Froststar's Destiny

Chapter Twenty-six

Her eyesight was blurry and she could barely move.

Frostwind blinked open her eyes, taking in her surroundings. She felt weak, and she didn't know why. What had happened last? The fight with Turtleleaf? Her memory was fuzzy. She barely remembered Turtleleaf had brought out some sort of snake and tossed it at her. 

It must have poisoned me, she realized, a little late, and she smiled to herself. It would take more than poison to take out Frostwind. She wasn't renowned for nothing.

There was no one beside her. She was in the medicine den which reeked of marigold, but Hawkfeather wasn't anywhere in sight. She noticed poultices laid on an open wound. Her few days training has a medicine cat had taught her not to go touching those.

Still, this place reeked. She had hoped that Hawkfeather would put some sort of air freshener in here. She had suggested lavender to him, but it seemed he wasn't following her advice. The stench of herbs was overwhelming and made her want to pass out.

Frostwind wondered what had happened to Skyfeather. He had been there with her. But someone must have brought her back to camp, so she knew he was alright. He wasn't in the medicine den with her at least. He could still be dead, though. But she didn't want to think that.

She was about to get up when she felt dizzy. Great. So she was going to be confined to the medicine den now, was she? She'd faced worse than some snake bites! But no medicine cat had discharged her, so she waited in boredom. I could probably discharge myself, she thought, I was a medicine cat for three days.

She grimaced. What kind of silly though was that? Yet, the pain at the bite area was numb. It was her right leg, which was so heavily bandaged in cobwebs that it made her look incredibly fluffy, but with her fur sticking to her.

She was bored. There was nothing to do except gag on the toxic fumes released from the herbs. How was this a place of recovery, and how did anyone like this smell? Hawkfeather lived here! And slept here! 

She was infuriated by lack of the ability to move, and sunk back into her nest. Frostwind waited for someone to come and visit her, or at least for Hawkfeather to return.

She hadn't realized how much she'd been hoping to see Skyfeather, and her hopes had come crashing down when grumpy Hawkfeather entered. Still, she forced a cool expression onto her face, then felt ashamed of herself. He had just saved her life, and here she was, thinking bad things about him.

His eyes widened to the size of the sun. "You're awake," he said, and his voice was tart. Frostwind purred slightly. Trust the grumpy medicine cat to say that! But he did look relieved. Then he glared at her. "Skyfeather has been driving me mad! Could you find some way to keep your mate quiet?"

"Let him in to see me?" Frostwind suggested. Her voice was lucid and clear, and if not for her pale color and inability to move her limbs, he would have thought she was completely alright.

"You're too weak," Hawkfeather responded. "How is your leg? Painful? Can you move?"

"My leg has a numb pain, and no, I can't move," Frostwind meowed. "I mean, I can, but it's painful." To prove her point, she moved her tail to the right and hissed in pain.

"Alright, don't move then," Hawkfeather meowed.

"How do I eat, then?" Frostwind asked.

Hawkfeather shrugged. "You can talk. Is it painful to talk?" She shook her head. "Right, you can move your head without hurting, so, eating should be fine. Drinking too, but you're in a weird position for drinking and eating currently. We might need to roll you over. Can you move your front paws for me, please?"