(on hold) 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 || warrior cats fanfiction

𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦

(Pic above is Mudpaw!)

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Mothpaw woke up in the medicine den. Weird, since she could've sworn she was in the middle of the clearing before. Then it hit her. She had fainted.

Grayflower was busy sorting a mini pile of herbs to give to Mothpaw when she noticed her sitting up. She was about to say something, but Honeypaw barged into the den.

"Mothpaw! Oh, great StarClan! Are you okay?" She asked frantically. Her voice was clearly a mix of sorry, guilt and..hurt?

"Honeypaw! Back away!" Grayflower snapped. "She needs to rest!" The golden-brown apprentice lowered her ears before trailing away sadly.

Grayflower huffed before changing her expression. "Now, are you okay? Do you know why you fainted?"

Mothpaw shook her head lightly. "No, but I do remember Honeypaw and Fernpaw being all up in my space, so I got overwhelmed, I guess.."

The medicine cat pushed over a few black seeds towards the apprentice. "Here, eat these. They're poppy seeds, and they'll help you sleep. I am unsure why you did faint, but I'm positive it was because you were overwhelmed." Grayflower chuckled to herself. "Honeypaw can be a bit overbearing at times."

"Don't I know it," Mothpaw mewed, exhaling. She lapped up the seeds and gave in to her sleep, feeling an uneasy presence watching her.

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The forest was dark. No light sources with the exception of a small twoleg fire. They were so weird. Who would start a fire on purpose? A dappled she-cat walked along the Thunderpath, carefully creeping through the ferns. She stopped at a small lake, taking a dive.

She was drowning, slowly but surely, but this was no ordinary lake. It was a sea of blood. The dappled cat frantically flailed around, trying to thrust herself up to the surface. Nothing worked, and soon the dappled cat found herself losing consciousness, slowly drifting into blackness.

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Panicking, Mothpaw sprang up, getting slightly dizzy from the blood rushing to her head. Taking a look at her surroundings, she calmed down a bit. Just a dream. She thought, yawning and stretching. I should go see if I can get back to training. Now, where's that medicine cat?

"Mothpaw?" Asked an unfamiliar voice. A light colored tom came around the corner, looking at her with fuzzy, blind eyes. "Cloverpaw and Sunstrike are here to see you."

Light cream fur and golden tabby fur came barreling towards Mothpaw, panicking and screeching. They asked questions like, "Mothpaw! Are you okay?" or "What happened?" Mothpaw seemed unfazed, since her face carried a bored expression.

"I'm fine," Mothpaw growled, attempting to push Cloverpaw off of her. "And I just got overwhelmed when Honeypaw and Fernpaw were all up in my face, and I fainted."

Sunstrike lowered his head in guilt. "It's my fault. I should've never forced you to communicate." He muttered. Then, he unsheathed his claws in anger. He stormed out of the den, thrashing his tail.

Cloverpaw looked at the direction Sunstrike went. "Do you think you'll be able to continue training? Hawkleaf and Fawncliff offered to show us some basic fighting moves," She meowed softly.

"I may have to stay in camp for another day," Mothpaw sighed. "But I'm sure that Grayflower will let me know as soon as I'm able to start training again." Cloverpaw seemed pleased with the answer, so she padded out of the den.

Tansypaw came around the corner again. "Grayflower told me you can walk around the camp if you'd like, but no going out until tomorrow, perhaps." He meowed. Then he walked away again.

Finally! Mothpaw thought, standing up slowly and stretching. It felt like I would be trapped here for moons! She padded out of the den, heading straight to the fresh-kill pile. She picked up a large blackbird and walked over to the stump where she and Mudpaw first met. Speaking of Mudpaw, the brown tabby apprentice was talking with a dusky brown she-cat with light cream spots. Mothpaw felt a pang of sadness for a brief moment before she pushed the thought away.

Quickly scarfing down the blackbird as if she hadn't eaten in moons, Mothpaw wandered back to Grayflower's den. If she was going to be trapped in camp all day, she might as well be useful.

"Grayflower? May I have some moss?" The dappled apprentice asked.

The gray medicine cat padded up to the apprentice. "Sure? Why do you need moss?"

"I figured that if I'm going to be stuck in camp today, I might as well be helpful. I'm going to tend to the elders today," Mothpaw told Grayflower.

Grayflower purred. "I'm sure they'll appreciate it. I'll go get you your moss..." She stuck her head into a hole in the wall, grabbing two wads of moss.

"Thank you!" Mothpaw mewed. She ran over to the elders den, which was actually a hollowed out tree that had vines growing on all sides.

One of them looked up at the 'paw, confusion softening their gaze. "Well, what brings you here, young one?" He mewed, tilting his head. The other tom stayed asleep beside him, softly snoring.

"I'm here to clean out your den," Mothpaw declared. "Would you please stand up so I can replace your nests?"

The gray and black marbled tom nodded before standing up and stretching. Mothpaw swore she heard some of his joints crack. He nudged the brown tabby next to him, waking up the cranky old tom.

"What?" He spat. "Can't an old coot like me get some rest, Pebblefur?"

"Nettlefoot," Pebblefur meowed. "This kind apprentice has offered to clean out our nest. Please, show her some respect."

Nettlefoot's gaze softened, but he still had a scowl on his face. "Fine. And when you're done, I'll have you scan me and Pebblefur for ticks. I've got one on my neck."

Mothpaw didn't protest. She immediately started making new nests with the moss that Grayflower gave her, lining them with feathers and other soft objects. She tore apart the old nests and balled them up, hoping to give them to Sweetfang's kits so they could play moss ball. To finish off her job, she placed the moss balls in a secret hole in the camp wall and went to Grayflower to find some mouse bile to get rid of the two elders' ticks.

"Tansypaw?" Mothpaw asked, looking around for the familiar gray medicine cat. "Where did Grayflower go?"

The blind apprentice flicked an ear. "She went out to look for some more catmint before leafbare. What do you need?"

Mothpaw cleared her throat. "I need some mouse bile. Nettlefoot says he has a tick."

For a brief moment, Tansypaw scrunched up his nose at the thought of the foul smelling liquid. "I'll get you some, just hang tight," he meowed, unhappy that he had to do something with mouse bile.

He came back with a mossball drenched in the mouse bile. "Here. Don't get any on your paws, and if you do, wash it out in water. Don't lick it, otherwise it'll be the only thing you'll be tasting for a while."

The dappled apprentice nodded, taking the moss ball. She had begun to regret her decision to tend to the elders. Pebblefur greeted her with a warm smile, while Nettlefoot still had a scowl on his face. Ignoring all other things, Mothpaw quickly found the tick. She dabbed on the mouse bile to loosen its grip and quickly killed it with her teeth.

"Thank you, young one," Pebblefur mewed gratefully. "You've been a major help. Would you mind fetching me some prey? I'm not picky."

Mothpaw nodded, her eyes drooping. She was exhausted, but she pulled through, grabbing a decently sized rabbit for Pebblefur. She dropped the rabbit off and walked back to Grayflower's den. She wasn't sure if she was allowed to sleep in the apprentice den, but just in case, she decided to stay with the gray medicine cat until she could begin training again. Practically flopping down in her nest, Mothpaw quickly fell asleep, her dream nothing but black.

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I haven't focused on Cloverpaw much, so the next chapter will probably revolve around her! Next chapter is about...ha! You thought I would spoil things? Think again!

Signing off

   -zippy-