Warrior cats: The Silent Path

Chapter 7

"Uh, sure..." Shatteredpaw meowed. As he answered Copperpaw settled herself neatly right next to him.

"I'm sorry I didn't come earlier, Fallentail had me real busy with patrols and stuff," she meowed, gnawing on her mouse. Shatteredpaw hadn't given too much care into visits from other cats. It was quite rare unless another cat was sick or injured.

"It's fine," he sighed, gulping down his own squirrel, polishing off the remains on his snout. He remembered the day she described color to him, and the brief moment he got to see for himself. She had described orange as a clear evening, near mealtime. The rogue was orange. His thoughts were broken when she nudged him.

"Are you sure?" She meowed, he felt her tongue brush behind his ear a few times. He didn't answer, instead he shifted his position and grunted. "Okay, then," She meowed, pulling away from him. "I have to go, get better soon," she meowed.

"What about me?" Violetpaw snapped.

"The longer you're here the better," Copperpaw muttered. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Violetpaw growled. 

"Yeah," Shatteredpaw added.

"Uh, I'm mean your leg. It should get to heal properly, so you can be more... efficient," Copperpaw meowed. Violetpaw let out a snort and Copperpaw sighed. "Bye, Shatteredpaw," she cooed, disappearing from the den. 

Saptoes, who had gone to check on Willowfur came through the den with obvious urgency. "What's going on?" Shatteredpaw meowed, standing up from his nest. 

"It's Willowfur. She's kitting, now!" Saptoes exclaimed. 

"I'm coming," Shatteredpaw insisted. It been many days since he could get any thing done as an apprentice.

"No," Saptoes meowed, digging through herbs.

"Why not? I'm feeling just fine, besides, it'd be good experience," Shatteredpaw challenged, lashing his tail, which still hurt from the fight.

"Okay then, take these, and follow me," Saptoes heaved, giving him a folded leaf full of herbs. Shatteredpaw followed Saptoes to the nursery. His wounds were sore but he paid no mind to them. He squeezed his way through the nursery, hearing his mother burst into a wail. Shatteredpaw unraveled the leaf and found raspberry leaves, borage, moss and a stick. Cloverfeather had nosed him to the kitting queen.

"Eat, Willowfur," he meowed, nosing the raspberry leaves to her. She took them, Shatteredpaw could feel her heavy breaths.

"There're coming!" She wailed. After a long heartbeat of Willowfur's pained cries, Saptoes brought Shatteredpaw a kit to warm up, one by one. There were four kits. Shatteredpaw licked each one, soothing out their fur and making sure they were warm. They were smaller than he'd expected, though he remembered they weren't due for another moon. He heard Willowfur groaning and Saptoes fumbling frantically. 

"We must stay calm," Cloverfeather meowed.

"She's bleeding heavily, this isn't good. Shatteredpaw give me the moss, give her more raspberry leaves," Saptoes instructed. Shatteredpaw did so. He tried giving Willowfur more leaves but she hadn't taken them. She was breathing hard and Shatteredpaw could smell blood. Something was wrong, he could feel Willowfur's breath fading.

The other queens had chimed in, helping the kits breathe and stay warm while also pushing their way to Willowfur. Her breaths were slow and Shatteredpaw could tell she was going unconscious.

"Willowfur!" A frantic mew sounded. It was Darkstar who burst through the nursery. 

After the stessful commotion died down everyone in the nursery was quiet. Darkstar had pushed his way through the cats to snuggle next to his mate.

"How are the kits? Is she going to be okay?" He demanded.

"I- I," Saptoes seemed distressed, as if he were as helpless as the kits.

"She'll be fine," Cloverfeather stepped in. 

"What about the kits, they look like they're not breathing," Darkstar meowed. Shatteredpaw was the one with the kits, silently warming them up. His leader wasn't wrong, Shatteredpaw did his best to wake them but only two of them moved. The kits hadn't meowed once. "Bring them to their mother!" Darkstar hissed. Cloverfeather and the queens took them from Shatteredpaw's care and brought them to Willowfur. It was quiet with anticipation for a long moment. 

"We should move them to the medicine den. She had them too soon, they'd be best under out care," Saptoes finally let out. Shatteredpaw could feel and fear emanating from the other cats but especially his father. 

It took a while but Willowfur and her new kits were finally brought to the medicine den, settled in a nest. Willowfur was still unconscious but breathing lightly.

"Willowfur?" Violetpaw meowed. 

"Violetpaw, for once, just stay back," Shatteredpaw hissed, not having any patience to deal with his sister. Violetpaw was silent.

Darkstar and the queens had left to leave Willowfur and the kits in the medicine cats care. He could hear Saptoes pacing anxiously. His mentor was acting quite strange. The old tom was never anxious like this. 

"Saptoes," Cloverfeather meowed. He stopped his pacing.

"What?!" Saptoes huffed. 

"This kits aren't breathing, except two," she meowed. Shatteredpaw sat in his nest, listening. 

"And Willowfur?" Saptoes asked.

"She's breathing, she'll wake," Cloverfeather meowed. "Two of the kits are dead," she continued. Hearing the news he seemed to be dreading, Saptoes let out a frustrated growl. "Saptoes, What is wrong with you. You're not focused, you're acting like a scared kit," she exclaimed. "Your behavior could've cost more than these kits lives."

"Nothing is wrong. Shatteredpaw," the tom meowed. Shatteredpaw craned his ears to listen. "Are you well enough to learn battle moves?"

Shatteredpaw lifted his head in surprise. "Yes!" He meowed jumping to his paws. Saptoes let him out of camp, the troubles of the camp faded as Shatteredpaw followed his mentor with determination, leaving Cloverfeather to care for the kits. As he padded along the forest he nearly tripped when he heard Copperpaw. "Shatteredpaw?" She meowed. "What are you doing?"

He stopped in his tracks. "I'm going to train, train to fight," he answered, trying to hold back he excitement.

"Can I come?" She asked, her demeanor seemed quiet and more thoughtful. 

"What about Fallentail?" Saptoes answered before he could.

"He wanted me to go hunt but... the fresh kill pile is pretty full, and he left me out of his patrol," she meowed. "Before you say no, Fallentail says I'm a good fighter, and you know how he is... I can help," she pleaded.

"Ok," Saptoes grunted.

They padded until the reached a clearing of dirt that had been padded away by cats. He smelt a familiar herb but he couldn't quite identify it. "Shatteredpaw, this is the burnt sycamore," Saptoes explained. "This is where yarrow and even cobweb is found." That's it! That what it was, yarrow. Shatteredpaw sat down and waited for his mentor to tell him about the herb, as his mentor always did about a new herb. "Yarrow is used to extract poinsons, with sickness inside or outside," Saptoes meowed. 

"Do you think Willowfur had poison?" He meowed. 

"No, it was something else... Let's just begin,"  his mentor sniffed.