Willowbounce's Tale

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The days and nights had passed from the time the clans had crossed the thunderpath. The clans had reached the mountains.
"W-wait. We have to cross those!?" Frostspots mumbled to Rainstripe as they approached the start of the path that would lead the clans into the treacherous territory. Willowkit had noticed some of her clan mates had fallen ill in the passing days. Cherrypool was sniffling and coughing, and it seemed that she didn't have much energy. Direkit and Fawnkit were being watched by Spottedclaw, since she only had one kit. Frostspots also seemed to be weaker.
"Direkit is so annoying! He's always pushy and rude. StarClan be with Fawnkit..she has to put up with him everyday!" Icekit whispered to Willowkit as the clans started to make their way into the mountains. Willowkit nodded. She noticed the air seemed to grow thinner and colder as the clans ascended into the mountains. Soon the path grew very narrow, and the cats hugged the side of the mountain as they padded on. Willowkit could feel anxiety emitting from all the clan cats, including herself. Icekit walked with his mother now because of the narrowing path. Bloodclaw was behind Willowkit and Splashkit was in front of Rainstripe.
Willowkit happened to glance down at the sheer drop and did all she could to keep herself from swaying. Her anxiety spiked and she kept her eyes focused on Splashkit.
"Everyone stop! There's a gap!" Bravestar yowled to the rest of the cats from the front of the single file line. Everyone stopped. Great StarClan! Are we going to have to jump!? Willowkit trembled at the thought. A long moment of silence laid over the cats until Pebblestar said, "Well, I guess we have no choice..Warriors! If you have a kit in front of you, pick them up and for StarClans sake, hold them tight! We are going to jump the gap! The path is wider on the other side." Willowkit watched as some warriors a few tail lengths in front of her took up kits in their jaws. Willowkit gasped a little and flinched when she felt large, strong jaws close around her scruff.
"It's alright Willowkit, it's just me, Bloodclaw." He said through a mouthful of her fur. Willowkit had forgotten that Bloodclaw was behind her. She felt safe in his jaws. Since he's a young warrior, he's probably stronger than most others. Willowkit concluded in her mind. The line in front of her began to edge forward one cats length at a time as cats jumped the gap. Soon Willowkit saw her mother bunch herself together, then take a flying leap across the gap. She cleared it without fault, even with Splashkit in her mouth.
"Bloodclaw, you won't drop me, right?" Willowkit asked almost shivering with anxiety as she gazed down at the seemingly endless fall in front of her. 
"Of course I won't Willowkit. Trust me." Bloodclaw murmured to her. Willowkit took a deep breath as she felt Bloodclaw bunch himself together before launching himself forward. His grip on Willowkit's scruff tightened as he pushed off. He landed with somewhat triumphant grace. Willowkit sighed with relief as he let her down at his paws.
"See? You just have to have a little trust." He said as he began to pad away from the edge, patting Willowkit on the head with his paw. Willowkit flicked her tail. She didn't enjoy being proven wrong, but she was glad Bloodclaw didn't drop her.
With Bloodclaw now in front of her, Willowkit was the last cat in the line forming on the wider side. So she had a front view of the rest of the cats trying to jump. Cherrypool was next. She had a very nervous expression on her face and Willowkit understood why. Cherrypool was so weak she probably was unsure if she could make the jump. Cherrypool crouched, bunching her muscles together before she leaped forward. But with a yowl Cherrypool fell short of reaching the side where Willowkit stood, eyes widened in horror. Cherrypool yowled in pure terror as she plummeted down the seemingly endless pit. But that wasn't the only yowl. Standing on the other path waiting to jump was Shredtooth, who was holding Direkit. His mouth gaped in a yowl of grief as he watched his mother plummet into the darkness. Shredtooth wasted no time as she leaped across the gap, clearing it with ease. As she put down Direkit, she draped her tail over his shoulders in grievance.
"Don't touch me!" Direkit turned and snapped at Shredtooth who was slightly taken aback by the kit's reaction. She simply nodded to herself and padded closer to the rest of her clanmates. The slight murmur of voices had fallen silent as Shredtooth and cats on the other side passed back the news of Cherrypool.
"Direkit, Shredtooth was just trying to comfort you-" Willowkit tried to speak to Direkit but he cut her off.
"YOU KNOW WHAT SHUT UP WILLOWKIT!" He yowled in rage and grief. He leaped on top of her, pinning her to the side of the mountain. She winced as she hit her head hard on the mountain's hard stone.
"You're a flea brain, you know that?" Willowkit hissed through gritted teeth, trying to hide her pain. Direkit pushed her head to the stone, hitting it again. This time Willowkit yowled in terrible pain. She hadn't noticed, but Spottedclaw had jumped across with Icekit in her jaws. When Willowkit opened her eyes from her painful yowl, she saw Icekit bundling towards Direkit with a fury in his eyes she had never seen before. He dragged Direkit off Willowkit from behind and pinned him to the ground.
"IF YOU EVER HURT HER YOU WON'T LIVE TO SEE THE STARS OF SILVERPELT AGAIN DO YOU HEA-" Icekit's furious voice was cut off by Spottedclaw pulling him off of Direkit. Direkit got up quickly, gave Willowkit a glare then trotted off into the crowd of Thunderclan cats. Bravestar came bounding over to Willowkit to carefully pick her up by her scruff.
"Don't worry Willowkit, Nestleberry will fix you right up!" He mewed through a mouthful of fur to her as he padded back to the front of the group. When he put Willowkit down, she looked up and saw all the leaders of the clans hovering over her. She took a small, sharp inhale, surprised to be in the presence of all the leaders. Pebblestar stepped forward first. The small leader comforted her by curling her tail around her and whispering sweet and calming words.
"Bravestar, she's bleeding a lot! We need a medicine cat right away!" Jumpstar's booming voice ordered. Just as he said that, Nestleberry pushed through the crowd with a bundle of assorted herbs in her jaws followed by Scalestar who was carrying extra herbs. Nestleberry ushered Pebblestar away from Willowkit so she could work. Willowkit began to feel a large amount of pain as the shock began to wear off.
"Scalestar, I need chervil and cobwebs." Nestleberry ordered the RiverClan leader after she finished licking Willowkits wound clean. Scalestar quickly seemed to identify the herb as well as the cobwebs and pushed them over to Nestleberry.
"Willowkit this is going to sting." Nestleberry said as she started to chew the chervil leaves into a poultice. Soon, she spat the poultice onto her paw and began to work it into the back of Willowkit's head, to which Willowkit winced with pain. Willowkit fought to stay still and not flinch away as the medicine cat worked. Then, Willowkit felt Nestleberry remove her paws away to grab the cobwebs. She quickly pressed them firmly to the back of her head.

After what felt like a moon, Nestleberry released her paws from the back of Willowkits head.
"Ok, your wound is clean now Willowkit. Since I have very limited herbs, I cannot spare my cobwebs to make a wrap..but your wound is very clean and I'll keep a close eye on it." Nestleberry concluded. Willowkit nodded and gave her thanks to the medicine cat and the leaders. She began to pad her way back to where the queens were gathered in her clans crowd. When she appeared among the queens and kits, they fell silent. Icekit bounded over to her. He skidded to a halt in front of her to briefly touch noses with her. He then walked beside her into the group of queens and other kits. Spottedclaw, Rainstripe and Hawkwing gave her a friendly smile, while letting the other kits rest momentarily as they waited for the other cats to cross.

Finally, all of the clans had crossed the gap and reached the other side. Even cats from other clans comforted her clanmates. Willowkit felt a sense of pride and joy as she began to think of all the clans as one. Even the scents that distinguished the other cats began to fade, being replaced by a scent that they all seemed to share now.
"Ok, now that everyone has crossed, we will be continuing on." Scalestar yowled. The rest of the cats yowled in an empowering agreement. The clans continued their trek through the mountains.