Creamfluff's Hope

*/\* Chapter Twenty-four */\*

Voices around Creampaw woke her up from the sleep she'd fallen into after being attacked. Her vision was dazed, and swirling spots and stripes lined the air and walls around her. Her head ached along with the back of her neck and her shoulder where she'd been struck. 

"Creampaw? Creampaw, are you awake?" 

A blue and gray blur loomed over Creampaw as she struggled to lift her head. The blur had a familiar voice and scent, and Creampaw recognized the blur to be Rainspeck. She must have been taken into the medicine den after she was attacked.

"I think so," Creampaw groaned in response. She could just hear the commotion of the battle going on in the clearing outside as moonlight pooled into the den. The light was fainter now as twilight approached. Creampaw wondered how much time had passed since she'd fainted.

"Silverleaf, Butterflypaw, she's woken!" Rainspeck called to the medicine cats who were preparing poultices for the injured after the battle. As Creampaw's vision came back into focus, she noticed Silverleaf rush over to her.

"Creampaw, you were attacked by Darkenedfrost. She struck the back of your neck and clawed a deep wound in your shoulder," the medicine cat explained as he parted the fur on Creampaw's neck to check the wound. "I've dressed your wounds, but there's a good chance your shoulder could get infected."

Rainspeck's eyes widened. "How high is that chance?"

"Right in between the highs and lows of chances," Silverleaf purred as he checked Creampaw's shoulder wound. "As long as Creampaw checks with me every day, she'll be good as new in no time. Her shoulder might leave a scar though."

Creampaw brightened at that comment. Her first battle scar! Gaining the scar wasn't exciting, but keeping it was. Turning to look at her foster mother, she quickly noticed Rainspeck's patchy, blood-stained fur. Her muzzle had a scratch on it and blood ran down her shoulder, her chest was bleeding along with a wound on her flank.

"Where's Aloeheart?" Creampaw mewed, wincing when she shifted positions. When she'd claimed Rainspeck to be her foster mother, her real kin entered her mind, but she quickly pushed them out. They weren't important to her anymore.

"He's out fighting still," Rainspeck replied. "Those ShadeClan cats won't give up! I don't know why they didn't wait to attack a patrol at Moss Rocks instead of coming to camp."

"They wanted to try and ambush us, remember?" Creampaw told her. Rainspeck replied with a nod. Creampaw quickly remembered that Softpaw had been sent to the medicine den. 
Where's Softpaw at?"

"Right here!" The young tom's voice came from the back of the den where he'd been making a poultice with Butterflypaw. Silverleaf must've been showing them the correct herbs and ways to make poultices. Softpaw quickly left the mixture on a leaf to bound over to Creampaw's side.

Creampaw smiled at him. "It's good you didn't go out and fight. The medicine cats need your help."

"I'm only a day-old apprentice," Softpaw shrugged. "There's not much else I can do."

Creampaw nodded and attempted to get to her paws, only to let out a hiss of pain and slump back into her nest in the medicine den. 

"You might want to stay in your nest until you get more strength," Silverleaf mewed. Creampaw's whiskers drooped as Silverleaf said those words. Her first battle and she was already too wounded to continue fighting.

"Fine," Creampaw grumbled, trying to find a way she could lay her head and shoulder iAftern the nest without triggering pain. 

"Rainspeck, you should go back out and fight for the Clan." Silverleaf turned to Rainspeck. "We need all the warriors we can get right now." The she-cat opened her mouth to reply while casting a glance at Creampaw, but Silverleaf spoke before Rainspeck could utter a word. "Creampaw will be fine under my care. Go and fight."

Rainspeck stood still for a second in the faint light of the moon before nodding and walking to Creampaw to touch noses with her. After doing that, Rainspeck dashed as quickly as she could from the den to the clearing. There wasn't as much yowling and snarling as when the battle had started, so cats must've grown tired.

Then as soon as Creampaw tried falling asleep to pass the time, a screech came from the clearing before silence fell over the camp like fog. It sounded like a tom had screeched, but she couldn't be sure. Silverleaf's ears flattened, Butterflypaw looked up from making poultices, and Softpaw scurried to the den entrance.

"We've done it!" A yowl that sounded like it belonged to Cedarstar announced in triumph. "Moss Rocks is ours! ShadeClan will feast tonight! Let's go warriors!" The sounds of paw steps thundering out of the ravine followed his cry until everyone was silent.

Silverleaf rushed out into the clearing to see what was going on with Butterflypaw following. Creampaw struggled to get to her paws and found Softpaw running over to her to help her stand up.

"Lean against me," the smaller cat mewed as Creampaw used three legs to lean against her friend. Softpaw took her weight and helped Creampaw walk as she limped into the clearing. She and Softpaw struggled to get through the crowd of cats that were surrounding something in the center of camp. But when Creampaw and Softpaw got to the front of the crowd, they gasped in surprise as well as pain.

A brown tom with darker markings lay in the center of the crowd, frozen in fear. Blood trickled from his opened mouth, his eyes were wide open in shock, and his fur was matted with blood. He had a ton of scratches and wounds, his tail with twisted, and his claws were out on one paw as if he had been about to land a blow. Blood pooled around his chest, revealing a fatal wound that ran from his neck to his chest.

Creampaw figured this must've been the cat that screamed before he died. He wasn't breathing; his flanks were as still as a rock. A sudden wail came from around her before she noticed the wail was from her. "Acornstar!" 

Cats dipped their heads in sorrow, some letting out low moans of grief and pain. Mapleleaf stepped through the crowd to bring another body to the center of the clearing. It was a light blue tom with darker paws that Creampaw noticed as Mistpuddle.

Mistpuddle had a long bloody wound running from the back of his neck to halfway down his back. His blue fur was stained red, and his claws were out for protection before he died. Blizzardspots made her way to the center, alive but stumbling, and looked around at the MistClan cats who still stood.

"We have fought bravely against ShadeClan from around moonhigh to twilight," she rasped as blood dripped from her muzzle. "I am proud of us, and even prouder of Acornstar and Mistpuddle. Before we go on, is there any other cats who have died for their Clan?"

Sad murmurs rose from the others saying that everyone else was alive. 

"I saw how Acornstar died," a voice rose from the crowd. It was Nightmoon who slowly stumbled to the front of the crowd. "Cedarstar, Flamestep, Nettlenose, and Thistlebush were all attacking him at once. Acornstar was struggling to fight back, so I tried to help him, but Nettlenose broke away and held me back." She dipped her head in sorrow. "I feel so bad that, knowing that I could've helped. I feel like if I hadn't reacted so late, he'd still be alive."

Cloverpetal came to Nightmoon's side. His gray and white pelt was stained red with blood. He had a torn claw and a deep wound on his cheek along with one on his hind leg, causing him to limp. He slowly licked the she-cat's ear. "Don't blame yourself," he muttered kindly. Creampaw never thought she'd hear that come from the warrior's mouth.

Blizzardspots nodded. "Cloverpetal is right, Nightmoon. It is not your fault that Acornstar died. He was a noble leader who was willing to use his last life fighting for his Clan. I will go to the Moonpool when I know every cat here is safe, treated, and well."

Creampaw nodded along with the others as they started to clean their wounds before seeing Silverleaf. The medicine cat called in two warriors at a time to treat with Butterflypaw. Creampaw looked around the camp. Dens were destroyed and blood and scraps of fur littered the clearing. It would take a bit to clean up and get back to normal, but MistClan would remain strong.