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

Chapter 19

"I think you're ready to start light duties." Blackstorm mewed as he looked over Lilyclaw's belly wounds. They had been healing nicely and there was no sign of infection. "You should stick strictly to patrolling, however. No running or jumping too much." Lilyclaw sat up and looked at her belly.

"Thank you, Blackstorm." The tabby purred. "It doesn't even hurt anymore."

"I'm glad," He gave the wounds a final sniff. "But I still want you to come back here every morning and every night for new dressings."

"Will do." Lilyclaw stood up and turned out of the medicine cat den, leaving Skyfeather and Blackstorm alone. It had been five sunrises since the battle and AshClan was slowly recovering. Ravensong and Petalshine had moved back into the warriors den, both on very light duties in camp. Riverstar's wound was healing slowly, but healing nonetheless.

"You've been handling this battle well." Skyfeather mewed as he swept up some stray marigold petals with his tail. "It's impressive."

"It's my job." Blackstorm replied, staring at the messy nests and scattered herbs. These past few days had been utterly exhausting. Constantly dealing with stubborn, wounded warriors who thought they could return to their duties with wounds that were at constant risk of tearing open again. His paws were sticky with herbs and cobwebs and he was sick of dealing with warriors.

Despite all the frustration he felt, at the end of each day; Blackstorm felt incredibly satisfied. Each time one of this Clanmates thanked him for his hard work and whenever Skyfeather praised him for his treatments: it made Blackstorm love his job. I guess that's what matters. My Clanmates need me, and I will be more than happy to serve them.

"I'm proud of you." Skyfeather rested his tail on Blackstorm's pelt, Blackstorm turned to look at his mentor. "While we may not have agreed with this battle, it's still our duty to heal our Clanmates. I know that warriors can be arrogant and stone-headed but in the end, they need us."

"I know." Blackstorm sighed. "And I really do love doing this, I don't regret choosing this path."

"I'm glad that you had that choice." Skyfeather turned, his tail brushing Blackstorm's pelt. Blackstorm stared at his mentor, feeling a twinge of concern. Skyfeather had a choice when he became a medicine cat, didn't he? He knew that Skyfeather had stepped up to be AshClan's medicine cat when no other cat would, but it was his choice after all, wasn't it?

Blackstorm and Skyfeather continued on with their day, cleaning up the medicine cat den and straightening up the scraps and dried out herbs. It was nice to finally have some order to their den again.

For the first time since the battle, Blackstorm had nothing to do. The sun was fading from the sky and Blackstorm felt a longing in his heart. He hadn't seen Honeyfrost since the night before the battle. He wondered how SunClan was coping with the battle, he didn't know how badly the Clan had been wounded. He had heard rumors that Dawnstar lost a life, which resulted in Falconheart attacked Ashblaze and eventually killing him. Blackstorm really hoped that Honeyfrost was coping well.

Blackstorm had run into Honeyfrost the day before while the two were out collecting herbs, they didn't have any time to talk but they both agreed to meet tonight. Blackstorm was incredibly excited, but also incredibly nervous about this meeting. He didn't know what Honeyfrost would say about the battle. AshClan and SunClan had always been at odds, but it had been such a long time of peace broken by a bloody battle.

He waited all day until the sun had fallen from the sky and the moon and stars took its place to leave. Once again, Blackstorm made sure that Skyfeather was sound asleep before he left. He crept out of the camp and hurried towards the gathering hollow.