Chapter Text
She followed her target at a careful distance on silent paws. The warrior had remained unaware of her presence so far. Just a touch more, for luck and the wind to stay on her side, and the quarry would be hers. Overhead a bird cheeped and the warrior’s ears swiveled. Now! Lightseed sprang with a yowl of victory, paws outstretched. Vinetangle spun to face her just in time for the collision. They scuffled in the grass until Vinetangle gave in with a breathless, “You win!”
Lightseed stood atop her sister, tail raised in triumph, then gently stepped down so Vinetangle could right herself. “Are you out here for any reason?” Lightseed asked.
Vinetangle stretched her forelegs, spine arching luxuriously. “Just looking to stretch my paws for a bit. What about you?”
“Grabbing some plants we’re low on. Want to come?”
“Sure!” Vinetangle hopped to her paws. “What are we looking for?”
“Horsetail and goldenrod. They’re for—”
“For cleaning wounds and stopping infection, right?”
Lightseed stared at her. Vinetangle had barely stumbled through the short lessons Applecliff gave warrior apprentices. “How do you know?”
“You go over herbs when you’re nervous.”
Embarrassment flooded hot through her pelt. “Out loud?”
Vinetangle twitched an ear. “Didn’t you know?”
“Oh no.” Mortification stained her mew.
“Don’t worry about it!” Vinetangle paffed her tail against Lightseed’s shoulder reassuringly. “You still need to show me what they look like. I have no idea.”
Vinetangle plodded beside Lightseed, a wad of horsetail in her mouth.
“I know they don’t taste the best,” Lightseed apologized. “We can swap once we gather the goldenrod. It’s less bitter.” Vinetangle gave a determined shake of her head. Lightseed narrowed her eyes. “Because it’s, what, some kind of endurance training?”
Vinetangle gave a muffled mrow of affirmation.
“Suit yourself. Not fighting you over the gross ones.” Lightseed checked the sky as the canopy began to thin. Prey had been scarce this new-leaf, and hawks were hungry enough to try full patrols. “It grows in the ditch by the border.”
A screech filled the air. Ahead, a hawk took wing with something struggling in its talons. It dropped a cat.
“No!” Lightseed rushed forward. In midair the hawk righted itself for another dive. With a yowl as fierce as a LeopardClan warrior, Vinetangle hurtled ahead of Lightseed and vaulted at the hawk. Her claws cleaved into its flesh. It veered away and she rose on her hind paws, clawing for it again as it sped off.
“Vinetangle!” Lightseed had bundled the injured cat into the safety of a cluster of bearberry shrubs. “You scared it off! Go get a patrol to help me get him back to camp! Make sure Applecliff knows what to expect.”
She ran back through the trees, and Lightseed turned to the injured tom. His mud-brown coat had been slashed between the shoulders and on the stomach, and two deep gouges on his side oozed blood.
“It’s okay, you’re safe. I’m a medicine cat. I’ll do what I can to help, and we can give you proper treatment once we’ve gotten you to camp.”
Flanks heaving and dark eyes rounded, he struggled for air. “My k—” he coughed up blood. “My kit.”
Lightseed wildly looked about, and spotted a small shape huddled deep in the shadows. Hoping her voice didn’t carry her strain she mewed, “Hi. You can come out, the hawk’s gone. Want to help me make sure your father’s okay?”
The kit dashed out at that. Lightseed directed him away from the worst of the injuries. “Come up here by his head. Can you lick his ears for me? That’d be a big help.” Once he started, Lightseed addressed the tom. “There’s plants nearby that can stop the spread of infection. I’ll go get some, and then I can make sure the bleeding’s stopped.”
She jumped into the ditch, snapping up a jawful of goldenrod. The worst of the injuries were the two on his side. The one between his shoulders was deep but small: it and the one on his stomach already stopped bleeding.
“Plenty of them, just like I promised. I’ll chew these up and put them on. You’ll feel it sting when I do.” She chewed quickly but carefully. The tom winced.
“Stings,” he rasped to reassure his kit.
“That means it’s working. Since these two haven’t stopped bleeding I’ll get something to put over them and then we’ll get the rest of you seen to.”
How did Ottersplash manage with aspen leaves so high off the ground? Lightseed at last scoured up a few that had flown loose and bit the stems off. Not perfect, or enough, but it would last until they reached camp.
“Oh!” While she’d been gone, the kit had chewed up more goldenrod. “Did you do that after watching me? That’s amazing!” It remained more flower than pulp, but the kit clearly tried his best. “I’m going to put these on, and then I’ll find something to keep them from falling off.”
The tom blinked his gratitude at her then flinched at the sound of reverberating paws. Lightseed’s tail shot up. Excellent! The patrol consisted entirely of senior warriors: the deputy Hazestreak, Icebreak, and two of Lightseed’s parents Ravensneak and Softcloud. Petalspring must have stayed in camp with Kitekit.
Without preamble Lightseed ordered Icebreak, “Go find some cobwebs.” Icebreak dashed off and Lightseed pushed the untouched goldenrod towards her parents. “I need these chewed, and at least one of us needs to watch for predators.” Softcloud bent to the leaves.
“Hazestreak, can you go find some leaves? Large ones, to cover the injuries. Dock and aspen would work best.” It felt odd ordering the deputy about, but he accepted without hesitation. Younger warriors tended to complain they weren’t medicine cats, or forget what a cobweb was the instant anything bled longer than usual. Senior warriors knew who to listen to and, so long as they weren’t uncommon, what most plants looked like.
Lightseed glanced around for the kit and found him huddled back in the shadows. She blinked reassuringly at him and picked up the petals he’d chewed to use on his father.
Icebreak and Hazestreak arrived within heartbeats of the other. “Set those here,” Lightseed indicated to Hazestreak. Of the bundle Icebreak brought on a stick she mewed, “You’ll have to hold it for me.”
Softcloud joined Ravensneak in keeping a lookout while Lightseed affixed the covering of leaves to her satisfaction. Hazestreak knelt by the injured tom’s head. “You’re safe here friend. What’s your name?”
The tom wheezed, “Eagle.”
“All right. Eagle. I’m Hazestreak, the deputy of DarkClan, and the one patching you up is our medicine cat Lightseed. Once she’s finished we’ll get you to our camp.”
“We’ll have to go the long way,” Lightseed announced without looking away from her task. “I don’t trust taking him over the hills.” She stuck the last leaf into place with a swath of cobwebs and the last of the pulp. “There we are! Let’s try standing you up now, slowly.”
Hazestreak steadied Eagle as he rolled to his stomach and shakily rose to his paws.
“Good! Hold still now, I want to check this side.”
Eagle leaned heavily against Hazestreak, eyes glazed over with exhaustion. Gently, Lightseed’s tail tip wiped away the dirt that clung to his pelt. No scratches, as she expected, but when she pressed a paw to him he hissed in pain. Bruised, possibly a broken bone or two. She circled back to his other side and found her make-shift poultice held. Lightseed nodded. “Hazestreak, help him walk.”
Eagle’s eyes brightened. “B-Beetle?” he coughed.
The warriors glanced to one another in confusion. Lightseed turned to the hiding kit and called, “Beetle? We’re taking your father to camp. Come along so we can keep an eye on you.” Beetle bunched his body close to the ground then sprang out of hiding and attempted to huddle beneath her belly. A tricky feat as she was among the smaller cats in the Clans. Lightseed stepped aside and nudged him with her nose. “On your own, now. We’ll be faster that way.”
Softcloud lay his tail across Lightseed’s shoulders briefly before sweeping it loosely around Beetle. “You can walk with me if you’re afraid of hawks. It’s not far.”
Lightseed approached Icebreak and nodded to the ditch. “We were out this way to get goldenrod. Can you grab some? Applecliff and I can remove the parts we need later.”
“Of course.”
Ravensneak padded close as they walked. “We should be safe from any predators once we’re back under the trees. This many of us will dull the blood-scent.”
“That’s a relief,” Lightseed admitted with a sigh.
Ravensneak pressed her nose to Lightseed’s ear with a purr. “We’re all very proud of you.” Lightseed glanced away self-consciously and her eyes fell on the horsetail, dropped when Vinetangle attacked the hawk. “I’ll get those,” Ravensneak offered when Lightseed bent to gather them. “Save your attention for Eagle.”
Applecliff waited outside the medicine den. He stood when the patrol entered camp and whisked inside.
“Make sure to lay him on his stomach,” Lightseed instructed Hazestreak. She turned to Icebreak. “I’ll take those.”
Hazestreak left the den to report to Blazestar, and Lightseed stepped in far enough to drop the goldenrod without fear of it scattering. She popped back out to do the same with Ravensneak.
Applecliff pressed a paw to Eagle’s side. Eagle groaned. “Yes, they’re broken.”
“He coughed blood earlier. Eagle,” she urged him to look at her, “I need you to cough again for us please.”
He did so, Applecliff’s ear against his ribs. Applecliff’s face betrayed no emotion when he told her to get stinging nettle. He assured Eagle, “You can rest once you’ve eaten some. We’ll reenforce the covering while you sleep, and after you’ve slept we’ll change the poultice. Who’s this?” he asked kindly.
Lightseed ensured Eagle started licking up the stems. “This is Beetle, Eagle’s kit. Can you come over, Beetle? We’d like to take a look at you too.”
Hesitantly, Beetle stepped away from the wall of the den and stood between them. No injuries from the hawk, as Lightseed ascertained the first time she saw him. Nor had he limped, and he kept up with the patrol as well a kit his size could be expected to. He looked to be two moons old or close to it, his fur black save for the many white spots on his chest and lower muzzle. While his body was on the small side, his legs and tail promised height and length when fully grown.
“Looks like you’ve had quite the scare,” Applecliff diagnosed. “How about you go lie down with your father and get some rest? Are you hungry?”
Beetle nodded, his movements quick and tiny.
“I’ll grab—” Lightseed glanced back. When she’d turned for the den entrance, Beetle reached out and gently touched her back leg with a paw. “…Oh! Would you like me to stay?”
He nodded again, kitten-blue eyes large and desperate. Applecliff gave her a nod as he left.