Hostile

6

      Frostcloud kept her eyes on Whitestar as the battle patrol limped back into camp. Dawnheart's words echoed in her mind over and over again. I think Whitestar woke up. Did he lose a life? Frostcloud hadn't considered it at the time, but he had been fighting Moho when the battle started- but not too long later she was fighting Riverpelt.

  Did Moho try to kill Whitestar?

  The leader limped forward, guiding the injured cats into the clearing where Feathertail was waiting with herbs spread out around him. "Riverpelt first." Whitestar said to the apprentice.

  Frostcloud took the que. She had been allowing her mother to lean on her on the way back to camp, and she guided her to Feathertail. Riverpelt winced as she sat next to the tom, and he sniffed over her wounds.

  Clancats were gathering around the returning battle patrol. "Dustclaw!" Leafear cried, bounding towards her mate with her kits at her tail.

  "You're covered in blood!" Foxkit gasped.

  "So are the rogues!" Dustclaw boasted to the litter, suddenly refusing to limp or wince from his battle wounds.

  "Look! He still has their fur in his claws!" Leafear said, her voice taking a lighter tone.

  "Frostcloud! Are you okay?" Mosspool almost shouted as she bounded to her friend, Buckheart at her heels. Slatethorn left the fluffy she-cats side as he sped to Shaleshimmer and Dustclaw. Not too far off, Frostcloud spotted Rosepaw obsessing over Cricketlegs and Bramblepaw.

  "Yeah." She said, then with her eyes lingering on her leader, "I think Whitestar lost a life though."

  Buckheart flinched, "Why do you say that?"

  Dawnheart yowled near Clanrock. Pinecats swung their heads to face her, and she returned their gaze hard and steadily, "Feathertail and I need to work quickly with the battle patrol! If your friend or kin is injured and you want to be near them, work to clean the blood from their fur! Otherwise, keep your distance."

  No warrior dared to argue with Dawnheart. Instead, the chattering ceased and the only sounds escaping from the camp came from the quiet questions and answers between medicine cat and warrior and the rasping of tongues.

  Feathertail approached Frostcloud, giving a dismissive flick of his tail to Buckheart and Mosspool. Reluctantly, they slank away from the duo and watched them from a near distance. "How are you feeling?" He asked.

  "I'm okay." Frostcloud answered. Milo wasn't especially aggresive, not compared to the other rogues anyway. "How's Riverpelt?"

  "She'll feel better in a few days." He answered. Frostcloud watched her mother. She limped towards Sunfur and Warmheart.

  Feathertail sniffed at the warriors wounds, "None of these are really deep... but I'd like to keep them from getting infected. Does anything hurt?"

  Frostcloud shook her head, "Er, not really. Just my leg. One of the bigger toms rolled me over."

  "This one?" Feathertail asked, using his paw to press on the leg Frostcloud hadn't been putting her weight on. She nodded and winced at the pressure.

  "You're okay," He said, "it's just a little bruised. I'll just grab some comfrey. I'll be back in just a moment."

  Before long, poultice had been rubbed into Frostcloud's wounds and the battle patrol had been taken care of. Frostcloud sat with a mouse outside of the warriors den, sharing the details of the battle to her friends with Riverpelt's aid.

  "Moho was the leader of the group." The senior warrior explained, "She was pretty vicious, even for a rogue."

  "She took Whitestar's life?" Mosspool asked quietly, casting a discreet glance to the tom, who chatted quietly with Crowfur and the medicine cats.