Chapter 9

"Uff...where's that medicine cat?" meowed Scorchstone irritably. "My bones are aching!" Wildpaw stifled a purr of amusement as she unsheathed her claws to scrape out the entire dirty nest in the elder's den. This was her second lesson in being an apprentice, and she had to clean the elder's den. For some reason, she enjoyed it. It might be because of Scorchstone—a cranky, but fun gray tom—and Dawnheart—light gray she-cat with milky blue eyes—humorous complaints about their aching joints. Or maybe it might be because she didn't want to go hunting or do battle moves.
"Humph! If Sagewhisker doesn't get here soon, I'm going to complain to Hazelstar," grumbled Scorchstone. He moved next to Dawnheart so Wildpaw could clean out his nest. As he did so, Wildpaw spotted a flea. She wrinkled her nose, disgusted. She would have to tell Sagewhisker to give her some mouse-bile later on, so she could kill that flea.A few minutes passed, and still no sign of Sagewhisker. Wildpaw wondered whether she should call Sagewhisker or not; the elders were getting crankier by the second. Just as she was straightening up from her work, the brown medicine cat padded into the den, plants with long stems and bright yellow flowers dangling from her jaws.
"Finally!" meowed Scorchstone. "Took you long enough, Sagewhisker!" He stretched a bit, wincing at the stiffness of his joints.The gentle she-cat purred.
"I had to collect some catmint before leaf-fall, Scorchstone," she mewed. Wildpaw forgot about cleaning the elders' den as she watched the medicine cat chewed up the leaves and flowers into a moist poultice. Then she applied it to Scorchstone's joints first, the gray tom telling her where to put the poultice and then sighing in satisfaction as the poultice soothed his aching bones. Sagewhisker then turned to Dawnheart and in moments later, the old tom was done too. The two elders padded out from the den, their stiffness not so much now, and lay down in front of it, wanting to catch the rays of the sunlight.
"What's that plant called, Sagewhisker?" Wildpaw asked, fascinated.
"Hmm?" Sagewhisker looked at Wildpaw. "Oh, this plant? It's called goldenrod.""Goldenrod..." Wildpaw trailed off, looking into the distance. She wondered how a plain plant such as goldenrod could soothe the elders' joints. How fascinating, she thought.
"Shouldn't you get back to cleaning the nest?" Sagewhisker's question interrupted her thoughts. Wildpaw started, her attention snapping back to the medicine cat. Then embarrassment filled her from head to tail-tip as she recalled what ThunderClan medicine cat had said and she nodded, keeping her gaze fixated on her work. Pawsteps sounded as Sagewhisker padded out of the den, and then Wildpaw heard the light brown she-cat meow to some unseen cat, a she-cat:"I'll be resting in my den if you need me."
"You went herb-hunting last night, didn't you?" There was a pause, and then the unseen she-cat continued, "No wonder you look so tired. Go get some nap, Sagewhisker."Wildpaw heard pawsteps and she looked up just in time to see Stargaze poking her head into the den. Her gaze softened when it landed on her daughter, and the she-cat went over to Wildpaw.
"How's your training going?" Stargaze asked.Wildpaw stopped her work for a while. "It's been great!" she meowed enthusiastically. It was a fake, of course. She was still depressed by the fact that she couldn't master one simple battle move taught by Mapleleaf. And that she had made a fool of herself by not realizing she was in StarClan when she was talking to Lightedpath and Goldenheart. Embarrassment flooded her again when the blurry memory of the 'dream' flashed through her mind.
"If you need any help, Wildpaw, I'll be right here, okay?" Stargaze licked the fur between her daughter's head, and padded out of the den. Wildpaw shot a grateful glance at Stargaze's retreating back. Thank StarClan my mother is always there for me, she thought.Wildpaw finished her apprentice duty to clean the elder's den and went outside, passing Scorchstone and Dawnheart on the way. She enjoyed the gentle breeze that rustled the leaves of the bushes lining the hollow, and the bright sunlight that warmed her tortoiseshell pelt. She went over to the fresh-kill pile and chose a small bird from it. Wildpaw carried it over to a corner of the camp and settled down to eat when a familiar-sounding wail brought her to her paws.Shimmerkit! What was happening to her? Wildpaw sniffed the air and smelled the scent of the kit on the breeze. She tracked it to the bramble tunnel that led from the camp. There, near the bush where she and Fawnkit and Creamkit had hid in when they had their first expedition outside the camp, was Shimmerkit. One little gray paw was raised and she was wailing in pain. Wildpaw recalled Tigerlily saying something about going hunting with her brother, Ashwhisker, and that Midnightkit, Shimmerkit and Brackenkit were asleep in the nursery. Well, Shimmerkit was awake now.
"Shimmerkit!" Wildpaw bent down to face the kit. "What's wrong?" she asked.Shimmerkit showed her gray paw, sniffing. Wildpaw saw that there was a thorn in it, a medium-sized thorn sticking halfway into Shimmerkit's paw.
"Hold still, alright?" As Shimmerkit nodded, Wildpaw grasped the part of the thorn sticking out with her teeth, and then she tug sharply. The thorn came out at once, and drops of blood appeared on the wound and dripped down onto the ground. Wildpaw spat out the thorn as Shimmerkit began wailing again.
"Shush," meowed Wildpaw, and gently grabbed Shimmerkit by the scruff of her neck. She carried Shimmerkit to the medicine cat's den, setting the kit down onto the floor of the den before waking up Sagewhisker. The medicine cats woke up with a start, and blinked her eyes blearily to see who had shaken her awake.
"Wildpaw!" Sagewhisker straightened up. "What are you doing in here?"
"Shimmerkit has a thorn in her pad," Wildpaw explained. "I pulled it out, but blood is dripping out from the wound."Sagewhisker nodded briskly and went over to the little gray kit, who was wailing her head off.
"Hold up your paw," she instructed. Shimmerkit did so, and Sagewhisker began licking the wound until there was no more blood.
"Better?" she purred.Shimmerkit nodded.
"Thank you, Shimmerkit," she mewed, and licked the medicine cat swiftly on the cheek before bounding out of the den, limping a bit. Wildpaw followed her, meowing a goodbye to. She returned to where her bird lay and settled down to eat just as the hunting patrol returned. Cloudpaw was one of them. Wildpaw didn’t know the white apprentice that well, but she talked to him sometimes.. He had a mouse in his jaws, a mouse which Wildpaw supposed he had killed, by the smug look on his face. Cloudpaw looked around and his green eyes brightened up when he spotted his denmate. He carried the mouse over to her and settled down beside her, just close enough so that their pelts brushed. Wildpaw was startled by this, but she did not move away. Why is Cloudpaw acting so weird? Wildpaw looked around self-consciously, spotting Cherrypaw across the camp. But Cherrypaw was glaring at her, eyes narrowed into slits. Startled, Wildpaw looked away, her eyes finding Creampaw, a tail-length away. He was starring at his paws, pushing around a half-eaten starling.
"So what were you doing this afternoon?" inquired Cloudpaw, taking a bite out of his mouse and jolting Wildpaw back into reality.
"Just cleaning the elder's den," answered Wildpaw simply, looking at him. But she was startled by the emotion in his eyes, and quickly glanced away.The emotion in his eyes was love.He couldn't be falling for her, could he? She was barely eight moons old and she had a denmate padding after her. Why????