Warriors: Fire and Ice - Book Two (Completed)

Chapter Twenty

Waterlily flicked her tail angrily at the feeling of her stomach tightening. More thoughts began to peirce through her mind. She didn't know if any more thoughts could go through her. With Cinderpaw gone, she felt useless around the medicine den. Yellowfang was getting less and less patient with her by the minute and she missed Spottedleaf's soft voice more and more. Yellowfang was out collecting herbs without Waterlily and left her alone at camp. Which was how she liked it anyways. It kept her more sane, instead of trying to please Yellowfang all the time.

"Can I have some poppy seeds?" Mewed a voice just behind her. Waterlily turned her head and blinked, unknowingly what to say. It was a bright flame-colored tom. The one she wanted to speak to, but couldn't find the words to tell him about his bestfriend. "Waterlily?" He mewed again, tilting his head. It was Fireheart.

"Oh, of course. What for?" She finally mewed, shaking her head to clear it.

"For myself. I..." He paused, "I can't sleep." He admitted.

"Any particular reason?" Waterlily turned to the herb store and padded towards it.

"Graystripe has been acting weird. And I just have a lot on my mind." He looked down kneading his paws lightly on the ground.

"Oh, that can be tiring." She muffled as she padded back to him with a few poppy seeds in her mouth. "Here." She dropped them in front of him. Fireheart lapped up the poppy seeds and began to walk away.

"Wait!" Meowed Waterlily, padding after him. She raced in front of him and looked at him directly in the eyes. "Is Graystripe going out of camp?"

Fireheart was hesitant of responding, but reluctantly nodded his head.

"You already know why then?" She shuffled her paws, but didn't take her eyes off him as he responded.

"I..." He paused. "I do know why." He finally mewed. "I'm guessing you know the reason as well if you asked?"

Waterlily nodded her head. "Does anyone else know?"

"No. And no one else can know."

"But he's breaking the code. If Bluestar found out what he was doing, he could be banned from the Clan."

"No one can know." Fireheart meowed sternly, then leaned closer and narrowed his eyes, keeping his gaze with Waterlily.

Waterlily hissed then backed away from Fireheart's breath, then kept her gaze. She pricked her ears, and narrowed her eyes. Then she laid her ears flat on her head. "Fine. No one is to know." She dipped her head slightly, then watched as Fireheart padded away to the warriors' den.

Yellowfang came padding inside the den with dock leaves, catmint and chervil in her mouth. "What was that all about?" She muffled between the herbs. She then put them down in front of Waterlily and sat down.

"What was what?" Waterlily didn't feel like talking to Yellowfang about Fireheart. She knew they were once close, but she didn't know how close they were now.

Yellowfang sighed, then began picking apart the dock leaves into smaller pieces. "With Fireheart. Is he okay?" She mewed a little softer.

"Oh yeah, he's fine." She lied. "He wanted some poppy seeds for Graystripe. He wasn't sleeping well."

Yellowfang seemed satisfied, for she didn't answer anymore questions. She just sat and picked at the herb pile she just brought in. Waterlily padded to the herb pile and grabbed the catmint. She placed in the right spot they were supposed in the herb store, then padded back to help with the rest. She picked up the chervil and began picking apart the stems from the leaves.

She made them into two piles and glanced over at Yellowfang. She had two messy piles of the herbs. Waterlily narrowed her eyes and sighed softly. She reached over her piles and neatly stacked the herbs that Yellowfang was dealing with. Yellowfang didn't seem to care enough to say something.

Once they were done, Yellowfang looked up at Waterlily then rasped, "Get some rest while you can. The Gathering is tonight and we'll be going."

Waterlily nodded. She had plenty of rest and felt like she didn't need to sleep, but obeyed Yellowfang. Even though she was a full medicine cat, she still listened to her elders. She knew better than to disobey them, especially Yellowfang. She padded over to her moss nest and circled it a few times before she felt a position would be comfortable. She curled up into a ball then wrapped her plump tail over her nose. She closed eyes and began thinking about the Gathering. She thought of talking to the other cats, and the other medicine cats. Then she thought of Spottedleaf.

She drifted into sleep, and saw Spottedleaf laying motionless just outside the medicine den. Waterlily wailed loud and stood over her dead body. "I'm sorry, Spottedleaf. I'm sorry that I couldn't save you."

"Hey! Wake up!" Hissed a voice, piercing inside Waterlily's dream.

Waterlily blinked open her eyes and looked up at Yellowfang standing over her. Her eyes were narrowed with disgust. Was she wailing in her dream on accident?

"You were talking in your sleep." She growled. "I can't get any sleep."

"Oh sorry." Waterlily yawned. Then craned out her neck to peer outside of the den. It was still light outside. Must have been just a little while since she fell asleep. She laid her head back down and closed her eyes. She began thinking of Spottedleaf again, but tried hard not to dream the same thing. She opened her eyes and found herself in StarClan. Spottedleaf padded over to her and rubbed her cheek against Waterlily's whiskers.

"Don't worry, little one. All will become clear soon." Spottedleaf's purr was soft and calming.

Waterlily felt at ease and closed her eyes tightly, not hiding a soft muffle of a purr. "Thank you, Spottedleaf." She touched Spottedleaf's cheek with her nose, then rubbed her flank. "I miss you so much." She added.

"I know... Yellowfang will get better. I promise. You just need to trust her. She will not abandon you."

Waterlily looked deep into Spottedleaf's amber eyes and dipped her head. "I do trust her." She retorted. "But I will try to trust her more." She quickly added, not wanting to sound rude.

Spottedleaf flicked her tail, then laid it across Waterlily's shoulders. "I know you will." Then she faded, and Waterlily was alone in StarClan. She didn't know if she should wait for another cat to appear or if she was to try and leave. She awoken by a paw prodding her side.

"Wake up." Hissed Yellowfang.

Waterlily blinked open her eyes again and saw Yellowfang standing there, this time she seemed calmer. "Is it actually time to get up this time?" Purred Waterlily.

Yellowfang, however, did not find that amusing, "Yes, now let's get going. They're waiting." She hissed then quickly padded into the clearing with the others. Waterlily quickly got up, then followed Yellowfang out into the clearing. She sat next to Fireheart and Graystripe. Fireheart sat awkwardly as Waterlily approached them. She didn't say anything to make the situation more awkward, but yearned to say at least something to break the silence.