Broken Dream - A Warriors Fanfic: Chapter Three

CHAPTER 3

Fernpaw peeked her head out of the medicine cat’s den. Sunlight shone through the branches of the trees, and the clearing was bustling with cats moving down ancient trails weaved in the ivy and prairie grass. She trotted down the spiraling pathway from the medicine den, down to the meadow were the cats were gathered.

A group of anxious warriors and apprentices were gathered around Fernpaw’s father, Swiftshadow, as they waited to be sent on patrols.

“Be sure to mark the WindClan border clearly. And keep an eye on ThunderClan. Lightningstar seemed to be guarding something last night, and the last thing we want is to be at war with his Clan.” The deputy was reminding them.

Fernpaw edged around them and bounded down the grass trails to the nursery. Her mother, Desertfreeze, was expecting a new litter of kits soon, which meant Fernpaw would not only have little siblings, she would get to test her knowledge on herbs.

She peered through the bracken that draped the entrance to see her mother laying with her head peeked up excitedly on the far left side of the nursery. She was talking to Mintblossom, Dewspot’s mate.

“Hi, Desertfreeze! Hi Mintblossom!” Fernpaw yelped happily. Desertfreeze laughed and waved her tail at her daughter, signaling for her to come in.

Fernpaw sauntered over to the queens, feeling quite professional with the new job Silverfrost had assigned her. She did a quick check up and dipped her head to the older she-cats.

“Thank you very much, miss,” Mintblossom teased. “I’m sure Silverfrost will be very happy with your work today.”

Fernpaw dipped her head again, forgetting she’d just done it in all the excitement. Then, with a last cheerful wave of her tail, she turned and dipped out of the den, racing to find Silverfrost.

The camp was peaceful during the morning. The elders told stories to the kits, who listened intently, and patrols bounded in and out of the camp, jaws laden with prey.

“Hey, Fernpaw!” Cloudpaw’s voice rang over the grassy clearing. She turned her head and spotted him bounding down the hill. He had just returned from a patrol with Featherfall, Riptide, and Shadetail, his mentor.

“Hi!” She called back, too excited to be annoyed with the mooning tom. Cloudpaw liked her; but, being a medicine cat, Fernpaw could never have a mate. She wished the white tom would go moon over someone else.

The fluffy apprentice had appeared by Fernpaw’s side in a matter of seconds. He smiled at her, though he looked somewhat embarrassed, and she gave him a quick flick over the shoulder with her tail before turning up towards the medicine den again.

“Hey, Fernpaw?” Cloudpaw asked shyly.

“Yes?”
“Will you share a mouse with me at sunhigh?” He asked.

Fernpaw hesitated. She might as well. They could still be friends, right?
“Okay.”
She spotted Cloudpaw’s tail waving in excitement and, with a roll of her eyes, set back up the hill to clean up the herb supplies.

Silverfrost was working busily in one corner of the den, slapping marigold into one crevice then muttering and shoving it worriedly into another.

“You alright?” Fernpaw asked, a little distraught by her mentor’s actions.

“Me? What? Oh, I’m fine!” Silverfrost muttered, shoving some dock leaves into a hole, covered thickly by picked ferns to shelter them from the snow. She whirled around.

“We need more of these.” She mused, pointing to some shriveling horsetail. “Can you go get some?”
Fernpaw hesitated. Didn’t she want to hear about how the queens were? Sighing, she nodded and turned out of the den.

Fernpaw leaped over the fallen log that guarded RiverClan’s camp and spotted some warriors reinforcing the walls. The first-snow is coming soon, she thought. Mistyfeather turned to look at her, her eyes narrowing softly.

“Shouldn’t somebody be going with you out of camp, Fernpaw?” The gray tabby she-cat asked gently.

Fernpaw’s face felt hot with embarrassment. She had forgotten about going with a warrior!

“O-oh, yeah… I’ll go ask someone now,” She mumbled.

“No need.” That was Mossfire’s voice. His black-and-white head peeked out from the bramble walls. “I’ll go,”

Mistyfeather cuffed him playfully over the ear. “You just want to get out of working!” She laughed.

Mossfire shot Fernpaw an I’m-still-going-no-matter-what-she-says look, then waved his tail at his friend. He turned and trotted over to the medicine cat apprentice.

“Whatcha looking for?” He asked as they set out through the sparse undergrowth.

“Horsetail,”
“Cool, what’s it look like?”

Fernpaw showed him the shriveled piece of horsetail.

Mossfire chatted the entire time. Fernpaw liked him. Even though he was a senior warrior, and well known for his skill and tactics in hunting, he liked to joke around with the apprentices, and well, he talked a lot. Fernpaw sometimes wondered how Mistyfeather tolerated her brother’s constant chatting.

“Ooh, found some!!!” He yelled, leaping off the trail into a fern bush. Fernpaw jumped more carefully after him, surprised to see the black-and-white warrior standing in a patch of horsetail.

Feeling pleased, the two of them gathered the stocky green plants and set back through the forest. When they reached camp, it was nearly sunhigh. Fernpaw thanked Mossfire and trotted into the medicine den.

She was glad to see that Silverfrost was more like her normal self. Fernpaw filled a new ground hole with horsetail and told her mentor about the queens. By the time she was done, Fernpaw was painfully aware of sunhigh.

She set off to the fresh-kill pile and chose a small looking trout.

“Fernpaw! Over here!” Cloudpaw’s voice called. Fernpaw found him sitting in a patch of sage near the creek. She dropped the trout at his paws and, without a word, the two of them were digging in.

With Leaf-bare coming soon, pray was scarce, and the cats were shrinking in size. When the two cats had ravenously finished their meal, the sun had barely moved half a claw length in the sky.

Cloudpaw glanced up at her. She laughed and licked some trout from his whiskers. Cloudpaw smiled and touched his nose to hers.

“Listen, Fernpaw…” He murmured.

“Yes, Cloudpaw?” Fernpaw responded slowly. She was almost certain she knew what the fluffy white apprentice was going to ask her.

“Fernpaw… I know you’re a medicine cat, but… Nobody has to know if we’re together,”
Fernpaw was horrified. She leaped backwards.

“Cloudpaw, you don’t understand! I’m a medicine cat! We can’t ever be together, however much you want it!” He looked hurt for a moment, and Fernpaw took a deep breath and lowered her head in apology. “I’m sorry, Cloudpaw, but this won’t ever work.”
He hesitated for a moment, then nodded briskly and bounded off in the other direction. Fernpaw watched him go.

Oh, Cloudpaw, I wish we could be together, but…. I’m so sorry…