Tales of Woe - SkyClan's Punishment

Redpaw lifted his head wearily. The yowls of pain filled his ears, and his claws dug into the ground, wishing he could just blow out the pain. His eyes were too blurry with sleep to make out who had the painful sickness. He just hoped it wasn’t Swansong or Wrenpaw. He glanced around his den before curling into a sleeping position. There’s nothing I can do about it.

Firflower was curled up on herself, her head firmly tangled in a mess of limbs as she tried to sleep the pain away. During the night she'd moved from the warrior's den to the mossy roots of a tree, the heat from her Clanmates becoming more and more uncomfortable as she felt her condition worsen. Irritability snuck up on her. The dancing shadows coming from the sunlit branches above gave her such a headache that she turned to face the tree's trunk instead. 'It has to pass- this can't last long.' Still, these hours dragged out longer and longer when all she could do was cough, vomit, or sleep. Beautiful days were meaningless if she couldn't properly enjoy them.

Heavy breathing sounded from the back of the medicine den, though it was nearly drowned out by the howling of agony throughout camp. Honeypaw curled up into a tight ball, hyperventilating. She stared out at nothing as she pressed her paws to her head, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Nothing she did worked. None of her herbs could even make a dent in this strange, impenetrable disease that StarClan had laid upon her poor Clanmates. She had tried every method, remedy, and combination of herbs she knew, but nothing could take their pain away. If cats started losing lives because she was unable to save them....

She really wished Sagelight were here. He was still recovering from his own sickness, but at least it seemed like the herbs were helping him. With all luck, she won’t lose him, too. She couldn’t lose him, she still needed her uncle. She couldn’t lose anyone.

A part of her was confused as to why she hadn’t been affected by this deadly disease. She had developed a strong crush on a ShadowClan molly. However, she respected both the warrior code and the medicine cat code enough not to act upon her feelings. Perhaps that was why she was spared? She truly hoped Sparkfire was doing okay.

Blossomstep's pawsteps were quiet as she entered the dark medicine den, ears lowered against her head as she sought out her friend. The sound of heavy breathing echoed in the small space, barely discernible under the cries of pain. Finding her friends shuddering body, she simply curled herself around Honeypaw silently, resting her chin on her head gently. She had come to ask what she could do to help, but clearly Honeypaw simply needed her support right now, instead of her aid. Once the she-cat had gotten herself taken care of, they could work together. "I'm here, Honeypaw, I'm right here.... Things will be okay.... I promise."