Twigpaw awoke with a yawn, stretching as he walked outside. Luckily enough, the sun was out today. He allowed the sunlight to soak into his sandy spotted pelt, littered with brown leaves. He turned back to the entrance of the medicine cat den, noticing Cloverleaf tossing and turning in her sleep, muttering something quietly to herself, as if pleading for help. Concerned, Twigpaw walked back inside to his mentor, gently shaking her until she woke from her slumber. “Cloverleaf? Are you okay?” He asks, tilting his head, his fur bristling as it puts him on edge, seeing his mentor like this. “Nothing, I’m okay, just another nightmare… thanks for waking me up, though,” Cloverleaf would reply, as always. The same nightmare had been haunting her every single time since it first occurred, with small changes in each one, like the dim lighting, or how blood soaked the ground was. But they almost definitely kept the fact that some cat with yellow and blue eyes had been the one to bring Clover to meet her end, yet never achieved this. Twigpaw always woke her up from it, the good apprentice he was. “...Okay…” He trailed off. “Do we need anything? Herbs, food, water?” He asks, deciding to change the subject. “A mouse would be nice,” she’d say. “But count to make sure the elders will have enough as well after we grab our share,” she adds thoughtfully. Twigpaw nods, darting outside and past Rainwhisker, who was heading for Cloverleaf’s den with a look of urgency on her face. “Hello, Rainwhisker, anything wro-” Clover begins before being interrupted by Rainwhisker, who rambles on, “Cloverleaf, Flintstar hasn’t been feeling too well since last night and he’s been coughing alot suddenly and I’m afraid he’s sick!” “Hold on, hold on- just a few coughs?” Cloverleaf tilts her head. “Mhm,” Rainwhisker replies, flicking her tail with worry. “I’ll check on him in a moment, until I have a direct diagnosis, I suggest staying out of your den for a while, and reside in the warriors den in the meantime. Hopefully it’s just a small cough and nothing much more than that,” Cloverleaf instructs the deputy with a weary sigh, before gathering some herbs and brushing past her and out to the leader’s den. “Of course,” Rainwhisker murmurs, going to check on Scorchpaw to take her mind off of things.
Stepping into the leader’s den, Cloverleaf looked over at an ill-looking Flintstar, who was curled up in a ball, shivering slightly, nose running and he looked rather pale. She frowned, her worries growing. The leader had been on his 5th life, and she didn’t want him losing another anytime soon. “Flintstar, how’ve you been feeling?” She begins to ask, trying to get a direct feel of what she needs. “Terrible,” he replies, sniffling and sneezing. “Headaches, muscle aches, terrible fever… I didn’t even-” he added, before being cut off by a cough. “-Didn’t even feel this bad last night, I felt pretty nice, other than a small headache and sniffles…” Cloverleaf felt shivers run down her spine hearing those words. She didn’t want to have to break it to the leader that he had Greencough, and a more severe case at that. She was angry at herself for not catching it sooner as she frowned. “Well, uhm, Flintstar, I hate to break it to you but…” she trailed off, as Flintstar meowed flatly, “Oh don’t treat me like a kit, I know I have greencough,” with a sigh, accepting his fate. “Just, can you give me my medicine?” Apaulled, Cloverleaf responds, “O-of course,” before pulling out a specific few herbs, handing them to Flintstar, who took them before nodding. “Thank you, Cloverleaf,” he meows, before going to sleep. Cloverleaf walked out of the den, thinking for a moment, before sighing and going to find Rainwhisker, finding that she was still in her den, too worried she’d caught what Flintstar had. “Well… it’s not pretty. He has greencough,” the cream spotted she-cat informed the deputy, as Rainwhisker gasped. “Will he be alright?” she asks “I hope he will be. It was pretty severe when I got to him, he’d been complaining about a whole lot of symptoms,” Cloverleaf sighed, sitting down. “Here, take these. Best to eradicate any symptoms before they start,” she murmured, pushing some herbs into the deputy’s direction. “Thanks, Clover…” Rainwhisker sighed, taking the herbs before stretching, flicking her tail. “Do keep me updated on Flintstar’s status, will you?” She asks Cloverleaf, who nods. “Of course I will.” Rainwhisker flashes her a sad smile before nodding back. “Thank you, best regards, Cloverleaf.” And with that, the deputy walks out, leaving Cloverleaf on her own. “Perhaps I should check on him again,” she murmured, before walking back out, going to Flintstar’s den to find the gray tom curled up asleep, or so she assumed. She saw his chest rise and fall a few times, as she relaxed, heading back out. Little did she know that was the last breath he ever took before things began to go awry.
