salt in the wound || warrior cats

chapter 16

enemy lands

~~~

NIGHTSPIRIT CAME EVERY DAY to check up on Featherpool and Blossomsky. The silver tabby medicine cat was still weak, and it was Nightspirit's goal to make sure Featherpool avoided catching Blossomsky's disease. 

"But what about Blossomsky?" Russetfrost had approached the WindClan medicine cat one evening. Nightspirit was getting ready to head back to his camp for the night, along with a load of prey that ThunderClan offered as their thanks. "Is there anything you can do for her?"

The two toms were at the medicine den's entrance, speaking quietly to each other, but Violetpaw was nearby sharing tongues with Sweetpaw. Both apprentices' ears perked up to listen in. 

Nightspirit had hesitated before answering. "I'm not sure," he mewed at last. "She's on a deadly stage of greencough. I've done everything I can, but without catmint-" He inhaled sharply. "All my supply had dried up when Featherpool came to ask me, and I assume that none of the other Clans had anything either if she was desperate enough to approach SkyClan's territory."

Russetfrost's tail-tip twitched at this. "SkyClan has catmint?"

"If any Clan does, they would be the one." Nightspirit shifted on his paws. "They've got that abandoned Twoleg nest and the greenleaf Twolegplace, so they've got a greater supply. Plus, Yellowleaf tends to stock more catmint than the rest of us. However"- he winced -"with the relationship with SkyClan right now, I doubt that they'll be willing to share any."

Russetfrost shook his head. "Couldn't you ask for some, then bring it here? They would share with WindClan, wouldn't they?"

"Yeah, but I bet Crowstar would demand to see the sick patient first to make sure it's a WindClan cat before handing me any catmint." Nightspirit blinked at him, then bent down to pick up the prey ThunderClan had given him. "Sorry."

As he padded away, leaving the ThunderClan deputy utterly devastated, Violetpaw suddenly felt a tug of anxiety at the bottom of her stomach. Blossomsky had to get better, she just had to.

 She wasn't quite sure why she felt so strongly about the dappled warrior's health, but there was a tingle in her paws that told her that she had to do something.

"Hey, Sweetpaw, did you hear that?" the white she-cat mewed once Russetfrost had gone as well. "SkyClan might have catmint."

Her sister blinked back at her with wide green eyes, slicing sharply through the night. "Yeah, I heard."

"We need to get it somehow," Violetpaw decided. "Blossomsky can't die from greencough."

"Well, now that Russetfrost knows, I'm sure he'll tell Lilystar, and she can speak with Crowstar about it."

"You heard what Nightspirit said," Violetpaw replied. "Crowstar would rather Blossomsky die than give it to us."

The gray tabby shrugged. "Then we'll fight."

"Yeah, but that could take moons." The white apprentice's tail-tip twitched anxiously. "Blossomsky won't stand a chance by then."

Sweetpaw brushed her tail against Violetpaw's flanks comfortingly. "I know it's awful, but it's up to StarClan now."

There it was again. That flash of annoyance when StarClan was mentioned. But Violetpaw swallowed roughly and pushed it down. "Yeah. You're right."

~~~

THE NEXT MORNING, Violetpaw was assigned to dawn patrol. Grumbling with displeasure, she pushed herself up from her warm nest into the frosty, cold air and padded outside along with Brightpaw and Ravenpaw. They were the ones actually assigned to dawn patrol; Violetpaw wasn't sure which mentor she was tagging along with. All she knew was that she'd hardly spoken to her own mentor at all in the past week.