RiverClan Medicine Cat's Den - Page 284

**Wingnettle** · #**2831** April 4th, 2025, 04:36 AM

Starrypaw
Riverclan | 11 moons
Mind Reader, Lucky Duck 3

Starrypaw flinched slightly as a thin red line appeared on the little mouse's chest. It felt as though someone was directly cutting into her own skin, which felt weird even to herself to admit. Suddenly the scars on her back started to itch.

She observed quietly, determined to follow Berryshine's approach and advice even though it would be extremely hard for her. But she had to get through it. She had become much skinnier through this first leaf-bare in Riverclan, and she knew she couldn't keep up with this. What if something happened to the fish, and Riverclan had to rely only on land-prey? And what if a war broke out?

The white and gray she-cat padded closer, then hesitantly closed the distance between the prey and her face. The scent of old blood made her nauseous, almost dizzy, but she forced herself to stay there for a few seconds, at least. Then, she raised her head and took a mouthful of fresh air.

"It-it doesn't look too tasty..." She commented gloomily in a murmur, aware that she was complaining but unable to say anything else. Berryshine would probably want to make her taste it.

@squidz

**namen_roodles** · #**2832** April 4th, 2025, 11:46 AM

Spiderpaw

Riverclan apprentice - 6 moons - Lanky, amber eyed, blue-grey tabby she-cat with white paws, chin, and tail tip.
(Purrks: Heightened perception: SMELL)
~~~
It was just a couple of cuts. The pincers of that crab had done a bit of a number on her face, but once she and Minnowrain had gotten back to camp, Spiderpaw realized that there was no more bleeding and only a dull ache had remained. She had just tried to clean carefully around her muzzle and nose, but only a few days later she started having trouble eating.

Spiderpaw's tongue flicked over the swollen cut on her left upper lip, tasting and smelling something a bit more sour than she had expected. All she wanted was to eat the minnow she had picked out of the fresh kill pile, but even just picking it up hurt. She ate her food slowly, wincing to herself and pawing at the itching, burning muzzle as though it were not hers.

It made it worse.

With a sigh, the apprentice padded over to the medicine cat den. She had told her dad that she would see Berryshine about it after it had happened, but... well, it hadn't really occured to her that it could get worse.

Her tail tip twitched as she peeked into the cave, amber eyes seeking out the medicine cat. "Berryshine...?" It was practically a squeak, and opening her maw to speak stung. She felt her face grow hot. This was all because she didn't want to bother the medicine cat... and here she was, coming to Berryshine anyway.

@squidz

***squidz*** · #**2833** April 4th, 2025, 01:59 PM

[ riverclan medicine cat | she-cat | 18 moons | timid, kind, hardworking ]

—

The sound of a wheezing cat certainly caught her attention, and not in a positive way. Berryshine was on her paws at once, rushing over to meet Craneflight — a warrior she'd never really spoken to, but recognized. At once, the medic's eyes were rounded with concern, leading the warrior to an empty nest to be treated.

"O-Oh my, that's no good... tell me, what are your symptoms? A cough, it sounds like?" Berry frowned as she peered at the cat, seeing that her nose was a bit crusted as well; it sounded and looked like a cold, if she had to guess. Thankfully should be nothing too serious, but it wouldn't hurt to be careful.

"It sounds like you have a cold... w-we'll need to have you stay in here for a few days or so, both s-so I can keep an eye on you and so you don't spread it to any of your Clanmates," the medicine cat instructed. Chances were that this was just a normal cold, but she also didn't want to that the risk that it was something worse.

Ah, coltsfoot... she only had a few bits left from the preserves she'd made from leaf-bare. But that one outsider's words rung in her ears: it helps with troubled breathing, and coughs... Carefully, Berryshine plucked her last bits of coltsfoot, returning to Craneflight.

"E-Eat this... I'll have to get more, but it should help your cough and ease y-your breathing," she mewed, giving the warrior a comforting smile. "Within a few days, you should feel just fine, a-as long as you get enough rest."

[ -1 coltsfoot ]

Berryshine noted Primroseadder's surprise; clearly, the new-queen had no clue. Giving a sheepish smile, the medic dipped her head in acknowledgement, assuring the she-cat that no word would be spoken.

"O-Of course... I won't say a word." The medicine cat nodded to her. She remained calm, hoping it would ease the nerves of the young queen, but Berry figured that not much could get to a cat who was shocked to find out that they were pregnant. "Please, come back to me i-if you feel anything's wrong, hm? I-I'm happy to walk with you through this."

Berryshine nodded with a purr. "O-Of course. Please, feel free to visit anytime if you'd like a checkup o-or if anything feels wrong. Otherwise, make sure to stay hydrated a-and keep yourself active in the meantime. Take care!" The medic called after the new queen.

[ Moondew has been changed to a queen in the allegiances! ]

Can't see anything...? Berryshine frowned in thought, giving Oakblaze a careful nod before stepping towards Frostkit. Laying down so that she'd be more eye-level with the kit, the medic peered into the young one's gaze, as if trying to find any light of recognition or sight in there.

"Kits do have poor eyesight u-until they're a little older," she reasoned with Oakblaze, flicking her tail right in front of Frostkit's muzzle to see if the young cat would react. She would wave it in around, too, trying to see if Frostkit's eyes would follow the movements. For cats who could see, eyes would flicker and blink often, indicating the stimuli. If Frostkit's didn't... well, then perhaps the kit could see little to nothing. "So this could be s-something she grows out of. However... I-I am not sure."

She kept doing her little test, analyzing Frostkit's every move. "Frostkit... c-can you tell me what you're looking at now?" Berryshine asked gently.

[ @sylvia26 - Frostkit ]

Berryshine had been briefly out for her midday meal, but was alerted by the sound of a shrieked voice echoing from the medicine den. At once she sprang up, hurrying over to investigate.

Worried, the medicine cat padded in, seeing a kit being laid into one of her freshly cleaned nests. Letting out a trill to announce her presence, she padded over at once to the other side of Greenkit on the nest, gently sniffing the young cat's fur. He felt feverish... instantly, worry gnawed in her stomach.

"O-Oh, dear... the poor thing seems quite sick," Berry murmured, lifting her concerned green gaze to Stormwish's. "T-Tell me, what are his symptoms...? How long has he been like this?"

Seeing Copperpaw, Berryshine briefly touched her tail tip to the young cat's shoulder. "D-Don't worry, I'll take care of him... but would you mind stepping outside? I want to give Greenkit some breathing room," she mewed gently before returning her attention to Stormwish.

[ @CanukiTanuki_Fox - Copperpaw mention ]

Berryshine was quiet, happy to see that Starrypaw had approached on her own volition and was trying to let herself see and smell the scent before her. She gave the young cat an encouraging nod when she came up for fresh air, seeing how much of a struggle this was. Hm... it was even worse than Berryshine had thought. Poor thing... the medic prayed that she'd be able to help her.

At Starrypaw's comment regarding the mouse's tastiness, she let out a faint mrrow of amusement at the complaint, eyes creased in sympathy. "I-It's alright, we all have our favorite prey... not everyone likes mouse." The medic's eyes flitted between the prey and the apprentice, speaking softly. "However... i-it's often a starter prey we give to kits, once they graduate f-from milk to fresh-kill. Light and easy o-on the stomach, with a mild taste. I think if we're going to start you out with getting more used to being around blood... g-getting used to eating something like this should help, hm?"

Berryshine glanced at Starrypaw once more, noting the she-cat's clear discomfort. She rested a comforting tail tip on the gray-and-white shoulder, giving a soft smile. "I-I know, this might be difficult... but we can take our time. Perhaps y-you can try simply tasting it, hm? Just touching your tongue to it... perhaps t-that'll wake up some of your instincts to help," the molly reasoned, hoping she was correct. Cats were made to eat prey, after all. Poor Starrypaw's case was a unique one, but noticing how frail she'd gotten over leaf-bare, Berryshine was quite determined to figure it out.

Berryshine had been busy reorganizing her herb stores when she heard a soft voice squeak out her name. Oh! Turning around, the medicine cat went to greet the cat, before her eyes inevitably were drawn to Spiderpaw's swollen maw.

"O-Oh, dear! You poor thing... t-that looks like it stings," she gasped, hurrying over to peer at Spiderpaw. Without having to look too close, she could tell it was infection; the sight, the smell, the swelling... quickly, Berryshine used her tail to guide Spiderpaw to an open nest, a plush one with fresh moss. "P-Please, sit, and let me take a look... c-can you tell me what caused this?" The medic asked gently, eyes flitting between the apprentice and her herbs as she began to rummage through. Borage, borage, borage, where are you....

**namen_roodles** · #**2834** April 4th, 2025, 02:20 PM

Spiderpaw

Riverclan apprentice - 6 moons - Lanky, amber eyed, blue-grey tabby she-cat with white paws, chin, and tail tip.
(Purrks: Heightened perception: SMELL)
~~~
Spiderpaw's ears drooped as she sat in the comfortable nest Berryshine guided her too. How worried the medicine cat sounded! Oh, why did she have to make her worry? The apprentice wished she could disappear into the bedding. Why did she have to get hurt? Why did it have to get worse and put her right here where she wanted to avoid being?

"It-" Spiderpaw winced, which didn't help the stinging in her muzzle. She needed to steel herself! The blue-grey tabby tried to make her face more relaxed so she didn't seem to be in as much pain. "It was a few days ago... Papa and I went to lionsbeach so he could teach me a little bit about hunting..." The more she talked, the more her muzzle burned, but she refused to let it stop her. It wasn't as bad as when she was trying to bite into that minnow, earlier.

"I tried to catch a crab... but it wasn't as easy as I thought... and it turned around and pinched my lip and nose..." Spiderpaw explained, taking moments of pause so that she could relax the stinging lip. She fought the urge to hide her face so that Berryshine could get as close of a look as she needed to.

"I'm sorry..." Spiderpaw mumbled, feeling the need to apologize. She wasn't sure what she was most sorry for: Not going to Berryshine before it got worse, letting it get worse, being hurt in the first place, or having to bother the busy medicine cat at all. She supposed they were all connected and decided she was equally sorry for all parts.

@squidz

**Dreamheart** · #**2835** April 4th, 2025, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by squidz

Berryshine had been briefly out for her midday meal, but was alerted by the sound of a shrieked voice echoing from the medicine den. At once she sprang up, hurrying over to investigate.

Worried, the medicine cat padded in, seeing a kit being laid into one of her freshly cleaned nests. Letting out a trill to announce her presence, she padded over at once to the other side of Greenkit on the nest, gently sniffing the young cat's fur. He felt feverish... instantly, worry gnawed in her stomach.

"O-Oh, dear... the poor thing seems quite sick," Berry murmured, lifting her concerned green gaze to Stormwish's. "T-Tell me, what are his symptoms...? How long has he been like this?"

Seeing Copperpaw, Berryshine briefly touched her tail tip to the young cat's shoulder. "D-Don't worry, I'll take care of him... but would you mind stepping outside? I want to give Greenkit some breathing room," she mewed gently before returning her attention to Stormwish.

[CENTER][ @CanukiTanuki_Fox - Copperpaw mention ]

Stormwish shook their head. "He just suddenly started coughing and wheezing, and then passed out as I took him here! He's always sickly, but he doesn't done this before." The non-binary queen licked Copperpaw's ears. "Go outside, sweetheart. He'll be fine." Once their kit had left, Storm turned right back to Berryshine. "Is my baby gonna be okay? Oh, my little Greenkit.." The teardrop patterned queen fretted.

@Lizardclaw [Greenkit]
@CanukiTanuki_Fox [Copperpaw]

**Wingnettle** · #**2836** April 5th, 2025, 05:07 AM

Starrypaw
Riverclan | 11 moons
Mind Reader, Lucky Duck 3

I'm so lucky to have Berryshine help me through this. I don't want to let her down. She thought as the medicine cat explained to her the frequent use of mice amongst kittens. Right... the prey that Mistyshard should have fed me, had she fulfilled her promise... She then realized with sadness, without letting it out loud. She didn't want to upset Berryshine anymore.

"Uhm... okay.." She agreed after a little while, after letting herself sink into the brief memory of the sweet milk she'd received when she still had a mother and a sister. She didn't know what she would give to have her old life back.
Starrypaw closed her nostrils and rasped lightly her tongue against the cut on the mouse's belly, waited a few seconds, and then took it back in her mouth. A mixture of incredibly different, various emotions hit her all at once.

There was a nauseous feeling that almost made her dizzy, there was something that told her instinctively that the prey tasted old, something earthy about the taste, and there was something else that pushed her to go on forward. "It's..." She searched for the right words. "...weird. I think."

She didn't know if she could do it, but she had to insist. Insist, go on, until you can do it. That's what she ought to do, she knew it.
Maybe I can... take a little morsel with my eyes closed..? She wondered thoughtfully, sitting down to allow herself to rest her mind for a little bit.

This was going to take a while.

@squidz (Shall we time-jump forward after that she's learning to gradually eat land-prey and see blood on a real cat?)

**Seamrog** · #**2837** April 5th, 2025, 06:04 AM

Falconfire

69 Moons | She/Her | No purrks

RiverClan Warrior

"I may look calm but in my head I’ve already killed you three times."

Falconfire awoke early as usual, making her way around camp as she usually did before going out on a hunt. The weather was warming and cats were out enjoying the sun, it was…frustrating? Young cats being young cats, working hard didn’t mean anything to them. She shook her head. These days her list of nuisances was growing, even her old apprentice and friend Duskleaf was on that list. It’s not that she didn’t like him, but whenever she would talk to him, he would go on forever. She’d even started calling him 'the pest', and his friend Sunheart seemed like one of those cats too, he was pest number two to her even with no real reason. If Reedclaw was still alive he’d undoubtedly be on her list of pests as well, as would Leafstream. Everything seemed to annoy her; she even avoided clan meetings because of the instability that had plagued RiverClan for a good chunk of her life, to the point where she didn’t even know for certain who the leader was and wasn’t really interested.

Suddenly a thought came into her head. Illness sometimes did this to cats, didn’t it? It could certainly explain her anger, frustration and impatience that she’d been noticing a lot more recently. She could count on one paw the cats she actually liked these days. As she walked to the exit of camp ready to go hunting, Falconfire decided to turn around and head for the medicine den. Maybe….ugghhhh stars-damn it! What was the medicine cat’s name again?! She remembered Fadingstar saying the medicine cat’s name at the last meeting she actually payed attention to. Well, maybe she could help her. Entering the den, Falconfire gave a respectful nod as she sat down. "Berry-uhhhh…." Berryshine! That was it! "Berryshine, could you help me with something?" She let out a sigh before continuing. "I’ve noticed I’ve been getting a lot angrier recently, I find it hard walking past the river without wanting to throw someone in it. I heard somewhere illness can do that, so, I came here." Falconfire then fell silent; saying too much could be incredibly annoying to a lot of cats, the last thing she thought of herself as was a pest. So that’s all she would say.

@squidz also @korok don’t mind Falconfire being a grumpy old lady and calling Sunheart a pest LOL

**sylvia26** · #**2838** April 5th, 2025, 12:39 PM

~~~ frostkit just sits there, seeing nothing but light and darkness...though she isn't sure what that is, his whiskers twitch when she feels a small wave of wind against her face, but she doesn't s e e anything. she huffs. "I don't know..." she turns her head towards the sound of the medicine cat's voice. "i hear you though..." her eyes didn't blink at the wave of air, but her whiskers twitched. ~~~

@squidz @BlowingBubbles

**kailie** · #**2839** April 5th, 2025, 12:51 PM

Primroseadder touched her nose to her friend's ear. "Thank ya, Berry. Your support means a lot ta me."

[ @squidz ]

**Shystar** · #**2840** Yesterday, 04:05 PM

Pearlshine lay on her side panting as another contraction washed over her. @Moondew @Sunstreak @namen_roodles @squidz