Spiderpaw followed Muskstar down the clearing, holding his squirrel tightly as they approached the medicine cat den. Lichen was swung over the entrance just like his own den, which gave him a flash of comfort and an idea that maybe these cats weren't as different to his Clan as he had expected.
He saw a figure move behind the lichen in the den, and beamed a little when Oceanfur pushed his way through. "Spiderpaw!"
"Good to see you," Spiderpaw mumbled through his squirrel. The scent was filling his nostrils, making his mouth water.
Oceanfur paced up to him and Muskstar quickly, dipping his head as he reached them. "Thank you so much for coming," he meowed. "StarClan couldn't tell you how much we appreciate this."
He turned and watched as Muskstar placed the herbs at Oceanfur's paws. "He's brought some goldtail and horse seeds - or something along those lines."
Oceanfur beamed humorously. "Thank you so much for the horsetail and marigold, as well as the poppy seeds."
Muskstar shook her head. "Same thing." She turned to Spiderpaw and sat herself down. "Thank you for doing this," she meowed, seeming suddenly serious with herself. "We owe ThornClan hugely."
He watched as she grey she-cat dipped her head and turned away. He turned back to Oceanfur and pushed the herbs to his paws.
"She's correct," he meowed. "After everything that's gone on between our Clans recently, we can't thank you enough. Come in and I'll show you to your nest and let you enjoy your squirrel. You must be hungry after the walk."
Spiderpaw dipped his head gratefully and clutched his squirrel harder. He waited for Oceanfur to pick up he herbs beneath him before following him into the cave. He felt a quiver down his paw, which had appeared to have gone brown in places. The infection was so bad that most of his fur had fallen off his paw, his skin was red and sore. He noticed an orange puss escaping from the wound, and tried to swallow back his sick feeling in his chest.
"Oh no..." Spiderpaw breathed.
Oceanfur said nothing.
"Do you know what could have triggered the sickness?"
Oceanfur shook his head. "I don't. The wound was so bad anyway, I knew he was going to get an infection sometime. But I didn't think the infection would be this bad."
He frowned, sulking his head over the rest of his body. "I've tried so much," he meowed. "Nothing is working. I don't want to lose him."
Spiderpaw closed his eyes, wishing he knew what to say to the medicine cat. "You work so hard for yourself," he muttered. "You don't deserve this."
"Neither does Ashpaw," he muttered back. Heaving out a sigh, he turned his gaze from the sick cat and turned to Spiderpaw. He flicked his tail to request him to follow him, and walked around the circular clearing into a large, feathery nest filled with leaves and soft flowers. "I hope this is okay," he meowed. "I'm sorry I couldn't get you any more feathers, but I hope this works for the time being."
Spiderpaw shook his head gratefully. "Don't worry," he meowed. "This looks so comfortable I could sleep right now."
He turned back to Oceanfur. "Did you want my squirrel? I was hungry, but now I feel a bit too nervous and I don't want to throw up my food."
Oceanfur shook his head. "I'd offer some to Ashpaw, but I've fed him already. He can't feed himself, and he's so weak that you have to physically put the food in his mouth."
Spiderpaw was listening carefully. "Is he strong enough to chew?"
"Sometimes," Oceanfur continued. "Other times no." He turned his gaze back to the sickly apprentice. "If you're not hungry, feel free to lay your prey besides your nest and eat later." Spiderpaw quickly lowered his head and placed his squirrel besides his nest before turning back to look back at Ashpaw. "Would you like me to rub the marigold on his wound?"
Oceanfur nodded lightly. "Yes please. Now, would you mind if I go out looking for a few more herbs?"
Spiderpaw looked at the pile of herbs he had brought with him, feeling a pang of guilt when he realised there were so many more back in his own Clan. "Go right ahead," he meowed, heading towards them before picking up a pawful of tansy to rub together. He watched as Oceanfur let out a quick breath of relief, as if being able to leave the camp knowing Ashpaw had someone to take care of him made him feel much better about leaving. He plodded his way outside, swishing the lichen behind his tail as he disappeared.
When the tansy was as wet as he could prepare, he rubbed his paws together and began applying the herb across the wound. He saw Ashpaw's eyes squeeze together immediately, and he drew his paw back quickly. "That hurts!"
"I'm sorry, but this has to be done," Spiderpaw replied. "Go back to sleep."
Ashpaw let his eyes open, and they seemed to narrow as his vision adjusted. "You're not Oceanfur," he murmured drowsily, annoyance flashing in his dull eyes.
"I know I'm not," Spiderpaw replied, continuing to rub the tansy between his paws so the leaves wouldn't crush up. "I'm Spiderpaw, of ThornClan. You know me."
"What are you doing here?" Ashpaw complained.
"I'm taking care of you," Spiderpaw replied, his patience quickly fizzing away with this cat's attitude.
"I don't want a ThornClan cat taking care of me," Ashpaw snarled.
Spiderpaw drew back, his eyes narrowing.
"Well I've promised Oceanfur that I'll apply this marigold to your wound, so I'm going to need to."
Ashpaw grunted slowly, showing his teeth as he raised his lip. He drew back his half-leg towards his stomach. Why was he being so hostile when he clearly needed his help?
Spiderpaw rolled his eyes to the back of his head, trying hard to hold on to the patience he had left. Ignoring Ashpaw's pleads, he began rubbing the marigold across the wound gently.
"Get off me, fleabag!" Ashpaw snapped weakly
"What, would you like an infection?" Spiderpaw spat back, satisfied by Ashpaw's followed silence.
"I'll probably get one anyway if you're applying this."
"Excuse me?" Spiderpaw spat.
"Why can't Oceanpaw do this and not you?" Ashpaw complained, ignoring Spiderpaw's tension and rolling himself over slightly.
"He's busy," Spiderpaw replied. "And I'm sure he's told you that I'm going to be around here for a while."
"How long?" the wounded apprentice groaned. Spiderpaw bit back his tongue, knowing he wouldn't dare scold the apprentice, knowing what this could put him into.
"As long as I need to be," he spoke. And hopefully, that won't be long."
Ashpaw simply groaned, tilting himself back over and leaning his half-paw outwards. Relief flushing down the back of his pelt, Spiderpaw reached out and began rubbing the marigold juices along the wound. "Is the pressure okay?"
"The pressure is fine," Ashpaw grunted. "But the herb stings a bit."
"Unfortunately you're going to have to cope with the stinging for a little while," Spiderpaw continued. "Although the sooner I finish rubbing this in, the sooner your wound can rest and the sooner the tingles can go away."
"They're not tingles," Ashpaw corrected abruptly. "They're thorns."
Him and Spiderpaw locked eyes for a moment, and suddenly Spiderpaw couldn't realise if he was finding his sentence funny or offensive, or whether he had realised he had made a joke. He decided not to say anything at all, because Ashpaw clearly hadn't found himself funny. His head was sunken into the moss of his nest, and his eyes were quickly dull again.
Spiderpaw lost focus in rubbing in the herbs for a moment, and his eyes narrowed on the apprentice. He began to wonder whether he should've said anything to the apprentice.
Brushing the thought aside, Spiderpaw scanned his mind for anything to start a conversation which wouldn't finish in an awkward silence of one cat struggling to know what to say. A pang of guilt touched him when he realised that Ashpaw looked just as annoyed as Spiderpaw to be stuck in the CedarClan medicine den.
"You must be sort of bored, huh?"
Ashpaw looked up and met Spiderpaw's eyes, his brows lowering slightly. "A bit," he admitted. His voice hardened as he continued on. "Why should you care?"
Spiderpaw took his paws away from Ashpaw's wound and wiped his paws against the reeds on the wall. "Being stuck in this den must be boring if I'm having fun wiping my paws dry."
Spiderpaw noticed that if Ashpaw tried to laugh, his attempt wasn't strong. He simply let out a light snort, but Spiderpaw really couldn't tell if he had been coughing or not.