Dark River

Chapter 7

“Ow!” Birchfall snatched his paw away from Jaypaw.

Jaypaw sighed. “If I don’t get the thorn out it’s going to hurt a lot more!”

Tentatively, Birchfall held out his paw again. Jaypaw leaned down and grasped the fat end of the thorn between his teeth.

“It’s not that big,” he muttered out of the side of his mouth.

“That’s because most of it is buried in my paw!” Birchfall complained. “It’s amazing I made it back to camp at all.”

Jaypaw braced himself and gave a fierce tug.

“Ow!” Birchfall leaped away, then hopped noisily around the medicine den.

Jaypaw dropped the thorn, spitting to get rid of the taste of blood.

“I told you it was huge!” Birchfall meowed triumphantly.

Jaypaw touched it with his pad. The curved barb felt like a claw. “Not exactly deadly, though,” he mewed.

Birchfall lapped at his wound. “You’re not very sympathetic for a medicine cat.”

“I’m here to heal you. If you want sympathy, go to the nursery.” Jaypaw padded to the back of the den. Warriors! They might be brave in battle, but one thorn and they squealed like kits. He picked up a mouthful of marigold and began to chew the leaves into a pulp. A poultice would make sure Birchfall’s paw didn’t get infected.

Suddenly, he stiffened. Paws were pounding toward the camp. He tasted the air. Hollypaw’s fear-scent hit the back of his throat.

“Here, wash this into the cut!” He dropped the pulp at Birchfall’s paws and pushed through the trailing brambles that screened the den from the rest of the camp.

Hollypaw exploded into the camp. “Cinderpaw’s fallen out of the Sky Oak!”

Jaypaw gasped. “I’ll fetch Leafpool!” He pelted for the nursery where she was tending to Foxkit’s cold.

But Leafpool was already racing out. “Cinderpaw?”

Jaypaw skidded to a halt, narrowly avoiding her. She stopped, trembling, in the middle of the clearing. Horror pulsed from her like blood from a wound. No, not again! Her silent plea sliced into Jaypaw’s thoughts, as clear as if she’d cried out loud.

“You have to come at once!” Hollypaw wailed.

“What’s happened?” Firestar pounded across the clearing.

Paw steps sounded on every side as the Clan came running to see what was wrong.

“Cinderpaw was helping Mousepaw down the Sky Oak and she fell!” Hollypaw’s words came in great gulps.

“Leafpool, go to her!” Firestar ordered.

Come on! Jaypaw willed his mentor to move, but she seemed rooted to the spot, her terror blocking out every other thought. “What herbs will we need?” he prompted. He could feel Hollypaw trembling behind him.

“Poppy seeds?” he pressed when Leafpool didn’t answer.

Just as panic threatened to overwhelm him, Leafpool snapped out of her daze. He felt her mind clear, like rain lifting. “Poppy seeds, yes. Rushes and cobweb to bind any broken legs, and thyme for the shock.”

“I’ll fetch them,” Jaypaw offered.

“Please hurry!” Hollypaw begged.

“Who’s with her?” Leafpool demanded.

“Mousepaw, Ashfur, Cloudtail, and Brackenfur.”

“Good. She’ll need carrying.”

Jaypaw pushed past Millie and Graystripe and raced to the medicine den, his tail bristling. He barged past Birchfall standing, fur spiked, in the entrance and darted to the herb storeroom. Lapping up several poppy seeds, he tucked them safely under his tongue, then grabbed a sprig of thyme and quickly wrapped it up in a fat wad of cobweb along with a pawful of rushes. He picked the bundle up in his jaws and hurtled back into the clearing.

“Got everything?” Leafpool asked.

Jaypaw nodded.

“Hurry!” Hollypaw called. She led them out of the camp at a run.

The forest floor felt soft beneath Jaypaw’s pads. Hollypaw plunged up the slope, Leafpool on her heels. Jaypaw ran after them, every sense alert, dodging the trees only by a whisker.

A bramble tugged at his paw and he stumbled forward, dropping his bundle.

“Here, I’ll carry that!” Leafpool turned and swiftly picked up the rushes before speeding away again. Jaypaw hurried after her, keeping close, following her paw steps as she weaved through the forest.

“I see the Sky Oak!” Hollypaw called. Her paws beat faster against the ground. “Watch out for the fallen tree!” she warned.

Her paw steps fell silent as she leaped over the log and landed with a thump on the other side. Leafpool followed her. Jaypaw didn’t hesitate. Tensing, he leaped as high as he could, praying he had timed it right. He felt the rotting bark of the fallen tree brush his paws as he sailed over and landed lightly on the ground beyond.

“Over here!” Hollypaw had reached the others. Jaypaw felt Brackenfur’s panic flash like lightning from his pelt. He could hear Ashfur pacing around the Sky Oak, could sense Mousepaw trembling.

“She’s still breathing!” Cloudtail called.

“Good!” Leafpool dropped the bundle. Jaypaw crouched beside her as she leaned over Cinderpaw. He could hear the injured apprentice’s breathing. It was quick and shallow. He touched her flank with his nose. She was as limp as a dead mouse. His belly tightened.

“She’s in shock!” Leafpool pronounced. “Lick her chest while I give her the thyme.”

Jaypaw spat out the poppy seeds and began to lick Cinderpaw. Her heart beat rapidly beneath his tongue. He smelled the herbs as Leafpool tore open the bundle and chewed the leaves into a pulp that she could drip into Cinderpaw’s mouth.

“Is she going to die?” Brackenfur’s mew trembled.

“I won’t let her,” Leafpool snapped.

The medicine cat moved around to Cinderpaw’s other side. “Lick more gently now,” she ordered. Jaypaw began to lap Cinderpaw delicately, relieved to feel her heart slowing.

He could hear Leafpool sniffing Cinderpaw’s body, examining her. Suddenly, the medicine cat stiffened.

“What’s wrong?” Jaypaw whispered.

Leafpool backed away as though stung by a wasp.

“What’s the matter?” Brackenfur surged forward, nearly knocking Jaypaw over.

What had frightened Leafpool so much? Jaypaw stopped licking, and searched her mind. He felt dread there like darkness, threatening to overwhelm her. What could be so bad?

“Sh-she’s broken a hind leg,” Leafpool gulped.

“We can bind it with the rushes,” Jaypaw suggested.

Leafpool didn’t reply. Not again!

Fear and bewilderment sparked from Brackenfur. “She won’t die of a broken leg, will she?”

Leafpool didn’t move. Jaypaw focused on her mind, saw an image of a gray cat limping, felt grief sear Leafpool’s heart.

“Here!” Jaypaw tugged one of the rushes free. He jabbed it at Leafpool. She jerked and then took it. Jaypaw felt a wave of relief as she laid it beside Cinderpaw’s broken leg and took another. He passed her the cobweb, and she carefully began to bind the rushes to Cinderpaw’s leg. “We need to secure it until we can get her back to camp,” Leafpool muttered.

“Then I can set the break properly.”

When she had finished, Leafpool sat up. “Ashfur, Cloudtail, you help Brackenfur carry her back to camp. Make sure her leg moves as little as possible.”

Cinderpaw let out a soft moan as Brackenfur, Cloudtail, and Ashfur lifted her.

“Careful!” Leafpool gasped.

Jaypaw could hear her paw steps dancing around the warriors, pushing aside brambles, fear sparking from her pelt.

“Watch those roots! Take her around the fallen tree! Avoid that dip! Hold her more steadily!”

Hollypaw pressed against him. She was trembling. “I thought she was dead,” she murmured.

“She’s going to be okay,” Jaypaw reassured her. “She’s got a strong heart. And it’s only her leg that’s broken.”

“Only her leg!” Leafpool’s sharp mew took him by surprise.

“A warrior needs four good legs!”

Hollypaw pressed her muzzle to Jaypaw’s ear. “I’ve never seen her so upset,” she whispered.

Jaypaw shook his head. “Me neither.” He leaned against Hollypaw, letting her guide him through the undergrowth.

He wanted to focus his attention on Leafpool. He could feel panic, anger, and regret seething in the medicine cat’s mind. Why? She hadn’t pushed Cinderpaw out of the tree.

It was just an accident.

Why did Leafpool feel so responsible?

Cinderpaw’s fur swished against the sandy floor as the three warriors laid her gently down in the medicine den.

Sorreltail was in the den already, plucking at the ground with trembling paws. Grief and fear crackled from her pelt.

Poppypaw and Honeypaw fidgeted beside Hollypaw, breathing in frightened gulps.

“Thank you,” Leafpool mewed briskly to Brackenfur, Cloudtail, and Ashfur. “Leave us now.”

“But—” Brackenfur began to protest, but Sorreltail interrupted him softly.

“I’ll stay with her.”

The brambles rustled as the tom followed Ashfur and Cloudtail out.

Jaypaw bent down and licked Cinderpaw between her ears. She was unconscious again. “We’ll take care of you,” he promised. He felt Hollypaw’s gaze on his pelt.

“You’d better go too,” he advised her. “Firestar’s waiting.”

He could sense the ThunderClan leader’s heavy presence outside the den. “He’ll want to know what happened.”

“You will make her better?” Hollypaw mewed.

“We’ll try.”

As Hollypaw padded from the den, Leafpool murmured to Sorreltail, “I’ll do everything in my power to make her well.”

“I know you will.” Sorreltail’s voice cracked with grief, but Jaypaw could still hear affection in her mew. She had been Leafpool’s best friend since before he was born.

Sorreltail’s breath ruffled Cinderpaw’s pelt. “May StarClan protect you,” she whispered.

“She will be all right, won’t she?” Honeypaw’s frightened mew sounded beside Sorreltail.

“Don’t let her die!” Poppypaw sobbed.

“Come on,” Sorreltail encouraged them. “Let’s go and see Brackenfur. He’ll need company.” She guided her kits out of the medicine den, leaving Jaypaw alone with Leafpool.

With the other cats gone, Jaypaw could feel Leafpool’s anxiety buzzing like a swarm of bees. Suddenly, Cinderpaw stirred.

Leafpool swished her tail over the young cat’s flank. “Don’t be frightened,” she soothed. “You are safely back at camp. You fell from the Sky Oak and you’ve hurt your leg. But we’re going to fix it.” Desperate hope flared in her mind, but her voice remained calm. “What were you trying to do? Did you think you were a bird? Did you think you could fly?”

Her mew was as gentle as a mother’s. Jaypaw had never wondered if Leafpool felt sad she would never have kits of her own.

Cinderpaw let out a soft moan, then her breathing deepened. She was unconscious once more.

“Come on, Jaypaw,” Leafpool mewed, suddenly brisk.

“Let’s get this leg set. First, we need to take this binding off.”

Jaypaw began to help Leafpool to gnaw through the cobweb, releasing the rushes.

“Now, we need fresh rushes.” Leafpool darted to the back of the cave before Jaypaw could move and fetched three fresh rushes and another wad of cobweb. “If we place those two there, and hold another one here—”

Jaypaw reached out to help, but felt her paw already pressing the rush gently to Cinderpaw’s hind leg while she used her teeth to wrap cobwebs around it. “This should hold it tight.”

Jaypaw started to feel as if he wasn’t needed. Was Leafpool showing him what to do, or just talking herself through it?

“Shall I get some comfrey?” he offered.

“What?” Leafpool sounded distracted. “Yes, yes. Good idea.”

Jaypaw collected a mouthful of leaves and began chewing them into a pulp. He could still hear Leafpool fussing over the dressing. “A bit more cobweb here should hold it just right,” she murmured.

Cinderpaw twitched and let out a small whine.

“Perhaps we should leave her to rest,” he ventured.

“There’s nothing more we can do for her now.”

In an instant he felt Leafpool’s hot breath on his face.

“There’s everything we can do for her!” she hissed.

Alarmed, Jaypaw backed away, ears flattened.

Anger flamed from Leafpool’s pelt. “We can’t let Cinderpaw lose the use of her leg!”

“I—I—” he stammered.

Leafpool backed off and Jaypaw felt guilt flood her mind.

“I’m sorry, Jaypaw. I shouldn’t have snapped. You’ve been a great help.”

But you didn’t let me do anything. Jaypaw bit back the words, wary of antagonizing her again.

Leafpool turned away. “I must go and talk to Sorreltail and Brackenfur.” The brambles rustled as she pushed her way through them. Jaypaw stayed where he was. What had gotten into his mentor? He knew she cared deeply for her Clanmates, but he’d never seen her angry that a cat had been hurt before. It was as though healing Cinderpaw was the most important thing she’d ever have to do. Was it because Cinderpaw was her friend’s kit?

He checked Cinderpaw’s heart, pressing his ear to her chest. It was beating too rapidly, her breathing too quick. He settled down beside her and let his warmth spread into her body. Speeding up his breath to match hers, he closed his eyes.

He was standing at the top of a ravine. Thick woodland crowded every side, and far below, trees and bushes hid the ground from view. Is this part of StarClan’s territory? Fear clutched his heart. Was Cinderpaw dying? Had he been brought here to save her the way he’d done with Poppypaw?

A gray shape caught his eye below. Cinderpaw was leaping from boulder to boulder, down the ravine. She disappeared into the lush greenery.

Jaypaw started to panic. I mustn’t let her out of my sight! He scrambled over the edge of the ravine, following the path Cinderpaw had taken, fighting to keep his balance on the tumble of rocks because he was unaccustomed to using sight to guide him. At the bottom, a dense wall of gorse blocked his way. Just in time he spotted the tip of Cinderpaw’s tail disappear into it. He raced after her and found an opening in the gorse. He slithered through and found her standing in a sandy clearing at the bottom of the ravine. Bushes and ferns circled it protectively and at the far end, a jagged rock blocked the way out.

“Cinderpaw?” Cautiously, Jaypaw padded toward her, tasting the air. It didn’t smell like StarClan territory, but there were definitely some scents that he recognized. A tree stump near the edge of the clearing seemed to smell of Firestar and Graystripe. The bramble bush beside him carried the scents of Dustpelt and Thornclaw.

Cinderpaw gazed around, wide-eyed, her tail twitching with pleasure. “It’s just as I remembered! I haven’t been here for such a long time.”

What did she mean? This wasn’t ThunderClan territory.

How could Cinderpaw have been here? It didn’t even feel like anywhere near the lake. The wind sounded different as it rustled the leaves in the trees at the top of the ravine. The air tasted warmer, filled with a damp fustiness that Jaypaw had never scented before.

“Look here!” Cinderpaw was padding over to the huge rock. “This is Highrock.”

Then she turned and bounded over to the bramble bush that smelled of Thornclaw. “And this is the warriors’ den.

The elders’ den is over there.” She flicked her tail toward a fallen tree. “And over here”—she raced across the clearing to another bush—“is the apprentices’ den. I used to sleep here before…” Her mew trailed away, her eyes growing misty. She blinked. “Then I moved to Yellowfang’s den.”

Yellowfang! The name seared Jaypaw’s ears. Yellowfang had been ThunderClan’s medicine cat before Cinderpelt. She was with StarClan now, and it seemed to Jaypaw that her main duty was to butt into his dreams. He could picture her, yellow eyes sparking, matted pelt bristling with impatience…

“Come and see!” Cinderpaw’s mew interrupted his thoughts.

An eerie feeling pricked his tail as she led him through a narrow tunnel to a much smaller clearing. A rock towered at the far end, split down the middle by a cleft big enough for a den.

Cinderpaw gazed wistfully into the shadowy cave.

“Yellowfang kept her herbs in there.”

“Yellowfang’s dead,” Jaypaw mewed. “She’s in StarClan now.”

Cinderpaw looked at him. “Of course she is! Where else would she be?”

“I don’t understand. Why are you acting as if you lived here too?”

“Because I did. Many moons ago, before we left the forest.”

“But you never lived in the forest!”

“Once I did.” Cinderpaw’s blue eyes sparkled with starlight. “But I have returned to tread a different path, the path of a warrior.” She looked warmly at him, and when she spoke her voice seemed deeper, more wise, as if she’d aged in front of him. “Tell Leafpool that she has nothing to fear. I will recover this time. And tell her that I am proud of her. She has learned more than I could ever have taught her.”

Jaypaw’s pelt bristled. Vivid images were thronging in his mind: a young gray cat running through an unfamiliar forest, a monster screeching off a Thunderpath, agony piercing her hind leg, blood and the wails of her Clanmates; memories of learning herbs, limping after Yellowfang, of kits born in a river of blood, of fear and the forest being ripped apart by monsters, of a long hard journey through snow and ice and of snarling, vicious black-and-white creatures, jaws snapping, hungry for revenge and for death…

Jaypaw took a gulp of air, his paws unsteady beneath him.

“You’re Cinderpelt, aren’t you?”

He awoke with a gasp, his pads wet, his tail fluffed out. He jerked his head up, darkness filling his vision once more.

“Jaypaw?” Leafpool’s breath stirred his fur. “Were you dreaming?”

Jaypaw struggled to his paws and leaned over the injured apprentice lying next to him. Cinderpaw’s breathing was light and steady.

“Jaypaw?” Leafpool prompted. “You were dreaming, weren’t you?”

“Yes.” Jaypaw tried to catch his breath. The violent visions he had seen still flickered in his mind, red with blood and pain and fear.

“Will she get better?” Leafpool asked quietly.

“Yes.”

Leafpool let out a relieved purr.

“She has been here before,” Jaypaw whispered.

Leafpool touched his flank gently with her tail. “I thought so,” she breathed. “She’s Cinderpelt, isn’t she?”

“She led me to the old ThunderClan camp,” Jaypaw explained. “She seemed so happy to be there.” He paused, suddenly aware of Cinderpaw’s body resting beside them.

“Do you think she knows?”

“No, not in her waking world,” Leafpool murmured. “And we shouldn’t tell her.”

“Why not?”

“It’s enough that StarClan have let her come back and tread the warrior’s path she always dreamed of following.”

Jaypaw pricked his ears. “Didn’t she want to be a medicine cat?” Then I am not the only one.

“She only became a medicine cat after a monster crippled her. After the accident, there was no chance she could be a true warrior, so she served her Clan in a different way.”

“But wouldn’t she be happy to know that she is fulfilling her dream now?”

“If StarClan wants her to know, they will tell her.” Leafpool’s mew grew serious. “We should not try to shape her destiny.”

“Do you think telling her would change it?” Jaypaw’s mind began to race. Did Leafpool believe that destinies could be changed like that? Did that mean he was right to keep the secret of Firestar’s prophecy from Lionpaw and Hollypaw? If he told them, would it make them act differently?

“Leafpool?” Cinderpaw stirred beside them. Her voice was hoarse.

“I’ll fetch you some water,” Jaypaw offered. He found a wad of moss and soaked it in the shallow pool at the side of the den.

“Here.” He offered it, dripping, to Cinderpaw. She lapped at it eagerly, then murmured something he couldn’t make out.

He leaned closer.

“I’m hungry,” she croaked.

He heard Leafpool purr with amusement. “That’s more like the old Cinderpel—” She corrected herself. “Cinder paw. I’ll fetch her something from the fresh-kill pile.”

As Leafpool padded out of the den, Jaypaw heard Cinderpaw trying to stretch beside him. “Ow, my leg.”

“It’ll get better. You need to rest now.”

“Where am I?” she murmured groggily.

“You’re exactly where you belong.” Jaypaw ran his tail along her flank. “In ThunderClan.”