Sickness and Danger Upon the Marshes (OPEN CLAN MEETING / IMPORTANT)

(OOC: A continuation of this patrol.)

Asterspark let out a low moan of pain and despair as he pushed his way through the thorn barrier and into ShadowClan camp. Great Silverpelt above, what in StarClan's name had just happened?! One minute, he and his patrol composed of Redwing, Firestone, and Frogmarsh were checking the borders by Carrionplace, and the next... The place just exploded into flames. He, Redwing, and Firestone were burnt pretty badly by the flames -- a piece of burnt debris shot into his right yellow eye, and now he couldn't see out of it, and stars did it burn like pits of fire in the Dark Forest! -- but... at least they were alive... Frogmarsh had wandered too close to Carrionplace. No, scratch that, she actually went into Carrionplace with the full intentions of hunting rats in deliberate disobedience of Scorchstar's new law. And now... now she was dead.

Collapsing to the ground and coughing heavily from the smoke he had inhaled earlier, Asterspark squinted open his good left blue eye, his right eye still screwed shut, his face twisted in absolute agony and distraught. His voice was ragged when he yowled as loudly as he could, "H-Help!... Scorchstar... Where's Sc-Scorchstar?!..."

Thoughts of the future constantly plagued the young warrior's mind, wrapping themselves in tendrils around his mind. In a way, it had become an obsession. He looked forward to the conversation that was to come with Flintpaw. They had so many things to discuss. Burntstag had been depositing a single frog he had managed to catch into the freshkill pile. Few pieces of prey lay there. It was a pitiful pile but the night had been coming to an end and most cats had managed at least a mouthful of something to eat before the impending sunrise. His own stomach rumbled but he turned away. Some other cat needed it more than he.

He had intended to retire for now before a cat burst through the entrance. Asterspark? The tom's coat was stained with soot and his eye screwed shut. Immediately the calico tom sprinted over and stood at the older warrior's side. It looked like the other tom's steps were unstable and the absolute terror that was evident in his voice was concerning. What had happened on their patrol? Taking up the ragged call, Burntstag yowled, "We need Scorchstar and Morningpaw! Now!" As he supported the warrior, he demanded the nearest cat get their leader and medicine cats.

There was only one thought in Redwing's hazy, pain-filled mind: get to camp. So that was what she did, each step an agonizing limp towards ShadowClan, unable to walk or even breathe properly. Her breath rattled hoarsely in her smoke-filled lungs, her tail and whiskers were singed and black, and one front paw was burnt almost to cinders. Not to mention her nausea had returned with a vengeance, and she'd vomited not once, but twice on the way back from the burning husk that was once Carrionplace. The smell of burning crow food and fur lingered in her nostrils, making her want to gag. But she fought past the pain and horror, eventually making it back to camp.

Hearing Asterspark's voice brought her a brief moment of relief, knowing that he was alive. But where was her father, Firestone? Had he burnt to death, like Frogmarsh? When she finally got to camp she collapsed, wheezing heavily through a clogged throat, unable to take another step. Pain shot through her entire body, but she ignored it, clenching her eyes shut and waiting to black out or possibly even die. As long as they were safe...

The senior warrior finally made his entrance into the camp, his paw burned and his lungs were a mess but he was home and so was his daughter. Firestone stepped forward to Redwing and simply collapsed as well next to her, putting his large head under her neck so she could rest on something fluffy and comfy. His precious baby was safe... and now she only needed a medicine cat to treat her wounds and see how her kits were. Would they survive the amount smoke their mother took in? The ginger tom wanted to believe so but until he had got complete confirmation, he would stay right next to her now that her mate was missing.

Morningpaw felt her skin crawl and her fur rise when she heard the distressed call of Asterspark accompanied by the slight smell of burned flesh. She jumped up onto her paws and raced out of her den only to be faced with the patrol that had gone out now collapsed, sporting ugly burns and injuries. "Oh Starclan! What happened to you guys?!" cried out the she-cat with wide eyes. She shook herself from her trance and ran over to Firestone and Redwing first. They were both laying on the ground. The medicine cat felt that she needed to check Redwing first as her belly was holding who knew how many kits.

Redwing's whiskers and tail were singed to a horrid dark color. One of her front paws was burned black. Would Morningpaw be able to save it? The medicine cat felt anxiety rise up as she pressed her ear to the expecting mother's belly. She prayed the unborn kits were still alive. She pressed a paw here and there to try and feel any wriggling. Fortunately, she felt movement. The tortie let out a sigh of relief, one she didn't know she was holding. She made a mental note of who had what injuries and what herbs would she need and how much.

Next up was Firestone. He also sported a burned paw. She could see a few minor singes and burned areas. Those could be treated a bit quicker than the much larger ones. Overall, he seemed slightly better than Redwing. All three had burns so they must've been caught up in a fire. The would've definitely inhaled smoke. Morningpaw felt her pelt bristle once again. Despite never seeing fire, only hearing about it, she still feared it more than any other thing. After seeing what damage it could do, only fools wouldn't be afraid.

Finally, Morningpaw made her way over to Asterspark, who was being supported by Burntstag. The immediate thing she noticed, was his closed eye. Good Starclan! How bad could it be? The tom's eye was screwed shut, rather tightly. He had other mild burns like the other two. She walked up to him, wanting a close look at his eye. "Okay Asterspark, open your eye for me so I can check it out." spoke the medicine cat as calmly as she could in a situation like this. She mentally prepared herself for the worst.

Coughing and panting in pain and anguish as Burntstag helped him back up to his paws, Asterspark watched weakly as Morningpaw approached the damaged patrol. After seeing to Redwing and Firestone, she approached him, and at her gentle demand he whimpered. His eye hurt way too much to open it! Still, he wanted Morningpaw to try and fix his injury, so, to the best of his ability, he shakily opened his other eye, whining loudly as the cold air stung it mercilessly.

To Morningpaw, she could see his eye was reddened and puffy with tears, and there was a terrifying singe in the center of his pupil where the burning debris literally burned through the cornea. But to Asterspark, he could see... nothing. He blinked his injured eye a few times, as many as he could manage in his pain, but the sight of the medicine cat standing before him wouldn’t register. There was only darkness. He let out a terrified wail. ”I can’t see! Morningpaw, I can’t see through my eye!”

---

Hearing all the commotion going on from outside his den, hearing panic and concern and catching a whiff of fear, Scorchstar slipped out of his den under the old oak tree to find several cats gathered around a few cats, with Morningpaw checking over... wait, was that Asterspark? That’s right, he had assigned his son to lead a patrol to check the borders at Carrionplace. He had taken Redwing, Firestone, and Frogmarsh with him, but... he didn’t see the black molly anywhere.

He raced to the gathered cats, gently pushing his way through the crowd, to stand over the broken patrol to get a better look. To his absolute horror, he saw that all three of them bore burn marks all over them, and Redwing was coughing heavily. There could have been only one thing that could’ve caused this, but he needed to hear it from the patrol first. ”What in StarClan’s name happened? And... And what happened to Frogmarsh?” He recoiled, startled and terrified, when Asterspark suddenly let out a heartbroken wail at the mention of his former apprentice.

Wildstrike exited the warriors den with a grunt, he had just laid down to rest when all of a sudden he heard calling for Scorchstar and Morningpaw. He yawned and looked around, his eyes widened when he could now hear and see what was happening. He rushed up to his brother and heard that Frogmarsh wasn't with the patrol, he looked around and sure enough she were no where to be seen "Is Frogmarsh still by the carrionplace? I can go help her back!" he meowed quickly, part of him already knew but he didn't want to belive it! She were so young she couldn't just be dead, she were so young, she had pretty much just been made a warrior.

Tears continuing to stream down his cheeks from both eyes, Asterspark looked up weakly at his father and uncle through his one good eye, the other shutting tightly closed again to keep the air from stinging it anymore. "F-Frog... Frog is d-dead... The C-Carrionplace... it exploded into flames... Frog went inside to h-hunt, but I tried to g-get her out... Then it exploded... She d-died... A piece of burning rubble shot into my e-eye... Redwing inhaled a lot of smoke... She and Firestone both got b-burned badly..."

---

Scorchstar stood in place, staring out into nothing with a look of sheer disbelief on his face. The Carrionplace... exploded? How in StarClan's name did that happen?! Perhaps it's just another part of the prophecy playing out, the one that decrees ShadowClan will die... He shook his head. No. No, that couldn't be it. It had to be a coincidence. A very poorly timed coincidence. ...Right?

Taking in a few deep breaths to calm his nerves, he turned his head to his medicine cat and the warrior who was supporting his son. "Morningpaw, take Asterspark, Redwing, and Firestone to your den to treat them. Burntstag, you go with her and help her with anything she may need." Next, he turned to his brother. "Wildstrike, you lead a patrol of two other warriors to investigate Carrionplace, but do not get too close, and then report back to me exactly what you found. Do not take any apprentices." Finally, he directed his attention to the rest of the gathered cats. "Until further notice, no cat is to go anywhere near Carrionplace until it is deemed safe to return there. If I learn that any cat has tried to enter it, there will be serious consequences. I do not need another one of my Clanmates dying over something that could have been very easily prevented. Am I understood?"

Ravenpaw listened to the entire scene with horror. Frog, dead? My brother, injured? Tail twitching with anxiety, she wished desperately that she could actually see what was going on. Hearing her father's stressed declaration, she nodded. ShadowClan has been suffering. He is wise. But how in StarClan did the Carrionplace explode?

OOC: Excuse my lateness! ;-; This was a very bad month for me.

IC: Morningpaw held back a gasp as she continued to view the tom's injured eye. Oh Starclan, please give me power to heal his eye. The tortie she-cat silently prayed as she stood up straight. "Asterspark, I don't enjoy lying to my patients since it gives them a sense of false security. I'd rather be upfront. Asterspark, I will do all that I can to heal your eye but the injury is more severe than I had anticipated. There is a great chance I will not succeed in my efforts but I will make sure to help you recover fully from all other injuries and proceed to live a relatively normal life." The she-cat leaned closer to the tom and offered a few nuzzles of comfort before backing away.

Morningpaw looked over at Scorchstar once he began to address her. She nodded at his order and walked over to Redwing and Firestone. "Let's go you three. I will have to keep you guys in my den until your injuries are healed well." The apprentice began to help Redwing stand up and beckoned Firestone and Asterspark to follow her back to the medicine cat's den. She will do what she must to treat their injuries.

Asterspark gritted his teeth and dug his claws into the ground with a low moan of pain as Morningpaw examined his injured eye. What he wouldn't give to shut it back closed, the open air was making it sting and burn so badly! Once she was finished, he closed it back up immediately, but her words made him freeze up. An icy cold shiver ran throughout his entire body at the news: she may not be able to save his sight. "...Oh..." he breathed in hollow despair, glancing downcast at his own paws with his one good eye. He never even imagined until today that the horrible Carrionplace explosion would've been the last thing his right yellow eye would have seen.

At the medicine cat's coaxing, watching as she helped Redwing up to her paws, he stumbled up to his paws to follow suit at a much slower pace behind Firestone.