It was painful - of course it was painful, her bones had quite literally been broken and had to be splinted, obviously it was painful. Cobwebfern's words, though, do help calm her a little. It's odd, how a few soothing words are enough to bring the slight panic down a notch. Anticipation of pain is not fun. Experiencing that pain, though, is occasionally less hurtful than the anticipation. This is not one of those times.
Honestly, it's a miracle she doesn't just black out right then and there.
"Thank- thank you," she gasps, panting despite having done nothing but endure the pain. And then, Berryshine says- she says what now? Emerald eyes fly open, brows furrowed in shock and incomprehension. The kits? What kits? Wolfhive had said something similar but she'd dismissed it at the time... was..? Was she-? Were she and Fish-? Oh, great StarClan, you have got to be kidding.
"I'm- I'm sorry, Berryshine, what did you say? The kits?" There's fear in her voice, she's not ready for this. It's not- they aren't even officially mates! They'd never even really spoken about that... what in the world is she going to tell him...
shutting her eyes tight briefly as a quick reset, cobwebfern calmed her breathing and thankfully pricked her ear in berryshine's direction, thankful for her praise. she hadn't, though, been prepared for what came next, and spluttered, turning away to conceal her surprise as a cough. she'd been blissfully unaware of the fact that larkwing was pregnant, and the way larkwing reacted to berryshine's flippant statement suggested that she was as unprepared as the healer was.
pregnancy was thankfully, (or unthankfully, now,) something cobwebfern hadn't had to deal with during her time as the stand-in healer. now, though, she felt completely at a loss, turning her gaze to berryshine in unfiltered panic. just as quickly as panic rose, she hid it, turning back to the ex-leader with a comforting smile on her face. ' it's going to be alright, larkwing, i promise- berry and i will get you through safe and sound. ' she hoped. her words were gentle, aiming to calm larkwing down. hopefully the bombshell being dropped wasn't too much of a shock to lark's system- it would be bad to spook her further with the whole broken bone issue.
Oh.Oh, she didn't know. Not only that, but clearly had no idea, and was now internally panicking. Ohhh no. I'msostupidI'msostupid, ohnohno-
"O-Oh, stars above... I-I'm sorry, Larkwing—" Nope, today was not her day, was it? Flushing pink, Berryshine was grateful for the covering of her dark fur as she cleared her throat, quickly trying to remedy the situation. Luckily, Cobwebfern (who was infinitely more eloquent with words in this moment than Berry was) had already started speaking, though Berry definitely caught the unfiltered look of panic Cob shot her way before it.
Taking in a deep, steadying breath, the medicine cat decided to start over, clearing her throat. "Y-Yes, ah... y-you're pregnant, Larkwing. It's the scent, I know it by now..." She attempted to give the ex-leader a nervous smile, hopefully comforting in some capacity, though by the wild look in Lark's eyes... she could tell the warrior had not anticipated this at all, nor did she know how to process it.
"D-Don't worry, I know what to do by now, and y-you're in good paws... Cobwebfern and I will take good care of you, alright? H-Here... to keep your strength up, eat this. E-Especially after all this... you'll need it."
With shaking paws, Berryshine pawed over a small clump of burnet. It was an herb meant to build strength, especially effective for expecting queens. After the stress her body had just gone through, anything could help.
And Great StarClan, Berryshine prayed she wouldn't make herself any further of a mess in front of her apprentice and best friend. She gave Cob a glance that basically said 'I'm usually not this bad, I swear' — and it would've almost been comical, if not for the situation.
Breath in. Breath out. This was okay. She was okay, this was going to be okay. It's just... she didn't plan for this. How was she supposed to show RiverClan she was dedicated to regaining their trust if she was stuck in the nursery, though? It's just... what if she's cast aside because she's no longer useful now? It's a scary thought.
What's a more scary thought is that she has no idea how to be a good mother. She doesn't have the best first hand experience. What if she just perpetuates the cycle? What if she somehow ruins them? God, what if they hate her? She's barely paying attention when Berryshine passes her the burnet, eating it without question because that's all she can do.
purrks ; the collector , herbal knowledge t2
she / they . riverclan med cat app
21 moons . missing back leg
tags ; @squidz - berries !!! , @Neptune. - larko darko
tws for this post: none
it would be hilarious if not for the situation, cobwebfern thought, stifling a laugh at how completely absurd it all was. her technically-first-kind-of-not-but-also-sort-of healing experience, and she was helping diagnose a pregnancy. a surprise pregancy. cobwebfern blinked slowly at berryshine, bumping her head against the other's flank warmly. ' erm. berries.. or larkwing, if you can answer.. how far along are you? when do you think you got.. ' the apprentice swallowed. ' pregnant? '
the awkwardness in the air could be cut by a knife, that's how thick it was. cobweb swallowed, shrugging. ' yeah. sorry. i will.. shut up now. ' she turned to the back of the den, fiddling with a bundle of herbs the two hadn't unwrapped, placing them gently on a stone slab and squinting at them.
__________________
cobwebfern is riverclan’s medicine cat apprentice !
she and berryshine have a semi-closed den policy .
Things were spinning, and this really didn't bode well for Frigidfang. Or for what he wanted to say. He felt Stormstar try to steady him, and tried his best to help her out but really probably ended up making her job harder. Did the Gods hate him specifically? Frigidfang couldn't help but wonder as he laid down and felt Berryshine pluck out his splinter. He let out a hiss, but then felt something being pressed against his paw. It took a bit, but thank the Gods, the bleeding seemed to slow. At least, enough for him to regain some sense of composure.
He breathed heavily, both trying to tether himself to consciousness and trying to figure out how to explain this not only to Stormstar, but to a very worried-looking Berryshine as well. "This is going to sound like I'm lying," he started, feeling nervousness bubble up in his chest. "But I swear by all the stars in the sky I'm not. And this, unfortunately, proves it." His words were growled softly, lowly. Both for privacy's sake and because it was all he could really get out, what with the blood loss and all.
"After the fight... when we got driven out. I prayed to the heavens and wished with all my being that I could go into battle and defend my Clanmates without fear of getting hurt." He took a shaky breath and blinked. "And it worked. When I'm engaging in battle -- real or for training -- claws and teeth cannot pierce my skin. I'm unkillable, invulnerable. And it makes me feel, alive." Another pause, this time deciding how to speak. Frigidfang looked toward the ground, then back up between his leader and medicine cat. "But it all came at a price. Of course it did," ears flattened as he spat the words like venom. And then, he spoke so softly that he barely even heard himself. "When I'm not in the midst of battle, I'm even more fragile than a newborn kit." It was truly terrifying to say it aloud, to know that one ill-timed blow could send him straight to the heavens. "Hence... that." And now, he sat in silence, vision slowly stabilizing as he refused to meet the eyes of either Stormstar or Berryshine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by squidz
| BERRYPAW |
small & nimble dark brown she-cat with darker flecks and light, leafy-green eyes | the collector
[ takes place in abandoned twoleg den prior to move ]
When Frigidfang first started speaking, Berryshine's silent but understanding gaze was softened, encouraging him to continue by nodding. But it slowly fell into shock and almost disbelief... if she hadn't just seen the fruits of his wish herself. Blinking incredulously, the medicine cat paused for a moment, trying to process what he spoke. As much as it sounded crazy that a cat could be granted a 'power' like that... she also wasn't one to deny the powers of StarClan and the like. But would StarClan really do such a thing?
"Stars above..." she muttered at first, shaking her head. "S-So this is... a curse?"
Berry only looked away from the tom to paw over some goldenrod, at once beginning to chew it into a poultice, trying not to be distracted by such a premise — of being invulnerable in battle, yet as fragile as a newborn kit otherwise... Ack. Hold on, goldenrod first. Focus. This would clean the wound from anything that might've gotten in it, and she carefully pressed it into his paw, glancing nervously between his eyes and the agitated area. Taking advantage of the fact that she'd seemingly quelled the bleeding, Berryshine then tightly bound cobwebs around the wound, sealing it shut to the best of her abilities.
When it was done, Berryshine carefully sat back on her haunches, staring worriedly at Frigidfang for his response — her gaze seeming to portray a hint of wary fear, as if she was scared to even touch him again, in case one paw prod too hard would crack his bones in two.
As Berries began to work quickly on... was that a splinter? All of this was over a splinter??? Stormstar couldn't keep the disbelief off her face as she looked from her medicine cat, to Frigidfang, then back again. She parted her jaws to figure out what the hell was up with that when the tom beat her to it. Her ears angled forward to listen, wondering what kind of explanation he would have for this.
...Unkillable? Invulnerable?? The RiverClan leader was inclined to scoff and dismiss it, but her gut told her that he wasn't lying. Okay so... what? This was some sort of... weird thing he'd been born with? No, because he said he had wished for it... Did StarClan grant him this odd ability? "Sounds more like a gift..." the leader couldn't help but murmur under her breath. A cat that was untouchable in battle could be useful, and already her mind was churning with ideas on how to best utilize it. "Have you told any other cat about this... this weird skill of yours?" the leader pressed, wanting to know who all in the Clan knew of this.
Re: RiverClan Medicine Cat's Den
Berryshine is RiverClan's medicine cat! 
