WARRIORS AU: Swiftpaw lived

Chapter 8

Swiftclaw sighed and looked down, warily at his paws. He had to be strong for the clan but, his hunger was weakening him. 

"Swiftclaw?" A soft voice asked. 

"Hi, Leafpaw." Swiftclaw dipped his head. 

"Do you mind coming with me to gather herbs?" She asked. "Firestar said some cat needed to come with me just in case...." Her voice trailed off.

"I get the idea," Swiftclaw mewed. "Not a problem. Lead the way!" 

Leafpaw purred as she padded out of camp. Swiftclaw quickly scurried after her. 

"What herbs do you need?" Swiftclaw asked. 

"Borage, Chervil, Dock leaves, Yarrow, and... hmm... there was one more." Leafpaw looked puzzled. "Oh yeah! Juniper berries!" 

"Borage, Chervil, Dock, Yarrow, and Juniper berries," Swiftclaw repeated. "Okay, where do you find those?" 

"Borage, Dock, and Yarrow are easy to find and common herbs," Leafpaw explained. "Chervil and Juniper can be hard to find." She admitted. 

"Oh, wonderful!" Swiftclaw hissed. 

"It's okay," Leafpaw sighed. "We can always still look." 

"What's that?" Swiftclaw asked as he nodded towards a white plant. 

"Yarrow!" Leafpaw exclaimed. She raced towards the herb. Swiftclaw trotted after the apprentice. 

"Is it-" 

"Oh, no...StarClan...no.." Leafpaw whimpered.

 "What is it?" Swiftclaw asked as he approached her. 

"The yarrow is frozen and covered in frost! We can't use it!" Leafpaw wailed. 

"Bad luck?" Swiftclaw suggested. "There might be more patches elsewhere." 

                                                  ***

There were no herbs to be found. All were frozen or dead. SwiftClaw had been worried sick about the lack of herbs. Perhaps- 

"Firestar!" A cat yowled, snapping Swiftclaw out of his thoughts. Swiftclaw glanced over his shoulder at Cloudtail. 

"What's their deal?" Swiftclaw grumbled. 

Cloudtail only scoffed. "Cats being overdramatic." 

"Fair enough," Swiftclaw shrugged. "How's Whitepaw and Brightheart?" 

"Good, thanks!" Cloudtail purred. "Whitepaw is just like her mother- fearless, brave, and stubborn!" 

"Mhmm." Swiftclaw looked down. 

"Oh," Cloudtail widened his blue eyes. "I-" 

"No," Swiftclaw stopped him. "There has been too much tension between the three of us. I want to make things clear," he paused and took a deep breath. "I lost feelings for Brightheart a while ago. We were young and stupid. Apprentices. We are full-grown cats now. I see both of you as a friend and I hope you think the same of me." he said flatly. 

Cloudtail nodded. "You're a good cat, Swiftclaw. Got a tough start but came back stronger." 

"Thanks." Swiftclaw dipped his head. "Friends?" 

"Of course!" Cloudtail nudged him. 

                                                                  ***

That loyalty would be put to the test. Half a moon had passed and several cats, including Brightheart and Cloudtail, had been captured by two legs. No cat knew if they would ever be seen again. 

Swiftclaw glanced at Sootfur as they padded side by side out of camp, on their way to hunt.

"How long do you think this will go on?" Swiftclaw asked. 

"Long enough," Sootfur said grimly. "Honestly, it's getting out of our control. We can only hope to StarClan at this point." 

Swiftclaw narrowed his amber eyes. "We can only pray that-" 

"ThunderClan!" A cat yowled. 

Sootfur stiffened. "Who-" 

"It's me! Mistyfoot!" A gray she-cat yelped. 

"Mistyfoot!" Swiftclaw rushed to greet the she-cat. "Are you alright? Does Leopardstar know you have returned?" 

"Yes, and yes," Mistyfoot panted. She glanced at Sootfur. "I escaped the twolegs. But cats like Leafpaw, Cloudtail, Brightheart, and others haven't! They're trapped." She explained. 

"And why have you come here, exactly?" Sootfur questioned.

"Leopardstar sent me," Mistyfoot admitted. "She thought you would like to know where your cats are." Mistyfoot flicked her tail. "I'll go now. But just know I offered my help." She raced off towards RiverClan territory. 

"What in the name of StarClan was that?" Sootfur tilted his head. "You'd think she'd eaten all the catnip in the forest!" 

Swiftclaw snorted at his friend's comment. "We should tell Firestar." 

"Well no duh!" Sootfur mewed. He shoved Swiftclaw playfully. Swiftclaw tumbled to the ground. 

"Got ya!" Sootfur pounced on him and pinned him down. "Surrender?" 

"Never!" Swiftclaw purred. He pushed him over as the two play-fought like kits. 

"What are you? A bunch of kits?" A stern voice demanded. 

"G-Graystripe!" Sootfur sat up. 

"Ouch! You're sitting on me!" Swiftclaw wheezed. 

"Sorry!" Sootfur got up as Swiftclaw scrambled up and puffed out his chest. 

"We were practicing battle moves," Swiftclaw told the deputy. 

"Right. Your kidding right?" Graystripe hissed. "Back to hunting." he lashed his fluffy tail. "Actually, better idea." A grin crossed his face. "Clean out the elder's den. Both of you." 

"Seriously!" Sootfur groaned. 

"You're digging yourself in a deeper hole," Graystripe growled. 

"Shut up Sootfur!" Swiftclaw hissed in his ear. 

"Geez, sorry grumpy-paws!" Sootfur retorted. 

"Go. Now!" Graystripe snarled. 

"Sorry!" They both mewed as they raced into camp. 

Sootfur collapsed to the ground laughing. "You should have seen his face! That was so funny! He was so mad! And you were so scared!" 

"It's not that funny," Swiftclaw huffed. "Just..." 

"Hysterical?" Sootfur glanced up at him. 

"Whatever." Swiftclaw purred. 

"Well, I'm gonna go check on Longtail," Sootfur told him. "Be right back." 

Swiftclaw watched him pad off as he sat down and circled his tail around himself. 

"S-swiftclaw?" a tiny voice mewed. 

Swiftclaw looked down. Whitepaw?  He thought in confusion. 

"I miss Mom and Dad!" She buried her face into his pelt. "Dad once told me that you were best friends with my mom. Do you know why she left me? And why Dad left too?" She wailed. 

Swiftclaw widened his eyes. He had never had a cat confront him like this. Was this what love felt like? Caring for another cat? If that was true, he had never been loved before. 

"I don't know," He choked out. 

"Oh. Can you help me find them?" Whitepaw looked up and begged. 

"Oh Whitepaw," He sighed. "I don't even know where to start. But your parents are very brave and will find their way home. One way or another." He told her. 

"Promise?" Whitepaw mewed. Her green eyes shone with sadness. I can't blame her, she misses her parents. Swiftclaw thought. 

"I promise on my life."