Aspenleaf's Duty

Chapter 7

Dawn came with a promise of more rain and cooler weather. The earth was already softer and outside the camp, the Thunderclan cats could hear birds singing, welcoming the new morning. For Thunderclan, however, this morning brought only the grief they had experienced the night before, the loss of some of their smallest members and the destruction of the camp. The dens still lay in tatters, many were still smoking.

Silverstar still lay in the middle of the camp curled around the bodies of her four kits. Occasionally she let out a wail of anguish for their loss before falling silent again. No-one dared to go near her after her behaviour the night before.

Ravencall began to set cats to the rebuilding of the camp, starting with the nursery and the medicine den. Before long, nests were built for those who had been injured in the fire. Hazelbreeze, Twigtail and Honeyfur had gone out with Poppydust to search for the herbs the sick cats needed. Ambermoon sat to the side of the camp with Icekit who was more subdued than normal at the loss of four of his friends. He asked multiple times to go and see Aspenkit, but Ambermoon simply licked him between the ears and told him he could go later. Dawnkit and Mistkit followed their mother as she began weaving bracken with springy twigs for new nests for when the dens were rebuilt.

Aspenkit lay quietly in her nest in the medicine cat den. Her breathing had eased with the clearer air, but she was still wheezing and her breath rattled in her lungs. Her throat was raw and painful and her nose still streamed. She feared opening her eyes in case the pain returned to them. Every so often she opened her eyes a crack to look around at the other cats in the den before closing them again. Blackheart had settled into the nest beside her, comforting his only remaining kit as she rasped in pain and whimpered for relief. His scratches gained in his fight with Silverstar still oozed slightly as he moved.

In the nest beside them, Robinpaw laid stretched out, Creekpaw lying awkwardly beside him, her sharp eyes never leaving him, her eyes always scanning him for a change in his condition. His breathing still rattled as he slept and the burn on his back looked as though ugly blisters were forming. When he whimpered in his sleep, Creekpaw would lick him over the ears like a mother comforting a kit. She spent a lot of her time with him desperately trying to soothe his wound and clean his fur.

"This will ruin your good looks." Aspenkit heard her mutter at one point. "I hope the fur will grow back."

A little after sun-high, Poppydust entered the derelict den with a mouth full of herbs. She stopped before Aspenkit and laid down a large flat leaf before her. "This is coltsfoot." She told the kit. "Do you remember what it's used for?"

Aspenkit furrowed her brow for a moment, before the answer came to her. "Breathe... ing..." she gasped.

"Very good." Said Poppydust nudging the leaf towards her. "So I want you to eat all of this, ok?"

Aspenkit obediently picked up the leaf in her jaws and began to chew. The foul taste of the juice trickled down her throat, but she kept chewing until the leaf was in small enough pieces to swallow. She forced it down, despite the rawness of her throat.

Poppydust moved over to Robinpaw as Hazelbreeze, Twigtail and Honeyfur all filed into the den, all holding herbs in their jaws and all hobbling on three legs, holding one paw out wrapped in cobwebs.

"Wake up, Robinpaw." Poppydust murmured, gently nudging the apprentice. Creekpaw made a little growling noise as Robinpaw opened his eyes a crack.

"Pop-..." he mumbled breathlessly. "Hi..."

"I need you to eat this." Poppydust commanded pushing the coltsfoot towards him. "Then I'm going to put a poultice on your back to stop it from getting infected. But I need you to stay awake. I have some other herbs to help you."