(Raccoonstripe)

Which character from this book should I draw next?

"Yeah, they probably ran as soon as they saw the wolf. We should check if that's even their blood or not." Rowanpaw spoke up from somewhere in the crowd, sounding eager to investigate.

"I'd bet a fish tail that they rolled in some of the wolf's blood. Pepperpelt, Sootface and I think that they're both lying!"

Crescentsky winced. Great Starclan.

"Everyone knows that Tinyflame is terrified of the wolves. She's never even faced one!" Her littermate meowed matter-of-factly.

Lagoonstripe searched the audience for Rowanpaw's brown ears until her steely gaze fell over the she-cat.

"They're not lying. For one, those wounds are real; use your eyes. And for two, we saw three wolves when we made it past the camp entrance. There was three of them- at least at first." Lagoonstripe snapped beside her littermate Alpinefog, startling Sootface from his sneer.

"Do you really believe that mouse-dung? There's no way a couple of day-old warriors, and both she-cats at that, went up against three wolves and lived to tell the tale." The dark-faced tom said inarguably, as if it were simply unbelievable.

"Can't you keep your whiskers to yourself, Sootface? I'm pretty sure if it was you we were talking about, then you'd believe every second of it." Trufflefur had a haughty grin, as the Skyclan deputy's gaze hardened even farther.

"So goes the question of whether these warriors completed their vigil or not. It's still pre-dawn and they've broken the truce not to speak." Jadestar cut in, her jaws parting in a massive jawn.

"In my opinion, they have." Lagoonstripe said, turning her striped head.

"No matter what any cat says, for whatever reasons, those wolves didn't cross the boundary. They stayed outside the camp walls tonight."

"That's not because of anything that they did." Quietdew flipped her grey-and-white tail, annoyed. Rowanpaw nodded her agreement.

"They held the wolves off, though!" Oatkit called out, but he was quickly shushed by his mother.

"Until they ran away, and failed to warn the rest of us!" Sootface snarled.

"Just because Tinypaw and Crescentpaw got lucky not to die isn't reason enough to reward them breaking the rules." Rowanpaw seemed more confident in saying such things beside the older warrior Quietdew.

Maybe they had gotten lucky- especially in the eyes of the clan, but her phrasing still rubbed Crescentsky the wrong way.

Plus, Rowanpaw had called them by their apprentice names. Why? Did she just forget?

"We aren't going to strip their warrior names for bad circumstances, Rowanpaw." Alpinefog said to his apprentice in a shrewd tone.

"The fact that they're alive now means quite the opposite, actually. We should allow them to be warriors." He then twitched his small gray ears.

"Something I find odd, though, is that the wolves never fight each other like that," Alpinefog's voice was steady and loud, his meow authoritarian.

"You didn't see it from up close like we did. Sure, they skirmish over bodies... wrestle and show teeth at each other. But these ones were all-out attacking."

"It doesn't matter why the wolves do what they do. We'll never know why!" Rowanpaw butted in again with a condemning tone.

Lagoonstripe agreed with the russet-furred apprentice this time, but she looked like she wanted to cuff Rowanpaw for saying so.

"Whatever the reason, we were all lucky tonight. But Crescentsky and Tinyflame, make sure that you always yowl the alarm. It's the most important part of standing guard. I won't warn you without consequence again." Her gaze fell over their bloody wounds again, and Crescentsky wearily lapped at the drying one on her tail. The fur surrounding it was matted.

Her and Tinyflame shared a relieved look. Whew. We didn't get caught this time. Still, she knew that she had to tell the clan sooner rather than later.

The longer I keep this from them, the bigger the consequences are for exposing it.

"Some cats help me lick their wounds clean. These are at serious risk for infection... so let Starclan send us our medicine cat, and soon," Lagoonstripe prayed.

"Rowanpaw and Rainpaw, fetch some cobwebs. The more the better." Lagoonstripe continued to command the cats in the clan.

"And then we must help them to the warriors den." She sighed, her tabby pelt rippling in distress.

"Why not the medicine cat's den?" Oatkit asked, and Alpinefog answered him.

"There's no use putting them in the medicine cat's den right now. The nests in there are falling apart, and we've got no idea which herbs are for what. In fact, a few of them are probably expired."

"Does any cat here know if coltsfoot is good for wounds? I think I remember what that looks like," Jadestar asked hopefully.

"No, it's not," Trufflefur stated. "It's used for shortness of breath and whitecough."

Jadestar sat beside Lagoonstripe and began licking at Crescentsky's wounds roughly. She winced.

"I'm guessing you don't know anything that is useful for external injuries? Preventing infection, things like that?" She sounded a bit scornful in her probing.

"I'm sorry, but I don't. I only know of coltsfoot because my clan had whitecough last leaf-bare."

The brown tom looked crestfallen to be found so unhelpful. After watching Racoonstripe join in to clean Crescentsky's sticky fur, he scooted forward as well.

The four warriors surrounded her in a symmetrical pattern, cleaning her off while the other cats talked. Cheetah and Houndspots licked the blood from Tinyflame's chest-fur and forelegs, while the lithe black she-cat looked on with a shimmering gaze full of pain.

I hope Tinyflame is alright. The wounds on her chest look deep. Then she wondered if her sister was suffering from a punctured lung, and her tail quivered with nerves.

After awhile Crescentsky felt herself slouching against Trufflefur's shoulder, though. She couldn't help it.

I could easily fall asleep right here on my paws...

Her wounds stung so bad, even after the thick layering of cobweb was plastered all over them. She felt the best relief would be to sleep through it.

"You should go and get some rest." Emberfawn said, and Crescentsky headed straight for the warrior's den.

"Cheetah and Rowanpaw, help them along. I'll send a poppy seed for the both of you tomorrow. It's about all I can do," Lagoonstripe mewed apologetically.

"I don't know the right dosage, so we'll just go with half a seed for the each of you. Alpinefog and I have been giving Houndspots that same amount each day. But we're scared to give him more in case it makes his infection worse. If he sleeps more, would it be easier for him to heal, or the opposite?" She sounded unsure. There was nothing that Crescentsky could say to reassure her. Only a medicine cat could provide such advice.

Cheetah hadn't said much as she boosted the smaller Tinyflame along, but she looked like she wanted to. Crescentsky could tell that she was biting her tongue, seething with questions unable to be asked in front of the other cats.

Instead of supporting Crescentsky with her shoulder, though, Rowanpaw stayed a pace behind. As soon as they brushed through the den entrance ivy-screen, the chestnut-brown she-cat shoved into Crescentsky's haunches from behind.

Crescentsky turned and waited for her apologize, but when she didn't the tabby warrior blinked and asked "What was that for?"

"I don't know, maybe because you don't need help. You've got plenty from everyone else already." Rowanpaw shrugged so agressively that her copper paws shook underneath her.

"See, this is why we didn't invite you to the Moonpool journey." Tinyflame said while their sister flattened her ears, spitting.

"The one that you should've died on?"

Rowanpaw turned around and raced from the den. Uncomfortable silence filled the air afterward, and Cheetah didn't comment.

Silverthorn shrubs on the inside of the warriors den, tightly woven and blotting out all of the moonlight, gently clattered together as a strong wind blew outside.

"You didn't need to be that harsh." Crescentsky eventually opened her jaws to complain.

"You're blaming me?!" Tinyflame sounded outraged.

"No. But you know Rowanpaw's upset that we got our warrior names and she didn't. That, or because we didn't invite her. We should talk to her tomorrow, or whenever we see her again."

"Upset doesn't excuse wanting us dead."

"You know she didn't mean it."

"Whatever. You can talk to her, but I'm staying out of it." Tinyflame kneaded her paws into the bedding, settling down.

"I stopped fishing for that trout a long time ago."

🐈‍⬛

"You three are confined to the camp while your woulds heal." Lagoonstripe told them at mid-morning the next day, after they had eaten and taken their poppy seeds.

Houndspots was sitting up in the back of the den. He looked rebellious.

"Again? We all know that my wound's not going to heal. Just let me go on a hunt this time, Lagoonstripe!"

The silver-tabby warrior shook her head no.

"As soon as the medicine cat sign shows you'll be the first cat treated, Houndspots. Now, Crescentsky- let's see if you can move that leg."

She could, but it was incredible agony to do so. And she didn't want any cat examining her closely anyways, for fear that her missing claws would be discovered.

"I- I can. But the poppy seed hasn't taken affect yet. It still hurts so badly that I don't want to right now. Please don't make me."

Lagoonstripe gazed at her evenly for a moment, and then nodded.

"Okay. Some other time, then- when it troubles you less."

After Lagoonstripe left, Crescentsky stayed in her nest with her head on her paws. Houndspots did the same, his wound stinking of sour infection anytime he twitched or moved. The tom kept falling in and out of a fitful slumber. The clean moss in his nest was pushed over the sides and onto the flattened, dusty den floor.

High sun had long surpassed, and her haunch wound was so tender that it stung worse than fire ants to move even a whisker. She hoped it was okay.

Half a poppy seed only helps for so long... maybe it'll be fine, once it heals.

More than that, though, she hoped that Tinyflame was alright. No cat could diagnose the she-cat's injuries until Riverclan's new medicine cat was chosen, and then trained by Starclan.

🐈‍⬛

"I need to talk to Rowanpaw," Crescentsky said impatiently when Cheetah came to visit them some time later.

"Alright. I'll fetch her for you. I saw her eating at the fresh-kill pile a moment ago."

A soft-scented breeze blew through the den entrance. It smelled of willow bark and waterlogged reeds. Crescentsky longed to go hunting or stand guard or pad around camp or do anything. But it would only cause her blinding agony.

When Cheetah returned, she had two catfish gripped between her teeth, swaying by their tails. Their smooth bodies gleamed even in the dim light of the den-space. She set them down beside the two nests and began shaking her head.

"Sorry. Rowanpaw said that she's busy. Said she can't talk right now, but I brought you and Tinyflame something."

Crescentsky pictured her estranged littermate sitting alone beside the fresh-kill pile.

"Okay then. Did she say that she'd stop by tomorrow?"

"No."

"If you can, just ask her to visit the warriors den later. I'd like to speak to her." Crescentsky sighed and curled her tail around herself.

She could hear Pepperpelt lecturing Oatkit about trying to climb the tattered den walls. Even farther off and more incoherent than that, Lagoonstripe was arguing with Jadestar again. This time, Sootface had joined in. Stress filled her chest until she almost couldn't bear to sit in the den any longer.

I need to be out there. I should be out there saying something. Skyclan is causing too much strife in our camp.

"I'll go and tell her now. You guys should eat and get some rest, though."

Crescentsky nodded half-heartedly. Her thoughts wandered back to yesterday.

I don't think the wolves will come back for a few days.

But what if they're capable of seeking vengeance? Was that a silly question? She couldn't tell.

They had looked noticeably skinny lately. There was less cats for them to kill around the lake. So why didn't they just leave?

Surely there's a better prey source out there, and the wolves can smell it as well as they smell us. As far as she knew, the last time they'd killed a clan cat was Cloverkit's death.

It was frustrating, not knowing any shred of what the wolves knew; or why they did what they did. So the tabby-and-white warrior couldn't come to any conclusions. There was no way to figure out the wolves and their thoughts, not without trying to communicate with one again.

Or using her power and seeing if that changed her hunter's influence. It hadn't seemed to so far... but then again, she hadn't really hunted anything as a wolf yet.

It looks like my chances of experimenting with Starclan's gift are put on hold, for now. She couldn't imagine slipping out through the dirtplace barrier with her cobweb-covered wounds. They hurt too badly.

Crescentsky was disappointed to find out that Rowanpaw didn't turn up the next morning.

Instead, the injured she-cat had a fitful and broken sleep, followed by a groggy arousal. Houndspots kept waking all of the warriors with his dreadful drawn-out moaning.

"It hurts." He yowled, kicking out feebly and scattering all of the moss in his nest. Crescentsky could hardly see him in the dark den-space.

"It hurts so badly. Starclan, just take me now! Please, before I eat deathberries. I can't take this anymore," he whimpered, and Crescentsky lifted her head. She was about to step out of her nest and comfort the tom, but the other Riverclan cats were already padding softly over to him. They crouched around his nest, whispering in his ears, murmuring that he was going to be okay.

Please, Starclan... if there's any hope for Houndspots, let our medicine cat sign come tomorrow.

Lagoonstripe didn't exit on time to assign the dawn patrol. Crescentsky watched the darkness inside the den grow paler and paler, as the light strengthened outside.

A/N:

Q: What do you expect to see play out/happen before the book ends?