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7 Moons | RainClan | Apprentice

Squirrelpaw was tucked nose to tail in a tight ball next to his sister Rabbitpaw as the pair slept in the creeping light of dawn. It was on the cusp of the hour at which most cats would start to stir and stretch, heading out into what promised to be a lovely warm day. The little tom slept fitfully, a progressively worsening wheeze rasping out of his mouth. He had got much worse over night, but had hoped to sleep off the greencough as best he could and had thought little else of it. Having watched over Rabbitpaw so desperately and had very little time to sleep or think of himself, he had ignored the signs of his own worsening condition. Squirrelpaw shook feverishly, still very much asleep, but his movement woke his sister with a sleepy murmur.

Rabbitpaw glanced at her brother with a hint of anxiety, tail-tip twitching as she woke up and began to get a good look at him. She herself had only just managed to get out of the medicine den with a bill of better health, and knew exactly what signs she was looking for when she looked at him.

His breathing does NOT sound good

The she-cat stood, brushing Squirrelpaw as she did so, and when he did not stir she felt her heart leap in her chest. Her brother's breathing was so loud and pained that she was shoked it hadn't woken her already.

"Erm"

She mewed, her voice on the edge of loudness, unsure if this was serious of not.

"Squirrelpaw? Squirrelpaw wake up."

She whispered to him, prodding gently at her brother and recoiling in alarm at the heat that was radiating off him in waves. The tom barely stirred, his breathing a terrifying rasp as he lay on his side in his nest, like he might stop any second. Rabbitpaw shoved her head against his chest to listen, and panic lit her blood at the sheer racing speed of his heart.

"Nonononononononono"

She breathed, getting louder and louder as she lost inhibitions for waking her clanmates.

"OTTERSPLASH!"

She yowled out the entrance, too scared to leave Squirrelpaw alone but knowing that she needed to call the medicine cat. Her brother was seriously unwell.

This is all my fault! I shouldn't have let him into the medicine den with me!

395 Words Fawn Poor Squirrel's payment for being a good brother

---

Staff note:
Squirrelpaw has infected
Shadowpaw - MILD
Berrypaw - DEADLY
Frozenpaw - MILD

[Fawn]

42 Moons. Tom. (S) Warrior of RainClan.

An anguished cry tore through RainClan's camp. With the Clan's rather open suggestion of den structure, it was clear in a heartbeat that the sound came from the apprentices' den. Crowblaze was one of the firsts to rise, his expression serious and foreboding as he hurried to the source of the noise; if it was an enemy, he would kill it without a second thought. But what greeted him in the apprentices' den was not an enemy he could attack.

He couldn't even help.

The sharp stench of sickness hit him almost as much as the visual shock of seeing Squirrelpaw barely able to breathe; the dark tabby warrior recoiled, taken aback by the sudden flash of memory cutting through his mind like claws. Falconleap. His mother. She had breathed like that. They hadn't been able to see her. Weren't allowed near her in her final moments.

And then there was just the body.

Get a hold of yourself! He snarled, and with massive effort, shook off the burning sense of self-preservation that was trying to drive his paws away from the apprentices' den. Away from his own apprentice. Crowblaze gestured for Rabbitpaw to come out. "Make room for Ottersplash. Let him work."

Crowblaze had no use for platitudes. He knew her mentor, Adderstrike, didn't either. So he kept quiet and watchful, withdrawing from the entrance to allow Rabbitpaw out and their medicine cat in. Raw anger seeped up through the cracks of his concern, as he watched an old, cream-and-black she-cat hurrying towards the apprentices' den. Swanfeather.

Still disgusted that Stormstar had allowed that traitor set one paw-step in their border, let alone their camp, Crowblaze growled under his breath, making sure she could hear it. And then he let her be. For now.

PAIN, You made me a, you made me a believer, believer

Word Count: 295 Words
Tags: @sparrowkeeper , @jet , Hellion
Notes: