A Tough Call (Fern/Bolt)

He was the first real friend she made here in Cedar Clan. He was the first cat to step in and help her, besides her brother. He had been a true Warrior, giving his whole life for his clan until his very last breath -and now that breath had left him, and he had left her. Alone. Again. The grey shecat despised wasting time on the dead, but it was a ceremony the old tom had believed in, and since his daughter was not here to sit beside him until sunrise, Raven sat in her stead.

No more.

As the sun broke over the lands and most of Cedar Clan made for their nests, Ravenface's fur was alight with agitation and energy, the likes of which the shecat had not felt for weeks. She was done with playing it safe. She was done with going by the 'rules'. She was done with letting cats die!

And that crazy old tom had not left without giving her one, last gift. Not without one foolish tactic, so crazy and damaging even Ravenface had held back on it, but this morning, the stakes had changed. Yesterday afternoon Dawnkit had come in. She had a cough. It was only a matter of time.

Ravenface was sick of chasing that damned clock down. This time, she was killing it before it even got up off its paws. She was sick of doing what she should do. From here on, she was doing what she needed to. Consequences be damned.

"Boltfang." The tom had sat with her for most of the night. He knew she had needed this, even if he did not quite know why. He must have heard the change in his sister's voice, the hard glint in her icy eyes. Raven was a cat pushed to the edge, but she'd never been one to go down easy. It just made her fiercer, harder, meaner. "Meet me outside the camp, will you? I'll be along in a minute."

Then she was up. Her face popped into the Nursery. She had been taking care these past weeks not to mix with any cat that might get infected, but now they knew how the disease spread, she was able to move freely once again. She nudged Fernheart and Frostkit awake.

"Hey, Frosty," she mewed with a lightness she did not feel. "Go curl up with Mistlekit and Rosekit in Swanstrike's den for a few minutes, will ya? I need to steal your mom for a bit." Ravenface winked at the playful kit. "I promise to bring her back, and maybe a bird too if you're good."

Then she was leading Fernheart out, out of the camp and into the woods, just to the left of the entrance. Close enough not to be missed, far enough not to be bothered. She greeted Boltfang with a tired dip of her head.

"I want to talk to you about Dawnkit," she mewed, sitting down and curling her tail over her paws. Her blue eyes were cold and harsh, her tone deadly quiet. Around her brother, Ravenface was always sarcastic and teasing, sometimes making it difficult to tell when she was being serious. That would not at all be difficult now.

"Your daughter is very sick," the shecat started. "You need to know that. Every cat that has gotten sick died after hardly more than seven days, and those were adults, their bodies strong and developed. Dawnkit is a kit. She doesn't stand a chance."

There. It was out in the open. The elephant in the room.

"I can't tell you that I will save her. I'm sorry."

Ravenface waited a moment. Let that sink in. For both of them.

"But I want to try."

Ravenface met each parent's gaze. This next bit was going to be a bit hard to swallow, but hopefully now that they knew the gravity of the situation, they would trust her. She hoped they would trust her. For Dawnkit's sake. 

"Mountainclaw survived the longest. Almost reaching two weeks. That was not a fluke. He was helping me, working with me. He had access to my herbs. -And he used them." Ravenface's eyes were sharp but when she looked at Boltfang then turned slightly apologetic.

"I did not tell you all the full truth when I came to the clans. Yes, I was a Healer and a Botantist in my own right, but I specialized in death, not life. Poisons. Toxins. I know them better than any cat alive and often on the road I would twist them to suit far more beneficial needs. I'm either pretty good or pretty lucky because the bottom line is it usually worked. I mentioned something to Mountainclaw. An errant idea. A theory. I had never tried it, not with a disease this severe. I wouldn't dare and there isn't a cat here I would ask to let me test it on."

The Medicine Cat shook her head. "But he was a foolhardy old goat. He made himself the test subject without telling me, -and it worked. That's why he lived so long. He almost beat it. I think he might have even, if the damage had not already been so severe..." The shecat trailed off, her eyes sad.

"The point is, this herb I want to give her... it's poison. It's deadly. If I mess up the dose, your daughter will die that much quicker. Too little, and the disease ruins her lungs. She dies. Too much, and her airways close up. She dies. But if I get it right... if what Mountainclaw tested works... Your daughter just might make it to her Apprentice Ceremony after all."

"Normally I would ask the cat themselves before doing something like this, but Dawnkit is too young and too terrified. Even if she understood, if she loses the will the fight there will be nothing I, or anyone, can do. So I'm posing this to you two. You are her parents. If you say no, I won't touch her. I will give her poppy seeds to help with the agony she'll go through, and keep fighting the infection as I have with the others, but you've seen how well that's gone."

"I wouldn't be asking this if I thought there was another choice," the Medicine Cat admitted tiredly. "But it's the only shot she has."