Warriors #3: Shifting Shadows

Chapter 4

Snowflight's POV

I was shocked when I suddenly saw an unfamiliar cat walk into the medicine cat den, his pelt reeking of mud and water. It was so strong that I almost had to wrinkle my nose as the scent overcame me. The tom's head was lowered and his pelt was covered in so much mud that I couldn't identify his fur color at first. Having taken another sniff as he walked deeper into the den, I then realized that it was RiverClan scent that was flooding through my nose.

I stared at the entrance of the medicine cat den as the tom entered, Brambleclaw following him in just heartbeats after.

"This is Rainstorm of RiverClan," Brambleclaw meowed, confirming what I had thought. "He fell in some mud while we were at the lake collecting water, so we took him here to recover before he returns to his territory."

"Stupid mouse-brain," I heard Jayfeather mutter. I tried not to purr with amusement at his comment as Rainstorm walked deeper into the den and sat down in the newly made nest Jayfeather was setting.

Brambleclaw watched Rainstorm, his eyes narrowed before averting his gaze to me. "He's a bit of a stubborn one," he whispered jokingly. "Think you can handle him?"

I tried to suppress a mrrow of laughter, lightly flicking my tail over to Jayfeather. "I deal with it often enough with that furball over there," I purred to Brambleclaw, sniffing as I heard Jayfeather snort from behind me. "But in all seriousness, don't worry! We've got him handled."

I lashed my tail in goodbye to Brambleclaw who nodded to me before he left the den. I then walked over to the herb stock where Jayfeather was beginning to sniff through the different kinds and sorts.

I analyzed Rainstorm's situation. He's dirty, for one, I thought, glancing back at the mud-covered tom. He seems pretty shaken...

I leaned in closer to Jayfeather. "Do you think he'll need thyme for the shock?" I asked, about to pick up a few thyme leaves. I was pretty sure thyme was what we needed, but I always felt like I needed to confirm, just to be sure. I seem to be questioning myself more after becoming a full medicine cat! I realized.

"That would probably be best," Jayfeather answered, nodding with approval. "You can give him those and then get some wet moss to clean him off. After he's clean, we can see if he has any wounds that we need to treat."

"Alright!" I meowed, nodding to my former mentor and picking up the thyme. I slowly walked over to the dirty tom and placed the thyme right in front of his muzzle.

"Eat these, please," I urged Rainstorm gently, keeping in mind that Brambleclaw had told me he was stubborn. "They will help you to calm down. I can imagine that what you just went through was pretty stressful!"

Rainstorm simply grunted before almost immediately licking up the herbs, chewing them, and swallowing them all.

"Good!" I praised, giving Rainstorm a slight tap on the shoulder with the tip of my tail. Then, I quickly turned around and left the medicine den to get water, as Jayfeather had told me to do. As soon as I slid through the entrance and out into camp, sunlight beamed all around me, and I felt I could barely keep my eyes open.

Great StarClan, a cat could become as blind as Jayfeather if they stared at my white fur reflecting against the sun!

I almost thought that I would have to walk all the way to the lake with some fresh moss to get water, but to my luck, I saw my mother, Lilypetal, holding some damp moss in her jaws. I quickly ran over to her, ready to ask her for a favor.

She turned her head to me as I ran up in front of her. "Hi, Snowflight," she meowed kindly through a mouth full of moss. "Need something?"

"Your moss, actually," I purred, pointing my nose to the moss.