Warriors: Fire and Ice - Book Two (Completed)

Chapter Six

Waterpaw woke up with a jolt. She looked over at Yellowfang. She seemed to have not noticed Waterpaw's sudden shake. She was busy mixing herbs. There were several heaps of leaves gathered in front of her. She picked one up with her teeth and put it in a different spot to mix with another. Waterpaw pricked her ears when a small black-and-white tom padded into the den. His eyes were streaming and he had a slight sniffle when he entered. Yellowfang looked up and murmured. "Oh, no. Whitecough." She picked up some chickweed and dropped it front of the tom. "Eat this, Swiftpaw. It will help. Then lay down here for a couple of nights until you recover." She pointed to a spot near the pool of water so he could drink some after he ate the bitter leaf.

Swiftpaw picked up the chickweed and chewed it, awkwardly. It tasted terrible and he didn't want to swallow, but he knew it would help him. He took a swallowing gulp and winced with disgust. Waterpaw padded up to him and touched her nose to his flank. "Drink some water. I'll get you some feverfew to bring down your fever. You're beginning to get one from coming over here." She mewed softly, then she padded to the herb store and grabbed a mouth full of feverfew. "This will also taste bitter, but it will help." She put it down in front of Swiftpaw then padded over to Yellowfang. 

"We need catmint." Growled Yellowfang.

"I know. It seems that greencough will be coming upon us shortly." Waterpaw padded to the entrance of the medicine den and sniffed the air. It smelled clean and fresh. No sign of any sickness, thankfully, but she still worried that others might be catching it too. Whitecough may be milder than greencough, but it still spreads like wildfire.

"Do you want me to get some?" Waterpaw meowed softly, looking back at Yellowfang.

Yellowfang shook her head. "No." She rasped, "I'll get some. You stay here and keep the camp at bay." She then brushed past Waterpaw and out of the camp.

Waterpaw stomped her foot lightly. Why did Yellowfang get to go? She felt like a kit that was tricked into staying in camp. Then Waterpaw widened her eyes in shock. It wasn't a trick. Yellowfang was trusting her with the whole of StarClan that she can mind the camp sicknesses. Perhaps it was a test before her final naming ceremony. 

She sniffed the air again and a gust of wind took her surprise when she smelled something she feared above all else. The kits or a queen was sick. She quickly grabbed some chickweed and raced to the nursery. She sniffed the queens and she stopped at Speckletail. Speckletail looked up at her with sadness. "I'm glad you're here. I don't have enough strength to bring my kit to you. All she needs is some catmint and she should be good." She meowed softly. 

Waterpaw looked down at the helpless kit, and dropped some chickweed in front of her. The kit was very weak and could barely look up at her. Her eyes were drowned with gunk, she could barely look down to eat the herbs. "Come on, little kit." Mewed Waterpaw. She pushed the herbs closer to the kit. "Just eat a little bit. You can't become a healthy warrior if you don't eat the herbs."

The kit managed to gain up the strength to reach out her neck and lap up the bitter herb. She chewed a tiny mouthful and laid her head back down, her eyes streaming even more. "I will be back later to check up on her." Meowed Waterpaw. "You eat some as well. I can give you some juniper berries if you can manage to eat some?" 

Speckletail didn't take her eyes off the struggling kit, and nodded her head slowly. "Yes, I will take some juniper berries." She rasped tiredly.

Waterpaw dipped her head then ducked out of the nursery and bounded towards the medicine den. Yellowfang wasn't back yet. She grabbed a few juniper berries and trotted back to the nursery. She ducked inside and put the berries in front of Speckletail. "I will be back to check on you and the kits." She mewed, then scooted backwards out of the nursery. She trotted back to the medicine den and sniffed Swiftpaw. He was sleeping and his breathing was shallow, but steady. He would thankfully be better soon. I should probably check the elders. One of them was in the nursery a few days ago. She murmured thoughtfully to herself.