up surrounded by dark forest trees and icky mud-covered grounds. 'I must be dreaming.' she thought shivering. The cold gale was slowly soaking through her orange and white fur making the apprentice feel uncomfortable and exposed.

Suddenly, a rustle came and out stepped a dark cat with scars across his pelt. "Ah, I see you came." he greeted.

Lilypaw wanted to lower herself into an attacking crouch, but something made her stay still, unable to move. "Who are you?" she asked warily.

"I am Foxscar." the mysterious cat replied, stepping into the dim light, revealing his mud-stained white paws, at least that was what Lilypaw thought first. His rusty coloured pelt looked old and dirty compared to Lilypaw's smooth glowing pelt. The tom was missing an eye which made him look scarier. "Welcome, to the Dark Forest."

Hi!!! Thank you so much for reading chapter 6!  Hopefully, this all makes sense...

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Have an amazing day/night!

~Mochii