Every cloud has a silver lining/A foregone conclusion

A foregone conclusion is the second of the Every cloud has a silver lining texts, a series which relates the events in WindClan that followed Silverpaw's attack by a badger. It features Thornpelt, Silverpaw, Dovepaw and Fernsun.

In character, it took place during the Moon of Long Nights (2005).

Out of character, it was written by Willow.

A foregone conclusion

Entropy and optimism: the twin forces that make the universe go round. - The Sandman #10: The Wake by Neil Gaiman

"Thank you, Dovepaw. You can return to your mentor. After training, you can come and visit Silverpaw, if you want. She would appreciate the company." Taking the clump of chamomile leaves from the apprentice, Thornpelt dismissed her with a flick of his tail, returning to his den.

Inside, Silverpaw slept fitfully. He had already removed the mouse fluff and cobwebs from the long gashes on her right flank, but the injured apprentice's jerky movements as she slept kept opening her wounds. Sighing, the WindClan medicine cat scooped a wad of cobwebs from a stone hollow. Very carefully, he wiped the blood oozing from Silverpaw's flank.

Thornpelt hated to keep her dosed; ghastly as the badger wound was, if he didn't measure the exact ammount of medication, he risked putting Silverpaw into a sleep she would never wake up from. However, the pain wasn't allowing Silverpaw to get her much needed rest, and was also causing her to reopen the gashes. It was a question of picking the lesser evil.

"Fernsun?" The she-cat's voice was raspy and hesitant, coming from a dry throat.

Well, that was it. Silverpaw couldn't be allowed to remain awake except for eating. The pain was too strong, and might induce her into a state of shock once more.

Working quickly, the ginger tom fetched a poppy seed. Silverpaw knew the drill; she was too dazzled to react except to obey. As Thornpelt lightly pushed the seed through her lips and massaged her throat, the gray cat swallowed.

"I want to see -" The rest of the sentence was lost in a meaningless murmur, as Silverpaw plunged into deeper sleep.

When she had been brought into camp, Thornpelt had had serious doubts about Silverpaw's survival. She had never been big, and had lost a lot of blood. Adding to the state of shock the apprentice had been found on, that didn't augur well.

Perseverance had won its way through, though. And while there would be several weeks before Silverpaw could stand, much less walk, the she-cat would live to tell the story.

From half-coherent words during her recovery, Thornpelt had been able to puzzle out most of it. As far as he could tell, Fernsun and Silverpaw had been attacked by a badger. No signs of Fernsun - probably he ran with StarClan, now - and Silverpaw had run, trailing blood after her. A patrol had found her, and carried her back to camp.

He had to admit - back then, he had almost let her fade away. The injuries were too grievous, the gashes too deep for him to believe Silverpaw would ever lead a normal life again. But stubbornness led him now. That, and Silverpaw's refusal to let go. Even unconscious, she clang to life with a tenacity that left no room for doubts; no matter what her life might be from that moment on, she wanted to live it. As a medicine cat, Thornpelt wasn't about to deny her that.