Chapter 5

Sickness had struck ThunderClan.

It had started when Seapelt started coughing.

“Whitecough,” Briarleaf diagnosed. Seapelt was confined to the medicine den so it wouldn’t spread. But soon, Whirlpaw, Breezepaw, and Brushkit were all coughing,

“It’s a tough leaf bare,” meowed Crescentstar. “Prey is scarce and so are herbs. ThunderClan will have to struggle to pull through without losing any cats.”

Mistkit had insisted on helping Briarleaf treat the sick cats, but Briarleaf had sent her back to the nursery.

“It’s too dangerous,” she meowed sternly. “You could catch the sickness. What would your mother say?”

At nightfall, Briarleaf collapsed into her nest. I can’t wait for newleaf, she thought. She drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The next morning, Briarleaf woke before the sun. She told her sick patients to chew some tansy. Seapelt was looking a bit better, and Breezepaw wasn’t coughing as much.

“I want to go back to training!” she whined. The little apprentice was getting antsy.

“I’m sorry, Breezepaw.” Briarleaf replied. “But we can’t afford for you to spread the sickness.” Breezepaw slumped back into her nest, discouraged. Briarleaf sighed and went back preparing herbs. Raincloud walked into her den, looking worried.

“Brushkit is no better today,” she fretted. “Will she be strong enough to survive leaf bare?” Hope and anxiety filled her gaze.

“Brushkit is a strong, and old enough to eat prey,” Briarleaf replied. “We must make sure she is healthy and eating and getting exercise. That will help her shake off the chest infection. All we can do other than that really is pray to StarClan.” Raincloud dipped her head and left.

Ducking into the nursery, Briarleaf spotted Brushkit lying in her nest, sleeping. Her littermates were playing quietly, tossing a moss ball back and forth. Briarleaf had never seen kits so calm before. Sunkit, Mistkit, and Whisperkit were also sleeping beside Shiningpelt. Briarleaf gave Raincloud some feverfew and tansy to give to Brushkit when she woke up.  The clan had never been so quiet. Briarleaf decided to go for a walk. As she passed the training hollow, she spotted Silverheart and Crystalfur with their apprentices. Rosepaw lunged at Almondpaw, who dived away clumsily and lunged at Rosepaw. But Briarleaf could tell that she timed the jump wrong and landed a few whisker lengths away from Rosepaw. Even though Briarleaf knew that Rose paw knew the leap failed, Rosepaw backed away in terror as Almondpaw fell to the ground. Briarleaf sighed. These weren’t exactly a very successful bunch of apprentices.

Shalepaw, on the other hand, seemed much stronger in all areas. He was a brilliant hunter and fighter, even though he was around the same age as the two she-cats. Almondpaw seemed so absent sometimes, she never aimed her blows right and wasn’t very good at catching prey either. Rosepaw wasn’t much better. She didn’t seem as absent and forced herself to concentrate, but she seemed to lack a huge bit of confidence. She seemed scared of going into the forest, and seemed to crumble when training with her mentor.

At this rate, there’ll be no warriors left, thought Briarleaf, crossly.

Briarleaf went down to the lake, which was now frozen over. The cold breeze ruffled her fur, causing her to shiver. It was cold, but it was a beautiful day.

“Hi, Briarleaf!” chirped a voice. Briarleaf turned around to see Shalepaw running towards her, a fat mouse in his jaws. Briarleaf nodded at Shalepaw, admiring his catch.

“That ought to feed half the clan!” she complimented. Shalepaw purred as he dropped his catch on the ground. Then his face turned serious.

“Briarleaf,” he mewed. “Will Whirlpaw be okay?” Briarleaf sighed.

“Shalepaw,” she said. “Whirlpaw is a strong cat. But if his chest infection gets worse, there isn’t much I can do.” She looked at the young apprentice, who was pawing the ground discouragingly. “You two are close, aren’t you?” Shalepaw nodded.

“We’re best friends,” he mewed. “We played together in the nursery, and we’ll always be beside each other, even when we’re warriors.” Briarleaf’s heart ached. Shalepaw had so much faith in Whirlpaw, faith that would never separate the two of them. There was no doubt he would make a phenomenal warrior.

“Do you remember that black cat?” Shalepaw’s words broke her out of her thoughts. “The rogue cat who moved into our clan?” Briarleaf felt the world spin as she once again thought of her friend.

“Stardust?” she said. Shalepaw nodded.

“You were pretty close to her too, right?”

“Yes,” she meowed, struggling to keep a straight face. “Yes I was.”

Shalepaw nodded, understanding. And suddenly, Briarleaf understood too. She purred.

“Well, thanks for listening,” said Shalepaw. He picked up his mouse and ran off. Briarleaf blinked and headed back to camp.

“Briarleaf!” cried Raincloud. “Brushkit can’t breathe!”

A few days had passed and Seapelt and Breezepaw had returned to their regular duties. Whirlpaw was still slowly recovering in the medicine den, but it was Brushkit who Briarleaf really feared for.

Briarleaf grabbed some tansy and feverfew and rushed to the nursery. Shiningpelt had taken the other kits outside so there would be more room in the nursery. Briarleaf gave some tansy to Brushkit. “Chew this,” she instructed. Brushkit chewed the leaves and made a face.

“Yuck!” she spat. “Can’t you make them taste better?” Briarleaf sighed.

“I can try,” she meowed. “But just eat them for now. You’ll feel better later.” Raincloud glanced at her, relieved.

Briarleaf ducked out of the nursery. A freezing wind had started to blow and snowflakes were falling. Shivering, Briarleaf made her way to her den. Peeking out of the entrance of her den, Briarleaf watched the swirling white scene, unblinking.

Later that night, Briarleaf settled into her nest, sheltered from the piercing leafbare cold. Newleaf, where are you?, she thought.

The next morning, Briarleaf stood in her den, preparing some herbs for Brushkit. Shalepaw slipped in, shaking snowflakes from his pelt.

“Shalepaw, what happened to you?” Briarleaf purred with amusement. “You look like you went for a swim in the snow banks.” Shalepaw’s ears twitched.

“Breezepaw pushed me into the snow,” he grumbled. Then he looked up at Briarleaf’s face and brightened up. “Well, at least her pelt is whiter than mine.” Shalepaw purred.

“She’s whiter than you in the first place,” Briarleaf teased. Bending down over her herbs, Briarleaf gathered up some borage and feverfew for Brushkit and some chamomile for the other kits in case they caught sickness too. Then, with Shalepaw at her tail, she headed to the nursery.

“Here,” Briarleaf handed the herbs to Raincloud. “If Brushkit starts burning up, give these to her. And I mixed them with nectar so they’ll taste better,” she added.

“Thanks Briarleaf,” meowed Raincloud. “If there’s anyone who can cure Brushkit, it’s you.” Briarleaf shifted her paws in embarrassment and headed out.

“Briarleaf,” greeted Crescentstar as she met her outside the nursery. “I’d like you to come to the gathering tonight.” Briarleaf dipped her head.

“Thank you, Crescentstar.” Despite the snow, the moon was shining brightly beside the stars of Silverpelt. Crescentstar gathered a patrol and they headed off to the island. Briarleaf was happy to see Shalepaw among the patrol. The young apprentice had become good friends with Briarleaf and sometimes helped her deal with the loss of Stardust. Shalepaw walked beside Briarleaf, shivering.

“It’s so cold tonight!” he complained. Briarleaf looked down at him in amusement.

“Come on, ‘paw,” she teased. “You’ll have to deal with worse conditions when you’re a warrior.” Shalepaw glared at her jokingly but didn’t say anything.

When they got to the island, Shalepaw spotted two WindClan apprentices, one fluffy grey she-cat and one dark pelted tom. Shalepaw bounded off to meet them.

“Mintpaw!” he called. The grey apprentice looked up.

“Shalepaw!” she purred as she touched noses with him. The dark apprentice grunted, obviously not happy about his presence. Mintpaw nudged him sternly.

“Don’t mind Darkpaw,” she told Shalepaw. “He’s in a grumpy mood tonight. Probably because of the cold.” Darkpaw glared at her but said nothing. Briarleaf turned away from the apprentices and went to sit with the rest of the medicine cats.

“Greetings, Briarleaf,” Shardfur greeted warmly. The WindClan medicine cat was looking thinner than usual, most likely because of the prey scarce leafbare. All the rabbits must be hiding from the cold, Briarleaf thought.

Crescentstar stood on the Great Oak with the other leaders. She let out a yowl to signify that the gathering was starting. Jaggedstar, the ShadowClan leader stepped forward.

“All is well is ShadowClan,” he meowed. “We are surviving the cold and we are not starving much more than any other clan.” Murmurs of approval rose from the ShadowClan cats. “And we have a new warrior,” Jaggedstar announced. “Beetlefur!” Briarleaf cheered along with everyone else. She got a glimpse of the young warrior, sitting proudly beside his clanmates. Jaggedstar stepped back and Greystar stepped forward.

“RiverClan has suffered from the cold leafbare,” she said. “The streams have frozen over, making it difficult to catch fish. But we have been working on breaking through the ice, and soon we will be able to catch fish again. Other than that, RiverClan is doing well.” Crescentstar stepped forward next. “ThunderClan is also doing well,” she mewed. “We have plenty of prey, despite the cold weather, and we have two new apprentices, Thistlepaw and Bubblepaw!” Everyone cheered for the young apprentices.”

Finally, the WindClan leader stepped forward.

“WindClan has been suffering greatly,” he announced. “The rabbits have been hiding from the cold and we have almost no prey.” Briarleaf blinked. I knew it, she thought.

“I request that the other clans temporarily give WindClan some of their territory to hunt in.”