Venom Rising- Ch. I A Warrior's Duty
Cats gathered around Icestorm's lifeless body in the center of a large cavern. Lavenderpaw stood beside Frostclaw, ready to report to Graystar. Cricketpaw had been brought into the tunnel leading to the medicine den by Fernpelt, the medicine cat. I hope she's not too shaken. Lavenderpaw thought, seeing the variety of emotions on each cat's face. The medicine cat apprentice, Snowpaw, looked disturbed at this turn of events, and Desertstorm was blocking the entrance tunnel to the nursery, trying to keep Petalkit from seeing the body.
"But I want to watch the warriors. What are they doing?" The pale ginger and white she kit complained. She may be five moons old, but she's still the size of a rabbit.
"No." Desertstorm meowed sternly. "You're going to stay in the nursery until they're finished."
"What happened?" Graystar's demanding tone drew back Lavenderpaw's attention. As Frostclaw began the report, Lavenderpaw looked around at the gathered cats, murmuring to each other in small groups.
"Shaded rogue, I'll bet he had something to do with this." Redclaw growled threateningly. It took Lavenderpaw a few moments before realizing he meant Frostclaw, who had been taken into the clan as a rogue kit. But Frostclaw just continued with the report as if he hadn't heard a thing.
Snowpaw rounded on him, "You don't need a medicine cat to tell you Icestorm died of a snake bite, and Frostclaw carried him here on his back himself." then turned back to preparing his body for burial. Redclaw looked furious at being rebuked, and being as large and aggressive as he is, no cat would dare be rude to him. If Snowpaw wasn't training to be a medicine cat, Lavenderpaw was sure that Redclaw would have lunged at him, but instead just snorted and pointedly turned his back to him to converse with Briarclaw.
"I'll have to appoint a new deputy." Graystar concluded solemnly when Frostclaw had finished speaking. His tail drooped and he stared at the ground for a moment before stalking into his den through a narrow tunnel.
"What happened to you? You used to have so much passion." Lavenderpaw thought he heard Frostclaw speak under his breath, but the black tom got up and started padding towards Hawkleap's bewildered hunting patrol as it returned.
Since Frostclaw would keep Hawkleap busy for a while explaining what happened, Lavenderpaw decided to see if Cricketpaw was alright in the medicine den. His nose filled with the tang of herbs as he padded down the tunnel leading to it. There, he spotted Cricketpaw crouched in a nest, shivering and staring blankly down at a large leaf with a few poppy seeds and shredded thyme leaves on it.
Fernpelt stood next to her, trying to council the young apprentice into eating the herbs.
"Please, just calm down. Everything is fine, you're safe now. These will make you feel-"
"I watched Icestorm... Die." Cricketpaw mewed shakily, cutting off Fernpelt as if she hadn't heard a thing she said.
Fernpelt's eyes narrowed with concern, then, noticing Lavenderpaw, she looked up. "Good, can you help her? She's very shaken." Lavenderpaw nodded, and the calico medicine cat went into the herb store.
He approached Cricketpaw and sat beside her, pressing himself against her in an attempt to comfort her. He had to admit he was a little shocked too, but it must have been much worse for Cricketpaw, seeing the snake lunge for her, and then watch the full effect of the venom as it seized Icestorm's body. The pain must have been agonizing. Lavenderpaw thought, trying not to remember how long it took him to die. He saw a whisk of Fernpelt's tail beckoning him in the herb store. Leaving Cricketpaw to herself, he entered the herb store and stood next to Fernpelt in the confined space.
"Yes? What is it?" Lavenderpaw queried.
"You were on that same patrol, right? What exactly happened?"
For Cricketpaw's sake, he kept his voice down. At a glance, he saw that she had squeezed her eyes shut and looked away as if she could see the same scene play over and over again in her mind. "Icestorm saw a snake about to lunge at Cricketpaw, so he threw himself in front of her and took the bite to save her."
Fernpelt stopped mixing her poultice of mint and lavender for a moment, then grunted and replied, "I understand." Pushing the poultice over to him with one paw, she added, "Would you take that to Snowpaw?"
"Will Cricketpaw be alright?"
"Yes, as long as I stay with her until she falls asleep from the poppy seeds."
With a nod, Lavenderpaw picked up the leaf holding the poultice between his teeth, and, careful not to spill it, made his way out into the main cavern and placed it beside where Snowpaw was still examining the body. "This is from Fernpelt."
Snowpaw gave a quick, "Thanks." Before he dabbed his paw in it and began rubbing the poultice into Icestorm's fur, giving off a pleasant aroma.
For a moment he wondered if he would get out of training this afternoon, but that hope quickly diminished as he heard Hawkleap's voice call to him and turned to see him padding closer. "Hey, come on, we're going hunting."
"Again? Didn't you just get back from a hunting patrol?" Lavenderpaw complained. Swimming took a lot of effort and his muscles were tired.
"Yes, but now the clan is one cat short, and most cats will be too tired from Icestorm's vigil to do a dawn patrol, so stop your complaining and let's go, Mr. Pissy."
Lavenderpaw sulked all the way out into the forest. Hawkleap's nicknames were so degrading. Then, with a sigh, he spotted a squirrel in a nearby tree and began clawing his way up the opposite side. By the time he made it up, it had already jumped across to another branch. No problem, though. Lavenderpaw thought confidently as he bunched his muscles and leaped, landing on the branch and pinning down the squirrel at the same time before dispatching it quickly.
Holding the squirrel in his jaws, he spotted Hawkleap tasting the air on the forest floor below. He didn't even see my catch! And he would have been impressed, too! A spark of mischief shone in Lavenderpaw's eyes as he positioned himself directly above his mentor and released the squirrel from his jaws. It fell squarely onto Hawkleap's shoulders with a thud and made him stagger. He looked up at Lavenderpaw, anger flashing across his face.
"Hey! I know that was you! Why don't you show a bit more respect for the prey that feeds us!?" He called, then began climbing rapidly up the tree Lavenderpaw sat in. A bit alarmed, Lavenderpaw ran across his branch and leaped into another tree before Hawkleap caught up to him.
"If you want to keep both of your ears, then I suggest you catch a bird before I catch you!" His mentor threatened.
"Easy enough!" Lavenderpaw called back. I can do this! Make me a warrior already!