Nutwhisker's POV:

Nutwhisker padded through the forest in search of ragwort leaves. Slowsky had complained of aching in her joints and Nutwhisker knew ragwort leaves would be the best to treat the old she cat's discomfort. He sniffed around, trying to pick up the scent but found nothing. "I swear there was a patch right around here..." he muttered softly and looked around for the patch of ragwort he was looking for.

"Hey Nutwhisker?" A small voice sounded behind him. He turned around to see Mousenose.

"Oh, Mousenose hello. What brings you here?" Nutwhisker asked the brown she cat as he quickly checked around an oak tree for any signs of ragwort.

"Um.. I was just wondering.. What herb helps a queen when she is expecting?" Mousenose asked nervously.

Nutwhisker stopped sniffing under a bush and narrowed his eyes, his lips formed a straight line and he slowly raised his head to face Mousenose. "Why are you asking?" He queried.

"Um," Mousenose shuffled her paws stiffly. "N-nothing.. I was just curious."

Nutwhisker sighed and flattened his ears briefly, "You're expecting kits aren't you?"

"I might.." Mousenose avoided Nutwhisker's hard gaze and whispered, "Please don't tell anyone."

"Cats are going to grow suspicious soon. Your stomach has already grown quite a bit." Nutwhisker leaned closer and narrowed his eyes, "I'd say you have less than a moon to go until you give birth."

"Less than a moon?" Mousenose gasped. "I thought it would be at least two moons!" She started to hyperventilate and Nutwhisker rushed to her side.

"It's okay, it's okay." Nutwhisker reassured and gave her a friendly lick on her forehead as Mousenose fought to catch her breath.

"I'm scared." Mousenose whimpered and rested her head against Nutwhisker's chest.

Nutwhisker licked her head again and meowed, "Every queen is nervous on her first time. But I promise you I will fight to make your kitting as comfortable as possible."

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Stormflame's POV:

Stormflame felt ferverish. He shivered from cold inside his nest but his fur felt boiling hot. Silverstar paced beside the nests, waiting impatiently for Nutwhisker's return.

At last, Nutwhisker returned. In his jaws was four different herbs. Stormflame heard Silverstar ask, "I thought you were only collecting ragwort leaves. What are these?"

"Um," Nutwhisker set the herbs down and shook out his fur to shake off any stray bits of dirt or plants. "I collected ragwort, raspberry leaves and parsley. Oh and I found some tansy on the way back to camp. It'll help your cough."

"Raspberry leaves? Didn't you use those on me when I was kitting?" Silverstar meowed.

"Yes." Nutwhisker meowed, his voice was short and showed that that was the end of the conversation. He stalked away, into the back of the den where the herb store was.

Stormflame felt a cough rise in his throat and he choked for breath as he tried to force the cough down. Instead of helping his cough, he ended up wheezing and gagging. Nutwhisker gave him a sharp blow on his chest with sheathed claws and Stormflame finally stopped coughing. He wheezed and moaned as he flopped back into his nest.

Silverstar stood nervously beside Nutwhisker and meowed, "Is he okay?"

"You want the truth?" Nutwhisker growled, "No. He is not okay. He has greencough!"

After Nutwhisker spoke those dreaded words, Stormflame felt darkness take over.

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Silverstar's POV:

Once Stormflame passed out, Nutwhisker disappeared back into his herb store. Silverstar trotted after him, "Aren't you going to do anything?"

"Like what? He's blacked out." Nutwhisker growled as he roughly tossed a pile of withered herbs onto another pile at the edge of the den.

Nutwhisker reached out to pick up another small pile of herbs but Silverstar knocked the herbs away with a hiss, "My mate had greencough and has just blacked out and you are sitting in your herb den, doing nothing!"

"What can I do to help him?" Nutwhisker snarled and tried to shove Silverstar out of the den but the silver she cat stood firmly in Nutwhisker's way. The medicine cat hissed at his leader, "Stormflame needs his rest! I don't have any catmint to treat him or Wildkit! So the only way to help him heal is for him to sleep!"

Silverstar bared her teeth in a furious snarl and lashed her tail, "You are the medicine cat! There has to be some herb that can help him!"

"Sorry to burst your bubble but no, only catmint can help him." Nutwhisker growled as he pushed Silverstar aside and stalked out of the den in a huff. Shinepaw's voice sounded from outside the den as the golden she cat tried to calm her mentor down.

Silverstar forced her bristling fur to lie flat on her back and attempted to douse the burning rage inside of her. It wasn't until a yowl, "Silverstar! The wind!"came from the warriors den that signalled Silverstar had lost the careful control of her wind powers.

"Silverstar?" Watersplash meowed as she walked into the den carrying some clean moss in her jaws. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." Silverstar replied and stepped into her nest beside Stormflame. The black tom didn't even stir as she brushed against him. He must have been really worn out.

Watersplash placed the moss down and meowed, "How is your throat?" The medicine cat leaned close to Wildkit and nudged the sick kit off her nest. The she kit let out a shrill cry of protest but eventually calmed down again. A cough racked her tiny body as Watersplash carefully made a new nest for the sick kit and then placed her back inside.

"My throat is a little sore." Silverstar reluctantly admitted and stepped away from her nest to allow Watersplash to change her bedding.

"I'll give you some tansy for your throat then." Watersplash began working on her nest. "It should sooth the soreness and reduce the coughing."

Silverstar's hazy mind wasn't allowing her to process much of what Watersplash was saying so she just mumbled, "Okay."

Once Watersplash finished Silverstar's nest, she stood up and padded into the herb store. She brought out what Silverstar quessed was tansy and gave her some to eat. Silverstar scrunched up her nose from the foul taste but quickly swallowed and sat back. "Thanks Watersplash." Silverstar wheezed.

"No problem, I'm always glad to help." Watersplash smiled brightly in return.

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