Heart Of A Fighter (Book 1): The Story Begins

Chapter 13: Hurt and Comfort

TW: Sensitive topics.

Rockpaw let out a yelp as Goslingpaw not-so-gently plucked out a fat tick that was on his ear. "Shut up and stay still," she muttered icily, dropping the meddlesome tick on a dock leaf before sending a claw through its fat abdomen.

She wrinkled her nose at the blood that spurted out, and folded the leaf before pushing it away and focusing on extracting the rest of the meddlesome pests.

Gustfang had come in this morning, all three of his sons, Rockpaw, Slatepaw and Stonepaw in tow and looking very visibly in discomfort.

He told the Nettles that the Titanpaw den had been infested with ticks, and his sons were the ones with the worst cases whilst the other Titanpaws were relatively fine.

Stonepaw was receiving urgent attention from Aldertrail, Vinespring and Elmriver because four ticks had burrowed deep down into his ear canal.

A distance away Slatepaw was being tended to by Berrytrail and Willowflutter because there were seven stuck in his front paw and a huge number of them sucking blood from his torso area.

Which left her with her best friends' annoying older brother Rockpaw.

Now, she was pulling out ticks from his ear while Stempetal helped her with the ones on his paws while Dawnheart and Lotusheart were both busy preparing the poultices to apply to their wounds.

As she plucked out the last tick from his ear, Rockpaw gasped in relief. "Can I go now?" He demanded.

Goslingpaw glared back at him and answered snappily, "No. Lie your tail back down and let me check if there's any more that went into your ear."

Rockpaw scowled at her and grudgingly did as he was told, and the Littlepaw gently pulled his ear and peered in. Nothing.

She did the same with the other one, and there was also nothing in there. That was good for Rockpaw, though she privately wished there were more.

"You have to stay in here until the poultice is applied to your wounds, Titanpaw," Stempetal meowed as Rockpaw looked ready to get up.

The Titanpaw groaned in exasperation and put his head back down, and Goslingpaw had to hold back a snort.

Stempetal gazed at her and meowed, "Littlepaw, you can go out if you want. Aldertrail tells me you deserve a break from your hard work these few moons."

Goslingpaw smiled, ignoring the scoff from Rockpaw and dipped her head respectfully to the Nettle before retreating out of the Nettlecave.

She sighed as she plopped down onto her nest in the she-cat apprentice den. She knew the den would be empty at this time because the Starpaws were usually out training.

She kneaded the moss with her paws, and let out a breath as she enjoyed her time in solidarity.

That didn't last long, however. Her gold-amber eyes caught sight of Softpaw sitting in the clearing, quietly grooming herself. A Claw was nearby, his head directed at the pretty Starpaw.

He seemed to be sniffing at her in the same way a dog would to a piece of prey, and it made a shiver run down the Littlepaw's spine.

Goslingpaw recalled his name to be Cobrastrike; she'd recognise his green and blue eyes anywhere. They were directed right at the Starpaw, glinting with what seemed to be malicious hunger.

Quiet as a mouse, Goslingpaw got into a crouch, her gaze trained on the dusky brown giant, like a snake ready to strike.

Her sharp ears caught Cobrastrike letting out a low growl, and his eyes seemed to be looking Softpaw up and down like he was sizing her up. The Littlepaw knew something was wrong.