StarClan's Mistake (Warrior Cats Fanfiction)

Chapter 9

"It's okay, Jumpstump, I got you." Jumpstump's ears perked as she heard the soothing voice of Heronbeak above her, reassuring her. As she opened her eyes more, she glanced to the side to notice Heronbeak was also rubbing her back with a paw. She did not feel it, though.

Jumpstump murmured in a daze, "What happened to me...?" She meant to be asking about what had happened with her legs not being able to move, but the craziness of it all was only beginning to fade away, and her mind was not yet clear.

Misunderstanding her, Heronbeak mewed softly, "You got attacked by Blessedbone. But don't worry, you'll be okay. I'm taking good care of you."

Misunderstanding Heronbeak misunderstanding her, and believing the medicine cat was dodging the question, she meowed more firmly, "What happened to me, Heronbeak?"

Heronbeak seemed a little taken aback. "What do you mean? About what?"

"My legs. Why can't I move my legs?"

Heronbeak furrowed her eyebrows and gazed down at the warrior's legs, which seemed all right to her. "I hadn't noticed. Your legs seem fine. The only places that are really wounded are your throat and the base of your neck, and I've patched both up."

This confused Jumpstump immensely. She had not thought about it much in the heat of battle, but now that she had time to herself and felt safe, she wriggled around, trying to rise to her paws; it was no use. Her legs seemed to fully refuse her trials, despite her best efforts. She hissed angrily, wriggling around more, and yet her only motion-capable parts were her head and neck.

Heronbeak perked her ears, looking at the cat worriedly. "You're really not able to move anything?"

Jumpstump suddenly shot a look at Heronbeak that sent shivers down the medicine cat's spine; one of fear, of horror. "It's temporary, right? Only temporary?"

Heronbeak held her breath. The most honest answer would be that she did not know. She had never seen this before, and although she had heard tales of cats unable to move their bodies, Stitchmaw had admittedly never taught her much about the condition. So she just murmured, "Maybe."

The word "maybe" was not much different from the words "I don't know," but Jumpstump at least seemed to be positively affected by its usage. She laid her head down, sighing, seeming to resign herself to her current condition in the hopes it would improve. However, Heronbeak had to admit to herself that this could just be her calming herself down.

Heronbeak then glanced outside, where Wallstar faced his consequences.

*          *          *

"You let my daughters die!" Drylake's yowl echoed around the camp, catching the ears of all cats there, despite their target only being Wallstar. "How can you say it wasn't your fault?!"

"Like I ever expected him to act like this," the ginger-and-black tom hissed back at the light gray, brown-splotched she-cat. "Can you blame me? I never told him to do that."

"He's your apprentice!" she screeched. "What did you do the entire time you trained him?!"

"First of all, Scatterpath was the one training him, not me," Wallstar huffed, making his deputy's fur fluff up. "And second of all, he didn't need to learn kindness. You'd think a blessed cat would know that already."

"What if he did it for the better?" a small, yellow-striped gray tom thought out loud. "I mean, it wouldn't be surprising if perhaps he knew something about Stitchmaw, Stumpjump, and Jumpstump that we didn't. Maybe StarClan even asked him to kill them."

Seeing her rage on the way, Birchleaf sunk her fangs into Drylake's scruff, holding her back from attacking her Clanmate. In pure anger, she hissed, "Those were my kits, Undergaze! My kits! They never did anything wrong!"