Warrior cats: The Silent Path

Chapter 16

The next morning Shatteredpaw jolted awake in panic. He dreamt of the fight last night. Cloverfeather bounded out of the den, where she slept, and crouched to his side.

"Is everything alright?" She meowed.

"Yeah, I'm alright."

"What's this?" Cloverfeather nose his snout and flank, to the scratches Violetpaw had given him. "Shatteredpaw, were you telling the truth about Violetpaw?" Her tone sounded uncertain, which made him feel all the more guilty.

"What? Of course!" He hissed, bristling his fur. Although it wasn't true, and his stomach twisted at his lying and snapping at her.

"Where'd you get these scratches?" She meowed.

Shatteredpaw took a moment to think. "...From the fight earlier that day remember? She hit me again before she left and then... well I found her dead."

"Oh...Ok," Cloverfeather mewed, soothing his wounds with her tongue. To Shatteredpaw's relief she believed him. It was lucky his sister was known for this unruly behavior. Cloverfeather took some herb poultice and dabbed it on his wounds. It stung for a heartbeat but began to soothe. "I know this won't be the last time I say this, but take it easy," his mentor sighed.

"I will," he meowed, pressing his nose into her fur, accidentally smearing the poultice on her fur. A heartbeat later cats came through the den, it was Hornetpaw and Fidgetpaw. Shatteredpaw pinned his ears. He wasn't too fond of Hornetpaw, although Fidgetpaw was quite mellow. He hadn't spent much time with the shy she cat but he liked her quiet energy.

"What is it?" Cloverfeather spoke.

"Tell them," Fidgetpaw meowed. Hornetpaw let out a reluctant huff.

"I was out hunting and... and I tore my claw," he grumbled.

"Shatteredpaw, why don't you take a look.. erm, I mean check it out," Cloverfeather meowed.

"Give me your claw," Shatteredpaw grunted, letting out a tired yawn. To his surprise the apprentice did so without any snarky remarks. Hornetpaw flexed his claws so that Shatteredpaw could feel them. One of his claws was missing, with the slight tang of dried blood. Hornetpaw winced as Shatteredpaw nosed the missing claw. "Hold it in some cool water for a moment," he instructed. He heard Hornetpaw shuffled away, Shatteredpaw assumed he was doing so. Shatteredpaw nosed his way through an assortment of leaves and herbs, until he found dock. He grabbed it and a bit of cobwebs, chewing the leaves into a poultice. He called Hornetpaw back and slightly dabbed it on the missing claw. He finished off, carefully wrapping cobwebs around it.

"It will grow back, right?" Hornetpaw meowed restlessly. Shatteredpaw could feel the younger tom's nervousness.

"We will have to see. Claws usually don't tear that deep," Shatteredpaw meowed. Few cats had come in with hang nails and broken claws but none of the claws were actually missing like this. "It might, but it doesn't seem likely. I'm mean, the whole thing is gone!"

"This sucks!" Hornetpaw complained. Fidgetpaw let out a quiet gasp.

"Just try not to disturb it while it heals," Shatteredpaw suggested. As he meowed, Hornetpaw was already padding away, followed by Fidgetpaw.

"First Violetpaw and now this," Hornetpaw muttered. His grumbling went on until it was out of earshot.

After he was sure the two apprentices were gone, Shatteredpaw meowed to Cloverfeather. "Should I have used chervil instead? Or oak leaves? Or maybe I should've given him poppy, not that he deserves it," he quickly meowed. Shatteredpaw had been given few opportunities to work on injured and sick cats, and he didn't want to let his mentor down.