The Starcave

[Pitou]

**Elmshadow**

@Alchemist Kitsune @x ghostie @carmen @ares @Omari

The tension was palpable, a thickness in the air that the stoic tom was rather used to, it was a quality that he was more used to himself and Ivysnake providing. Though this time it seemed to come in on waves with the Thunderclan medicine cats. Not completely surprising after the display at the previous gathering. He returned Drizzlecloud's greeting with a silent nod of his head though, while his attention remained directed towards the medicine cat, the Thunderclan apprentice's continued anxiety did not go unnoticed. He gave the young cat a pass being that she was still just an apprentice but it was still a trait she should be old enough to have outgrown by now surely.

And then Stonepaw arrived in a flush. The young medicine cat was still...uneasy but Elmshadow had noticed some form of sureness slowly developing. But his thoughts were cut short as Stonepaw brought up the other Shadowclan medicine cat. Elmshadow's face remained stony, "Ivysnake was murdered. So she is obviously no longer serving with me." He blinked slowly, his green eyes flicking towards Drizzlecloud and Springpaw for the pair's reaction. Ivysnake had trained as a warrior and was a better fighter than most warriors of the other clans and she loved the fight of the warrior. Elmshadow would not be one to blame a warrior for treating her as a warrior as he was sure that she was acting as one. But even as a murdered warrior, the circumstances of her death as he knew them were dishonorable at best.

As much as his own warrior blood wanted to rear itself, he knew now was not the time so he changed the subject promptly. "I have found a flowering plant that appears to be toxic, fatal to those in a weakened state. But this one seems to not affect prey in the same way, though prey that has recently eaten it is as toxic as the plant itself. It causes lethargy and vomiting. A quick dose of nettle seeds to bring up the toxin seemed to be the best, then treating the symptoms and hydration. It doesn't seem to be completely effective, however. I figured you all should know to keep an eye out. They're low patches of purple flowers with thin green leaves. The flowers are almost like a daisy but with fewer petals and more closed upwards."

[Omari]

Drizzlecloud
Thunderclan
She/her

Drizzlecloud lifted her tail, carefully resting her tail-tip against one of Springpaw’s shoulders. A silent action that could easily be missed by the others, but it was an act of comfort nonetheless. Her wordless way of saying, I’m here, it’s okay. Her attention averted from her apprentice, looking towards Lightningpaw and Cowtuft instead, and she dipped her head gratefully to the pair.

“I do believe we’ve been settling in just fine. Roseraven has been giving us her guidance, teaching us what she knows, so we know the basics.” The blue-grey spotted tabby smiled at him after hearing about his kind offer, tipping her head to the side rather than denying him outright. “We’ve been learning a lot since our new positions have been granted to us. I don’t think it will be necessary to teach us the basics, but we do appreciate the offer nonetheless!”

If she had any questions, though, she would likely be asking him.

Ivysnake. Oh. Ivysnake had been murdered. The news made her positive demeanour drain ever so slightly, unsure how to take the news.. They never had the chance to meet Shadowclan’s Medicine Cat apprentice, and even despite the recent battle at Sunkissed Creek, she did want to meet her. The look that Elmshadow sent their way almost made the fur along her spine bristle–why was he looking at them for a reaction?

Was it Thunderclan’s doing?

She swallowed the lump in her throat, her tail-tip gently tapping Springpaw’s shoulder a couple of times subconsciously. Deciding to follow Elmshadow’s lead with sharing their own learnings, she inhaled sharply, running through the list of herbs that she had recently learned. What if they already knew everything that they had learned? Surely they wouldn’t poke fun, right? Probably not. Most likely.

“Well, we–.. We’ve learned a handful of things, and I apologize if you already know of these, but.. Glowing mushrooms? If those are ingested, they can kill.” Probably best to share something else, too, right? “And.. In my own time, I’ve learned about lavender. A purple flower that grows in sprigs rather than blooms of petals. If you let a cat inhale it, it can cure fevers, chills..” Her words trailed off a bit, finding herself to be a bit nervous once more. Less nervous than the last gathering, but still a teensy bit nervous nonetheless! She hoped that it wouldn’t be too obvious.

[ @ares @carmen. @Alchemist Kitsune @x ghostie @Ravensong ]

[iliri]

• Springpaw •
long-furred, oriental-shaped, gray-and-orange calico molly with blue eyes; torn right ear
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Well, at least Stonepaw didn’t take very long to get to the Starcave. Springpaw would’ve swore that her paws would’ve simply fallen off her legs at this point if she continued standing here, exhaustion was practically wiping itself away through her system. Wasn’t there something to help with that? Probably, but she wasn’t sure of what that may be; could have it been that one herb called ragweed perhaps? That was an energy booster and helped give cats strength during long treks like these, but it wasn’t like she and Drizzlecloud had any of that in their herb storage at the given moment. So she’ll have to just cope herself through the heavy wave of exhaustion that was overcoming itself through her body in random directions. Totally one of the things that the pastel calico needed at that very given moment. Silently huffing beneath her breath, Springpaw silently locked her oceanic hues with Stonepaw’s amber hues, her eyes quick to notice the comforting smile that he was giving off towards her direction. Well, at least he was trying to help her ease her up-rising anxiety, and it seemed to do the trick, as the calico gave the gray tom a smile right back. It wasn’t a smile that the calico would’ve liked, but it was a smile either way. Maybe he won’t mind? It wasn’t like Springpaw was in the best mood at heart to be standing here out in the late midst of the night.

However, Stonepaw’s words had only worsened that dreadful feeling, the calico’s muscles tensing as her brain slowly worked itself out of how to properly respond to his question. How was she doing? Absolutely horrible. How was Springpaw espoused to simply respond with that? Oh, let’s just say, ‘Oh! I’m fine! I totally didn’t just deal with a recent battle of bloodshed and deal with my mother almost dying!’ Yeah. Not happening. Knowing most likely, the others would just give her weird looks if she had randomly blurted out those specific answers; or in most particularly Elmshadow. He would probably give her the weirder looks. It wasn’t like the tom creeped her enough as it is. Including, the calico had promised to keep her mouth shut about the recent battle to her mentor. She wasn’t going to go behind her back and simply betray her word. Springpaw wasn’t the type of cat to break promises, and that wasn’t something that she had on her ‘to-do’ list. Other than that, she shook away the thought and simply just muttered a quick, ‘I’m fine’ to pass on the question. It wasn’t enough to make it seem like a reasonable answer, but Springpaw wasn’t in the mood to go into further detail about what was going on in her mind at the very moment. Or even have anyone start randomly picking and prodding at her words if she did go into further detail about it.

Her hazy eyes quickly shifted towards the direction of Cowtuft as Stonepaw asked him what they were espoused to do at the Starcave, curiosity now peeking at the young nine moon feline. What exactly were they espoused to do here at the Starcave? Did they just… meet up like this and talked? To spread knowledge of herbal remedies and other important medical topics? Springpaw’s exhaustion dimmed as her brain forcibly woke itself to focus enough of the large black-and-white tom as he began to express through gestures what she had supposed what they were supposed to do here at the Starcave. A frown grew among the calico's face as she merely understood almost… none of it, in fact. Around the only thing that was caught to her attention was Stonepaw asking Elmshadow where… someone named ‘Ivyshe-shadow’ was. That’s a rather strange name for someone in ShadowClan, then again, Springpaw didn’t really think much of the matter. That was Stonepaw and Elmshadow’s private conversation, not hers. She just had to figure out whatever Cowtuft was gesturing to all of them… however that’ll work. Springpaw wasn’t much for signing, but hopefully she’ll get most of what the tom had been signing eventually.

The familiar sight of the short-furred calico Lightningpaw was quick to catch her eye, Springpaw turning her head towards the WindClan molly’s direction. Right, she had accidentally taken in full acknowledgement that she was here. Then again, a small grasp of worry tugged deeply in her chest at the way the other oriental-shaped molly looked in her direction. Did… did she not trust her? Or, did she notice how forced her smile was? Oops. That wasn’t fully intentional for her to notice, and an apology was quick to rise up in her throat, but it died down as soon as it rose. Lightningpaw didn’t really seem to be that much of a bad cat, and Springpaw had a deep desire to apologize for how rather… indespicable their meeting was at the last gathering. Hopefully soon she’ll be able to fully apologize to her eventually during this meeting. Other than that, her interest quickly spiked up as Lightningpaw began to translate what most of Cowtuft’s gesturing was, making a relieved sigh escape Springpaw’s maw. Thank the stars above for that. She wasn’t sure if she was ever going to get some sort of translation for what the tom had been signing. Sure, she wouldn’t blame him for not wishing to speak, but it could be a bit confusing at times for not understanding what most of the gestures he was signing were saying at most.

Well, the first part was rather obvious to the contrary. Cowtuft had introduced himself to them—it felt rather embarrassing that it wasn’t easy to understand that part in all honesty—and wanted to know if Elmshadow’s apprentice would be joining them at this meeting… whatever it’ll be about. Interest quickly grabbed hold of Springpaw as she continued to listen to Lightningpaw’s translation, both a mixture of amusement and curiosity grabbing at the calico eagerly. So, this was a meeting where they exchanged information about new herbs and different techniques to each other? Sounded interesting and very informative. Springpaw didn’t know much, but it sounded helpful that it was going to be given to her and her mentor. A small fit of snickers helplessly escaped the pastel calico, merely from how Lightningpaw worded most of her words. It wasn’t out of her own intention, she just only heard something that she thought was funny. Hopefully she wouldn’t get too aggravated about it, would she? Springpaw had only just heard something that she found amusing, so hopefully that wasn’t that much of a big deal. Other than that, at least she heard that they were here to visit their ancestors and to not evaporate them. How would that even be allegedly possible though?

However, as the other medicine cat’s apprentice turned her focus on her and her mentor were quick to make Springpaw’s throat tighten, words silently lodging themselves in her throat. A tiny part of her brain screamed at her in worry that Cowtuft had possibly signed something that she would’ve had to know. However, her tensed nerves quickly calmed themselves as soon as they arrived, sighing silently as Lightningpaw stated that Cowtuft only wanted if both she and Drizzlecloud had been settling down in with their new roles and learned some basic starter herbs to start them off with their new ranks. Springpaw opened her jaws to respond, her brain working out a response to say to the other calico, only for her to quickly shut them as soon as Drizzlecloud began to speak. Well, thank the stars for that. Springpaw was sure that she would’ve been stumbling over her words if she tried to respond to that. However, it felt like it would be a necessity to respond due to the fact of her herb training with that former medicine cat, Coldamber. She’ll mention it sooner or later, she supposed. Hopefully Drizzlecloud won’t be too mad about her not saying anything about it. That would just be something that the calico definitely wouldn’t want.

Other than that, her focus shifted towards Elmshadow as the dark-furred tom began to speak, a wave of uncomfortable anxiety rushing through her as he looked directly at both her and her mentor as if they knew something that the others didn’t. Other than that, his words left an unsettling chill up her spine. His apprentice, Ivysnake, was dead? Springpaw didn’t know the molly, whatsoever, but the way that Elmshadow was staring at her made the calico feel uncomfortable in her spot. Her oceanic hues briefly glanced up towards Drizzlecloud’s jade-green as they both silently shared the same question. Was it ThunderClan’s doing? The question in itself felt like a rather dreadful realization if that were the case, but hopefully that won’t be the case… right? The subconscious tapping of her mentor’s tail along her shoulders further proved that her mentor was just as worried about the question as she was. Springpaw forcefully swallowed a lump that was stuck in her throat as she quickly glanced away from Drizzlecloud as she focused back at Elmshadow again, suppressing herself so she could properly focus at the other tom as he continued to speak, this time about flower that that appears to be toxic and is extremely fatal to anyone in a weakened state. Well, at least that seemed to be something that she’ll keep in mind for in case she were to come across a flower like that. She didn’t want to risk anyone accidentally eating it and then suddenly dying from it.

Well, it seemed that it was Drizzlecloud’s turn to speak, and Springpaw felt an unsettling level of anxiety coming off from her mentor as she began to speak, speaking up about a herb called lavender. The calico's ears angled themselves in her mentor’s direction as she listened to the properties of the herb that she spoke about. A quick, small purr escaped her throat as her blue eyes focused up towards her mentor. “You never told me that you learned a herb called lavender. I’ll have to keep that in mind.” Springpaw spoke, smiling briefly up at the blue-grey ticked tabby as she whisked her tail in her direction. Well, since her mentor gave out a herb that she learned, it wouldn’t hurt to give out the things that she learned from Coldamber, right? Just hopefully Drizzlecloud wouldn’t be angry at her for not telling her in the first place. “Well… I’ve been receiving some herb training from a former medicine cat named Coldamber, and she’s been teaching me about the usages of some herbs; she taught me chamomile, borage, dandelions, daisies, and some other herbs that you all probably know.” she silently scraped a paw along the ground, ears pinned back as she silently awaited what the other medicine cats had to say. Hopefully it wouldn’t be anything negative.

_________________________________________________

@Omari @x ghostie @Alchemist Kitsune @carmen @Ravensong

[carmen]

Stonepaw

He'd said it once and he'd say it again. This group of cats was awkward. Embarrassing. Nerve-wracking. Bland. Dull. Bo-ring. They were all so quiet, but there was still that sense of tension in the air, a feeling of mutual distrust. Beestar could be thanked for much of that, her hostility unnecessary and equally ill fated. He could taste that she was a bad egg and that sense of evil had began to leek into her clanmates. Elmshadow needed no explanation, but there was something off about the Thunderclanners that didn't match their previous interactions.

He hadn't picked up on it when he had first arrived, but it was different after being here for a bit, something he had picked up on until later. He shuffled closer to the Windclan medicine cats, turning towards Cowtuft as the other cat began to sign. He forgot about the questions pertaining to the other three and smiled back widely. "Hello, hello!" He grinned back at Lightningpaw next before tilting his head to watch Cowtufts paws.

He wasn't the best with deciphering the signs, but with Lightningpaws assistance, he had started understanding. Little signals now and then, it wasn't perfect, but he was working on it. He snorted at her addedHerbs and info would serve to be useful, so he supposed it made sense. "The Moonstone..." He wasn't quite sure what that was, but with the accompanying explanation of a connection with the ancestors, he dipped his head in understanding.

Up until recently, Stonepaw hadn't believed in Starclan. No, scratch that, he hadn't known what Starclan was. It wasn't until the arrival of Coldamber that he had realized that the home of the dead was more than just a saying to express relief. They were real and starry and it almost felt as if they weren't real, but they were cause he had seen one right in front of him. Real and dead. Dead dead dead. Was his dad up there? Antkit? Had Indigopaw's adventures led to their fall? What about Fawnlight. Fawnlight. Was she there? His mom?

"Uh, yeah! If you need any help with herbs, I'm always open to help as well, though I think Mr. Cowtuft knows more." He knew a few, but Cowtuft was a big medicine cat, he knew more, that was for certain. Perhaps he'd ask him some later.

He froze when Elmshadow finally spoke, head turning to stare at him, slack-jawed. He didn't like Ivysheep, but murdered? Murdered? She didn't deserve that, nobody did. He followed Elmshadow to stare at the Thunderclan medicine cats. Had Thunderclan? No. That would be crazy, even a cat like Ivysnake wasn't exempt from the safety given to medicine cats. That was bad, really bad. But, both Drizzlecloud and Springpaw looked equally surprised. Shocked by the news, even though it was seemingly their fault. That was weird.

So was Elmshadows quick topic change, but he supposed that it was important. A poisonous plant with purple flowers and green leaves. He'd remember that. And the glowing mushrooms. Two bad ones. But, oh, lavender! That sounded nice! Fevers and chills be gone? That sounded nice, he'd have to get some later. He turned to Springpaw and nodded. They had both seen the same ancestor? Cool! Though, he wouldn't steal her thunder. "What do those do?" Give her a chance to explain them, you know!

@Omari @x ghostie @Alchemist Kitsune @ares @Ravensong

[wolfie]

「☆」 THE GENTLE GIANT 「☆」
╰► COWTUFT
he | him ★ massive white tom with black splotches and floppy ears + scar over his neck, burned hindleg, x-scar marks on shoulders; left green eye and right blue eye ★

ೃ⁀➷ @carmen. @Ravensong @Omari @Alchemist Kitsune @ares

The gentle giant smiled softly as the young apprentice begun to translate for him. It was much appreciated. Things could sometimes get lost in meaning. Cowtuft's ears perked up as Lightningpaw translated his question and he turned to look towards Elmshadow. Perhaps he was expecting a sickness. Something. He hadn't expected for Elmshadow to announce Ivysnake had been murdered. The shock was clear on his face, jaw parting slightly.

Oh. Cowtuft's expression shifted into something filled with sorrow. Acceptance. "I.. hope she is at peace.. in her respective afterlife.." He signed, lifting two front paws to brush them against and turn them over. He remembered she worshipped the Dark Forest and .. he didn't understand it but if it made her,, happy then all was well? (An image of the starless sky flashed in his mind and he suppressed a shudder.) Cowtuft didn't ask for any more information. He supposed they would find out when the full moon came.

A chuckle fell from Cowtuft's lips as Lightningpaw furthered translated, embellishing a few of his words. She wasn't entirely wrong. Gatherings were far too complicated, too chaotic, to truly exchange information. He was mainly focused on getting through it if anything. He paused and then attempted to stifle another laugh at Lightningpaw's mistranslation. He wasn't sure if it was genuine or an attempt to lighten the mood. He leaned forward to attempt to gently press his nose against her cheek affectionately.

Cowtuft looked back to Elmshadow. Ooh! Herb information time. He wished he had more to offer but to be frank,, experimentation on prey seemed like such a waste. Though.. perhaps if he could ensure it would be safe to eat.. He pushed that thought aside for another day. "Interesting,, I cannot recall.. if I have ever seen that type of flower.. " Cowtuft confessed, shelving this bit of knowledge into a corner of his mind. Do Not Eat.

A smile came across Cowtuft's face. "Ooh, golly, that's wonderful then..! Glad you are making progress.." He rumbled, maybe he forgot Roseraven was still apart of ThunderClan. She had been an interesting lass.

The tom almost coughed as Drizzlecloud revealed what glowing mushrooms could do. "GEE!!" He shook his head back and forth, "I .. have been warned to stay away from them, yes, .. but only because the effect.. was unknown.. Quite glad I did not.. try to branch out.. Thank you.." He had been very close to trying to figure it out but almost as if graced from the stars -- the herb patrol didn't come back with mushrooms. Or report to him. Or come back with anything.

Lavender seemed useful.. Cowtuft nodded his head. " 'Fraid I do not have.. much to offer .. I have learnt .. two new herbs .. Sunnyfuzzies.. A very thick, fluffy.. golden flowering plant.. grows along a stem.. often found in patches... The flowers can be chewed.. and applied to wounds to speed up the healing process.. and then, there are Sunset Roses.. which can be used to treat Snow-Fever.. It helps with chills, nausea, fever .. " Cowtuft shuffled his paws, eyebrows furrowing together as he attempted to recall everything.

"Unsure.. if you all have.. had a case of Snow-Fever .. bit peculiar.. but WindClan had a horrible outbreak.. quite a few moons ago.. presents with chills and then progresses quickly.. highly infectious.. the herb I told you.. can only treat the beginning case.. once someone who has it reached muscle tremors.. I do not believe anything can be done,, " He explained, his shoulders slumping. It wasn't a fond memory. Far from it.

His tongue darted out to wet his lips. He was eager to move on from the topic. Thankfully Springpaw had her own snippet to add. "Coldamber..?" Cowtuft blinked in surprise, the name stumbling from his lips before a grin spread across them. "Ooh, that makes me awfully happy.. she's very kind, taught me quite a lot.. have not heard of chamomile before.. though..?"

[Alchemist Kitsune]

| Lightningpaw |
Flock Together [Tier 1] - Inactive

There was a moment of levity. Of snorts and giggles being had. It seemed her teasing had gotten the desired effect, at least from the paws and her mentor. Drizzlecloud, while certainly more chatty than Elmshadow, had more in common with the dark furred tom than first met the eye. They both gave the appearance of speaking only what was necessary and little more, giving no opening, no glance into their inner workings even in this meeting. Despite this, Lightningpaw offered a cheeky grin to the few laughs she got, a purr escaping her as she felt her mentor's nose on her cheek.

And then the mood changed. Soured in an instant. Almond shaped eyes grew round at Chuckles' announcement. Ivysnake had been... murdered? Murdered?! That... that was awful! Following his cool gaze, Lightningpaw's own blue hues narrowed momentarily, wondering if ThunderClan was to blame. It wouldn't surprise her. Not really. In fact, that had been the very thing Cowtuft and her had been arguing about just before their arrival!

But... something didn't add up. Drizzlecloud and Springpaw seemed shocked. Caught unawares by the news. If ThunderClan had really killed the ShadowClan medicine cat apprentice, wouldn't they know about it? Surely Bumblebreath would have held a clan meeting at a potential war with ShadowClan upon such a crime? It just wasn't right. How out of the loop they seemed.

Chuckles wasn't really in the mood it seemed to add any more details to his revelation either, as he quickly changed the subject, forcing Lightningpaw to shake any suspicion away. If ThunderClan had truly killed Ivysnake, she was certain Chuckles would have said something, wouldn't have he? She definitely wouldn't just chat up a storm with the healers of the clan who had just murdered Cowtuft. She'd be out for their blood. There must have been another meaning behind that stare. There just had to be.

"Sorry... for your loss," Lightningpaw mewed, sincerity lacing her voice as she dipped her head respectfully towards Elmshadow. She'd lost enough cats in her life to know the sting. She couldn't even imagine what she would do if something happened to her Tufty. Elmshadow was no doubt more distraught than he let on... or so she chose to believe. "Cowtuft wishes to let you know that he hopes she's at peace... in her... chosen afterlife."

Her mentor's words confused her, making her take pause between them as she made sure she got them right. Chosen afterlife? What? Didn't medicine cats just go to StarClan? They served their clan in StarClan's name, didn't they? Surely they had chosen the old geezers in taking this path? Could you even choose? She had so. Many. Inappropriately timed. Questions! Gah! These would have to wait until they got back for that bit of information. Instant hatred for this situation, ta.

Deciding to focus instead on the conversation at paw, Lightningpaw's large ears raised at the mention of not just one, but two former medicine cats? Residing in ThunderClan? Wait... why in the Dark Forest did Murderstar want to have her medicine cats coming to WindClan's territory to learn herbs when they had plenty of former medicine cats just lurking about their ranks? This whole situation stank more and more the more information she got from it. Perhaps Springpaw wasn't aware of any foul play... maybe even Drizzlecloud, but Bumbledung was definitely playing a dangerous game here.

Giving herself a mental headshake - she had promised Cowtuft she wouldn't be bringing any of that up tonight - she proceeded to translate for the rest, her mentor oddly chatty this evening. She supposed maybe he enjoyed the company of these other medicine cats. Perhaps trusted them more than most warriors? Not that she blamed him, necessarily. These cats had consciously taken a vow to help others over hurting them. Even other clans did not openly attack them... although that seemed to not have helped the former Shadowclan apprentice.

"Cowtuft wishes to let you know he finds your findings interesting. He cannot recall ever seeing that flower before. But wait... Hold on just a mo. Is it... the first time you see these flowers in your territory? Has there been a change in climate? Perhaps the recent rains have made the terrain more amicable to your clan's biome? Was it in the swampier areas, perhaps? Er... um... That was me. Not Cowtuft. Sorry, I tend to get carried away," Lightningpaw mewed, eyes shining with interest, not a hint of remorse in them before she continued translating for her mentor.

"Erm... Oh go- Yeah no, not saying that, sorry! Cowtuft wishes to let you know he thinks it's brilliant that you've gotten some progress in, then. He also thanks you for the knowledge on the glowing buggers. He'd been warned to stay away from them, but had no idea why. Honestly, gonna thank you there too. Might have had a quick trip to the afterlife myself if I was getting any experimenting done. Note to self... find a better way to find any potentially lethal side effects to herbs," she giggled, her tail lashing out in amusement.

"He also wishes to inform that he has found out some knew herbs himself. Sun... Sunny... This really takes the edge off any serious conversation, I hope you are proper chuffed, you are," she muttered, giving her mentor a playful glare before continuing. "Sunnyfuzzies and Sunset Roses. The first is a golden, flowering plant. Very thick and fluffy. Grows along a stem and can usually be seen in dirt piles... erm... patches. Patches. That is a very confusing gesture. The second is used to cure Snow Fever."

Lightningpaw took a pause here, her ears twitching at the memory of the events that led to her being chosen as a medicine cat apprentice. It had been... horrible, really. Watching her clanmates ill with no way to cure them. With nothing working. With StarClan providing no clues until it was too late for some. No wonder Cowtuft had chosen an apprentice after that. StarClan's help was... sparse at best. It was probably best at the time to take matters into his own paws.

"It helps those who are afflicted with signs of chills, nausea, and fever. It is a highly infectious disease, and the plant can only cure those who have the very earliest of stages. It seemed that any who had advanced into tremors might be too late," the Abyssinian mix continued her explanation, falling quiet when her mentor spoke up for the first time since the others had arrived.

Eyes round, she turned to him with a curious expression. Who was this cat who'd coaxed the normally silent black and white tom to say her name? Out loud! This was unheard of, Cowtuft speaking to so many cats all together! And the way he spoke of her... Was she... was she a retired medicine cat that had worked with Cowtuft before? Her mentor wasn't quite that old! She'd heard the other clans went through high ranks faster than a WindClan cat could run through the moors and back again, but to have two retired medicine cats that the tom knew seemed... excessive at best.

"Are you familiar with her?" Lightningpaw asked curiously, tilting her head in query, forgetting to translate for once. Any cat who got her mentor so chatty - one word was a lot, okay - definitely piqued her interest.

-

@x ghostie [Cowtuft] | @Omari [Drizzlecloud] | @Ravensong [Elmshadow] | @carmen. [Stonepaw] | @ares [Springpaw]

[Pitou]

**Elmshadow**

@Alchemist Kitsune @x ghostie @carmen @ares @Omari

His glance toward Drizzlecloud and Springpaw told him most of what he had needed to know and the discovery made his pelt crawl, though his face remained a stony mask. The two were either feigning ignorance, leave it to Thunderclan to constantly play the victim. Of course they were a clan that was too high and mighty to have been responsible for the underhandedness in an altercation between them and Shadowclan. It wouldn't surprise the dark tom a bit if they'd milk that image for as long as they could. Either that or, in Elmshadow's mind, potentially worse, they truly didn't know. Two of their clanmates, their charges, dead at the border by the claws of a lone medicine cat apprentice and they had no idea, Typical. Bumblestar was asking for fights she had no business in and that fact had never been so clear as now, with her medicine cats clueless as new apprentices, or manipulative as the snakes they claimed Shadowclan was. It was insulting, the clan of mice. He'd been immersed in the politics of clan life long enough to know when to hold his tongue and play nice, though. Thunderclan would repent, but cowing their medicine cats at a halfmoon meeting was near as cowardly as outnumbering and murdering a lone medicine cat apprentice at the border.

Cowtuft, Lightningpaw, and Stonepaw seemed equally, but in their cases reasonably, shocked by the news. Cowtuft's expression said enough that Elmshadow was confident enough interpreting his signs as condolences and well wishes. Lightningpaw confirmed as much with her translation and a rather rare glimpse of contriteness in the boisterous young she-cat as well. He had to admit he was only gaining more respect for the seemingly soft large medicine cat in his choice of apprentice. Each meeting seemed to show Elmshadow more of what Lightningpaw could grow to become. She was lightning ready to strike unexpectedly but showed good judgement on when to temper herself. He dipped his head back respectfully toward Cowtuft and then Lightningpaw. "I have no doubt that she is comfortable and thriving in her new role." He was confident enough in Ivysnake's path to the Dark Forest but was also aware that mention of such was a discomforting notion among his current company, a bit that Cowtuft seemed to be aware of as well judging by Lightningpaw's uncertain translation.

He listened blandly as Drizzlecloud brought up lavender, an herb he'd used plenty but had never before considered using for uses beyond its masking scent. That was an oversight that he was impressed he had made, though he wasn't prepared to simply take the Thunderclanner's word for it, but he saw no reason for the information to not be accurate based on what he already knew. Springpaw's addition, much to his chagrin, made his ears twitch. Coldamber, he'd heard her name spoken by somebody else before as well, who had it been? Who was she in life? The former medicine cat had given him so little information about herself, leaving him only to deduce she had not been Shadowclan and thus it had left him suspicious of her motives. But it seemed she was apparently training the little Thunderclan apprentice now as well. But it was Cowtuft's reaction to the comment that struck him more. He seemed surprised though Elmshadow couldn't make out what he signed after mentioning the Starclan medicine cat's name aloud. Was he also visited by Coldamber, or did he know her? Lightningpaw seemed to have the same question surrounding Cowtuft and Coldamber so he kept his own mouth shut and observed.

He awaited some of the responses, especially wanting to see Cowtuft's answer to Lightningpaw's question around Coldamber and, to a lesser degree, what Springpaw had to elaborate on regarding the herbs she'd decided to list but not explain. He knew of all but chamomile, interestingly enough considering that was the herb one of his daughters had been named for. He'd begun testing with it but was unsure exactly of all of its uses. Stonepaw was slowly beginning to surpass his moons for a medicine cat who was appointed at such a young age, his response to the Thunderclan medicine cats seemed both mature and direct.

#water

[Omari]

Drizzlecloud
Thunderclan
She/her

Drizzlecloud found herself falling silent as words were exchanged. Her gaze slowly flicked back and forth from cat to cat, still feeling that dread in her chest from what Elmshadow had said before. It made her feel sick to her stomach–but she knew that gaze he sent their way was not some random act. Perhaps Thunderclan truly had been responsible for Shadowclan’s loss, but she wondered how they had heard nothing of it up until this point. At the very least, it was news to her. Best not to pry here, of all places. She exhaled, her gaze trailing over towards Cowtuft and Lightningpaw instead.

At peace in her chosen afterlife. The words echoed in her mind–sent a chill down her spine. It was so vague, and it even left Lightningpaw a little confused as she translated it. There was no doubt in Drizzlecloud’s mind that those specific words were chosen by Cowtuft for a reason. She resisted the urge to hum in consideration, instead she just dipped her head to Elmshadow, as if to give him a silent apology for the loss.

A few blinks dragged her out of her own thoughts, and she smiled to Lightningpaw when she spoke on Cowtuft’s behalf regarding the glowing mushrooms. “Of course, I wouldn't want to risk any unnecessary losses due to experimentation, after all. I’m glad to have told you about them.” She smiled to the apprentice, amusement lighting up her eyes for a moment–she liked Lightningpaw’s attitude.

Sunnyfuzzies and Sunset Roses–Sunnyfuzzies, ehe, what a fun little name for those. A low purr rumbled in her throat at the word.

A sigh escaped her mouth–one that she hadn’t even noticed herself–as she shifted her gaze to look at her apprentice, offering her a reassuring smile. Stonepaw had offered Springpaw the chance to explain the herbs that she had been taught, so of course, she wanted to give Springpaw the stage for a moment, too.

[ @ares @carmen. @Alchemist Kitsune @x ghostie @Ravensong , sorry for the delay, everyone! Also I apologize if this is a messy post, I just wanted to get something out so I didn’t have you lot waiting on me anymore ]

[iliri]

• Springpaw •
long-furred, oriental-shaped, gray-and-orange calico molly with blue eyes; torn right ear
Purrks: Herbal Knowledge - Tier 1 | The Collector [active] | Mind Reader [active]
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The sustained silence that suddenly fell over the long-furred feline made her paws feel jittery in their place; almost having the underlying urge to tremble against the hidden bursts of anxiety that was thundering through her body. She could easily feel the burning tension of the other medicine cats’ eyes burning into her fur, feeling like the scorching sun on a sunny day resting along her tri-colored back. Both her chest and throat only felt like they were being brutally strangled by an angry pack of snakes; each intake of breath that she took through her nostrils felt like she was breathing in the cold, chilled air on a hazardous winter day. The calico closed her eyes for a brief moment, trying to compel herself against the burdening anxiety that was uneasily thrumetting through her system. It was almost working itself restlessly through her veins like how a massive dog restlessly dug and tore through the earth’s life-rich soil with its large, gnarly claws. Stonepaw’s chirpy voice broke through her impending thoughts, the calico briefly cracking open an eyelid to look in the gray tom-cat’s direction; his bright amber hues glistening with both curiosity and fascination from the eagerness to learn what the herbs did that the calico herself had been taught by the former medicine cat herself. She couldn’t help but notice the immense wonder in his eyes that was almost resembling what a young, naive kit’s eye would look like when they wanted to hear a story from one of the elders. It was almost cute in a way in her opinion.

“Well, it’s not gonna be easy to describe the herbs as accurately as I can without having the herb right alongside me, but I can try to tell them to you as best as I can even without the herbs with me.” Springpaw mewed, casting the gray tom-cat a sideways smile as she shifted herself in her place, shifting herself around to face the tom-cat so that she could properly explain to him what each of the herbs were and what they did while facing in his direction. She might as well start off with the hardest of the batch; chamomile. It seemed that the lot of medicine cats around her seemed to look evidently confused as soon as she mentioned the herb, making it seem that they didn’t know what that herb did in itself. “I’ll start off by explaining what chamomile is, since it’s not really the easiest to find and it's quite valuable to have in your resources. Chamomile is a small, white flower with a large, yellow center. They can be commonly found around twoleg gardens or even at some abandoned twoleg nests! But they can also be located in areas where it has sand-like soil and where it is cool. The best bet to find them is probably around in the forest since they don’t require being out in the sun often and are more often to wilt if exposed. Chamomile is used to strengthen the heart and soothe the mind; it can be given to cats who are going to travel far distances for extra strength so that they don’t get tired so easily. Unfortunately, I don’t have any chamomile yet in my storage, but I hope to find some soon in the territory while strolling through the woodlands once in a while.”

Wow, both her mouth and tongue felt extremely dry after giving out a lot of information to the other medicine cats. She was already certain that if she said anything else that was as long as that, she would most certainly lose her tongue from speaking so much. Plus, she didn’t want to make Stonepaw be overloaded with information and be unsure of whatever she said next, so she was bound to use her next choices of words wisely and to make sure that she didn’t accidentally send too much information that could easily lead to anybody at a risk of overthinking or becoming overwhelmed by her words. “Sorry for the rather long spewing of words, Stonepaw. Hopefully my choice of wording doesn’t accidentally send you into a rabbit hole of overthinking. I… may have a tendency of making some cats overthink by accident when I don’t really mean to.” A half-hearted chuckle escaped her maw as she spoke, the long-furred calico’s white-tipped tail whisking as her lips remained smeared in a giddily smile. Nonetheless, she should continue her little ‘lesson’ for the gray tom-cat, now should she? Clearing her throat, the dilute calico silently began to click her tongue against the roof of her rigged mouth as she searched through her memories for the usages of borage. Borage was such a weird name, in her opinion. Of course, she knew it was a type of herb, but that didn’t mean that it had to have a strange name! Then again, almost all the herbs that she learned had rather strange names and different usages at once, so it wasn’t like she could really help it. Gah, she would do anything to have that special ability that Coldamber had to shift different things in the ground to make it look like the item that she was talking about. That little trick was always super cool to watch.

“Anyways, borage is either a purple, blue, or pink flower with soft, dark green leaves and has a distinctive smell that comes off them and makes them rather easy to find. They are also the shape of stars, so that should make it easier to find! The best leaves are typically halfway up the stem and usually have a zesty scent to them. Careful though, they taste quite bitter when you carry them; it makes it difficult to give to a patient without them getting from the taste of it alone. They are quite common around in the woodlands, but I’m sure that you’ll have a better chance at finding them around your territory due to them being more common around RiverClan territory, but that’s probably just my personal opinion.” the calico explained with an amused swish of her tail, lapis hues twinkling as her lips curled into a wide grin. She didn’t really have much of the rather zesty herb in her storage quite yet, but she did have enough to know what exactly that they did and how they worked. Which, she should explain to the fellow ‘paw how the herb worked, right? That was the entire point of him even asking what the herbs did. “Other than that, borage is very good for lowering any potential high fevers that someone may carry, such as a young kit or a potential apprentice. It’s also known to help soothe any potential bellyaches and to relieve tight chests; it can also produce more and better milk for any queens that are having difficulty with producing enough milk for their kits. Oh! And, to help any picky kits eat the herb since it tastes bitter, make sure to mix it in with some honey! It’ll help hide the bitter taste that the herb gives off and they won’t even suspect a thing! You’ll thank me for it later.” Springpaw casted the gray tom-cat a quick wink and toothy grin as she added in the little tip, lashing her tail in amusement. Speaking about the usages of herbs were practically helping the calico ease away from all the troubles that had been succumbing through her mind. Huh, how did that happen?

Well, time to move onto the next herb! This one shouldn’t be as hard or complex to explain as the other one was. Besides, dandelions are quite easy to find and they have a relatively good use for cats. If she recalled, the herb was literally found almost everywhere; commonly meadows, fields, in forest ground, anywhere really. Besides, Stonepaw should know what a dandelion looked like, right? He probably has seen it plenty of times! “For dandelions, I probably don’t need to explain the appearances of the herb since you’ve probably seen it a bunch of times, but I can definitely tell you that you should definitely stock up on them while you can, because they have a bunch of uses, and I mean a lot.” She had to pause herself for a split second to emphasize on ‘a lot’ by using her snow-white paws to make an obvious point for the common flower’s usages. “Or, in case you have any that commonly grows around your camp, then you are in luck! Those common little wildflowers are usually used to act as a painkiller, their leaves can be chewed to help any feverish cats sleep and to reduce their fever, kinda like how a poppyseed does! If I recall, its roots can be helped to cure some type of poisoning from some type of dangerous flower… but I can’t really exactly remember which type of flower it was. Whichever, you might want to keep a lookout for it anyways. If I can potentially find one, I can maybe show you another thing that the herb can do that’ll definitely help your clan-mates out… aha!” The calico molly was quick to catch the sight of the common, yellow-colored flower in a glimpse from the dim moonlight that shone down from the deep midnight-blue sky. Springpaw’s lips grew into a wide, cheeky smile as she b-lined towards the flower, promptly picking it out with a simple tug of her teeth before focusing back towards Stonepaw again, smiling behind the herb that she held delicately in her jaws.

“You see?” The young molly abruptly turned back around and trekked her way back towards the group of cats, showing Stonepaw the yellow flower by making sure to tilt her head at an appropriate angle for the gray tom-cat to further inspect the herb more clearly; the dim moonlight shining right directly at the bright yellow flower’s head to show it more clearly in the night. Thanks moon! “As you can probably see right now, the flower head has a usage as well! Not just the stem. The flower itself can be used to squeeze out a white liquid to put on top of bed stings to help soothe the irritated area. I haven’t dealt with any potential bee stings myself quite yet so I didn’t have to use any of the dandelions that I have in my storage. However, when you are squeezing, be careful not to squeeze too hard so that it’ll break the flower itself. A wilted or broken flower is something that we all definitely don’t want in our storages! Nope! Nada!” She shook her head while speaking, her chipper voice muffled by the small flower clamped in her jaws that she had been trying to show to Stonepaw right in front of her. Maybe all this information would be relatively useful for him when he went back to camp? Dropping the flower in front of his paws, she gently nudged the flower closer towards his direction as she gave him a sideways, crooked grin. “Here you go, take it! You’ll probably need it in case anybody gets any potential bee stings. I’m sure that you don’t want that to happen. Just remember not to squeeze it too hard, alright? It can risk breaking the flower and I’m sure you’ll not want that. Ooh, and by the way, the liquid makes your paw almost look like it’s glowing when the light from the sun or moon shines on it. It’s super cool. You should try it.” she would’ve totally shown him an example of what she meant by ‘glowing’, but she resisted it. She didn’t want to waste the only flower that she gave him anyways, didn’t she? Even though she would’ve loved to show him what she meant, though.

If she was certain, there was at least one final herb that she mentioned while speaking and she was certain that Stonepaw was probably growing tired of her restless rambling—which was understandable though, since she had probably been rambling to the young tom long enough to probably make his head spin like it was a spider making it’s cobweb-like home in the safety depths of a gnarly stump from a fallen tree. Thankfully for his sake, the molly only just had one herb that she was bound to start rambling on about that the tom had been wondering what its usages are. “Okay, for the last herb that I mentioned, daisy, they are quite as common to be found as one of a dandelion would be found, but I’ll describe the herb to you anyways. A daisy is a yellow flower; kinda like a chamomile, but larger! However, you don’t use the actual flower itself, you actually use its stems… or its leaves! The leaves are usually thick, oval-shaped and dark green, and they tend to give off a rather bitter taste once you pick them up, so be careful while carrying them. They are usually chewed into a thick poultice and are used to ease the pain of aching joints like back pain! Daisy leaves are going to be quite the favorite for your elders. While the leaves are the only ones that are usable, keeping the white flower will help make it easier to identify if you are going to harvest out for some daisy leaves. How to apply the poultice though is to apply it right directly on the swollen or sore joint and to be left there as long as possible to let the poultice take effect and have time to work. Although, the flowers might have a potential use in them, but I’m not quite sure as of late. Maybe if you find a potential usage for them, you can tell me what they are good to be used for? I haven’t found anything yet, but I hope that they will serve to be quite useful when you find them!’

With an almighty grin, the calico merely finished off the short, brief lesson, taking a quick moment to allow the gray tom-cat in front of her to accumulate her rather large amounts of info-dumping onto him. A small part of her felt a little bad for dumping that much information onto a fellow apprentice like her—or should she state him as a medicine cat due to his given rank? Oh well, she wasn’t exactly sure nor did she really have much of a mindset for it. So, with a giddy smile smeared on her face from her rather evident amount of info-dumping, the medicine cat apprentice merely whisked the tip of her tail in the gray tom-cat’s direction as a apologetic gesture of sorts for rambling about the facts that she had learned from her temporary teacher, Coldamber. “Sorry about the rather immense load of information being dumped onto you all at once, Stonepaw. Maybe if there was another time, I can tell you about some more herbs that I’ve learned from my little lesson with Coldamber! Maybe one day if the tensions weren’t so high among the clans. Does that sound like a good idea?” She cocked her head to the side as her bright lapis hues twinkled inquisitively against the rather dim yellow light of the moon shining among the path; her long, tri-colored fur eliminating against its bright rays against the cool breeze that swept through her thick fur and made her suppress a quiet shiver against its comforting, yet haunting embrace. Weird. Did the breeze suddenly mean something that was going to happen to them all? Why did it feel… sinister than she wanted it to be? Her whiskers daintily twitched as her lapis hues briefly glanced towards the darkest abyss of the Starcave that was right in front of the small group of medics. She hadn’t ever been inside of the cave before, nor had she ever seen the Moonstone, but she hoped that it would at least be a decent experience once they entered the dark cave.

Her focus on the darkened abyss in front of her was quick to be dismantled by her gaze drawing back towards the small group, her eyes catching sight of Cowtuft’s mismatched paws moving. Squinting, the young calico focused silently in his direction as she tried to understand the signs that he had been giving out, only understanding a small bit of them. She wasn’t exactly sure what the tom-cat was fully saying, but she knew that he was at least giving out some sort of important information towards the direction of Elmshadow; who Springpaw still felt a little at unease to make direct eye contact with due to his rather stoic and cold expressions towards the other medicine cats. However, she couldn’t help but feel like he was more focused right towards both of the ThunderClan medicine cat’s directions… why? Was it for Ivysnake’s—hopefully accidental—murder? DId ThunderClan actually have some sort of atrocity for being involved with something as foul as that? If it were true… then it wasn’t like she had any well-known notice for it. Bumblestar hadn’t said a lick of anything after they had gotten back from the gathering; and some of her clan-mates had been seemingly trying to stay low from causing any other potential problems to abrupt on the spot. Which, that was rather to be quick to be a downfall, as there was already enough drama ensuring between the clan’s that it is from all of the ShadowClan and ThunderClan issues uprising. Stars, could these issues ever come to a close? It’s almost like they always had a problem to come up from behind them and it always seemed to be ThunderClan that was pinned to the center of every problem. Who in the world in her clan was trying to start these random feuds with the other clans?

Ignoring the impending urge to lash her tail against her thoughts, the WindClan medicine cat apprentice had already began to translate most of what her mentor had signed, the calico silently feeling her impending irritation from her pondering thoughts against the situation slowly slipping away as she merely focused on Lightningpaw’s translations from Cowtuft’s signs. The first part of her translations weren’t much for her to really listen in much on, rather really noticing that they were mainly speaking towards Elmshadow from his recent discovery of the poisonous herb that he found in the marshlands of ShadowClan territory. The questions that escaped Lightningpaw’s lips were more than enough to make the calico herself curious of the mysteriously dangerous flower itself. A thought slowly purged itself through Springpaw’s mind, the calico silently pursing her lips in thought as she thought back about the dandelion that she gave to Stonepaw. What If… the stems along the common wildflower could help treat the poisoning among that flower that Elmshadow mentioned? The more that Springpaw thought about it, the more she felt like it could be likely. She’ll keep that personal observation to herself if it’s bound to be unlikely, but she wouldn’t risk causing any potential unwanted deaths to happen to the clan. That had already happened more than once; such as the rather grave Roseraven situation. The bitter thought of the rather gruesome scene was more than enough to make her hackles raise uncomfortably. She wasn’t around at the time to witness it, of course, but the news was quick to spread around camp like a crazed wildfire. It wasn’t hard to simply not think about it.

Nonetheless, the calico forcefully shoved the thought away when Lightningpaw’s focus drifted towards her and Drizzlecloud, noticing that the silent tom’s next set of signs were being mainly located towards her and her mentor. Well, it wasn’t really much for the calico to dwell much upon, other than the fact that Cowtuft wished to let both of the medicine cats know that it was excellent that they got some progress in; including to thank them for the knowledge of the glowing mushrooms that Drizzlecloud had mentioned a few moments earlier. The single thought about the tiny mushrooms was more than useful just for killing off any cats that weren’t going to properly make it. At least, that was what Bumblestar instructed both her and Drizzlecloud to use the herbs for; alongside giving them the knowledge about the usages of ragweed, marigold, and burdock root. Gee, the simple thought of the herbs that the leader had first taught her and her mentor made the apprentice almost feel like she was getting older or something along the lines of that. Of course, she was only just merely a young molly—who was quite literally almost the size of a kit—who already had quite a while to go before she was an adult feline with her own adult responsibilities. Of course, the calico couldn’t help but give out an amused snort to Lightningpaw’s short note to herself, the calico’s long-furred tail swishing with amusement. “Yeah, I’ll definitely keep that one in mind next time we possibly do any potential experimenting with herbs. Don’t wanna risk having anything happen to our clan-mates now, don’t we?” her lips eagerly curled into an lop-sided, crooked grin as she casted her giddily smile towards the fellow medicine cat apprentice. Well, this ain’t going so bad after all! She was growing a liking to the other apprentice as time went on!

The fellow apprentice’s next set of words were quick to hook Springpaw’s attention, the calico’s brows furrowing as her face almost quickly contorted into one of seriousness. So there were a couple of herbs that the long-furred tom-cat had seemingly wanted to tell both Drizzlecloud and Springpaw about and their names were almost quick to make the young feline snicker. Sunnyfuzzies and Sunset Roses; they sounded like such silly little names, but Springpaw dealt with it. They seemed to both share an important part in the world and they both seemed to be relatively important for both of the WindClan medicine cats. The first one being a golden flower ting plant and being very thick and quite obviously fluffy—gee, where did the term -fuzzies suddenly come from then? Including, they grew from dirt… patches? Well, that’s weird. Maybe she could spot a few of those herbs around the newer parts of the territory when she got a chance to do so. Her paws had just been itching for some exploration so it wouldn’t hurt to just go out and search for a few herbs that she learned thanks to her fellow medicine cats. The second one, Sunset Roses, made the molly quirk up an eyebrow. Snow Fever? She was almost certain that she never heard of such a disease—at least, Coldamber never told her of such an illness that existed before while she was training her. Could it be that one illness that she was telling her about that she had been told about that happened a while ago? Springpaw wasn’t sure, but the rather solemn look that was stained on Lightningpaw’s face was more than enough to tell her that the herb was definitely something that was important to her and was a desired necessity for her clan. Jeez, it must’ve been rough having to deal with such difficulties like that.

“I… Thank you both for the information about the herbs and what this… Snow Fever is.” Springpaw spoke, trying to at least brighten up the mood as a small smile spread across her lips. “It’ll help us whenever anything dangerous like that comes across our camp… or even yours. I wouldn’t like it if something as dangerous as that came striding across the clans as an infectious disease and infected every cat. I’m sure that it would cause us all a grave concern if something like this happens in the future.” she mewed truthfully, briefly glancing over in the direction of her mentor to see what she had to think of the situation. Did she think the same way? If this Snow Fever were ever to catch anyone inside ThunderClan… there was definitely bound to be trouble uprising in the clan. Just imagine the amount of chaos that would rise just from that situation alone. Oriental-shaped ears suddenly perked over in the direction of Cowtuft when he spoke, his mismatched eyes locked in her direction and laced with shock and surprise. Did… did he know who Coldamber was? It seemed to be so, because his expression was quick to wound up into a mixture of pleasure and glee; his mismatched-colored paws quickly worked themselves into signs that Springpaw unfortunately couldn’t bring herself to fully understand. She didn’t exactly know what the gentle-souled tom-cat was saying, but it had to be something that he really wanted to share. Nonetheless, Springpaw could feel both her and Lightningpaw bear the same question as the oriental-shaped dilute calico stared dumbfoundedly in the direction of the black-and-white tom-cat. Did he know who Coldamber was? “D… D-do you know Coldamber? Was she a former medicine cat from WindClan? I felt like she always was… but I never truly had the full courage to ask her myself, but it may seem likely if that is true.” she asked carefully, silently scraping a paw along the ground. Was that even the right thing to ask? Hopefully, because her curiosity was blooming more than a flower in the early parts of new-leaf.

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@Omari @Pitou @carmen @Alchemist Kitsune @x ghostie [ ahhhh deeply apologize for how late this is! school is a big pain in the butt to deal with also don’t mind spring’s little rambling spree. she loves to speak about the new things she’s learned in grave detail and will go on non-stop about it. ]

[Estelle]

It was… A little embarrassing, needing an escort at his age and record; but truth was, the ginger tabby hadn’t the faintest clue where this supposed ‘Starcave’ was. He didn’t even know if it existed – he’d believe leader lives were nothing more than a myth if it weren’t for the fact he’d witnessed cats return from the dead, including leaders. It was such a strange thing. Such an unfair thing. Why should they get extra chances at life when innocents were dying everyday, when kits were passing away to never return?

Immediately, his thoughts went to his own sister. Goldenkit. His beloved sister, supposedly older by minutes, something she never let him forget. She was the leader. He was the deputy, the follower. If only she’d been given a second chance at life. If only that mysterious illness hadn’t taken her, if only their mother had been there to do something – but she too had been gone, lost her life and he never got to know how. It was cruel. They were good cats, great cats, even. It was unfair that they lost their lives when others got to stand up from the dead.

...But death was unfair like that. It takes no consideration of who it took and how, it never had pity it never favoured one over another. It only took and took and took and took more. It was greedy. Then, on the flip side, life. It returned to the most random of cats. Life had favourites, it was clear. If one cat got to go back to life, why couldn’t another? What decided who did and didn’t get a second chance? These were questions he’d asked himself again and again, stayed up nights trying to figure out and understand. But never came an answer. So, he banned them to the back of his mind, gathering dust of shelves full of unanswered queries, not to be touched upon lest his mind began running like it so often did.

Ah, but they were here. Lost in thought along the way, only idly looking around to commit the area to mind, Gingerfrost barely noticed when they arrived at the fabled cave. How… Peculiar. He shot a look at Crowstorm, his escort for this evening, and gave the feline a nod of thanks. Though he didn’t speak a word, silently turning to look back at the rocky entrance, deep in thought. So this was it. It was all becoming so real now, and yet a part of him still doubted any of this was, in fact, real. That maybe this ‘StarClan’ had just been a fable all along… But then how would he explain the resurrections, the dream?

Here he went again, his mind on a tangent. Shutting down the thoughts once more, the tabby briefly allowed himself to hesitate before entering the cave with a firm step. Whether Crowstorm wished to follow was up to him, Gingerfrost didn’t mind either way. Truthfully, he also hadn’t the faintest clue on what he had to do now. He just kind of stood inside the cave, quietly, awkwardly looking around for an answer to hit him in the face. He’d never done this before, obviously, nor did he want to ask Crowstorm to hold his hand. He could do this alone.

That’s when he spotted a stone. A large stone, with the markings of what he assumed to be claws along it. What happened here? And what did he have to do now? It was probably some ancient battle or disagreement, if this place is a sacred as they say, then it could be possible. Cats fought over the silliest things, after all. But that wasn’t the matter at paw. The stone, by all means, had a mysterious air to it. It stood out among the rest of the stony cave for some reason or another, and it wasn’t just because of the markings the decorated it. It was something else, something he couldn’t described.

As if on instinct, as if pulled in by the air of the stone, Gingerfrost got over. He looked at it with scepticism for some time, wondering what in the world he was supposed to do with this, but somehow knowing this was it. The fable Starcave, the mysterious stone. He grimaced, before his face fell back to it’s usual state. His tail gave a twitch. Then, and he wouldn’t be able to say why, he reached out to touch his nose to the stone, sitting down in the process as he slumped over. How strange.


[ @Starfall @dino. ]