Forbidden Love - Warrior Cats AU

OLD | Chapter Four

The scent of herbs hit Squirrelflight right in the nose as she entered Brightheart's den. She was limping from a torn claw. "Brightheart?" The ginger and white she-cat was sorting herbs and she seemed to be struggling. She jerked her head up as she heard her name. "Yes, Squirrelflight? Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Yes, I was helping Whitepaw with gathering herbs and my claw got caught in bark. It hurts when I step on it..."

"Torn claw... torn claw..." Brightheart muttered, turning her head towards the pile of herbs and berries. She muttered to herself more about infection prevention, gazing really hard at the plants in front of her. Squirrelflight sat down, a pang of pity for the newly named medicine cat. She had little to no training, was only visited once by Barkface to help with her training. Littlecloud was supposed to come to train her in a few days, nothing else could be done for it.

A breeze entered the cave den, ruffling the herbs and some of them flew around, destroying the little piles. The scarred she-cat's fur bristled and her ears perked up. A bright flower landed at her feet.

"Marigold..." Brightheart's whisper was so low Squirrelflight couldn't hear it all and it sounded different from her usual voice, but she bent down and grabbed the flower, walking towards the wounded warrior.

"Marigold will help prevent the infection," Brightheart said with a clearer voice. She scanned the mess at her feet and picked up a bright orange flower. She then walked to the wounded warrior and softly dropped the plant on the ground. She then froze again as a thoughtful expression appeared on her face.

Squirrelflight really felt sorry and missed Leafpool even more. Her sister would know how to apply the medicine. Come on... Think Squirrelflight... What would Leafpool do? She searched in her memory so hard she thought her head would explode. She wondered how would any medicine cat learn how to apply the herbs, how could they know which ones were poison or not...

What would Leafpool do... She was still trying to find how to apply marigolds to wounds. She hesitantly commented "Chewing the petals?" to Brightheart. This comment made the scarred medicine cat's ears perk up and a joyful shine appeared in her eye. "Yes!, she exclaimed, thank you Squirrelflight!"

"No worries!" Squirrelflight exclaimed in return, the white-and-ginger she-cat's enjoyment reaching out to her and warming her saddened heart. She then patiently watched Brightheart chew up the colourful petals into a pulp and then licking it into the warrior's wounded claw. It stung a little as the medicine entered the wound and the sudden pain made Squirrelflight wince. The medicine cat must have noticed as she backed up because a worried look chased away her cheerful smile. "Did I hurt you? I'm sorry... Maybe it's not the right way to apply marigold? I'm sorry." She continued to apologize and ask if herself if she did anything wrong.

"Calm down... calm down... you're fine! It just stung a little at first! I'm feeling much better now! Don't worry, you did fine, Brightheart." Squirrelflight gently reassured the new medicine cat. She reached in for a hug and reassured her by softly purring, just like Sandstorm used to do with her. She wrapped her poofy tail around her friend's shoulder to help comfort her.

"I'll go hunt now, I'll try to find you a plump vole or mouse!" Squirrelflight ended the embrace, looking at Brightheart's eye with newly found happiness. Maybe life wasn't about to end anymore.

• • •

The sun was setting as Leafpool took a look at Breeze's wound. The rogue's wound healed slowly but without any problem or complication. The cobweb managed to keep it clean and help prevent infections, as sleep also helped with the healing process. The young cat felt more at ease with the tabby she-cat, as she had cared for him for a couple of days. Newt and Pinecone also were also getting more accustomed to the two ex-clan cats. Crowfeather left to hunt with them that morning and left his mate with the wounded rogue. He was not sure about it at first but then started to feel more at ease as the three strangers helped with hunting and building nests. Newt had even taken Leafpool out to gather some herbs and protect her but, sadly, the gathering was poor as the two she-cats only found a grizzly-looking borage shrub and a small lavender tree.