Tigerlily of RiverClan Chapter 8

Tigerlily stumbled out of her den and into the clearing, Something is very wrong, she thought to herself. And she was right. Most cats had nicks, bruises, and bites, but Iceclaw sat in the middle of the camp, bleeding from many wounds. "Iceclaw!" Tigerlily rushed to her mate. "What happened to you?"

Poppyfeather sat beside Tigerlily, resting her tail on Tigerlily's shoulders as Poppyfeather treated Iceclaw's wounds. "From what I can gather, he was in the middle of wrestling with the ThunderClan deputy. The deputy pushed Iceclaw off, and he fell to the lower area of Sunningrocks. And got Iceclaw many wounds as well."

Tigerlily looked at Poppyfeather, her eyes wide and pleading, like she was still a kit, "Can you save him?"

Poppyfeather looked at Tigerlily, "I'm doing all that I can. But if StarClan wants him, there's nothing I'll be able to do."

"Then can I help?" Tigerlily begged desperately.

Poppyfeather didn't look up this time, "okay, then some goldenrod, horsetail, maybe two poppyseeds, and some more cobwebs. I have all of those things in my den," she rattled the names of the herbs and such so easily that Tigerlily almost had trouble keeping up. She raced to the den and brought the supplies out one at a time, until they all sat in neat stacks by Poppyfeather.

"Thank you," Poppyfeather whispered kindly.

"I'm so sorry," Poppyfeather whispered sadly, "I couldn't save him."

Tigerlily felt her heart crack in two. She looked up to the stars and whispered, "You save my life. So why couldn't I do the same for you?"

The wind seemed to whisper back, "It was my time..."

Greif clouded Tigerlily's gaze as Poppyfeather led her to sit beside Iceclaw's head. She could feel a calming presence beside her.Tigerlily could almost see her deceased mate out of the corner of her eye, "I need to tell you something," Tigerlily whispered to Poppyfeather as the sun set, "Rocktail visited me in a dream last night. And he told me to tell you that he's sorry for leaving you, and that he misses you."

Poppyfeather looked at Tigerlily, emotion welling up in her gaze, "thank you..."

The two sat at Iceclaw's head through the whole night, despite being so cold. Many clanmates turned and went back in their dens, but Tigerlily, Poppyfeather, and Rainclaw stayed by Iceclaw until the sun began to rise.