Warriors: Escaping Fate

Chapter 11 - The New Deputy

Redmoon emerged from the medicine cat den, the stick of cobwebs clenched firmly between her jaws. Her mind was still hazy from the vision she had witnessed earlier, and the sudden touch of the chilled air against her face took her by surprise. "It's snowing..." she murmured, her breath forming a small cloud in front of her. She lifted her gaze towards the sky, mesmerized by the graceful descent of the small, glittery flakes that drifted downwards, which blanketed the camp in white. For a moment, she wished she could stay that way forever, slowly disappearing under the snow only to emerge in greenleaf.

Then a voice snapped her back to the present. "Is Icebreath and Sparkpaw okay?" Littleaf asked, his tail twitching nervously. "Rabbitclaw wants to know as well."

Redmoon felt hot with embarrassment as the warrior gazed at her, his green eyes filled with concern. "They're fine," she reassured him, after putting the cobwebs down so that she could speak. If he was that concerned, he would go to the nursery and check on them himself. "Neither cat has life-threatening injuries. Sparkpaw needs to rest for a day and go easy on his training, and Icebreath will have to stay off her leg for a moon."

Littleaf nodded, visibly relieved. "Thank StarClan," he murmured. Icebreath was his littermate and Sparkpaw was his apprentice. If he lost them both he wouldn't know what to do with himself.

Redmoon gently touched his shoulder with her tail. "Don't worry, they'll live," she assured him. "Now, go and fetch them some fresh moss for Icebreath to rest on and bring it to the medicine cat den. Cloverpaw's in there helping out."

Littleleaf dipped his head and then scurried off to do as he was told. Redmoon watched him go, feeling as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, knowing she had one less thing to do.

Once she had arrived at the nursery, she dropped the cobwebs on her front paws and peered inside. "How is everyone?

"Can I go now?" Sparkpaw grumbled. "I have important things to do." He had his head on his paws, and he was waving his tail back and forth impatiently. "I promised Dewpaw that I would help her clean out the elder's den."

Redmoon gave a curt nod. "I think you're good to go, just make sure you take it easy and rest for the remainder of the day. And keep that wound clean!" She shouted as the ginger tabby rushed past her. The tom gave a small grunt in response before disappearing behind the nursery.

Once inside, Redmoon found Icebreath lying on her side, chatting with Goldenear. The yellow-eyed she-cat looked up just as Redmoon entered and gave her a reassuring glance. "She's okay, the wound looks much better now thanks to the cobwebs you used earlier. She's no longer bleeding."

Redmoon rolled her eyes. Great, she wasn't needed after all.

She padded over to Icebreath's side and examined the leg injury herself. After giving it a good sniff, she detected no signs of infection. The swelling around the wound had also subsided, and it was pretty pink in color. "Goldenear, you did an excellent job cleaning the wound," Redmoon remarked with admiration. "I don't need to do anything more to it."

"Of course," Goldenear purred in response, pleased with the acknowledgment.

Even though she had meant to check up on her patients, Redmoon didn't want to let the trip go to waste. "How are you feeling, Goldenear?" she asked. It had been one moon since the former warrior moved into the nursery.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" She rolled onto her side, exposing her white underbelly.

Redmoon pressed her ear gently into Goldenear's fur, listening intently. Suddenly, she felt a kick and pulled back in surprise.

She gave a mrrow of laughter. "They're pretty lively." She purred, licking her belly fur. "They're going to grow up to become powerful warriors."

"We're already trying to come up with names." Icebreath mewed, glancing with admiration towards the future queen.

"Can I name one?" Redmoon asked, wincing as she suddenly felt her heart drop to the bottom of her paws. The crushing realization that she will never be allowed to have kits felt like a fresh blow to her already fragile state of mind. This was yet another privilege being taken away from her by StarClan, and once again she felt her hatred towards Willowbranch intensify.

Goldenear placed her tail gently on her shoulder. "These kits will be yours as well as mine." She mewed, her yellow eyes staring warmly into Redmoon's own. "You'll be able to watch them grow up and become apprentices, and then become warriors and maybe even a medicine cat. Your bond will be stronger with them than the rest of your clanmates' because you will be there from the moment of their birth. I think that is a privilege equal to what you have lost."

As Redmoon listened intently to Goldenear's words, her eyes became glassy with tears, and it took all she could to hold them back from streaming down her face. Maybe Goldenear was right. Maybe this is what StarClan intended all along. A medicine cat's duty is to selflessly care for their clanmates and having kits will force them to become biased towards their own kin. As much as she desired to have her own, being able to name just one of them was enough to feel like she still had something to hold on to.