Raging Sedges (Closed)

(Continuation of this.)

A silver shape made its way quickly into camp. The dark spots of his coat covered in red blood from the smaller, darker shape that he carried. With barely a glance to any cat, he brought the injured and weak apprentice to the medicine den and laid her down in the middle. Her soft fur sticky and matted with blood that just kept flowing.
"MINTWHISKER!" He yowled, his voice a commanding tone. His body stiff as his green eyes watched the wound on Sparrowpaw's side. For several long moments, he simply stood there. His own daughter was fighting for her life, she had lost a battle, but it should never have come to this. No true warrior killed. It was against the code. His tail lashed in aggrivation, he would get that tom.

Still, a voice whispered that it was his fault. For a moment, Sedgestrike felt like he was in one of his nightmares. That this was all just a very bad dream, that he would wake up from after his illusionary self taunted him. Yet, the tom never appeared. Just the single voice, that this was his own doing. SkyClan is better, superior to the weak clans... he told his own daughter that religiously. She had taken the fight... and now was paying for it. If only he had never pushed so hard. If he could have just settled for SkyClan being SkyClan and left it alone.

Her blood stained his paws, his back, his muzzle. It was his fault. He should have been there, should have taken her on a patrol with him instead of leaving her behind. He should have gotten there sooner, should have been able to defend her better. He didn't. He was SkyClan, but he wasn't perfect. He had failed her, the thought of that made his stomach twist painfully. Even as other cats came, he barely saw them as he backed up into the medicine den wall. His eyes burned with the tears that began to fall down his face. He had not only failed as a warrior, as a protector.

He was failing as a father.

This was all his fault.

For a moment, vengeance came to mind. Shredding the other warrior to scraps, but warriors don't kill. That one nearly had, but warriors don't. Sparrowpaw would never have killed him. Did she even stand a chance then? Sedgestrike didn't notice as his body shook strenously. The weight of his thoughts forcing him down as his tears pooled on the earthy floor. If she died, it was all his fault. The shame and sorrow that followed that thought threatened to nearly drown him.

Some warrior he was.

Mintwhisker looked up from her nest, her expression betraying her exhaustion. What on earth could Sedgestrike possibly want now? "W-what is it, Sedge-"
That's when she saw her. Mintwhisker froze, blinking rapidly for a moment. Not again. This wasn't the first cat to arrive broken and bloody into her den. The tabby she-cat took a small step back, horror now evident on her face.
She had failed Tyr; she couldn't fail Sparrowpaw.
"Cobwebs, Sedgestrike." She mewed softly. "I need cobwebs. Hurry." The small she-cat turned, scanning her herb stores. She couldn't think, she couldn't breathe.
She didn't need to.
She was a young apprentice, sitting in the Medicine Den with Goldeneye at her side. 'I just d-don't understand...' She mewed hopelessly, her eyes wide as she struggled to hold back tears of frustration. 'They a-all look the s-same, Goldeneye.' She remembered Goldeneye's smile so easily, the way the fluffy she-cat gently nudged her. 'Try again, okay?' She had spoken softly. Mintpaw sniffled. 'T-that one is... a D-Dock Leaf...? A-and that one... Horsetail.' Goldeneye had smiled widely, pleased with Mintpaw's success. 'Excellent, Mintpaw. Can you smell the difference?' Mintpaw nodded, turning to examine the herbs once more. 'What are they used for, Mintpaw?' The golden she-cat asked. Mintpaw didn't need Goldeneye's prompt. She spoke quickly, more sure of herself now. 'D-Dock is for scratches, a-and Horsetail i-is for infections.' She mewed. 'Very good, Mintpaw.'

Mintpaw was older now, sitting in an unfamiliar territory where the grass was taller than she was. The small apprentice was used to being surrounded by trees and was uncomfortable without their protection. Still, she had come to Windclan for a very important reason. 'Okay Mintpaw,' Featherlight had said. 'Let's say I've just returned from a border skirmish. There's an open wound on my neck, and another on my side. What do you do?' Mintpaw flicked her tail. 'Um...' She mewed uncertainly. Why couldn't she remember? The tabby shook herself, shutting her murky green eyes tight. 'It's an open w-wound, so I-I would use... Golden... Goldenrod?' Her small voice shook, but she opened her eyes to see Featherlight smile encouragingly. 'A-and Oak Leaves, b-because o-open wounds c-can get infected easily.' She recited, grinning now. 'See?' Featherlight had purred. 'Once you put your mind to it, you can remember anything. And you said you weren't cut out be a medicine cat...'

The words floated to her mind easily, a moment of calm in a storm. She could remember now. Mintwhisker stepped forward, not bothering to look for the herbs any longer- she knew their smell, of course she did. Dock Leaves, Goldenrod, Oak Leaves, Horsetail. She could only hope that Sedgestrike knew where the cobwebs were. The small Medicine Cat easily found the herbs she was searching for and sat down at Sparrowpaw's side. Thank Starclan she was asleep. Mintwhisker carefully chewed the Dock and Horsetail into a smooth pulp and gingerly applied the mixture to Sparrowpaw's many smaller scratches before inspecting the wound that frightened her most- a large gash that ran down the small Warrior Apprentice's side. Golderod, for the bleeding. Oak for infections. She chewed the Goldenrod furiously before spreading it onto the deep gash in Sparrowpaw's side. Then she chewed several Oak Leaves into a thick paste and spread them onto all of Sparrowpaw's wounds gently.

The day was quiet. It was a still, eerie kind of quiet. Nothing was more nerve-wracking than sitting in the midst of a day that was eerily still, waiting impatiently and apprehensively for something to happen, but realizing that all of the waiting was in vain. Patrols had been sent out. Some had come back, some hadn't, but Poplartooth wasn't concerned about the ones that hadn't returned quite yet. Everyone was occupied with some sort of job or duty, but all the fluffy tom could do was wonder why the day was so lifeless. Had he missed something? Had he missed someone? The tom had never left anyone out of a patrol without a valid reason. Was that why he felt like something was wrong? Letting his mind wander back to remember exactly who he had put on each patrol, Poplartooth tried his hardest to remember if he had forgotten someone. His brain scrolled over names aimlessly.
Blossomheart, Mallowbrook, Tawneyfur, Cloudroar...
They were all accounted for. All the warriors were fine. All the apprentices had been sent out with their respective mentors, too... except for one.
Sparrowpaw.

So, that's who he had been missing. An odd surge of emotion went through the deputy upon realizing that Sparrowpaw hadn't been there. She was an apprentice, and apprentices had been ordered to not go out into the territory without a warrior with them. He couldn't help but roll his green eyes. He knew apprentices were dumb, but how could one be so stupid? A low growl escaped Poplartooth's throat as he figured it would be his duty to go out and see if the SkyClan she-cat was alright. However, as he padded toward the camp exit, the form of a silver tom made its way straight into the camp. He was dripping with crimson, not even bothering to look at anyone. Poplartooth sucked in a silent gasp as he stared at the bloody, unmoving body of Sparrowpaw, Sedgestrike's daughter.
StarClan, no... He thought, before swiftly following after Sedgestrike and ducking into Mintwhisker's den.

The brown-and-white tom looked over at Mintwhisker, blinking in shock as she swiftly began to search for herbs in her cache so that she could get to work. No matter how much Poplartooth was irritated by the younger cats at times, they were still his Clanmates, and they were the future of SkyClan, and his heart ached to know that one of them had been injured so terribly. At least Sparrowpaw was still breathing. Perhaps she had a chance to live. Poplartooth trusted that Mintwhisker would be able to help her. Afterward, the fluffy tom lifted his gaze so that he could stare at the silver tom that had dragged his daughter into the den. Sparrowpaw wouldn't be able to speak or answer any questions, so the deputy would have to ask Sedgestrike, and hope that the warrior would tell him the full truth.

"Sedgestrike," Poplartooth began with a voice that was as low and still as the day had once been, "What happened?"

Sedgestrike didn't argue with Mintwhisker's request. Snapped out of his thoughts, he paced around anxiously in an attempt to find the cobwebs. When he did find them, he tried to bring them over to Mintwhisker carefully by using a stick. There was no sense in making them dirty. His heart pounded in fear with each stuttering breath Sparrowpaw breathed. It clenched in his chest as he leaned down to nudge at her head to comfort her. That, was until Poplartooth walked in. The silver spotted tom flinched at the deputy's tone. The fact that this had happened, lay squarely on Sedgestrike's own shoulders.

He placed the stick carefully to the side, where Mintwhisker could reach it while he backed away from the deputy.
"She..." His ears flattened, his gaze averted guiltily. While he had never told her to go onto RiverClan territory, it was his fault she had been bold enough to do so. Just like it was his fault she left camp alone. "I heard her battle yowl come from the RiverClan border... when I went to check on what was ... happening... " His claws dug deep into the medicine den floor. The memory of that wretched tom's muzzle pressed into her wound, that he had dared to threaten her. A reasonable cat would have left the defeated alone... but he... "A RiverClan tom was going to kill her." He spat angrily. "I made it in time to send him back with a few extra wounds, but he was a warrior. What kind of cat tries to kill an apprentice?"

His question left himself feeling aggrivated. What if it hadn't been Sparrowpaw? What if he had been just that little farther away? The thought left a chill under his pelt. He swallowed back the painful thought that she might still not make it. The amount of blood left behind them... he had never been bothered by the sight of it before, but this... He pressed his forehead back to Sparrowpaw's with a choked off sound that sounded very much like a whimper. His voice oddly quiet as he acknowledged the truth of the situation.
"Don't tell me it's my fault... I already know it is." He should have raised her better. Should have discouraged her rebellious and rude attitude, should have made her respect her clanmates more... yet all he had done was let her. He let her follow in his pawsteps, blindly.