Emergency! Medicine Cat needed!

[Yoko]

Specklestar hissed as she paced the den, her long tail lashing behind her. The Shadowclan leader was furious with herself. Why had she allowed the medicine cat to leave to Moonstone early? And why hadn't she sent a patrol after Lizardeye's report of a fox on the territory?!

Deep down she knew that blaming herself would get her no where. There was no way that she could have forseen Brindlepelt's injury. The four clans had been at peace for quite awhile, despite Foxfur's...mistakes. And the medicine cat had insisted that the vision meant something terrible, and that Shadowclan could not afford to wait until half-moon to find out what it meant. So Specklestar had granted him permition to leave. As for the fox, Specklestar had been certain that Twistedclaw and his brother could handle it alone. Those three tabby brothers had killed a fox when they were barely out of kithood!

The speckled leader was so wrapped up in her thoughts that when Brindlepelt spoke, she hardly recognized the voice. The she-warrior was bleeding all over the den floor and she appeared on the brink of death.

"She's right!" Specklestar snapped at Snaketail, "fetch some cobwebs! We know /that/ much about medicine."

Snaketail gave no arguement as he turned and disappeared into the dark corner of the den. He returned with a wad of cobwebs and pressed them hard on Brindlepelt's shoulder, hoping to staunch the bleeding. Specklestar sighed.

Great Starclan, she thought, it is too soon for you to take this warrior.

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

Brindlepelt concentrated on breathing evenly and staying awake while Snaketail dashed inside the medicine den to get cobwebs. Without them, she knew, she would not survive until a medicine cat could treat her wound. For now the greatest risk was bloodloss, so the bleeding needed to stop as soon as possible. Then they could worry about other things, such as infection. Hearing swift pawsteps returning, she grey and cream tortoiseshell lifted her head to see Snaketail returning with a large wad of cobwebs in his jaws. He pressed them firmly against her shoulder, causing a gasp of pain to escape her clenched jaws.

"Don't... stop!" she managed, her eyes staring wildly in no particular direction. She heard more approaching pawsteps and saw, out of the corner of her eye, her sister race towards them. "Oh no, Brindlepelt!" Lightfeather meowed with dismay. The white and cream she-cat padded softly forward and pressed her nose gingerly to Brindlepelt's fur. "Why didn't you wake me? I would have gone on patrol with you."

Brindlepelt closed her eyes and let her head rest on the ground as she concentrated on the feeling of a gentle nose pressed against her fur. "We already had four cats, there was no need to get another one. Besides, I didn't want to tire you out when you should be concentrating on Hazelpaw's training." Brindlepelt thought of her own apprentice, Eclipsepaw. The black and white she-cat was four moons ahead of seven moon-old Hazelpaw, and there wasn't as much she needed to learn. Brindlepelt spent one moment to wish that she had woken the apprentice and taken her along, but there was no point on mulling over it now.

[Yoko]

Specklestar contemplated her next move. Pacing the medicine cat den would do no good for any cat. She wanted to go on the patrol to Thunderclan herself. They would take the request more seriously that way. But she couldn't leave the camp unprotected for the sake of one warrior.

"Snaketail! Keep the cobweb on her shoulder," she ordered, more calmly this time. "Is there more back there?"

The long-furred dark tabby nodded.

"Good. Lightfeather, fetch him more from the back when it's needed. Brindlepelt..."

Her green eyes clouded for a moment, but quickly she changed to a stronger expression. She'd made a mistake, but she was still leader. "Stay strong. I'll not have you die over one error."

And with that, she turned and padded into camp. She would see the patrol off and await the medicine cat's arrival.

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

Lightfeather nodded at her leader and headed quickly into the medicine den to fetch more cobwebs. When she returned, she noted that though the first clump wasn't soaked through yet, it was still stained red with blood. With a worried expression in her eyes, the lithe warrior dropped her burden next to Snaketail and moved to sit back down next to Brindlepelt. The pale tortoiseshell's head was resting against the earthy floor of the clearing, and her eyes were closed. Lightfeather couldn't tell is she was unconscious or just resting, but her breathing was fast and shallow. She cast a worried glance at Snaketail.

"The fox must have bitten into a major artery," she mewed worriedly. "I've never seen that much bleeding before. Usually it stops before this..." Glancing back at her sister, Lightfeather was relieved to see that the bleeding had slowed to a bare trickle, and looked like it was soon going to stop altogether. But her worry returned when she looked back at her sister and saw how pale her nose and ears looked, and how shallow her breathing was. What if they had been too late? What if she had already lost too much blood?

[Yoko]

Snaketail continued to press down on Brindlepelt's wound. He had been quiet and obedient the whole time. Partly this was from guilt. He should have sent Brindlepelt back to camp to warn the others, not Lizardeye. The grey and cream tabby should never have been in harm's way. Twistedclaw would have done fine on his own.

Suddenly, Snaketail's eyes widened. Where was Twistedclaw? Was he really still out playing with thatt fox's body? He's going to reek of that forever. Snaketail shook his head. What a day!

Snaketail looked down at Brindelpelt. She had no fault in this. It would be unfair for her to die because of simple misfortune. Snaketail hoped that Lizardeye would at lease be quick about it.

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

Brindlepelt stirred briefly, twitching her tail and swiveling her head around before lying still once more. The she cat's bleeding had finally stopped, and a wad of blood-stained cobwebs was stuck onto her wound to keep it that way. The bleeding had, however, left the she-cat very weak, and somewhat confused. Without opening her eyes or taking any notice of the two cats that watched over her, the pale-coloured tortoiseshell began to speak.

"I wasn't fast enough," she mewed faintly, as if caught in a dream and unable to wake. "I wasn't strong enough. Things might have been different if I had been stronger, or had been more cautious. Now it's too late." Her sister drew closer and licked Brindlepelt's head gently, trying to get her to quiet down. "It wasn't your fault, Brindlepelt," she assured the still she-cat. "It could have happened to any cat."

"But it happened to me!" Brindlepelt moaned, refusing to be comforted by her sister's words. "You don't understand Lightfeather, you don't know what I did..." she trailed off weakly, as if to exhausted to continue, and Lightfeather hoped that she would remain silent, focus on regaining her strength. But the tortoiseshell warrior continued. "I wasn't enough," she whispered, "but this time it won't matter. I can go to StarClan and take care of them, as they deserved..." Finally she stopped, and Lightfeather realized her sister had lapsed into a light sleep. She hoped that she would rest now and regain some of her strength, but the white and cream she-cat worried that the fox bite was infected. Cocooned deep within the well of her own concern for her sister, Lightfeather did not think to wonder who Brindlepelt had been talking about.

[Yoko]

Snaketail switched the cobwebs quickly. The blood was slowing but had not yet stopped. His heart stung at Brindlepelt's words. Leaning over to her ear, and still pressing the cobwebs to her wound, he mewed gently.

"Shush, rest now. This is not your fault. You are a strong warrior and fast as well," he stroked her pelt lightly with his tail, only once. He didn't want to make either she-cat uncomfortable. He was only attempting to ease her pain.