[Dust]

Originally Posted by Mauve

 

It wasn't that Jaybreeze had been expecting the battle to end. He just wanted to get the other warrior off of him. But now, as the gray tom scrambled to his paws, wincing from the sting of his own wounds, his yellow eyes flashed with an unknown emotion as he watched Frostflight stagger in front of him. Blazingstar had told them what cowards RiverClan were. How they needed to be taught a lesson. He wanted so badly to keep proving himself to his leader and his Clan, but this... Suddenly, Jaybreeze blinked, shaking his head. He had pulled a finishing move in a battle simply meant to drive a Clan out. "I'm..." he started, his own vision blurring, but not from loss of blood. He didn't recognized the blood soaked claws that dampened the marshy soil beneath him. The rage he felt. It wasn't like Jaybreeze at all, and for a moment he remembered that ThunderClan was here fighting for RiverClan. Kestrelflight... Not giving it a second thought, the gray tom rushed after Frostflight, easily catching up to the tom. "Hold on. I'm going to go get Heatherfur," he hissed, not giving the tom time to react to the fact that he was now trying to save the life he almost took. Instead, the WindClan warrior turned tail and raced towards the den, guilt nipping at his heels the whole way.

Heatherfur tried her best to block out the noises of battle from outside - all while simultaneously resisting the urge to join the fight with her Clanmates - as she listened to Daydream's instructions. Nodding once, she retrieved one of the big palm leaves that the ShadowClan medicine cat had extracted and started her search for goldenrod and tormentil. She had managed to stock up on both of the herbs on her last outing, finding the tormentil near the river and traveling to the border with WindClan for the goldenrod, giving a silent thanks to StarClan that RiverClan's border extended a bit onto the moorland where it was quite prevalent. Once she had gathered as much as she could fit on the palm leave, adding some of the spare cobwebs and smaller wrapping leaves in for good measure, she gathered the stem and tip of the leaf together, moving the bundle and setting it down by the entrance. "There. Now we-" she began, but paused and lifted one ear up. A familiar scent was approaching the den, and as she turned she was surprised to see Jaybreeze burst through. "Jaypaw! What are you doing here?" she questioned, eyes wide as she recognized her former Clanmate.

The gray tom huffed as he entered the medicine den, the overwhelming smell of herbs almost making him sneeze. "Heatherfur," he breathed, seeing that he'd captured her attention. his mind was still focused on Frostflight, the guilt crashing down in waves now that he'd stopped running. "There's a warrior.... They need your help... I didn't mean to..." It was all Jaybreeze could do to keep from passing out, not even bothering to correct Heatherfur on his new name. He just stood there, out of breath and praying to StarClan to forgive him. What have I done?

Heatherfur nodded, her mind kicking into overdrive. There was no time to dwell on what Jaybreeze had meant in the last words he spoke. One of her Clanmates was in trouble. A rush of adrenaline filled her veins and she looked at Daydream. "I need to go help," she told them, a sense of determination found in both her tone and gaze. She know she didn't have to ask the medicine cat to finish helping her pack the rest of the herbs. They would understand the new calling she felt when a Clanmate was in trouble. And by the rushed way Jaybreeze had spoken, it sounded like they didn't have long.

The surprise on his face was palpable as he watched Jaybreeze race away in the wave of battling felines. His eyes were as large as saucers, a chilled Icy blue, slowly glazing over with each passing minute as the young warrior lost more blood from his wounds. Frostflight's white underbelly was stained a deep crimson red, though thankfully it was beginning to clot and tangle the fur into the wound. That would have to be his bandage for now....

A wave of dizziness washed over the tom cat, causing him to fall to the ground with a pained yelp. There, tucked away underneath a collection of ferns, Frostflight laid. Each breath was pained and shallow, his vision beginning to fade in his peripheral, though he fought viciously to keep himself awake. To not let the sleepiness carry his paws to Starclan. He didn't want to die! I won't die! He could only hope that Jaybreeze had fled to find him help. Extending one paw forward, Frostflight sunk his claws into the marshy ground to stabilize himself as spasms of pain violently shook his body. Through gritted teeth, he remained awake. Inhaling deeply, the feline began to weakly call for help, "Someone please... I need help!"