Warriors: Air (Warrior Cats Fan Fiction Book Three)

Chapter Three

Briarclaw looked out over Snowclan's camp.

He had been its only medicine cat for four moons now, and yet he still found the job very demanding. I wish Firenose was still here to teach me, he thought. He met up with the other medicine cats every half moon, and Firenose had already visited him from Starclan once or twice, but it wasn't the same as having hands-on help in Snowclan.

Speaking of needing help, Briarclaw realized that he needed herbs. He could go out into the forest on his own if he wanted to. Because he was a medicine cat, he could do what he pleased within reason. But still, he didn't feel comfortable running out of camp without telling anyone. He still wasn't fully comfortable with his status yet, and the privileges that came with the position.

I'll ask for some cat to come with me, he thought. He didn't want his Clanmates to get sick again just because he was too antsy to go into the forest alone.

Briarclaw looked out at the options of who he could ask. Blizzardflight and Redfur were sharing a vole at the edge of the clearing. They were siblings, and Briarclaw had just treated Blizzardflight for the thorn in his pad. Still, Briarclaw barely knew them, but Firenose had died curing the siblings' sickness. At least she didn't die for nothing, he thought sadly.

Briarclaw looked over at Brownstep and Dawnglide, also brother and sister, Marshstar's and Hilltail's children, who were training their new apprentices, Sunpaw and Dapplepaw respectively. Sunpaw, the little ginger tom, waved his tail at Briarclaw when he saw him looking. Briarclaw nodded back, then turned away. All four cats were too busy to go into the forest with him, anyway.

He looked over at Windyclaw and Darkstorm, who were talking to each other while sunning on some rocks. The pale gray she-cat and the dark gray tom were senior Warriors and also siblings. Does everyone in Snowclan have a sibling? Briarclaw thought with a chuckle.

Thinking of his own sibling, he looked over to where Lightfrost was sitting by herself outside the Warrior's den, clearly lost in thought. He hoped that she was feeling okay after being named a Warrior, but she was probably thinking about their other sibling, Brightpaw. He decided he wouldn't ask her to go with him, even though it would be nice to talk to her, he knew she needed time to think about things. I'll catch up with her later, he decided.

He saw Stormsplash and Cowfur talking by the fresh-kill pile, and decided that he would ask them. The deputy was pretty happy-go-lucky, and he had traveled with him and Stormsplash to Waterclan a few moons ago to question Froststar.

With a pain, Briarclaw remembered seeing Weatherfall there. He hadn't talked to his old friend since that day, when he had realized he had been alive but living in Waterclan. He wished that Weatherfall hadn't left, because he could have asked him to go get herbs with him.

Briarclaw was hurt that Weatherfall had left without him, and had led everyone to believe that he was dead. He still had unresolved things he needed to say to his friend, but that could wait a bit longer... he didn't even know what he would say when they came face to face again.

Briarclaw pushed away his thoughts of Weatherfall and padded over to Stormsplash and Cowfur, who were deep in conversation.

"You seemed upset when Lightfrost said you might die before Marshstar," Stormsplash meowed. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Cowfur said, shifting his paws awkwardly. "It's just, well... it brought up some memories. That's what happened to my mother, Goldfur."

"I had no idea," Stormsplash said sadly.

"She was Pitchstar's deputy," Cowfur explained. "But she died before she became leader. She had a sickness, so Thornstar was promoted in her place. She died before I made it out of the nursery."