Lily’s Lifeline [CLOSED]

The day was warm and sunny, leafbare long replaced by the pelasant breezes and cloudless skies of newleaf. RiverClan was buzzing with activity, morale higher than ever after the recent victory at Fourtrees. It was a bittersweet victory, but a victory nonetheless. Everyone seemed to be out and about, whether that would be going on patrols or simply catching up with friends now that the threat of the Righteous Few was gone for good. Only one cat remained firmly in his den, and that cat was Spiderquill. After several sleepless days and nights of worrying, sorting and healing, he was exhausted. The sun had long since risen, but still the little tom stayed asleep. It was only when a particularly daring kit ran into the medicine den on a dare that Spiderquill finally woke up. He stretched and yawned, exposing little teeth and a long, pink tongue. He was shaky and clumsy, his limbs felt as if they hadn’t rested in moons, but a little shake of each leg mostly got rid of the jittery feeling and Spiderquill padded out of his den. What to do? Almost automatically, he checked the leader’s den first. Ivystar was still there. There was no reason to think she wouldn’t be, of course. But it never hurt to be sure. He was just being diligant, yeah. After a similar check-up on his other moms and his brother, he concluded that everyone was either on a patrol or just hanging out in their dens. He didn’t really feel like laying around though. He had to do something, be useful to someone. He couldn’t repeat what had happened at Fourtrees, even if Ivystar was okay now. His heart couldn’t take another loss because of his failures. So, he went on a herb patrol. It was one of the only two things he seemed to be doing nowadays, but it was nice to get out of camp for a little while outside of Moonstone journeys. On patrols he could kinda just go where he wanted, he liked that.

He made good progress over the first 30 minutes or so, carrying some horsetail, goldenrod, chervil and daisies on his back using an improvised pouch made of cobwebs. It was only when he stopped to drink some water from the river that he saw it: a small kit, lying by a pond not too far from where he was standing. His drink immediately forgotten, he ran towards the little kit. She was still alive, thank goodness. Her chest was moving in quick, shallow breaths as if she was drowning. Upon closer inspection, she had a large bite mark around her lower body. By the size of it Spiderquill would guess a fox, maybe a dog. Whatever the case was, she needed his help.”Hey, can you speak? Do you have a name? You’re going to be alright, don’t worry.” He spoke in a soft whisper, feigning confidence as not to scare the kit. He wasn’t even sure if she was conscious, but his own reassuring tone helped him feel better somehow.

The last thing the kit remembered was the dog chasing her, biting her, and being flung into cold, dark water.  She didn't remember anything before that, just the pain in her lower back where the dog's teeth had broken the skin, and the seeping water flowing around her.  As she was sinking in the water, she had one last thought.  This is the end, this is how I die.  The last emotion she felt was fear, as the darkness closed in on her.


The kit was surprised when the darkness loosened its grip on her and she faded in and out of consciousness.  She wanted to get up and try to come up with a plan, but she couldn't think of anything, and her tiny, kit body was too broken to let her sit up.  She couldn't even cry out for help, it felt like all the air had been squeezed out of her tiny lungs.  She eventually gave up and was just waiting for nature to finish her off.


She woke to the sound of a voice.  Someone had found her!  She tried speaking out to the voice, a tom's, by the sound of it, but her mouth felt like sand.  The kit tried getting up to go to the sound, but her body was still too injured to follow what she wanted it to do.  She noticed a small puddle near her face and lapped up as much as she could get to.  She was finally able to let out a small groan, instead of speaking.  She hoped the tom would understand.

Relief filled Spiderquill when the little kit responded. He hadn't expected her to speak, so he wasn't surprised when she didn't, but she was strong enough to drink. That was a start. She appeared to be struggling to move, though the pain was clearly too much for her. "It's alright, you don't have to move. Save your strength, little one. You'll need it to heal." As he spoke, the medicine cat unwrapped the herbs on his back and used the cobwebs to wrap the little kit up in a sort of sling. It was a shame to leave the herbs behind, but saving a life was far more important than some plants. Hopefully he'd be able to come back for them later anyway. Gingerly picking the kit up, he made his way towards camp. After a little while of walking and periodically making sure the kit was still breathing, Spiderquill reached his den and placed the kit in a nest. He immediately got to work unwrapping and inspecting the kit. Thankfully her legs weren't broken, though she was bleeding heavily and her breaths were uneven. He grabbed the usual goldenrod, marigold and horsetail, chewing up the bitter herbs and spreading the poultice on his paws. "I'm sorry little one, this may sting. I can't risk using poppy seeds on such a little kit. Just focus on me, it'll be over soon. Then you can rest." With that, he began to spread the poultice over her wounds. He flinched every time she did, paws shaky with fear of doing something wrong and hurting her. After what felt like moons, he was finally done. To finish off, he wrapped her back up in cobwebs. He took a deep breath, silently praying to StarClan that she'd be okay. "Hey, you're alright now. You can rest, I'll be here with you." He pondered for a little bit, an idea coming to him. "You know, you'll need a name now that you'll be part of RiverClan." He doubted she even knew what the Clans were, nor was he sure that Ivystar would even accept the kit, but speaking to the little kit made Spiderquill feel better somehow. "How does Lilykit sound?" He didn't expect a reply, she was probably asleep anyhow. Still, it felt nice to give her a name.

Despite her wounds, she felt strangely calm.  The kit felt the stinging ointment that the tom padded into her wounds.  Though it hurt, she could feel its healing sensation.  She wondered how this cat knew so much about plants that he could heal her.  At the mention of RiverClan, she wondered what he meant.  Where was she?  She tried to look around to see her surroundings, but her limp little body was too weak to let her lift her head.  She started to nod off.  The tom called her Lilykit. Lilykit!  I like that! She drifted into sleep, wondering what this new life would bring