The Forgotten Warrior

But when he burst out of the thorns, there were no WindClan cats to be seen. The few ThunderClan cats who were not on duty were gathered in a ragged circle in the center of the clearing; Lionblaze thrust his way between Daisy and Ferncloud to see what was going on. In the middle of the circle, Mousewhisker and Cherrypaw were lying on the ground, writhing in pain, their legs flailing and their tails curled up in agony. There was foam on the lips of both cats, and their eyes were glazed with pain.

“What happened?” he demanded.

“I don’t know,” Poppyfrost replied, her eyes wide and scared. “They came back a few moments ago and collapsed like this.”

“My kit!” Daisy whispered, blinking anxiously at Mousewhisker. Ferncloud comforted her with the touch of her tail on Daisy’s shoulder.

“Had… bellyache,” Mousewhisker gasped. “Think the mouse we shared last night was… going off a bit.”

“It hurts!” Cherrypaw wailed. Helplessly she stretched out a paw toward Poppyfrost, as if she were begging her mother for help.

“Where’s Jayfeather?” Lionblaze snapped.

“Out in the forest somewhere,” Molepaw meowed, gazing at his littermate with horrified eyes. “He and Brightheart went to check on the herbs he’s growing.”

“Go and find him,” Lionblaze ordered. “Try the old Twoleg nest first.”

Molepaw nodded and raced off, looking relieved to have something to do. Lionblaze hesitated, uncertain what more he could do, then staggered as Leafpool shoved past him.

“What have you eaten?” she demanded, bending over Cherrypaw.

“Mousewhisker said they shared a rotting mouse last night,” Lionblaze explained.

Leafpool flashed him a glance from her amber eyes. “A mouse shouldn’t cause this.” She was tense, but in control, her medicine cat skills surging back to meet the emergency.

“Didn’t want to bother Jayfeather. We ate some parsley… cure the bellyache.” Mousewhisker forced the words out between his teeth.

“Parsley?” Leafpool bent to sniff the foam around Cherrypaw’s lips. “That wasn’t parsley, it was water hemlock.”

“Is that bad?” Lionblaze asked, already knowing the answer.

“There’s nothing more poisonous in the whole forest, except for deathberries,” Leafpool replied. “I need herbs to make them vomit.”

But she didn’t head for Jayfeather’s den. Instead, she braced her paws on Cherrypaw’s legs, trying to stop her from thrashing around.

“What are you doing?” Poppyfrost hissed.

“They have to keep still,” Leafpool told her. “If they flail around like this they could choke on their tongues.”

Instantly understanding the danger, Lionblaze rushed across to Mousewhisker and tried to hold the young warrior down; Mousewhisker’s legs were jerking in agony and he raked his claws across Lionblaze’s shoulder. Leafpool wasn’t finding it any easier to control Cherrypaw; though her movements were strong and confident, her eyes were terrified.

“Foxleap, give us some help over here!” As Lionblaze called to his Clanmate he noticed that Cinderheart had appeared at the entrance to the camp. She was staring at the sick cats in horror, as if she couldn’t bear to watch but couldn’t tear her gaze away.

Suddenly she leaped forward, whisking past Lionblaze. “I’ll get the herbs,” she mewed, racing for Jayfeather’s den.

Leafpool looked up. “We need—”

“I know,” Cinderheart interrupted, casting a glance back as she vanished behind the bramble screen.

Foxleap went to help Leafpool with Cherrypaw, while Hazeltail bounded across to Lionblaze and joined him in holding Mousewhisker down. Her littermate’s thrashing legs knocked her off her paws, but she scrambled up and grabbed at him again.

Within a few heartbeats Cinderheart was back with a bundle of yarrow in her jaws. Dropping the bunch beside Leafpool, she turned back to Lionblaze. “Hold his head,” she mewed crisply. “No, not like that—your paw’s in the way of his mouth. I need you to hold him so that I can get some yarrow between his jaws.”

Lionblaze stared at her. “Where did you learn all this stuff?”

“We don’t have time for this!” Cinderheart snapped as she slapped his paws into position. “Just do as I say.” She chewed up a mouthful of the herbs and forced the pulp between Mousewhisker’s jaws. Then she began to massage his belly, kneading it strongly as if she were a kit trying to get milk from her mother. Beside her, Leafpool was doing exactly the same for Cherrypaw.

Cinderheart glanced across to check on her. “More pressure a bit higher up,” she instructed.

To Lionblaze’s surprise, Leafpool nodded. Her eyes were a little wider than usual, but she didn’t pause to ask why Cinderheart was suddenly telling her what to do.

What in the name of StarClan is going on? Lionblaze wondered. Has Cinderheart been secretly training to be a medicine cat? Why would she do that?

Heartbeats later, both sick cats vomited up mouthfuls of evil-smelling slime.