Near Death [Open]

The black and white tom lay nestled into the nest. He shivered slightly and pressed closer to the den wall, despite the fact he was out of reach of any chills from the cave mouth. His claws caught the ground as another bough of painful coughing caused his sides to heave. A salty tang filled his mouth once more. Opening his blue eyes just a sliver, wincing at the hits of light that crept into the corner of his hiding place, he could see the scarlet drops that scattered the ground. That couldn't be good. It had happened before, but cats weren't supposed to cough up blood. Every muscle ached as he shifted just slightly to try to get up and he found himself still to weak to stand. There would be no getting up to fetch the medicine cats.

"O-oceanlight..." Rippedsky managed to wheeze out feebly. The rasping in his throat almost drowned out his words, but he hoped one of the she-cats would hear his call. For the first time since the first six moons of his life, he felt like a kits again. It was a miserable feeling to go from standing at the head of the clan to crying for help in the back of the warriors den. This sickness had sapped away his strength like nothing had before. Even endless days of organizing patrols, hunting and patrolling, and training apprentices were nothing in comparison to this. The deputy's head slumped forwards along with his shoulders to rest on his paws. When would this end?

Oceanlight came back in camp from herb gathering. She went near Twolegplace to search the gardens. Twolegs seemed to grow and tend to herbs even in Leafbare, so why not take some? The leaves were bigger, greener, and healthier than in the wild. She went inside the medicine den to sort them, when she saw flickers of blood near Rippedsky. She gasped at the sight, dropping the leaves that fluttered down in front of her paws. 'Oh no, oh no, oh no!' she thought. Her eyes flicked down to the herbs. She shuffled through the pile at her paws and grabbed Catmint and put it in a separate pile. She added a few Burnet leaves she got from WindClan a few days ago, and some Feverfew from the Moonlit Creek with the Catmint. She tied the leaves together with a Chickweed stalk, and pushed the bundle near the deputy's mouth. "Here, eat this. I'm going to find Rabbitfoot." she instructed, sweetly but worryingly. She speed walked out of the medicine den to find Rabbitfoot, breaking into a run when she was out.