The Surviving Few (Warrior Cats)

Chapter fourteen - showered in sunlight

As soon as she woke the next day, belly screaming in hunger, Raindrop padded over to her brother, Honeydusk and Leafwillow. Ryespring's amber eyes were wide open; he lay watching the others, his ears pricked, as if listening for danger.

Honeydusk stirred as Raindrop sat down beside her and Ryespring. She let out a soft yawn, stretched, and quietly meowed, "Raindrop." Short yet full of warmth.

Raindrop cast a quick glance at Wildfire. She looked as if about to pass out, in desperate need of prey and sleep. Honeydusk, however, looked beautiful as ever.

"Yes," Raindrop said, moving her gaze back toward the golden she-cat.

Honeydusk gave her paw a lick and moved it over her ears. "I want to look for herbs before we leave. Come with me."

She waited, patiently, for her answer. Raindrop stifled a purr. A pleasant warmth spread through her, threatening to replace her lingering guilt from the night before. She thought she might let it, just this once.

"Okay," she mewed then. Weirdly, she felt as if this was a bigger thing than just looking for herbs.

Ryespring watched them both, a look of mingled curiosity and suspicion on his face.

Honeydusk bent over Leafwillow and prodded her with her paw, claws sheathed. She murmured, "Leafwillow."

"...what?" groaned Leafwillow, still half-asleep. Her brown fur looked ruffled as she rose to her paws.

"I'm going to search for herbs. When the others wake, try to find something to eat."
Raindrop watched Ryespring as he eyed Leafwillow, his gaze now admiring.
"Of course," mumbled Leafwillow through a yawn.

...

"Get some rest," Honeydusk told Wildfire as they passed her. She was refusing to meet Raindrop's gaze, and seemed, once again, as if guilty of something. That something, Raindrop decided, was none of her business, and so she added, "Leafwillow will find food. Just sleep."

"...thanks," Wildfire meowed. Her eyes were thin slits as she got to her paws, and she wore a deep frown as she padded away from them, but beneath it all, she looked relieved.

...

Raindrop felt at ease as she walked beside Honeydusk toward the burned-down forest. She was exhausted, her pads were sore and cut, and her stomach ached painfully in hunger. Yet she was alive, she knew she would be able to eat eventually, and she had hope that they could find a place to settle for good, far away from the rogues and their cruel past. Hoping was not all bad.

Secretly, she also hoped that Honeydusk liked her in the way that Raindrop liked her. At the moment, as sunlight showered over them both, bathing them in pleasant warmth, even this did not seem all that impossible.

Light filtered in trough the many branches overhead, the shadows becoming steadily more complicated and intricately detailed as the forest grew denser still.

They walked in silence, their paces matching the calm atmosphere that surrounded them.

They moved closer, so that the tips of their tails touched.

Their pelts brushed.

They were moving side-by-side. Their pawsteps synchronized, soundlessly touching the ground as they walked onwards.

"Tansy." Honeydusk steered to the side. Raindrop followed, opening her mouth. A weak but sweet scent filled her nostrils. Honeydusk sniffed the remains of a cluster of tansy flowers, frowning. She moved her tail through the stalks, barely reaching. They dissolved at her touch, bits falling to the ground like the first snows of leaf-bare.

A few stems remained standing, yellow blooms contrasting their withered and burned surroundings.

"These will do for now."

"They're for coughs. Are they for Poppypaw?" Raindrop spoke before she could stop herself. It was such a stupid question — of course they were for Poppypaw. It seemed just the thing Honeydusk would do for any cat.

Honeydusk nodded, expression unreadable. "How do you know?"

Raindrop hesitated. This felt like exposing a part of herself that, up until now, she has strived to keep hidden. Quietly, she meowed, "...I, or, me and Ryespring, were in the medicine den a lot. Our medicine cat taught us some things."

"Really?"

Raindrop could tell Honeydusk longed to ask more. An invisible why? hung in the air.

"My mom was really strict. She blamed us for something that happened between her and my dad. She wouldn't let us out of the nursery very often because she was scared we'd talk to some other kits and she needed someone to yell at. Whenever she was outside or napping we'd sneak out of the den and into Shivertail's through a hole we found in the back. He was one of the few cats who didn't look down on us because of what my dad did. Then, when I got injured after a battle against ShadowClan, I started talking to Reedheart, Shivertail's apprentice, who I hadn't been allowed to speak to before. She also taught me some things. She kind of because my friend. And then she died in the first blow. Shivertail died in the third."

Raindrop spoke as if she had not spoken for moons. Words tumbled out of her, leaving her mouth before she even had time to process what she was saying. Yet she felt like something heavy had been lifted in her chest. She felt lighter than she had in moons. Seasons, even. She had told someone at last.

She felt Honeydusk press against her flank. Honeydusk mewed, unable to suppress the note of longing in her voice, "maybe you had a thing for medicine cats."

Raindrop felt a purr rise in her throat. She breathed, "I still do." She was not sure Honeydusk had even heard her. Maybe that was for the best.

Honeydusk left her side and weaved through the grass and bracken in front of them. Then, reaching the surviving flowers, she bent down and bit them off by the stems. Three leaves fell down to the ground as she came back toward Raindrop. They swirled as they fell, carried down by a gentle yet tugging breeze. One landed smoothly; the other two were taken by the wind. It carried the scent of plants in bloom and thriving prey. Raindrop's mouth watered. If only the waters were clean so she could fish. Even better, she could teach Honeydusk how to do so.

"Should I carry some?" she asked. Honeydusk shook her head, gazing to her side, in through more bare trees and bushes. She spoke through the herbs in her jaws, "I hear voices. Let's go this way."

And so they did.

A/N: Leaves