Thread:Willowlight7/@comment-32542140-20170930195600

A chilling breeze swept through the air, lifting colorful leaves off the forest floor in a whirlwind. The sight was beautiful, but for BlogClan, it meant that leaf-fall was coming soon.



Less prey, the cold, disease, less fresh herbs…worries raced through Hazelspots’ mind as she clumsily padded through the forest. She took a deep breath. ''Stop worrying. You’re only scared because you’ve never…done this before.''

It had been six moons since she had awoken in the forest, but still the sights and smells were unfamiliar, overwhelming, and almost too much for her to handle.

 

She had been sent by Flowerstream, the medicine cat of BlogClan, to collect herbs from the marsh. It was about an hour’s walk from the camp, but time seemed to stretch out without the presence of a clock. She began to doze off, walking without paying attention to where she was going. She could smell it in the air- she was almost near the marsh.



Ouch! She tripped over a large branch and slammed into the ground. The leaves covering the ground didn’t exactly break her fall.



She stood up slowly, pain throbbing in her shoulder. She looked over to see a single drop of blood fall on the ground. ''Dang it. ''Flowerstream would insist on wasting her valuable herbs and time to heal the wound.



The marsh was in front of her, and she could see the needed herbs just beyond the front façade of grass and cattails. She ran up to the herbs, but slipped on the muddy ground and fell face first into the sludge.

''Ugh, now I’m going to smell like the marsh for a moon. Just great. ''



She lifted her face up out of the mud, determined to bring back the herbs to camp, no matter what stood in her way. She looked around for the herbs Flowerstream wanted- a few sprigs of a plant with spiked, round leaves and clumps of moss to keep the nests warm. Hazelspots tugged on the moss that was deeply rooted in the ground until it finally lodged free of the mud. She bit off a few stems of the prickly plant, wrapped it in the wet moss, and picked it up in her jaws.  <p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center">

<p class="MsoNormal">When she finally made it back to the camp, she was completely exhausted. She padded over to Flowerstream’s den and dropped the bundle of herbs and moss.

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<p class="MsoNormal">“Thank you so much, Hazel,” she said with a worried expression. “I would have gotten the herbs myself, but it’s only leaf-fall and Lupinepaw has already developed a bad cough.” The skilled medicine cat looked her up and down. “What happened to you?”

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<p class="MsoNormal">She sighed. “I fell in the mud.” Flowerstream then noticed the scratch on   Hazel’s’ shoulder.

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<p class="MsoNormal">“You should have come back quickly when you got scratched,” she scolded.

<p class="MsoNormal">“No need to waste your herbs, it’s just one tiny scratch.”

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<p class="MsoNormal">“It’s not just a scratch. It’s a scrape with a lot of surface area, which leaves it prone to infection. You upped the chances of that when you fell in the mud,” she muttered, turning to her stark herb stash and chewing some leaves into a poultice.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Lie down.” She rubbed the poultice on the scrape. Hazel was so exhausted that the rubbing motion soothed her off to sleep. <p class="MsoNormal" style="border:none;mso-border-bottom-alt:dotted windowtext 3.0pt; padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in"> <p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">“Hazel! Hazel!” Hazelspots opened her eyes to Flamebriar, smiling. “I didn’t get to see you when you came back! Are you okay?”

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<p class="MsoNormal">She grunted, and stood up. She was still upset from the events that took place during her trip to the marsh. “I’m alright.”

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<p class="MsoNormal">Flamebriar knew she was lying, but didn't mention it. "You're covered in mud."

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">“I know. I fell into the marsh.”

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<p class="MsoNormal">They smiled. “You wanna go to the river and wash off?”

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<p class="MsoNormal">Hazel nodded and padded, touching her flank to Flame’s.

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<p class="MsoNormal">When they got to the river, Hazel pushed Flame in, but Flame held onto Hazel, so they toppled in together. When they both reached the surface again, they were soaked but laughing. Flame had eased Hazel's irritation. They scrambled out unto the shore, still giggling. Flame turned to Hazel, a gleam in their eyes.

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<p class="MsoNormal">“Hazel?”

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<p class="MsoNormal">“Yes?”

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<p class="MsoNormal">“Promise to stay by me this leaf-fall?”

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<p class="MsoNormal">Hazel’s heart thumped so loudly she was sure every cat in the forest could hear it.

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<p class="MsoNormal">“Yes.”

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<p class="MsoNormal">“Even if I get greencough?”

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<p class="MsoNormal">“Nothing will separate you from me.”

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<p class="MsoNormal">Flame curled their tail around Hazel’s back lovingly. Hazel touched her nose to his cheek. The sun was just now rising in the sky. They both laid down, curled up next to each other, sights aimed at the sky. The stars were lowering to give way to the day, and the moon was giving off its last light for the night. The blackness of night was blending with warm pink, yellow, and red tones.

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<p class="MsoNormal">''Leafbare is beginning. BlogClan will be layering more moss on their dens, hunting harder to find more prey, and fighting disease. But no matter what happens, we’ll be together, Flame. I’ll be with you through battle, through the seasons, through death itself. No power in StarClan could keep me from you.''

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<p class="MsoNormal">I promise. <ac_metadata title="heres my fanfic for the gathering it&#039;s trash ahah"> </ac_metadata>