𝙳𝙴𝙻𝙸𝚁𝙸𝚄𝙼 ➳ Warrior Cats Fanfic

𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄

     It was cold and windy out when the two ShadowClan cats arrived at the Moonpool. The older one, a silver-and-white tom with an icy gaze, looked behind him to make sure his apprentice was still there.

     "I feel like each time we get here, it's always colder," commented the apprentice.

     The older tom twitched his whiskers. "Alright, Rainpaw, enough chatter. Remember to keep quiet about how many of us have died. We can't let RiverClan know we are weak."

     Rainpaw nodded and marched forward, his tail held high in the air. The tom couldn't help but feel pride towards his apprentice and how he had grown so much during his apprenticeship. He still had a little longer to go before he'd receive his medicine cat name, but the tom had a few ideas in mind. Maybe Rainpelt for his fur, or Rainecho for how well he is with communication.

     The medicine cats from each Clan gathered around. An emergency meeting had been called, and desperate for news on the new disease, everyone had actually showed up. Even RiverClan, who seemed to be desperate for more territory and incredibly hostile during this time, had sent their medicine cat.

Adderwish, the ThunderClan tom who had called for this meeting, was perched on a stone near his own apprentice, Beewing. Beewing, who had previously been a warrior but lost her vision in a fight with a fox, seemed thin and frail when put near her mentor. She was almost as small as Rainpaw himself.

"As you all know, a lot of cats have been falling ill recently from this new illness," Adderwish began. "ThunderClan recently lost their beloved deputy to it. We need to figure this out before everyone else starts to die."

The ShadowClan tom, Hemlockfoot, nodded in agreement. "My apprentice and I have come up with a name for it. We call it bloodcough since cats who catch it end up coughing up a lot of blood."

The RiverClan medicine cat, Wavestorm, narrowed his eyes. "How is a name important during a time like this, mousebrain? We came here to learn facts, not what your stupid apprentice names things!"

     Rainpaw flinched at the harsh words of the tom. Hemlockfoot growled, flattening his ears as he stood in front of the apprentice. "Keep your mouth shut or I will drown you myself."

     Wavestorm let out a chuckle. "Unlike your filthy friends, I can swim."

     "Silence!" Beewing spat. "Bloodcough is fine as a name, it makes talking about it easier. But we do need to figure out treatments for it."

Briardash, the WindClan medicine cat, stood up. "Redpaw and I have been trying to treat the symptoms but it doesn't seem to help save the cat. We've tried borage for the chest and stomach pains but it didn't seem to help at all..."

     Swiftsong of SkyClan nodded in agreement. "I tried using catmint to see if that would do anything but unfortunately it never worked as good as I had hoped."

     "Does anyone have a list of all known symptoms?" Hemlockfoot asked.

     Wavestorm twitched his whiskers in amusement. "Leave it to a smelly frog eater to need help during a time like this."

     Adderwish shot a glare at the RiverClan tom. He seemed as sick of Wavestorm's attitude as Hemlockfoot.

     "I believe there are different stages to bloodcough," Beewing remarked. "Early on it seems the diseased just have basic problems such as runny noses, weak breathing, and overall lethargic behavior. Later on the end up eating our entire pile of fresh-kill and coughing up blood."

Redpaw, the newest medicine cat apprentice, looked as if he was ready to throw up because of the topic. Hemlockfoot felt pity for the young tom. It must suck being responsible for all the Clan at such a young age, especially with something this dangerous.

     "A few of my Clanmates seemed a bit delusional before they died," Daisyfleck remarked. "As in hallucinating and bad paranoia. Willowvine's dying words were to not let the weasels get her... But there aren't even any weasels in our territory."

"It isn't my place to discuss how my Clanmates are doing during this," Wavestorm said bitterly. "But I do agree... They seemed a bit out of it before they died. But we did have an apprentice had a bad seizure after catching this illness though."

     Redpaw let out a wail. "I don't want to watch my friends and family just suffer and die!" the young tom cried. "Bloodcough is going to kill all of us!"

     As the apprentice collapsed and began to cry, Rainpaw seemed to begin getting upset as well. Despite having been an apprentice for a couple moons, he had never experienced something as awful as this. Hemlockfoot wrapped his tail around him and let out a sight, scooting closer to him.

     "The sun will probably be coming up soon," Swiftsong meowed. "Perhaps we should head home."

     Wavestorm nodded and stalked off without another word. Hemlockfoot watched him leave, holding back the urge to shred the tom's ears. RiverClan had recently declared war on ShadowClan after a small argument over prey. RiverClan had gone far enough to drown two warriors in the lake while the third cat watched in horror. When the cat, Spidertail, returned to camp that day, Hemlockfoot knew it would take a lot of counseling to help the poor she-cat's trauma.

Rainpaw looked up at his mentor, his eyes wide with fright. "Can we please return to camp? I'm worried about Morningpaw now..."

Hemlockfoot nodded and stood up. He looked back at Adderwish and the other medicine cats, thanking them for their time before heading out behind Rainpaw.