A New Horizon Book 4: A Fallen Star {COMPLETE}

Chapter 8

Honeyfrost couldn't shake her dream with Honeywing. Follow my heart. Honeyfrost repeated to herself over and over, wondering what she could possibly do. Her heart wanted to heal her Clanmates, but also wanted to be with Blackstorm. My heart doesn't know what it wants, and neither do I. Honeywing sighed and continued laying out leaves to dry.

"Honeyfrost!" A slight panicked voice pulled Honeyfrost's mind back to reality. She saw Sedgefern and Petalbreeze hurrying up to her with Dovepool between them. The young warrior looked sickly, her eyes were clouded and Dovepool struggled to keep her balance. "Something is wrong with Dovepool."

Honeyfrost stood up and left her leaves behind. "What's wrong with her?" As she spoke, Dovepool let out a dry cough, similar to Snakewhisker's. The cough was clearly painful, Dovepool's entire body shook.

"She's had a cough for a few days now, but she was coughing like this all night. " Sedgefern explained. "And she's burning up!"

Honeyfrost placed a paw on Dovepool's pelt, it was incredibly warm. The she-cat radiated heat. Honeyfrost's ears flattened, what Snakewhisker had was spreading. "Dovepool come with me," Honeyfrost explained and then turned to her sisters. "You two, go wash off in the stream and come to me if you show any symptoms."

She didn't wait for the two cats to respond before she began leading Dovepool away, towards the medicine cat den. "Honeyfrost!" Another voice stopped her, it was Rosewind. Honeyfrost looked towards her and saw that Hollypaw was looking very similar to Snakewhisker and Dovepool. Honeyfrost's heart twisted. The dark ginger apprentice let out a violent cough. "She's been doing this since dawn, and her pelt is burning."

"Hollypaw come with me," Honeyfrost commanded. "You go follow Sedgefern and Petalbreeze, do what I told them to do." I need to get these two in the den before we have an outbreak!

Honeyfrost got them into the den and quickly made nests. "Lay down." She told the sick cats, she took a quick look at Snakewhisker. He hadn't moved since this morning, and his breathing was slow. Please, StarClan. Honeyfrost prayed silently. Don't take him from us!

Poppyfur had showed Pebblestep the herb that they needed, dark gray leaves with speckled gray spots called lungwort, but they had no idea where to find it. Poppyfur had also explained that the sickness was called yellowcough, it was rare but it was very deadly. Since then, Pebblestep and Honeyfrost had taken turns scouring SunClan territory for the herb, but to no avail.

"What's wrong with us?" Hollypaw questioned. "Will we be okay?"

"You have yellowcough." Honeyfrost replied. "And Pebblestep and I will do everything we can to make sure that all three of you recover."

Honeyfrost gave Dovepool and Hollypaw doses of coltsfoot, honey, feverfew and poppy seeds to put them to sleep. She felt panicked and rushed, she felt like she couldn't do anything. Where is that stupid herb! She cried silently.

Dovepool and Hollypaw quickly fell asleep, Honeyfrost sat in the den monitoring their breaths, fearing that they would stop. Her biggest concern, however, was Snakewhisker. She looked over at the gray elder, his breathing was so rough.

Honeyfrost padded over to her friend, placing her paw on his back so she could feel his breathing. So shallow. Honeyfrost's heart twisted. Underneath her paw, Snakewhisker's body shifted and his dull green eyes opened.

"How are you feeling?" Honeyfrost asked quietly.

"Light, I feel light." Snakewhisker breathed out, closing his eyes. "I can see the stars, I'm spinning through the sky. It almost feels like swimming." His paws twitched, as if he was actually trying to swim. "I want to keep swimming, Honeyfrost."