Mallowswarm
Mallowswarm had been in the warriors' den when Spiderthroat's furious call rung through camp. What had happened? Worry swirled in her gut as she made her way into the clearing, eyes immediately landing on the deputy. Wolfhawk and Hollowpaw were behind him, looking remorseful. Why did they look like that? Had someone died? Had one of the members of the otter patrol succumbed to their wounds? She wouldn't be surprised if that had happened; she had seen the injuries they had acquired. Missing ears and disfigured jaws and torn-off legs.
And she was right. Bumblestar had lost another life, but that wasn't the reason Spiderthroat was so angry. The medicine cats had been incompetent. They had left their clanmates out to bleed; they had ignored and neglected and failed to care for them. And their leader had died because of them.
Anger burned in Mallowswarm's chest as Spiderthroat went on, listing their crimes. The medicine cats, they hadn't just made a mistake. They had deliberately neglected their clanmates. The cats they had lived alongside their whole lives, the cats they had sworn to protect. It was their
job to look after them, but if what the deputy was saying was true, then they hadn't checked up on them even once. They had abandoned them when they needed them the most, and now Bumblestar had lost another life. How many had she lost now? How many did she have left?
Wolfhawk was demoted. Of course he was. There was no way he could have continued to serve as ThunderClan's medicine cat after that. Hollowpaw was luckier; he had been given mercy, even if that mercy came with a threat of exile and death. The punishments were deserved; stars, they were light. The medicine cats had killed a clanmate; indirectly, but they had caused Bumblestar's death. She wouldn't have lost a life if she had received proper care.
And yet... the sight of the medicine cats, cowering in the face of Spiderthroat's wrath, made empathy tug at her gut. She couldn't imagine what this would be like for them, hateful eyes boring into their pelts, hearing threats- threats of exile, threats of death- being spat at them. It was justified, it was, but the thought of being in their position made Mallowswarm's throat turn dry.
It won't. She would never neglect her clanmates like they had. She would never have to face the deputy's rage because she would never do anything that warranted it.
She bet they had thought the same thing before this.
Now. Focus on now. Focus on the fire burning in her chest. Wolfpaw had said something, but she was too far away to hear it. Spiderthroat spoke again, telling Sparrowpelt to get Treetiger (Treetiger? Why did Treetiger need to be here? What was happening?) before responding to the freshly-demoted apprentice. So he had wanted to retire. But he hadn't. Spiderthroat's words were right; everything he had said in the last few minutes was right. His anger was just. His punishments were just- light, even. He was fairer than Mallowswarm thought he'd be.
Hollowpaw wouldn't be given his full name. That was fair; he shouldn't be rewarded for Wolfpaw's incompetence. For
his incompetence. Then he spoke to Treetiger. Mallowswarm's gaze turned to the she-cat, leaning against Sparrowpelt and looking half-asleep. Had she just woken up? How could that be? Surely she had been disturbed by the commotion that had occurred after Bumblestar died. Even she had heard it from the warriors den.
Absorbed in her thoughts, she almost missed what Spiderthroat said next.
...Apart from rivalry between Clan and Clan and to protect all cats equally, even at the cost of your life? What? Mallowswarm blinked as she tried to piece together what he had said, feeling as wrong-footed as she had felt during her warrior ceremony. A ceremony. This must be a ceremony, but...
...But she knew what it was. A medicine cat ceremony. Treetiger had been chosen as ThunderClan's new medicine cat.
Treetiger seemed as surprised as she was; it seemed to take a while for the deputy's words to process. When it did come, her reply sounded unsure, uncertain. Mallowswarm supposed that was to be expected; she would be shocked if she was promoted to a medicine cat out of the blue. Still, even now the she-cat seemed like she was not quite awake. But that wasn't her place to say anything, and she had said yes, so she kept quiet, retreating back into the warriors' den as Spiderthroat dismissed the clan. There was a lot to process.
Re: ThunderClan Clearing
