Warriors: The Prophecy of Stream

Chapter 4: The Promise

Scorching pain grew like fire through Thistlekit's paw as her claw latched onto the hawk's wing. She let out a screech of pain as she felt the hawk dip dramatically, causing Thistlekit's tiny body to hit the side of the moor peak, several tail lengths above the ground. The young hawk struggled, trying to throw the extra weight as it tried to escape. Angry howls split the air as more cats appeared, running up the moor fast as rabbits. A patrol!

Thistlekit opened her eyes long enough to see Sheepnose, Claytuft, and Lightningstrike race towards the struggling hawk, leaping at it with skilled precision and dangerous claws. Thistlekit felt her claws pull out several feathers as they pulled free and panic rose in her throat as she felt whistling wind beneath her, and the ground getting closer. The last thing she saw was Sheepnose's curly white pelt racing towards her, his black paws wet with the hawk's blood.

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A strange odor hit Thistlekit's nose, and she opened her eyes to see a familiar pelt in dim lighting a tail length away. The cat was chewing leaves together, and murmured quietly to a slightly smaller shape. Echobreeze and Moonpaw! I must be in the medicine cats' den.

She grunted with pain as she turned her head to look at her surroundings, catching the attentions of the two medicine cats. Moonpaw's creamy and Echobreeze's silvery pelts eerie in the half light. Both cats had their eyes wide with concern. Moonpaw hurried to Thistlekit's side while her mentor gathered the herbs she had mixed into a poultice.

"How are you feeling?" Moonpaw asked, sniffing Thistlekit's pelt hurriedly.

"Sore" She grunted, wincing as she tried to stretch her paws. "What happened to my paw? How long have I been in here?" Thistlekit remembered her brother. "Is Tigerkit okay?" The questions tumbled out before she could stop them.

"Shhh." Echobreeze soothed, her larger shape blocking the entrance to the den. It's stone structure keeping the air crisp and clear. A small trickle of water came between two large boulders on the far end, dropping into a small puddle surrounded by what Thistlekit assumed were pebble walls, built by the medicine cats to keep the pool contained. "You've only been here a night, and Tigerkit is just fine. That was a brave thing you did out there, saving him and Appledaisy."

Thistlekit flattened her eats onto her head, embarrassment prickling her pelt. "I don't think I saved them." She paused as Echobreeze pushed the bundle of strongly scented leaves closer to her muzzle. "I think I was just scared they would get hurt."

"Either way." The medicine cat meowed quietly, her eyes thoughtful. "You distracted the hawk so Appledaisy could help Tigerkit. You did well."

Moonpaw turned her head to look outside the stone den. "I'm going to tell Heatherfall you're okay Thistlekit, she's been very worried." The pretty she-cat trotted out the den, making the space less cramped.

"And as for your paw," Echobreeze murmured, bringing Thistlekit's attention back to the throbbing pain in her front paw. "You wretched a claw out when you grabbed the hawk, and I believe you landed badly on it." The medicine cat spoke slowly, as though choosing the right words.

Thistlekit looked at her paw, wrapped tightly in cobwebs with a green ooze matting her dusty fur. Though her paw was completely covered with the gauze, Thistlekit could still see the problem. Her paw was twisted at an awkward angle, as though she was trying to walk forward but her paw wanted to go to the side.

"Ca-can you fix it?" She whispered, briefly taking her eyes off of her paw as Moonpaw padded into the den, with Heatherfall's russet and white pelt appearing behind her. Thistlekit's heart ached with relief as her mother's sweet scent filled her nostrils. She wanted to cry out, both with pain and fear for her paw.

Echobreeze closed her icy blue eyes, and opened them again looking at the young kit sympathetically. "I'm not sure we can, it's not dislocated so we can't move it back into place. You may have to live with it Thistlekit."

Horror clawed its way into Thistlekit's chest as she heard her medicine cat's words. "But what about my warrior training? Won't I be able to be a warrior? Heatherfall, there has to be something any cat can do!" Panic filled her words and her eyes darted from cat to cat.

"Oh my sweet, sweet, thistle." Heatherfall purred softly, curling her body around her daughter's. "You know Echobreeze and Moonpaw and doing the best they can. See?" She touched the pile of herbs Echobreeze had prepared with her tail. "They even got these ready to put onto your paw, because they want you to be all better!" Heatherfall's mew was still laced with sorrow.

Thistlekit wrinkled her nose as she smelt the herbs again. "But if they want me to be all better, they would fix my paw!"

Another scent hit her nose, familiar and similar to her own. "Tigerkit!" She wanted to leap at her brother, the joy of seeing him walking into the medicine cat's den with his dark fur without a scratch filled her whole body.

He walked forward, awe filling his gaze as he looked at Thistlekit's paw. "You got that for saving me..." his amber eyes met her green ones.

Suddenly Thistlekit didn't care about her twisted paw, or the yucky herbs beside her, or how crowded the den was becoming. All she cared about was that Tigerkit was here, and he was okay.

She lifted her head and looked at Echobreeze's sorrowful blue eyes. Her voice sounding strong and clear. "Thank you." She glanced at Moonpaw. "Both of you. I know you're doing all you can." She took in a deep breath as she saw the two cats nodding their appreciation. "I don't care if my paw is twisted, I can still be a Windclan warrior." She looked back at her mother, and saw pride in her wide eyes. Energy surged through Thistlekit's body, forcing the pain out of her paw.

"The best Windclan warrior you've ever seen. I promise"