Fandom A medicine cat’s loyalty

[JinLing]

Foxpaw purred in amusement when Swanpaw slipped right into a pool of water. Swanpaw spat crossly, even as Foxpaw grabbed her scruff to pull her out. Foxpaw licked the other she cat over, swiping her tongue against the way of the fur as Moonpetal taught her. Swanpaw seemed reluctant at first, but fell into acceptance as Foxpaw continued.

"You need to get warm. It's getting colder outside, we can't afford for you to get sick." Foxpaw mewed. She continued grooming Swanpaw until the cat was dry. When Swanpaw asked why Foxpaw was being so nice, Foxpaw replied with, "Some cats call me too nice. I just think that all cats deserve kindness, especially when grieving." Swanpaw seemed stumped by this.



Moonpetal walked quickly to keep up with Muckflower, nearly having to run. "I think all medicine cats are chosen by Starclan." She huffed in annoyance when Muckflower snorted at her words. She padded alongside the older cat, enjoying the silence. When they entered Thunderclan camp, they checked the queens. Oakgrass was heavy with kits, and looked at Muckflower warily. Muckflower sighed and stepped back, letting Moonpetal take over.

 

[Chill Alley Cat]

Swanpaw felt her fur bristles, wondering if all Thunderclan cats were this touchy as she was groomed. Sparrowpaw died moons ago, and it felt odd for a stranger to try and comfort her.

Cloverpaw was quick to join the two, stumbling from a bush while carrying herbs. Her eyes fell upon the apprentices, their pelts highlighted by the moon’s reflection in the shallow stream.

“Jealous?” Swanpaw spoke slyly once noticing the she-cat’s presence, her tongue sticking out as Foxpaw continued to groom her.

“Oh shut it.” The healer’s apprentice stuttered, the two entering a friendly banter. Swanpaw smiled, at least one cat here was normal.



Muckflower left the Queen and medicine cat, hoping Moonpetal was competent enough to help the cat give birth when it was time.

Amberwound intercepted the tom on the way to his den, the deputy seeming edger to speak with Muckflower.

As he organized his herb, the tortoiseshell went on in a deep voice laced with panic. Explaining a conversation she had with Palestar.

“-and then with Dawnwhisker-“ She went on, her voice in to rush of a harsh whisper to truly understand.

“What is this all about?” Muckflower snapped. While the tom loved his friend deeply, he had no patience for this nonsense.

“The plague. It’s still here.”

 

[JinLing]

Foxpaw stepped back and flicked her tail. "Did you find any useful herbs?" She looked at Cloverpaw curiously as she spoke.



Dawnwhisker was sick again. Moonpetal growled in frustration and nosed the half dead cat.

"Oh Dawnwhisker," Moonpetal whispered. Muckflower was next to her, grabbing some honey for Shadowclan's sick cats. He looked worried.

The only good news lately was that the two clans didn't seem nearly as tense as before, not fighting nearly as much. Yes, there were still arguments, but most of them were friendly banters at this point. Even Amberwound was getting friendly with some cats, particularly Dawnwhisker.

 

[Chill Alley Cat]

Cloverpaw nodded, her attention still not off the playful fight she and Swanpaw were having. The two apprentices' bickering now devolved into mockery as they did poor impressions of the other's voice. Swanpaw goes up several tones in pitch with Cloverpaw behaving like a rabid dog.

It was hard to believe that these two were from the clan considered the darkest of hearts in the forest. Shadowclan proved to be much different than what Thunderclan thought, still aggressive and shunning any form of outsiders but surprisingly close to one another.

The three begin heading back to camp, the two shadowclan cats occasionally swatting at one another and rough housing.



"May I?" asked Muckflower, overhearing Moonpetal's distress over the ill warrior asking to observe the cat. He didn't want to believe what Amberwound told him, but he had to know for himself by investigating the sick.

He touches the cat pelt, and while not feeling hot, the warrior's lungs felt labored under his left paw. Dawnwhisker and a few others have been becoming slower, losing their breaths on patrol, and having trouble eating, though that may be due to poor diet. Muckflower sat in his thoughts, considering every possibility as consumed by them.

The tom's heart almost leaped into his throat as he turned Dawnwhisker's paw, their pad upright.

A single toe on her padding was blackened, and Muckflower knew no matter how hard they groomed her, their skin would remain stained in deathly ink.

 

[JinLing]

Foxpaw trailed behind the Shadowclan cats, observing their interactions. They were surprisingly.. warm. Foxpaw purred quietly in amusement at their antics. The gathering was in five days, and Foxpaw hoped to go with the two pretty Shadowclan cats.




Moonpetal worked with Muckflower to help the Thunderclan sick. The plague was back, and it terrified every cat.

Moonpetal learned from Muckflower, he was treating her like an apprentice, but she didn't mind it at all. In fact, she appreciated it. Muckflower was knowledgeable and Moonpetal needed knowledge.

Hours later, Moonpetal curled up in her nest, Muckflower and she had earlier shifted all the sick cats into the makeshift den, to keep a better eye on them. Muckflower kept a vigil over the sick cats, administering treatment as needed.

Moonpetal was in a clearing. It was newleaf with strange plants around her. The plants were spiky looking with small, lavender colored flowers dotted along the stems. The plants gave off a strong fragrance that reminded Moonpetal of thyme. A strange, starry cat sat at the edge of the clearing. The cat had rotted skin and was clearly sick, with the same plague that the clans had. The cat walked through the plants, brushing up against them and purring quietly. When the cat took a nibble of the plant, the rottings faded to scars and the cat started plumping out until healthy.

Moonpetal woke with a start. It was just past moonhigh, and Muckflower was busy checking the cats.

"Muckflower, I know what we have to do." Moonpetal gasped out. Muckflower swung his head towards her, staring at the white she cat surrounded by a scattered bed of moss.

 

[Chill Alley Cat]

The three's paws were stained in the rough mug, the substance clogging their claws after digging out their fresh kill to return to Thunderclan. The cats occasionally kicking off the muck as they walked.

Cloverpaw slipped into the camp seamlessly, appearing as smooth as a shadow, her entrance as graceful as starclan in comparison to Swanpaw's gopher-like movement, worming her warm through the camp entrance like her paws was too heavy for her body.

The two would have resumed their duties as if Foxpaw was never even there if it wasn't for Cloverpaw's hesitant turnaround. The fawn-dotted she-cat pauses to say her thanks to the thunderclan cat.

"I'm glad we went hunting together Foxpaw." Cloverpaw spoke thoughtfully, a gleam in her eye as she was happy to meet the cat. Swanpaw raised an eyebrow at her sappiness, before going along with her clanmate's acceptance of the ginger cat.

"Eh, I guess you were alright." huffed the black and white cat, earning playful scorn from Cloverpaw as she batted the she-cat for being rude. The two smoothly get back to work, Cloverpaw entering the medicine den and Swanpaw beginning to chatter with Amberwound.




Muckflower was lucky to be able to keep the spreading of ink in secret, as he knew a rise of quiet panic would draft in a wave when word first got out of Dawnwhisker's return to sickness. The tom has seen the stages of fear before and performed for as long as possible to keep the gray cat's illness hidden.

Cloverpaw entered the den with many green herbs, including feverfew, chervil, and dock. The tom only gave a flick of his thick tail, the apprentice understanding the gesture as she began to start shelving. The two healers work in silence, ignoring the haggard breaths of worsening warriors.

The white she-cat did take notice of one cat's odd breathing, as Moonpetal shuffled in her nest huffing. The apprentice grew worried, taking advantage of Muckflower's work-blinding trance to shuffle closer to the round she-cat. Moonpetal's eyebrows creased in her sleep, and the apprentice could not tell if this was in discomfort or confusion as the thunderclan cat's claws flexed destroying her nest.

"...Moonpetal?" she said, Muckflower's ears turning to face her as he continued to organize the herb supply.

"Muckflower, I know what we have to do!" said the white cat bolting upright, causing the apprentice to jump a foot in the air and the tom to swivel around to see the resulting chaos of the exclamation.

"What are you talking about?" Muckflower huffed, already tired of the discussion's shenanigans as Cloverpaw rushed to sort out the nest she had scattered in her panic.

 

[JinLing]

Moonpetal new what plant they needed, but the problem would be finding it. She described her dream to Muckflower, down to even the sounds of the birds chirping in the distance.

Muckflower narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. He acknowledged Moonpetal's dream, but stated that there must be more to it. Moonpetal shuffled her paws.

"I suppose you are right, but at least we're pointed in the right direction!" The white she-cat refused to let Muckflower's doubtful attitude dampen her spirits. Starclan told her something that would greatly help the clans get over the sickness, and even Muckflower wouldn't be able to argue otherwise.

 

[Chill Alley Cat]

Stars appeared in Cloverpaw's eyes as the white cat spoke of their ancestors, in awe that Moonpetal spoke so easily to them. Muckflower never talked of Starclan, while always teaching her the absolute best about herbs, he speaks of the ghostly cats, even the very few times they visited the moonpool he remained silent.

Muckflower slightly grimaced at the reaction Coverpaw gave to the thunderclan cat, his nose wrinkling in an odd bundle of distrust, pity, and something else too hard to place. He never did trust medicine cat's dreams, as they usually only served to lead the clans astray or for forest cats to self-prophesize the terrible. They are useless at best and harmful at worst, and Moonpetal wasn't an exception.

"We'll get the lavender, but we won't stop regular treatment." He spoke curtly, leaving it at that knowing that most cats' blind faith would dismiss any reason or logic. His pelt bristles in disdain, not liking the fact he'll have to risk entering a twoleg's yard for a maybe treatment based on a silly dream. However, the other two didn't notice him as Cloverpaw began to excitedly ask Moonpetal about her vision.


"-What do they look like? How do you even know it was starclan? Is there a certain feeling or-" she asked in a edger whisper, curiosity seeping her tone and she quickly spoke.

 

[JinLing]

Moonpetal leaned forward to lick Cloverpaw between the ears. "You'll know when it's Starclan, it's a feeling and they know things no living cats could know. Sometimes.. you'll see a cat you used to know, although you won't recognize most of the cats there until they have visited you a few times." Moonpetal mewed, glancing at Muckflower, she added, "You are not supposed to talk about the cats you saw in Starclan unless necessary. It can easily make cats sad if you mention an old clanmate." She didn't mention that the cat in her dream was the same cat that almost got her fur clawed off at the mention, Sparrowpaw.

Out of habit, the white cat started organizing the herbs into neater piles. It didn't take long, since the two other medicine cats had done a good job. She busied herself helping take care of the sick cats. The Shadowclan's sleeping schedule made it very convenient to take care of sick cats. Muckflower and Cloverpaw took care of them while Moonpetal slept, and she returned the favor while the other two slept. There was a short time when they were all awake, and they usually used that time to inform each other on the sick cats condition, for better or worse.

Cloverpaw took Moonpetal's nest, and Muckflower laid in a nearby one. The Shadowclan cats slept deeply and Moonpetal took a few minutes to rip a mouse for the two to share when they woke up. She spent the day caring for the sick cats, there were no new cases, but it was only a matter of time.

 

[Chill Alley Cat]

As the sun rose, dark-coated cats began to slow to a stop, yawning as they entered their dens at dawn's orange beams descending upon cats. The bright pelts stirred in opposition to the Shdaowclan cats, starting to lazily chatter as they shared tounges stretched upon the sunning rocks. Only two rough-furred cats remained, appearing into camp from a late training session.

Swanpaw clawed at the ground, kicking up dirt as she darted from spot to spot as her mentor tiredly dragged along. Amberwound arched her back as she stretched to pop her worked spine. She paused before following her apprentice into the thorny bramble dens, changing her mind to turn to the medicine den.


The tortoiseshell watched from the entrance of the den for a moment, tiredly blinking as she eyed Moonpetal's work. The broad-shoulder cat shook her head awake before fully comprehending Muckflower's sleeping form.

"How's it looking?" the deputy yawned, wishing to visit the tom but settling to instead question the pale Thundercan cat. Her big paws dragged behind her as she stepped to see the smaller cat face to face to more clearly hear Moonpetal on any new information. It became apparent why the two were such close friends, both taking their roles very seriously, as Amberwound was to be conscious of every piece of news in the camp to better order her clan mates.

 

[JinLing]

Moonpetal started at Amberwound's entrance, before quickly padding forward to stop the cat from entering the den more than needed.

"No new cases and the cats haven't gotten too much worse. We're getting low on feverfew again, and we've almost exhausted the plants on the territory." The white she-cat paused before continuing, "I know that two-legs sometimes grow feverfew. Do you think an expedition into the two-leg territory is worth the energy?" The other cat considered and slowly shook her head, disagreeing with Moonpetal. The white cat sighed and kneaded the ground in frustration, not knowing what they would do once the essential herb was gone. A Shadowclan cat coughed and Moonpetal rushed over to see what was wrong. The cat's breathing had gotten more labored, a frail body wracked even more so with the sickness. Moonpetal's heart dropped when she saw that this was one of the cats that showed no response to the herbs, and was an elder. The medicine cats had agreed to not use any more herbs on the elderly cats who's condition was worsening, to help try and save the younger cats.

"He doesn't have much time. I would gather cats who are close to him so they can say goodbye now, since we won't be able to hold a vigil." Moonpetal mewed regretfully. If a vigil were to be held, sickness would have a much greater chance to spread, with a infected body surrounded by cats. Saying goodbye now would be not ideal, but necessary in order to minimize the sickness. Amberwound hung her head and stepped forward to quickly press her nose into the sick cat's fur. She then left the den, Moonpetal assumed to go inform Shadowclan that an elder was about to pass. Moonpetal pressed more water into the cat's mouth and cleaned down his pelt with damp moss, then quickly licked his fur the wrong way to warm him. Moonpetal glanced at the other medicine cats, deciding not to wake them. Amberwound would wake them up if she felt they were close enough to want to say goodbye.