Thorn

By the time Redpaw stirred herself awake in her nest, it was already noon, and the warm sun was filtering in through the fern tunnel. As she stood up and stretched, her muscles rippled beneath her tabby pelt, emphasizing the twist and turns of her uniquely shaped stripes, which seemed to almost dance in the sunlight. Her yellow gaze swam around the den, which was as silent as a mouse, and instantly she noticed that Willowbranch wasn't around. She must be out doing whatever medicine cats do.

"Umm..." Excuse me?

Redpaw's ears twitched as she recognized Blossomheart's voice. She padded in, along with her apprentice Dewpaw, who stumbled in awkwardly while holding up her front paw.

I stepped on a thorn, and I need help." She mewed pitifully.

Blossomheart licked between her ears in order to comfort her. The tortoiseshell and white she-cat was her mentor, but the way she fawned over Dewpaw like a queen made Redpaw cringe.

"She stepped on a thorn while she was helping Sparkpaw repair the nursery," she mewed gently. "Could you take it out for her?"

Redpaw let out a sigh of frustration and sat back down, folding her paws underneath her chest. "Can't you just do it yourself?"

Blossomheart hesitated, her ears flattening against her head, but Redpaw's impatient expression spurred her into action. "I think I can," she replied calmly, before returning her attention to her apprentice. "Now try to stay still."

Dewpaw obediently held out her paw, which had a large thorn embedded in it. Although it looked intimidating, Redpaw could easily tell that it was harmless. It was a shallow prick, with minor swelling around its edges. Bracing herself, Dewpaw winced her eyes shut as Blossomheart grasped the thorn tightly between her teeth, and with a single, swift tug, she managed to dislodge it.

"OOOOWWWW!!!" She screeched in pain as soon as the thorn was pulled out. Blossomheart quickly soothed Dewpaw with gentle licks to the wound, while Redpaw watched until the younger cat gradually began to calm down.

"You'll be alright," She murmured softly. After a moment, she turned her attention back to Redpaw, as if she were expecting something.

"What?" She asked, her eyes narrowed into tiny slits.

"Doesn't Willowbranch normally treat the wound in order to prevent infections?"

The fur on the back of Redpaw's neck bristled as she realized the she-cat might have a point, but she dismissed the idea with a wave of her tail. "It's just a thorn," she mewed, "It's not like she was bitten or clawed. She'll be fine."

Blossomheart's expression fell, and she shook her head. "But she could get an infection."

"We have limited herb supplies!" Redpaw snapped. She sprang to her feet, her tail thrashing behind her like an angry snake. She was beyond frustrated with Blossomheart's persistence. "We have to prioritize what cats to treat, and we shouldn't be wasting herbs on an apprentice who will heal almost immediately!"

Redpaw's outburst echoed throughout the den as Dewpaw's blue eyes welled up with tears. She tried to hold them back, but a few trickled down her face, betraying her emotions. Sniffling, she rubbed her paw over her eyes. "I'm sorry..." she mewed in a small voice. "I'll try to be more careful next time."

Great StarClan, no wonder she's so weak. Don't these cats realize she became an apprentice yesterday? She let out a heavy sigh and gestured with her tail towards an empty nest by the entrance. "Lay there and don't move. Let the bleeding stop, and I'll look for something that will treat it."

"Thank you," Blossomheart replied, relief flooding her voice. She took a step back, giving Redpaw more space to move around.

Redpaw turned to face the herb storage, which was meticulously located in a crack in the rock. Her eyes widened as they ran over the vast array of dried herbs, berries, and seeds, and the thought of using any of it suddenly became overwhelming. It was clear that Willowbranch had done a thorough job of keeping the supplies fully stocked, and although Redpaw was hesitant to admit it, she felt a swell of pride for her mentor's diligence in preparing for the harsh leaf-bare season ahead. Before long, she selected a pair of yellow flowers and took them over to her patient. "Rub your paw on these."

Dewpaw did as she was told, making sure to cover her paw thoroughly with the pollen. She winced as the petals grazed against the wound, but it did little to ease her pain or stop the bleeding. She sniffed back tears as they stained her fur. "It still hurts."

"You'll be fine." She reassured her, before turning to give Blossomheart a nasty stare. "Anything else?"

"No, I think you can handle the rest," she muttered. "Just take it easy today, Dewpaw, and stay off that paw."

The young cat nodded.

Great.

Redpaw watched her go and rolled her eyes. Where was a medicine cat when you needed one? Flowerpetal had disappeared, and now Willowbranch. She could only hope that it wasn't permanent.

"I'm going to go look for Willowbranch." Redpaw said as she padded towards the fern tunnel. "She can give you something for the pain."

"Okay!" Dewpaw mewed. She wrapped her tail around her body and curled her one good paw underneath her chest. She wasn't going anywhere.

Redpaw's empty stomach grumbled loudly as she emerged from the den, interrupting the chaos she had just left. The sun beat down on her ginger fur, and a cold breeze rustled the leaves of the nearby trees, carrying the scent of fresh prey. She took a deep breath, savoring the familiar smells of the forest as she looked out over the bustling camp, taking in the flurry of activity that greeted her. Littleleaf and Flintfoot were working together to haul a large tree branch outside of the camp. Along the way, they passed by Leopardstrike, who had just returned from leading a successful hunting patrol and was padding towards the fresh kill pile. Mintpaw and Finchwing were following close behind, each with a sparrow and vole in their jaws. In the center of it all was Silversky, barking out orders and overseeing the camp reconstruction in preparation for leaf-bare. Redpaw watched as her clanmates worked tirelessly, gathering fallen foliage to reinforce the dens, mending any gaps, and replacing old moss with fresh, new bedding. The camp was a hive of activity, and it was clear that everyone was working together to ensure their safety and comfort for the harsh season ahead.

"Hazelpaw!" Redpaw called out, catching sight of her brother as he emerged from the elder's den, a scrap of moss clamped firmly between his jaws.

He stopped in his tracks upon seeing her. "What—oof!" Before he could utter a word, Redpaw lunged on top of him, knocking him onto his back. He looked up in surprise, staring into the fiery, yellow eyes of the determined she-cat looming over him.

"Let's run away!" she exclaimed urgently, barely pausing to catch her breath. Hazelpaw flattened his ears, and with a lowered voice he asked, "Where would we even go?"

Redpaw hadn't thought of that. The day she ran away from camp was a spur-of-the-moment decision, brought on by her desire to escape her fate as a medicine cat. She probably wouldn't have gotten far on her own volition if Jayfeather hadn't brought her back to her senses. Despite that, she knew with Hazelpaw right beside her they would be unstoppable.

"Hazelpaw!" Ravenstorm growled, giving him a warning glance from a few mouse leaps away. "Do I need to tell you what to do?"

Hazelpaw gulped. He immediately pushed Redpaw off him and rose to his paws. "Sorry Ravenstorm!" He turned to face away from her, rolling the scrap of moss back into a tighter ball in an attempt to look busy.

"Has Ravenstorm taught you any moves yet?" she asked, her tail lashing back and forth in excitement. "Will you teach me?"

Redpaw's fur bristled with annoyance. "I haven't learned anything yet. Ravenstorm's been making me clean the elder's den and remove ticks since he became my mentor."

Redpaw's ears fell back, her excitement blowing up in a puff of smoke. "How could Ravenstorm do such a thing? What if the camp were attacked?"

"Oh yeah, what if it were attacked?" Ravenstorm meowed sarcastically while eavesdropping on their conversation. "Aren't you supposed to be learning about herbs or something?"

"Anyway, we'll talk later," Hazelpaw mewed. "I have to finish this."

Redpaw nodded. "Okay then." She turned around and headed towards the fresh kill pile. As she approached, she saw Sparkpaw digging into a squirrel.

"Hi!" She mewed, warmly greeting the young apprentice.

Sparkpaw looked up, narrowed his eyes, and grabbed the squirrel, heading in the direction of the apprentice den.

Redpaw let out a weary sigh as she picked up a shrew from the meager pile. Every cat seemed intent on spoiling her mood. If only she could talk to one of her clanmates. Willowbranch didn't even try to praise her for bringing the feverfew to her the other day, and every cat hated her. Perhaps talking to Jayfeather was useless after all. As she started to clean the shrew by tearing off its fur, she searched for Willowbranch with her eyes until she suddenly spotted her father talking to Hazelpaw. Without any further hesitation, she snatched up the prey and immediately bolted back to the medicine cat's den.

As soon as Redpaw arrived she skidded to a halt, dropping the shrew at her feet. To her surprise, Willowbranch was already there, undoing all her work and cleaning the yellow powder off of Dewpaw's injury with some soaked moss.

She gave Redpaw an annoyed glance but said nothing. Instead, she had several herbs lying around her feet. There were some green herbs as well as some different yellow ones, and she chewed them up and dabbed the pulp onto Dewpaw's paw. She then covered the injury with cobwebs. "There you go, Dewpaw. That should help prevent any infection." she mewed gently, "Just remember not to lick it off."

The apprentice gave her a toothy grin. "Thanks Willowbranch!"

Redpaw sighed and carried the shrew over to her. She didn't want Willowbranch to think she was being lazy or inconsiderate. "Eat this."

Dewpaw took the shrew away from her and bit into the soft prey. The spoiled apprentice didn't even bother to say thank you.

~

For the rest of the evening, Redpaw decided to stay in the den and watch over Dewpaw. Although Willowbranch kept giving her awkward side-eye glances, she did her best to ignore them, and instead focused on cleaning her fur and checking up on their patient every now and then. Meanwhile, her mentor constantly reappeared and disappeared into the den. Redpaw couldn't shake the feeling that Willowbranch was purposely avoiding her, but that was probably a good thing, considering she didn't want to be a medicine cat in the first place.

"Redpaw?" Dewpaw's voice interrupted her thoughts, as she peeked out at her from her moss nest. "Where did Flowerpetal go?"

Redpaw's spine tingled, and she slowly turned her head to look at the bluish-gray apprentice. No cat had mentioned her name since they gave up on the search. "I don't know."

"I miss her." She mewed.

"Me too," Redpaw lied. She had only met Flowerpetal once when she was a much younger kit, and she couldn't even remember what she looked like, let alone her scent.

"She always knew what to do. She knew about whitecough and how to treat it, and she always had the herbs we needed. I'm scared. The other apprentices at the gathering said WindClan's medicine cat died last leaf-bare because of it. What if you or Willowbranch get sick?"

"You'll be fine, you're young." Redpaw meowed, trying to ease her mind a bit. She stroked her pelt with her tail to ease her worries, but she knew Dewpaw was an older apprentice who had experienced leaf-bare once.

"But so was my mother Rainpelt, and she's gone now." She mewed.

Redpaw felt her heart drop to the bottom of her paws. She looked in Willowbranch's direction and saw her pushing her head into the stone wall. She and Flowerpetal must have fought hard to keep Rainpelt alive.

Redpaw climbed into Dewpaw's nest, wrapping her tail around her small body and soaking in her warm scent.

"Let me tell you a secret," she whispered into her ear, "but you can't tell any cat, okay? Do you promise?"

"I promise!" She mewed, her eyes sparkling with determination.

She took a deep breath. "Medicine cats have been visiting me in my dreams."

Dewpaw's blue eyes grew so wide they were as big as pinecones. "And what did they say?"

"They showed me where the best herbs could be found, and if they find anything for whitecough, they'll show me where to find it."

"They will?" she asked, her voice growing louder.

"Shhh!" Redpaw hushed her with her tail. "Don't let the others hear!"

"Sorry!" She mewed. She laid her head down, her one good paw kneading into the nest. "Thank you for telling me your secret. I feel much better now."

"Of course," Redpaw replied with a smile. "You must have faith that StarClan will pull us through."