Hailstorm's Fear

Chapter Six

The herb leaves were scattered around again just before the sun was up. Thrushpaw sighed wearily before going to work sorting them.

I don't know what will happen when Dovelight gives birth,He silently grumbled,The herb piles are getting messed up by the wind even before the kits are born.

"Thrushpaw!Thrushpaw!"The apprentice turned,alarmed,at Nightleaf's tone. Nightleaf hurried into the den,her ears flat. "Silverwing is dead."

"What?"Thrushpaw leaped onto his paws. "What happened?"

"Rogues,"As Nightleaf hastily gathered the herbs,Thrushpaw could hear battle yowls outside. "They're attacking our camp."

"I'll go help them."Without waiting for an answer,Thrushpaw turned and bounded out of the den.

There were enough rogues for every ThunderClan cat. Some of the warriors were just staggering outside the den,blinking in confusion through a dazed sleepiness.

A gray blur darted in between the cats,before lunging at Thrushpaw. He suddenly found himself on the ground with jaws hurtling towards his throat. Panic fuelled him as he pushed his attacker off of him.

Great StarClan!They're fast!Thrushpaw finally got a good look at the rogue. The rogue bared his razor-sharp teeth and leaped at him with claws outstretched.

Thrushpaw dodged the attack and darted to the rogue's side before clinging onto his back for dear life. He regained his composure and landed heavy blows onto the exposed back. The rogue snarled and rolled onto his back,squishing Thrushpaw in the process.

Teeth once again flew to his neck. Spots danced on the edge of Thrushpaw's vision,but the weak hold was ripped off when a dark shape barrelled into it.

"Clover?"He gasped out. Clover clawed the rogue away and turned to him with a teasing smile.

"Now that's two you owe me."

Thrushpaw allowed a small smile before getting to his paws beside her. "How did you stumble across us?"

"Battle yowls,"Clover ducked an attack and whipped around,giving the rogue's tail a powerful bite. "I was at Twolegplace."

Rushing forward,Thrushpaw lunged towards the rogue with all the strength he had. The rogue landed with a thud before hurriedly limping away into the mass of fur. A sudden agonised shriek made him freeze.

Who was that?Unable to register his own thoughts,Thrushpaw blindly stumbled through the clutter of fighting cats as his neck began to bleed due to the torn skin. He could barely feel Clover at his side.

Suddenly,the camp was emptied and only the ThunderClan warriors remained. Thrushpaw raised his gaze and scanned the cats. Dread dropped like a stone in his belly when he saw Oakstar lying on the ground with a gaping wound on his neck.

"Oaks-Oakstar!"He rushed towards the leader and crouched down.

"I'm...losing my last life,Thrushpaw-"Oakstar cut himself off as he coughed out blood.

"No-!You must hold on,Oakstar!Nightleaf,where's Nightleaf!"Thrushpaw called desperately for his mentor,when Oakstar jerked and his eyes turned lifeless.

"No!"Sharppaw bounded forward,his pelt bristling. Suddenly,he turned to Thrushpaw with slitted eyes. "Aren't you supposed to save lives?And what did you do?You just stood there and did nothing!"

"That's enough,apprentices,"Creekfeather pushed in between them. "We must respect Oakstar's body."

Sharppaw growled and turned away. Thrushpaw felt numb with guilt,and could not even face Oakstar's limp body or Creekfeather's eyes that were dull with grief.

"Nightleaf!"

Streampaw was approaching a black figure on the ground with horror in her eyes.

StarClan-no,no,no-Thrushpaw stumbled towards Nightleaf's body,finally spotted her flank slowly rising up and down before it disappeared among the gathering cats.

"Everyone give her space!"He was too tired and grieved to care about his tone as he stormed through the crowd.

Thrushpaw lowered beside his mentor,finally noticing the bite on her spine. He listed off the herbs to Birchflower,who hurriedly fetched them.

"Stay with me,Nightleaf."He murmured. Time seemed endless as he started to work on healing her wound,not even wanting to think about the possibilities that would happen if she were to die.

The sky was already brightening when he finished. Thrushpaw gazed at all the ThunderClan warriors,picking out those who seemed the fittest.

"Whitewillow,Sandclaw,carry Nightleaf to the den,"Thrushpaw flicked his ears in warning."And mind her injury. One wrong move and it might open the wound all over again."

"Thrushpaw,"Clover murmured,her eyes wide. "You're bleeding."

"It's just torn skin,"Thrushpaw brushed her off,setting his mind on healing ThunderClan. "Who's badly hurt?"

"No one is that hurt,"Creekfeather limped closer. "Who is this?"

"This is Clover. She saved my life."

"I see,"Creekfeeather turned to her. "ThunderClan owes you for saving our...current medicine cat. Feel free to stay for a while."

"I'll stay to help Thrushpaw,"Clover decided. "Then I'll be on my way."

Scanning the cats,Thrushpaw found out that Creekfeather was the only one who looked like he had a serious injury. Thrushpaw flicked his tail. "I'll treat you first. Your wounds look like the worst here."

"How will I get my nine lives now?I mean,Nightleaf is badly injured,and you're just an apprentice. The Clan is also torn by Oakstar's and Silverwing's death."

"Honestly,Creekfeather,I don't know."Thrushpaw stifled a sigh,pushing the same question to the back of his mind.