Warriors: Fire and Ice - Book Two (Completed)

Chapter Fourteen

Waterlily tilted her head to the side. "Why afraid?"

"He is a strong warrior," Yellowfang explained, "But how can he save us alone without anyone's help?"

Waterlily hasn't figured that detail out yet. She had no idea what to say. Should she lie and say that she has complete and utter faith in him, or should she say that she has no idea? She slightly shrugged her shoulders. "I do not know." She mewed, "But I do know that's what StarClan says." She almost hissed out the words. "I trust them, and so should you."

Yellowfang took a step back, "I-I do trust them." 

Waterlily shuffled her paws uncomfortably and looked down, realizing how harsh she sounded. "I'm sorry," She muttered, "I'm just a little on edge is all."

Yellowfang dipped her head, then padded to the herb store in silence. 

"Bluestar!" A flash of a dark figured tom raced through the clearing. "Bluestar!" He yowled again.

She trotted out of her den, her ears alerted and her tail stood straight up.

"We scented RiverClan on our territory again." The dark tom growled.

Bluestar narrowed her eyes, "How many, Darkstripe?" She growled.

"I am not for sure, but I know more than one." He narrowed his eyes to small slits, then added when Bluestar didn't respond fast enough for him. "Are we going to keep letting them steal prey in our territory, or are we going to fight for it?"

Bluestar lifted her head higher and puffed out her chest. She glanced at Tigerclaw that was standing a few tail-lengths away. "Are our warriors strong enough to fight."

Tigerclaw nodded his head, and softly growled. "Yes." 

Waterlily felt her heart racing. They were not ready to bring on a fight. The herbs were plentiful, but it would be too many bodies in the medicine den. Yellowfang padded out and sat near Waterlily. "I guess we'll have to prepare for injuries, eh?" She mewed.

Waterlily silently nodded and kept her gaze up at Bluestar as she continued to speak at the highrock.

"We will make an attempt to attack at dawn." Meowed Bluestar, twitching the tip of her tail.

The crowd of cats yowled in agreement. Some exchanged worried glances at one another, but knew if they want to keep their territory free of RiverClan, they must show them they aren't afraid of defending themselves.

Waterlily narrowed her eyes and padded back to the medicine den. She was so caught up in the moment of the planning of the attack, that she ignored the signs of Cinderpaw struggling. She began chewing marigold leaves into an poultice, getting ready for any injuries that may occur.

Waterlily heard a faint gasp, then slowly turned her head towards Cinderpaw. She gasped in horror, dropped the marigold leaf and raced over to Cinderpaw. She nudged her with her nose, hoping that she was still breathing, but she felt nothing. No stir or movement. Her heart started racing, not knowing what to do. No cat had died in her paws of care besides Spottedleaf, but she was her mentor, not her patient. Yellowfang padded into the clearing and stopped and stared at Cinderpaw with disbelief.

Waterlily turned to face Yellowfang. "Help me." She wailed.

Yellowfang didn't flinch. She stood there with wide eyes.

"Yellowfang!" Waterlily wailed again. "I don't know what to do!"

Yellowfang still didn't move. Waterlily narrowed her eyes, angrily and looked back at Cinderpaw. She rolled Cinderpaw onto her back, making her belly up in the air. Cinderpaw laid there motionless. Waterlily pushed down on her stomach multiple times. She gave Cinderpaw a few moments of a break, then tried again. Cinderpaw then began coughing. She turned over onto her belly, still coughing.

Waterlily sighed in relief and looked at Cinderpaw, helplessly. Cinderpaw caught her breath and looked up at Waterlily. Her eyes were warm with gratitude. "Thank you, Waterlily." She purred.

Waterlily nodded her head slowly, not knowing what else to do. Yellowfang was obviously useless in these kind of moments. "For great StarClan, I thought we lost you!" She finally mewed.

Yellowfang padded up to her and softly purred. "Yes, thank StarClan you came back to us."

Not like I had your help! Waterlily thought bitterly to herself.

"I-I did see StarClan." Mewed Cinderpaw, "I saw a StarClan tom. He was a medicine cat before Spottedleaf."

Waterlily cocked her head to the side. "You saw Featherwhisker?"

Cinderpaw looked down at her paws in thought then looked back up at Waterlily. "Yes! That was him!" She mewed, a little more cheerful. "He told me that I am stronger than I will ever know and to not give up on my dreams!"

Waterlily looked at Yellowfang, hoping that she could say something, but Yellowfang was silent and just closed her eyes in response. Why is she being so mouse-brained right now? Waterlily rolled her eyes, then turned back to Cinderpaw. "That's great!" She purred, reluctantly.

Cinderpaw looked down at her paws and lifted up her chest, without warning. She held herself up with her front paws and then gently heaved her back legs up. The leaf, holding her twisted back leg together, loosened and she stood on four paws. The twisted leg wasn't better, but she could at least put a little weight on it.

Waterlily stood in amazement. She took a step back and just blinked her eyes, blankly. Frostfur padded into the den, half expecting to see her kit laying helplessly on the ground, but instead she saw Cinderpaw on her feet. She looked good as new and her eyes shown determination and hope. "You..." Frostfur looked at Yellowfang. "You cured her."

Yellowfang shook her head slowly, then pointed with her tail towards Waterlily. "She did. She deserves all the thanks. Without her, I don't know if young Cinderpaw would have survived that first night."

Waterlily tensed. She had never gotten so much praise from her mentor. She felt hot and ashamed from getting so much praise from Yellowfang. She dipped her head in response, and looked back at Yellowfang with joy in her eyes.

Cinderpaw took a little step forward. She was wobbly at first, especially for not walking on her legs for so long, then padded slowly to her mother. "Frostfur." She purred. She then pressed her nose into Frostfur's flank. Frostfur purred loudly and swiped her tail, affectionately across Cinderpaw's back. She was on her way to becoming a warrior after all!