two is better than one [c]

Rest had not come easy to her recently, but tonight, it was almost as if Smokepetal was compelled to sleep. She’d tried to hunt while the sun was up, with no luck, though she’d been ordered to eat upon returning home, anyway. As SkyClan’s only medicine cat, it was important that she stay strong enough to treat the clan when they needed her. If she didn’t, cats could die. Hunger made a warrior weak, and susceptible to illnesses a healthy, well-fed warrior didn't have to worry about. Whitecough was practically inevitable in these conditions, with the cold creeping in and the lack of nutrition... and it had the terrifying potential to escalate drastically from there.

It seemed like she’d barely closed her eyes before she was opening them again, but no longer was she curled in her nest. Smokepetal was standing at the edge of a lush, green field, a warm wind ruffling her fur. A sparkling, starry canvas stretched above her, and the gray tabby watched as one of the stars grew closer, streaking across the sky before splitting into two. Gray-green eyes widened as she realized they were coming right towards her, but she didn’t even have time to react, to flee, or anything, before the stars both smashed into separate ends of the field.

To her left, a huge, hulking form walked away from the site of the crash… thick, dark fur, bright blue eyes, ears round, like a mouse, but a thousand times larger. Great, white, gleaming teeth flashed in the moonlight as the creature lumbered towards her, grunting and groaning some awful, terrifying noise. Smokepetal’s limbs locked into place, and she stared, unable to flee even though she was certain this bear was about to kill her.

Bear. A curious word. One she’d heard many times but never put an image to, until tonight. Smokepetal knew that bears were massive, fearsome predators - ancestors that had roamed the forests long before the clans tread here. These beasts shared territory in the clans’ history in the same way the tiger and the lion did… and now, somehow, she was looking one in the eye.

But why? Smokepetal knew this had to be a dream - obviously, she hadn’t gone to sleep here in this nameless field, and a creature such as this hadn’t stepped paw in the forest in living memory. But she didn’t have time to think. The bear broke into a run, rapidly closing the distance, and she had to move. The medicine cat sprinted across the field, remembering too late that the second star had crashed on this end, but there was no bear here, only… curiously, a small bush.

As she brushed past it, the smell of thyme rushed to greet her, and as she reached the edge of the field, she looked over her shoulder to see how close her pursuer had gotten, only to see that the bear had stopped. It was standing directly next to the thyme bush, that, as Smokepetal watched, began to grow. Tendrils of the plant reached outward, writhing and grasping and spreading across the ground until the entire field was covered in the sharp-smelling herb, emanating all from the singular bush that was now nearly the size of the bear.

Smokepetal blinked, and it was all gone. Now, before her was a great tree, limbs stretching towards the sky. The night sky was bright, now, and the shapes of three cats - sitting on the largest of the tree’s boughs - were silhouetted against the backdrop of a full moon. Smokepetal tilted her head up to look at them, brow furrowed in confusion as one of the three cats dissolved in the breeze, leaving only two remaining.

And then she woke up.

Heart pounding, Smokepetal lay there for a moment, trying to remember every detail. The bear, the thyme bush, the three cats becoming only two. What did it mean? StarClan didn’t exactly have a good track record lately with what they’d been sharing, but this hadn’t seemed to be a warning. In fact, it had seemed gentle, even nurturing almost, despite the fear she’d felt initially. Bear. Thyme. Three cats upon a branch, fading into two. It could have been her, Wolfblossom, and Birdstar… the three pillars of SkyClan were its leader, deputy, and medicine cat, right? But why the bear? Why the thyme?

Suddenly, it clicked. Bearpaw. Thymepaw. Two apprentices that shared the same names as the key points in her dream… and the last time StarClan had sent her a dream like this… it had been to guide her to the medicine den, to the art of healing. Could this be the same for Bearpaw and Thymepaw? Smokepetal was uncertain. It didn’t make sense for StarClan to want her to take *two* apprentices, right? The clans only ever had two at a time, and if both of them trained beneath her, they would have three…

Unless…

The image of the third cat dissolving in the wind solidified into a lump of discomfort in Smokepetal’s throat. It was bizarre to have three medicine cats at once… so what if they wouldn’t? The implication of that made her gut churn with dread and fear, but the medicine cat shook her head, dismissing it. That part didn’t matter now, but if StarClan thought they were going to need three medicine cats, even if only briefly, who was she to dismiss them?

The slim she-cat uncurled herself and padded towards the mouth of the den, that was now lit by the rays of dawn. She had to share this while the memories of the dream were still fresh. To the first warrior she saw, Smokepetal requested they fetch the leader, deputy, and both apprentices.

Wolfblossom dropped a pitiful-looking wren onto the fresh-kill pile and sighed, dismissing the rest of he patrol with a wave of her tail. No sooner had she turned away than a warrior was calling for her attention, and the deputy fought another sigh. The day had hardly started, and more hunting patrols would need to be sent out. Wolfblossom had been planning on leading a second, though she wasn't sure how much luck they would have if the first barely had any.

Hunger still clawed at her stomach, and she knew none of her clanmates were spared that. She hated seeing their gaunt, ragged faces, and more often Sunfire's words were beginning to seem appealing. Fight, before they couldn't. Except, the rest of the forest was also starving, if the last gathering was any indication.

Smokepetal wanted her, and it wasn't a half-moon. The deputy hoped that the medicine cat might have something about what she had seem last moon, or something to offer hope that this famine wouldn't go on for much longer. She wasn't optimistic, but was quick to pad towards the medicine den where Smokepetal waited.

"Hey, Smokepetal." The deputy mewed a soft greeting, "Is something wrong?" Please say no, she thought, please say no.

In shorter a time than she'd expected, Wolfblossom ducked into the den, and Smokepetal smiled tightly at her former mentor, eyes shining with worry. "Hello," she responded. "Thank you for coming - I will explain once the others are here, don't worry." That was probably unsatisfying to hear... and she realized how odd it was for her to be summoning the leader, deputy, and two apprentices randomly to her den... but she didn't want to repeat herself, and it would be easier if everyone heard it at once. The smoky she-cat curled her tail around her paws and kneaded the ground anxiously, until pawsteps neared the den once more and she perked to attention, eyes following Bearpaw as he padded in.

"Bearpaw, hello," she said quietly, watching him with a careful stare. He was the most perplexing member of the cats she'd summoned... but her dream had been plain as day. The only Bear in this forest stood before her. Smokepetal had to admit, he did not seem a likely candidate for medicine cat... least likely of all the current apprentices, actually... but, he was related to Beechfang, after all, and she'd been a medicine cat once, too. StarClan was capable of making poor decisions, too, she'd realized. Perhaps this would be one of them. Or perhaps not. Thymepaw, at least, was the perfect choice... she reminded Smokepetal a lot of herself as a youngster.

She was distracted from her pondering as Birdstar, followed quickly by Thymepaw, joined them in the space. She nodded to each of them in turn. "Thank you for coming," she repeated. Silence lingered at the end of her statement, and Smokepetal glanced between the two apprentices briefly before straightening up, nodding to herself. "Last night, I had a dream. From StarClan. And it involved both Thymepaw, and Bearpaw."

Smokepetal described the dream, leaving out the part where the third cat dissolved into the wind. She'd spent a while pondering, and still couldn't quite figure out what it meant... so she wanted more time - perhaps StarClan would provide more insight later. As she finished her retelling, the medicine cat let out a slow breath. "I believe StarClan have chosen Bearpaw *and* Thymepaw to become medicine cat apprentices, at the same time. I've racked this over in my brain and there's no other explanation that I can decipher. It just feels right, even though it's... untraditional."

There was more to be said, surely... but for now, she at least wanted to hear their thoughts on the matter.

"Don't worry? Well, that settles it. I'm worried." Wolfblossom mewed sarcastically, though she had to admit that Smokepetal's words were somewhat of a relief. Not to stop her from worrying completely, but still.

Wolfblossom greeted her grandson with an affectionate purr, blinking apologetically at the confusion he must have felt. She didn't think he was in trouble, at least, but why Smokepetal had called him and Thymepaw as well as the rest of Skyclan's leadership was a mystery. One that would be explained soon, she hoped, and nothing bad. It couldn't be anything bad. Like more horrors beyond the clan starving, or more visions along the lines of what she had shared last moon.

Birdstar was next to pad into the den, and if Wolfblossom had to guess, she too had the last terrible message on her mind as well. Nothing good ever seemed to come out of this den or the medicine cats lately, as much as Wolfblossom loved her former apprentice. Smokepetal had told her not to worry, of course, but the thought seemed to linger in the back of her mind.

Thymepaw stepped into the den, and Wolfblossom offered the apprentice a small, reassuring smile. Smokepetal began to speak, and the deputy turned her attention to the medicine cat in full. A dream involving the apprentices, and it seemed they were to become Smokepetal's apprentices, if this dream was indeed more than just a dream. Thymepaw, Wolfblossom thought, would fit well into that role. Though Wolfblossom still would have preferred her to graduate to the warrior's den. But Bearpaw? Two apprentices? Skyclan certainly didn't need to lose capable hunters and fighters at a time like this.

"Two apprentices? And... Forgive me, but Bearpaw will make a fine warrior. Why him?" Bearpaw simply didn't strike her as the type of cat who would become a medicine cat unless he was dragged into it. Further, he wasn't Smokepetal or Thymepaw, cats with a very different personality than the young tom. "Three medicine cats... That's an odd number... Are things going to be so dire, do you think?" They were already starving with leafbare on the way, what more was the forest going to throw at them?