The Sleepy Rumbles of a Storm [P]

***Alchemist Kitsune*** · #1 December 28th, 2024, 11:36 AM

"Bloody frozen rocks on this bloody frozen season. Honestly, couldn't ShadowClan choose a warmer location? Or a warmer season? Of all the times to need some medicinal help... why leafbare? It's a cursed season, I tell you lot. I'll also tell you one thing. There ain't no way I'm putting my arse up on those rocks for this meeting. I would like to still have a tail by the time we head back home."

Lightningstorm's complaints were admittedly over the top. Theatrical in nature, a fact that she was aware at least one of her companions had already seen through, although she would not be surprised if both of them had caught on that she was in actuality being her usual teasing, playful self. It was the same face she always wore for gatherings, and as far as she was aware, this was no different than those meetings... albeit with less cats. Evidently Dawnstar had reached out to Twilightstar... or something along those lines. The details were fuzzy to her, but for the most part the herbalist trusted the leader enough to not question her decisions on most occasions. From what she understood, neither the leader nor the deputy had any love lost for the ShadowClan leader, so if a small meet up to teach herbs had been granted by the lilac she-cat, there was obviously good reason.

Personally, the lithe calico held none of the grudge the other two seemed to have as far as ShadowClan was concerned. Dawnstar seemed stern, yes... but besides Twilightstar, she seemed the most down to earth, reasonable of the leaders. Bumblestar was a leg breaking ball of violence, and Stormstar was... well... She didn't really have anything against the leader of RiverClan, actually rather liked her, but from what little she had seen, she seemed far more emotional than the ShadowClan leader. Perhaps it was just down to experience. Dawnstar seemed to have been around for as long as Twilightstar, after all. Maybe the water loving she-cat would manage to come close to those two in time.

"You know..." Lightningstorm spoke up as she sat down by the rocks, tapping her chin with white tipped toes as if deep in thought, eyes glimmering with amusement as she continued. "Dawnstar's nice and fluffy, isn't she? Think she'd let us snuggle up to that lush coat of hers for some warmth while we discuss herbs? It'd go a hell of a lot faster if my teeth aren't chattering up a storm throughout the lesson."

@Moonraven [Batglare] | @Alchemist Kitsune [Dapplebreeze] | @Undertaker [Dawnstar] | @Estelle [Sleepysunrise]

***Estelle*** · #2 December 28th, 2024, 07:00 PM

Sleepysunrise
[ 14 moons | She / Her | Shc Medicine Cat | Shadow Fiend ]

The development which brought her here left her feeling peculiar, and while a part of the young medic was certainly curious about this not-so-mysterious meeting, the better part of her remained sceptical. It was mostly due to the facts of her not knowing this WindClan medicine cat; she had not lived through any active strife with the wind runners, so history lessons aside, Sleepysunrise could not say she had much of an opinion on them. Their medicine cats were alive and breathing, unlike some, and their leader was long-standing, much like ShadowClan's. Although, the young cat would find interest in picking her grandmother's brain someday, over her opinion on these cats. The WindClan leader, at the very least; they must have been working on opposing sides of a war for seasons, filled with lessons of experience.

Those were the thoughts entertaining the young cat during their walk towards the Seastones, the place of every month's gathering. It was quite freezing in her opinion, even through her thicker dark fur which she fluffed up against the cold, subconsciously hovering close by the ShadowClan leader. The small cat's nose almost felt as though it would freeze off, but if all went as planned, the knowledge she would receive today would be worth the troubling cold, and she hoped Miss Grandmama shared that sentiment. She didn't imagine the leader enjoying lengthy trips in the middle of leafbare, but for what it was worth, Sleepysunrise took comfort in her presence. Mama hadn't had to go through such lengths from what she heard, but she wondered if this was common practice among the medicine cats.

Her eyes moved from the leader back ahead, silent, even as the WindClanners came in sight. Sleepysunrise, unaware of the formalities of such meetings, opted to observe her grandmother before her eyes moved to the WindClan medicine cat she recognised from past gatherings as the ground opted to freeze her poor paw pads. Soon enough, she should be a few herbs wiser; it might as well have been that very thought and her grandmother's presence that kept her warm for the duration of this meeting. Stones were so awfully cold in winter, luckily her senses were more focused on being alert around the cats from the other clan. One could never be too safe; if they decided to turn this into an ambush, she had to be ready.

[ @Alchemist Kitsune @Moonraven @Undertaker - Do apologise, this post is a bit all over the place ]

***Undertaker*** · #3 December 28th, 2024, 09:49 PM

@Alchemist Kitsune - Lightningstorm/Dapplebreeze | @Estelle - Sleepysunrise | @Moonraven - Batglare/Twilightstar
[I convinced Moon to have Twi show up for a post to say hi to Sleepy.]

She felt like noses should be covered in fur, nothing dense or thick, but some fur would be nice. Her nose was so cold that it hurt and made sniffing and scenting difficult. Each sniff she took caused a burning sensation inside her nose and she'd occasionally have to rub it which would result in a small sneezing fit. The hulking clan leader didn't mind the cold, but it was near freezing these nights.

It had been more or less luck that Dawnstar had caught the WindClan leader at the border and had a chance to bug her about medicine cat training. Granted, she had been stuck revealing that ShadowClan had brand new medicine cats. Despite their very rocky and severely bloody relationship, she has been serving long enough beside Twilightstar to know that the she-cat wouldn't do much with the information.

Unlike RiverClan and ThunderClan, for a time, Twilightstar wasn't interested in fighting for the sake of fighting and had no problems owning up to faults when she felt WindClan was in the wrong. Dawnstar had noticed a bit of a change in Twilightstar since Fallownose's death, more aggressive and assertive when it came to protecting her clan, but she was more or less the same. She had been taking a chance asking to learn from Lightningstorm, but Sleepysunrise was an opportunist and a hard worker, and WindClan once again had the oldest medicine cat. She knew Twilightstar would bite her head off for asking and it paid off.

Dawnstar paused slightly, ears raised as she heard the WindClan medicine cat's voice. The massive she-cat glanced at her granddaughter before leading them onto the beach and into the WindClanner's sight.

"You can try, but if you're not willing to give me your pelt in return, I wouldn't. If your chattering teeth are an issue, I can always remove them." Dawnstar drawled as she walked up to the WindClanners. Her amber eyes gleamed with curiosity as she eyed the two warriors with the medicine cat. It was rare that Dawnstar met cats older or more experienced than her, but Bunnystar was always smart.

The old, scarred, brown, and white tom was more or less a veteran. "So, you're still kicking. I haven't seen you in a while, Batglare, I was worried you may have retired or croaked." She gave a fanged sneer and then peered at the cream-patched she-cat with blue eyes. "You, I've seen, though I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you in battle so your name eludes me." She's seen her in battle and around gatherings, but unless the cat's made an impression on her don't expect her to remember names.

"This is my medicine cat, Sleepysunrise." She sweeps her long tail toward the smaller she-cat at her side. There wasn't much of a reason for Dawnstar to be escorting the she-cat herself, but she was borderline paranoid about keeping her medicine cat safe and obsessed with keeping what remained of her family close. Since Sleepysunrise was both, it was causing a lot of protective instincts to flare. Naturally, she had to come to the meeting. She also was hoping to learn a few things.

Her attention shifted behind the overgrown rabbits, eyes focused on the molly coming up behind them. "Bunnystar."

***Moonraven*** · #4 December 29th, 2024, 06:45 PM

He strolled on Lightningstorm's right, listening to her blabbering in one ear and their surroundings in the other. It's been a while since he's been in the presence of a cat who talked as much as their medicine cat. She was usually pretty talkative as memory served, but it seemed to him that she was trying to be extra dramatic. Whether it was how she calmed her nerves or to break through tension, Batglare left Dapplebreeze to indulge the playful medicine cat. The iceberg of a warrior wasn't the best at expressing anything that wasn't serious.

ShadowClan. He hadn't a faint clue what was going through Twilightstar's mind anymore, not that he had to begin with. He didn't understand why Lightingstorm was being sent to teach some untrained medicine cat. A ShadowClan medicine cat. The more he thought about the more his fur bristled in silent agitation. Much like a guard dog, Batglare's intense glare wandered to and fro ever vigilant, hunting for the first sign of danger.

As Lightningstorm jested about snuggling with Dawnstar Batglare found himself unable to hide the hint of disgust at the thought. His head snapped toward the voice as he spotted the big brown tabby slithering out of the darkness with a smaller cat at her side. He refrained from hissing at her and her little comment about skinning and removing Lightingstorm's teeth. He was Lightingstorm would find that more amusing than threatening, but the knowledge that the opposing leader could do had him inching a few whisker lengths closer to her.

If the medicine cat was that cold, she could come sit with him. The tom swore he had more fur than muscle, and his winter coat only added more fur. Featherblossom... He pushed his deceased daughter to the back of his head as Dawnstar addressed him. His claws were begging to tear that sneer from she-cat's face, but nothing in his body language or eyes reflected his deep hatred for Dawnstar. His gaze remained cold and his body relaxed, he nodded a small greeting to Sleepysunrise. Perhaps this is why Twilightstar only chose him and Dapplebreeze, few cats could withstand Dawnstar. He turned to glance over his shoulder as the familiar lilac-gray pelt came up on his other side.

"What are you doing here?" Batglare asked, as his clan leader gave a strained smile.

"I just wanted to make sure everyone got here alright," Twilightstar replied, fighting her trembling. Perhaps it was because she was getting older or the fact that her one flank was almost entirely devoid of fur and filled with vicious, bare scars, but fighting the cold was near impossible for her these days.

That meant she got worried after they left and followed them out here. Batglare didn't snort or roll his eyes even though the desire was nearly overwhelming.

"Dawnstar," Twilightstar greeted, "I won't remain long now that my mind's been set to ease. I want to say hello to your medicine cat," Twilightstar turned her head so her single eye could look at Sleepysunrise. She remembered the name being announced at a gathering, unique if you asked her, she's seen the molly attached to it a few times. The older clan leader greeted the medicine cat with a respectful nod.

"And to remind you to be nice to Lightningstorm, she has Crowtooth's sense of humor." When it came to ShadowClan, Crowtooth, and Lightingstorm would worry Twilightstar to an early grave. Twilightstar looked over at Lightingstorm easily imagining her annoying the ShadowClan leader to the point of murder. Maybe she should stay and supervise after all?
@Alchemist Kitsune [Lightningstorm/Dapplebreeze] @Estelle [Sleepysunrise] @Undertaker [Dawnstar]

***Alchemist Kitsune*** · #5 January 3rd, 2025, 10:28 PM

Her words eliciting more of a response from Batglare than they did Dapplebreeze - that she-cat and her eternally polite features gave even her a run for her prey - Lightningstorm was quick to offer the brooding tom a toothy grin. One that was interrupted as company arrived, first in the form of the aforementioned tabby giant, followed shortly by a much smaller, dark furred feline. It seemed the ShadowClan leader had heard her joke on approach, and surprisingly had followed along with one of her own. Despite the two furies' obvious alertness at Dawnstar's threat, the calico found herself laughing airily at it, covering her mouth with a paw as a snort escaped her. Had this been Bumblestar threatening, she would have been fairly certain there was danger to be had here, and would have merely stood to leave the moment it had been uttered. However, the colossal warrior before her brutish as her muscles made her appear to be had intellect in her eyes. She doubted the queen of the shadows had been able to keep her title for so long by wasting her time and threatening help she herself had requested, even if they were from an opposing clan. There was also little doubt mere words would get her riled up enough to carry on such a violent reaction, especially from a cat that was no threat to her. If it were... well... the herbalist would consider herself disappointed in finding how much closer to the ThunderClan leader this one was to her own. For the moment, however, there was little more to do than appreciate the candidness of her words.

Even as she wiped some tears from her eyes, the amber hues that had rested on her momentarily turned to her guards, and she could almost feel the tension crackle in the air as both cats stared back in turn. Batglare's response was silent, as she was accustomed to when it came to the giant. Dapplebreeze, however, smiled her demure, almost motherly smile as she dipped her head to the giant, seemingly taking the remark upon her unremarkability with grace.

"Your words are too kind, Dawnstar. After all, it is the commendable warrior who remains an unknown to their enemies until their last breath," the lieutenant spoke in a gracious tone that did not quite match her words.

Before Lightningstorm could try and break away at any potential tension between the ShadowClan and WindClan warriors, Batglare spoke, bringing the oriental mix's attention to Twilightstar as the leader approached. Quirking her brow, the medicine cat was swift to stand, assuming the WindClan queen had caught up to them due to some emergency that would make this meeting void and the journey meaningless. She was quick to calm down, however, as the leader spoke, sitting down once more as she settled her features into jovial ones once more. At her being compared to Crowtooth, however, the spotted feline assumed a wounded disposition, her delicate paw upon her chest like one that had just received the most damning of news.

"You wound me, Twilightstar, and there's no herb I know of that can heal me," she rebutted, a venerable pout to her lower lip that was betrayed by the spark of mischief in her eyes. Ears perking up as she covered up her twitching whiskers with a well timed cough, Lightningstorm let her gaze fall upon the silent ShadowClan medicine cat, offering a friendly grin in greeting before turning to Dawnstar, her grin growing.

"Well then, seeing as how my advances have been shunned, I guess I'll have to go wallow my misery in Batglare's fluffy coat instead of Dawnstar's. Alas, there go my hopes and dreams," she mewed dramatically as she shimmied closer to the eternally glaring tom, offering Dapplebreeze a grateful glance as the former queen approached her as well and wrapped her own fluffy tail around her, providing ever more shielding from the cold.

"Tha's quite 'nuff pleasantries though, innit? Name's Lightningstorm, love. Not that I would assume you missed it. I'm assuming you're Sleepysunrise," she mewed amicably, lapis hues back on the silent figure as her dialect returned to it's more usual, casual form as she got down to business. There was no way she was going to be freezing her arse out here for days, no matter how... erm... warm the company was.

"That's 'bout all the guesswork I'm willing to do today, though, so let's talk herbs, shall we? It's right bloody freezing, so for the sake of not wasting much time teaching you anything you already know, how's you tell me what herb knowledge you have so far? It don't matter how basic you think it sounds, right? It all helps, no matter how small," Lightningstorm resumed, tilting her head curiously at her chatter bug of a healing companion. It was safe to assume there wasn't much knowledge there yet, considering Dawnstar had wanted her help, but she wasn't about to teach marigold and cobwebs to a cat that understood their uses in this blasted weather either, thank you very much. No matter how warm Batglare and Dapplebreeze were.

@Moonraven [Twilighstar - Batglare] | @Undertaker [Dawnstar] | @Estelle [Sleepysunrise]

***Estelle*** · #6 January 11th, 2025, 09:49 PM

Sleepysunrise
[ 14 moons | She / Her | Shc Medicine Cat | Shadow Fiend ]

Her eyes met that of her grandmother, pausing briefly in her walk as they seemed to be closing in on the WindClanners. Unlike herself and her grandmother, WindClan seemed to have come with adequate protection for their medic; that is to say, in a greater number. She wondered if it meant they were distrustful, or that their medic was unable to defend herself in battle. An impractical decision, about as impractical as running her mouth. Sleepysunrise’s gaze settled on Lightningstorm, always guarded, until Dawnstar addressed one of the warriors; her eyes settled on this cat, Batglare, for a moment, before switching to her grandmother. How did they know each other?

Miss Grandmama didn’t seem to like them either. Her gaze lowered, thinking. They hadn’t attacked them yet, it promised a peaceful meeting, but she couldn’t let her guard down, much less take their words at face value. A nagging thought told her not to over-analyse it, another part of her argued it was necessary. She had to be cautious with the information she was given; they were the enemy, still. Her eyes lifted when her name was mentioned, head dipping in polite greeting. Speculations aside, she would do well to remember her manners. She needed Lightningstorm’s knowledge, and at that moment, an unexpected visitor arrived.

Twilightstar. She had never seen the WindClan leader from up close. It was an odd feeling. She almost felt a bit… Shy, in the presence of two mighty leaders. As much as she looked up to her grandmother, she wasn’t in the business of undermining those who earned their respect; Twilightstar had been leader for even longer than her own kin. Twilightstar was as battle-scarred as could be; her single eye held a wisdom the little cat could only dream of having. Experience and knowledge she could spend moons picking apart and analysing to better understand the functions of a leader’s mind and her people; she would love to take a look inside the old leader’s mind.

Gaze locked on the WindClan leader in an unnerving stare for several moments, Sleepysunrise returned the greeting with a respectful nod. Not many earned themselves such regard from the new medic; and she found much interest in looking between her and her grandmother, trying to gauge their reactions to this interaction. Eventually, her gaze turned back to the smiling Lightningstorm whom she regarded with a curious interest. Not many took well to her grandmother’s threats; Lightningstorm would be daft not to take her seriously, but the better part of her doubted a cat too daft to understand a threat could be a long-standing medicine cat, lest she had guards around to clean up her messes at every turn.

In a way it reminded her of her sister; a good laugh, smiled a lot; she was dramatic. In a more jovial way than her tantrum-throwing cousin. But she could ponder these thoughts all day long; watching Lightningstorm envelop herself in a warm bundle of fur, Sleepysunrise felt the cold bite her nose all the more, and for a moment dared glance Dawnstar’s way, a silent hope that she might be able to sit up against her grandmother’s fur for warmth.
“Yes.”

She returned her gaze on the medic, answering with a solemn nod; it was time to learn, and she wasted little time in replying to the medic’s question. Only a brief pause, but there was no harm in naming the herbs she knew.
“Boneset, borage, brighteye, broom… Burdock root, chervil, chickweed, … cobwebs; comfrey, horsetail, marigold… Moss, poppy seeds.”
She replied in soft tones, gaze glancing aside on occasion as she pulled up the names of each herb from within the stores of her mind. She paused.
“But anything you can confirm, is appreciated.”
She added finally, fluffy tail coming to wrap around her freezing paws.

[ @Alchemist Kitsune @Moonraven @Undertaker ]

***Undertaker*** · #7 Today, 08:13 PM

[Sorry, forgot it was my turn here]
@Alchemist Kitsune - Lightningstorm/Dapplebreeze | @Estelle - Sleepysunrise | @Moonraven - Batglare/Twilightstar

She came here to greet Sleeysunrise and ensure she didn't kill the medicine cat. Eh, reasonable. Dawnstar wouldn't kill the help, even if she was as annoying as that mouthy deputy. Wrinkles formed along the bridge of the she-cat's muzzle as she listened to Lightningstorm quips. As fascinating as the hulking tabby found the medicine cat, Dawnstar wasn't sure how long she could tolerate the teasing without cuffing her over the head. However, as irritating as she found WindClan's high ranks, she wasn't foolish enough to underestimate them. She wasn't dumb enough to underestimate any clan cat no matter what masks they wore.

"How kind of you to grace us with your presence, Bunnystar. I suppose I can refrain from drowning your cheeky medicine cat in kind." Dawnstar said. Her attention returned to the she-cat who brushed off her insult with poise. She'd be impressed if the she-cat was younger. The warrior was undoubtedly experienced and knew how to hold her own even when dealing with rival leaders. She didn't give her name or she made a point to avoid it. Dawnstar would have to seek her out in future battles and tear the name from her maw alongside her tongue.

Sleepysunrise was not subtle at all in her pursuit of warmth. The scarred tabby dropped her head to look at her granddaughter and sighed softly before moving closer, pressing her flank against the smaller she-cat. She had been hoping to entice the big bad bat into a spar. Or the other warrior, she wouldn't be picky. She wasn't looking to start wars with the other clans, she'd had enough petty scuffles with them that they'd grown dull. However, she still wanted to fight.

While the two medicine cats got down to business, Dawnstar perked her ears and listened quietly. Some of the herbs named were familiar to her, but many went over the clan leader's head. She didn't think she was going to get much from this conversation. She'll indulge in the back and forth for a bit longer and warm up Sleepysunrise before seeing if they want to play with her.