Waging War Book 2: Gray Skies {COMPLETE}

Chapter 8

Owlpaw stared up sadly at the full moon, her heart aching. The gathering is taking place right now. She thought. I wonder how the Clans are doing. What news is being shared? Owlpaw closed her eyes and let out a slow breath. She thought about her family, she hoped that her siblings' training was going well. I hope Oakpaw's arrogance isn't getting him into trouble. She chuckled to herself before staring over the scene below. The river flowing slowly towards the ground.

She had been spending a lot of time up here, when she felt like she couldn't do anything. She gave Tumbleweed just about every herb she could think of several times a day but nothing was getting better.

With each passing day the old tom grew weaker and thinner, for the past few days he hadn't even moved from his nest. I'm running out of time. Owlpaw tried to hold back her fears. Tumbleweed is dying and there's nothing I can do about it. She felt as if she was losing complete control of everything. How can I be a medicine cat if I can't treat one illness?

"Are you thinking about the gathering too?" Owlpaw heard a gentle voice behind her and she turned to see Leopardpaw standing near the entrance to the overlook.

"Yeah." Owlpaw replied. Among other things.

"I miss home a lot." Leopardpaw sat down next to her. "I miss my brother."

"I miss my siblings too." Owlpaw replied, though her heart wasn't in the conversation.

"You're worried about something else, huh?" Owlpaw looked at Leopardpaw. "I know that Tumbleweed is sick, how bad is it?"

"Pretty bad." Owlpaw sighed. "He's not getting any better and I don't know what to do."

"Did you ask Mosscloud? Are you able to contact her at all?"

"Yeah I did." Owlpaw shifted her paws. "She told me that there was nothing I can do, but I just--I just can't accept that. I'm supposed to be the one getting Sheer Mountain to agree to become our leader, how can I do that if I just let her father die?"

"I don't really know anything about what its like to be a medicine cat." Leopardpaw mewed. "But regardless of what happens, I think Sheer Mountain will be grateful that you did everything you could."

Owlpaw dropped her head. "I don't want to think about multiple options, the only option to me is getting Tumbleweed better." She glanced back up at the stars. "I just wish I had some guidance. I'm not a medicine cat. I had a little bit of training but I'm not trained enough to do this. He would probably be fine in the paws of a real medicine cat."

"Mosscloud was a medicine cat right?" Owlpaw nodded. "She says that there's nothing you can do, you might have to trust her."

"I don't want to." Owlpaw's voice cracked. "I'll do everything I can to save Tumbleweed's life, no matter what."

"To me," Leopardpaw rested her tail on Owlpaw's tail. "That sounds like something a real medicine cat would say."

Owlpaw was slightly warmed by Leopardpaw's words. "Thank you, Leopardpaw." Owlpaw mewed quietly. It's nice to have some support. She thought about Slatepaw and winced slightly. Leopardpaw is much better than him. "I should go check on Tumbleweed." Owlpaw rose to her paws. "He needs more herbs anyway."

"Let me know if you need any help." Leopardpaw offered and the two of them returned to the cavern. It was mostly empty as a lot of the warriors with the exception of Berryheart and Leopardpaw were out hunting and that included Sheer Mountain.

Leopardpaw went to her mentor and the two of them began talking. Owlpaw looked in the center of the cavern where Finch, Wren and Sparrow were all napping together in the rays of sunlight.