Run Away Bravely (Stormwind)

“But all I’ve been doing for half a moon is sleeping.” Protested Squirrelflight. The she-cat closed her eyes, however, undeniably tired. “It doesn’t feel right.”

Leafpool looked relieved and smiled back at her sister, flicking her tail. “If you’re feeling tired, you should probably sleep. You’ll need all the strength you can get to fight off the infections.”

Squirrelflight obediently lapped up the Leaves, gagging slightly as she swallowed them. While liquid had been easier on her throat, the feverfew leaves each felt like claws scratching at the insides of her throat. She managed to swallow them all down, and even managed a weak smile up at Leafpool.

Leafpool waited until Squirrelflight had swallowed all of the water that had been in the mossball before placing the couple of leaves of feverfew in front of her.

Squirrelflight squeezed the water out of the moss ball between her jaws. She instinctively hesitated before swallowing, knowing it would cause her pain, but after a few heartbeats she forced the water down her inflamed gullet, flinching slightly but not having any real trouble.

Leafpool soon returned and placed the soaked mossball in front of Squirrelflight.

Squirrelflight could do little but swivel her ears to follow the sounds Leafpool made, starling blabkly at the moss of her nest.

Leafpool nodded, having expected that and gently checked the she-cat over. To her relief, the fever had lowered slightly. She went to fetch some water and feverfew.

“Miserable,” croaked The She-cat, her voice hoarse and scratchy. “My throat feels like it’s on fire.”

“Don’t move, Squirrelflight,” Leafpool said quickly to her sister. “You’re still badly injured. How are you feeling, though?”

Squirrelflight tried to lift her head, but the pain from an infected scar on the side of her neck prevented that.

Leafpool hurried over to her sister when she heard her, having just returned from burying the bones of her vole.

Firestar sat where he was, pondering their options for a moment.

In the medicine den, Squirrelflight gasped and opened her eyes suddenly, as if waking up from a nightmare where she was drowning.

Mistystar dipped her head to the younger tom and then padded off to do other important things.

Firestar dipped his head. Their guidance has been at a premium lately... perhaps it’s time for our medicine cats to attempt to reach the Moonpool once more.

Mistystar shook her head. “No,” she meowed. “They only gave me my lives.”

Firestar regarded Mistystar with respect.  “Did Starclan say anything to you at the Moonpool?”

Mistystar dipped her head slightly. “Thank you,” she murmured, flicking an ear. The she-cat herself had also been quite relieved with the successful ceremony. She had feared that StarClan would not accept her, even if it had only happened a few times in the past and was ridiculously rare. They hadn’t even rejected Brokenstar or Tigerstar.

“Greetings,” The tom mewed softly to the newly minted leader, “and congratulations on receiving your nine lives.” Firestar was thrilled that her ceremony had gone perfectly, as it meant that Starclan approved of the merger of the clans and the roles that the leader had in the new clan. After all, they surely would have rejected her if they were displeased, right?

Mistystar gestured for Firestar to wait for a moment, as she was in a conversation with Reedwhisker. Once he left to gather a hunting patrol, the she-cat turned to Firestar.

Across the clearing, Firestar padded up to Mistystar, who had gotten her name after a sizable patrol accompanied her to the Moonpool.

Leafpool didn’t want to buy her hunger drove her to and so she pulled the vole to her, eating it in quick, neat bites. She couldn’t wait until one of the other medicine cats got back so that she could leave the den (she’d been stuck in it the entire day). At the moment the other medicine cats were either collecting herbs or checking on the cats around the island that had injuries that weren’t yet healed but weren’t bad enough for them to have to stay in the medicine cat den.

Firestar dropped the prey wordlessly at Leafpool’s side. He gave his daughter a lick on the shoulder to try and console her, or at least remind her she wasn’t alone in her pain, and then padded out of the den. He wanted to stay, but there were other matters he needed to attend to.

Leafpool tried to sooth her sister by grooming her ears, amber eyes sad as she gazed down at the flame-colored she-cat. It hurt so much to see Squirrelflight, usually so strong and fierce, looking so small and weak.

Firestar nodded and trotted off to get some food.

Squirrelflight sputtering and then whining softly was the only thing that broke the silence until Firestar returned with a plump vole. He had been spoiled for choice for The she-cat, with every former clan contributing its expertise in catching different prey to the same fresh kill pile.