Deep Ice

Chapter 2

6 Moons Old

Green Leaf

Halfway to Sunhigh

"Hazelpaw, are you okay?" Asked Swallowfern from the entrance.

Hazelpaw looked up and saw the she-cat shifting her weight from paw to paw. Her wounds from fighting Icestar yesterday still showed but weren't bleeding anymore. "Much better," Hazelpaw mewed.

Swallowfern relaxed and padded over to her apprentice. "Well, if Honeyclaw will let you walk around, I'm going to show you how to hunt."

Hazelpaw pricked her ears. "Really?" She asked, lifting her tail. Honeyclaw came out of her den.

"Hi, Swallowfern," she mewed bitterly, walking up to Hazelpaw. She crouched beside the apprentice and examined her wound. She pressed her paw onto the wound, then got up and went over to the herd storage.

Hazelpaw looked up at her mentor. "What was that about?" She asked, looking over her shoulder at where Honeyclaw disappeared.

Swallowfern sighed and laid her tail over her paws. "Well, when you are a broad-shouldered and muscular medicine cat, and another cat in your Clan is slender and more built for the job, you get jealous."

Hazelpaw looked at the floor. "How did Honeyclaw mangle her leg?" She asked.

Swallowfern shrugged. "No cat knows except for Owlstar and her." She sighed. "Owlstar brought her back, unconscious."

"Oh, how did her family react?" She asked, running her paw over the cool stone.

Swallowfern stiffened. "No, we don't talk about that," she said quickly, while at the same time Honeyclaw came out of the herb storage.

"You know I'm not deft. I lost my leg, but not my hearing," she mewed around the leaves in her mouth. She started chewing them into a pulp as she sat down in front of Hazelpaw. She spit it onto her right paw and started to spread it into Hazelpaw's wound. She leaned her head back, then turned her head towards her den. "Tanglepaw! Get me some cobwebs!" She called, softly and harsh at the same time.

"Coming!" Tanglepaw called from the den, running out and going into the herb storage. He came out with cobwebs on his paw. Honeyclaw moved so he could put the webs on Hazelpaw. He stepped back and went over to Birchpaw.

Honeyclaw looked over his work and pressed the poultice deeper into her wound. "They disowned me," she muttered. Hazelpaw saw her white claws slide out and scrape the stone, then go back in. She shook her fur out then sighed. "You have to take it real easy today, no crazy things and rest when you need to. Tanglepaw or I will check on you every now and then, but your sister is-"

"Are they alright?" Asked Hazelpaw's parents from the entrance. They squeezed in and padded over to their kits before Honeyclaw could say anything.

"They're fine, thanks for waiting before you came in," Honeyclaw muttered, bitterly.

Scorchfang squeezed past Swallowfern and came up to Hazelpaw. "How are you feeling?" He asked.

Hazelpaw sighed. She'd already answered this question. She opened her mouth to say she was fine, but Honeyclaw spoke first.

"Aspenblaze, Scorchfang. Please get out of my den, it is too crowded with you in it." She flicked her tail to Birchpaw and Hazelpaw. "They are both fine, and Hazelpaw will be hanging around the camp today."

Hazelpaw's parents looked at each other, then quietly backed out of the den.

Honeyclaw breathed a sigh of relief when the two cats were gone. "Now, Swallowfern, will you take Hazelpaw out and gently train her?" Honeyclaw asked, padding over to the now walking Birchpaw.