[Empress Of Evil]

Originally Posted by Charmer

Shinefang shuffled into the medicine den and looked around. He wasn't really supposed to be in there without permission, but who was going to stop him? It was strange to not see a medicine cat in here. The pale, ginger warrior made his way to the back of the den and peered at the shelves of herbs with his one eye. Many of these were familiar from his many years serving his clan. He recognized the Comfrey by smell. It was that herb that the previous medicine cat had put on his wounds. They said it stopped wounds from getting infected. He glimpsed yarrow next, faded white flowers. He remembered that one from the belly wound that wouldn't stop bleeding. That and...ah, there, cobwebs. The grizzled tom smirked in satisfaction as he realized just how many of these he knew. Just because he was getting up there is years didn't mean his mind wasn't every bit as sharp as his claws. "I could probably do this job," he muttered to himself. "It would be a nice change from chasing around all those young fools on patrols, for sure." Shinefang would never admit it, but he was getting old...had been old more like. There were cats younger than him in the elder's den right now. But Shinefang had no interest in retiring. "I'll join the elders when I'm dead!" he growled to himself, before realizing how on the nose his own comment had been. "Fox dung, you know what I mean," he said to no one in particular. He fixed his attention back on the herbs again.

Rumour had it that someone had been chosen to replace Ebonyfrost. Auroraflame wanted to see for herself if this was true. No official announcement had been made by Grousestar so far, but the deputy wanted to see anyway. With a small rabbit clutched between her jaws, she pushed past the entrance of the medicine den and was welcomed by the familiar scent of herbs. The scent of Ebonyfrost still lingered, but it was faint. It was a shame that the former medicine cat had resigned. Although she didn't know her very well, Auroraflame had liked Ebonyfrost and respected her. The she-cat could only hope that whoever filled the role next would make it as easy to respect and work alongside them. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a voice. One that was deep and even a little croaky. It was a voice she didn't recognise. As her icy gaze scanned the den, she could see the outline of a figure sitting down. She placed the rabbit on the ground before straightening up and tilting her head to the side. "Are you the new medicine cat?" Auroraflame asked, her gaze focused on the figure. She didn't introduce herself, as most cats in their clan knew who she was. However, she didn't know who this cat was. She could hardly even see them. Auroraflame knew most of the cats in this clan, or at least their name, appearance and possibly voice. This cat ticked none of the boxes. For a moment, an absurd suggestion came to her mind. What if this cat was a stranger? But that couldn't be right. No cat could sneak into SkyClan's camp without being caught. Auroraflame frowned in thought. Or what if they were like her? What if they had the power of shadow stealth? But then again, that was unlikely too. Her power was probably very rare. She hadn't even heard of any other cat having a power. No one knew she had a power, and she was happy to keep it that way. "Who are you?" Auroraflame asked in a quiet tone. She took a step forward and caged the small rabbit with her legs. She wasn't going to be sharing any rabbit until the cat stepped out into the light so that she could see them.