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mind reader - [ active ] | agatha kitty - [ active ]
Yawning as he led the small patrol of three up the path that led to the newest addition of RiverClan territory, Sunlit Shadows as Owlstar had decreed it, the deputy had to admit he did like the nice breeze the ocean brought so early in the day. After all, once dawn finished breaking and the sun started to bake, they would be grateful for the coolness of the ocean’s spray.
Turning to face his companions once they reached the tattered lighthouse, he gave a small nod. ”We’re here. No sign of twoleg activity as far as we were able to tell last time, but there seemed to be plenty of herbs about. Prey too.” He mewed with a happy blink before focusing on Berryshine. ”You know I’m not very good with herb…stuff, so I figured we can let you take a look and help bring anything back if you need it.” Sunheart explained sheepishly. He did feel bad that he didn’t know more about herbs despite being a warrior, but he supposed that wasn’t necessarily his job. Though, maybe he’d ask her to teach him some stuff one day just in case.
Now turning his pale green gaze to Eaglewing, he began giving instructions. ”Just in case, please scout out the area again a bit and make sure there’s nothing that we shouldn’t be aware of. We’ve only been out here once or twice, and the safety of the clan is of upmost importance. Let me know immediately if you find anything.”
Eaglewing
RiverClan Warrior
she/her | 18 moons
[Ginger and white tabby with green eyes and a heavily scarred maw] Purrks: Dreamwalker, Herbal Knowledge T2 Header by @/Marigoldwhisper
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ The Star ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
· · ────────────── · ·
[Sunheart - @korok ] [Berryshine - @squidz ]
· · ────────────── · ·
Eaglewing relished the salty breeze that ruffled her long, feathery fur, whisking away the remnants of sleep that still clung to her. When Sunheart had requested she join him on this patrol, she'd accepted with no hesitation. Early morning patrol to a cool new place? Uh, YEAH?? Her white-socked paws collected the morning dew, freezing her poor paw pads. Better than burning sand in her opinion!
When they arrived, Eaglewing was absolutely flabbergasted by the lighthouse. She'd never seen it before, and dear stars it was bigger than she thought. Twolegs lived in that? Or something? Why? It looked absolutely nothing like the twoleg dens she'd seen at the Caduceus Place. Did they have differently shaped dens? Did they serve different purposes??UGH twolegs were so interesting!!!!
Sunheart's voice broke through her thoughts, and Eaglewing's emerald gaze flicked between the Deputy and Medicine Cat. She wanted to ask if Berryshine would let her look at herbs too, because what if they found a new one? That would be SO cool and Eaglewing would LOVE to be there for it and--but no, she was a warrior, she couldn't be focused on herbs. ... but maaaayybeeeee she could corner Berryshine and make her talk about herbs with her? Oh my stars what if we can trade knowledge!!! Eaglewing didn't know what Berryshine had been trained in but if she could give the Medicine Cat even ONE more herb she could die happy. Her gaze lingered on the brown molly for a little longer than it should have, memories of Cobwebstorm burning in her throat.
Then Sunheart was giving her an order, and the young warrior nodded with her mouth set in a determined smile. "You got it." She peeled off from the others, bouncing on her toes a little bit in excitement. Oh hell yeah she got to explore AND do an important job? Today was great!!!!
The morning was a pleasant one as Berryshine followed Sunheart and Eaglewing out to the lighthouse. She hadn't yet been here, and definitely took her time to marvel at the dilapidated structure. Twolegs were as daunting as they were intriguing; how did they create this, and when? How could they reach so far into the sky, if they had no wings?
Green eyes were wide as she gazed around, fascinated, until Sunheart's voice brought her attention back. She returned his warm blink with a little smile and nod; that was thoughtful of him, and she was more than grateful for the consideration of the deputy.
"A-Ah, perfect... that sounds great," she mewed, dipping her head. Though she could carry an obscure amount of herbs, the medicine cat was always grateful for extra paws and noses to help her find the precious plants that made up her work.
The small brown molly's head turned to Eaglewing when Sunheart spoke to her, and her head ran through the same things: memories of Cobwebstorm. Though the medicine cat had yet to speak much with Eaglewing, she still vividly recalled the then-apprentice rejoining RiverClan and being at Cob's side when Stormstar had died. That, on top of remembering the deceased leader, briefly tightened her throat... but Berryshine had gotten a bit better these past few moons at staving off that familiar, cold sense of grief.
It was thankfully washed away by Eaglewing's sunny, enthusiastic attitude — one that made Berryshine smile to herself. No wonder Cobs had liked her; she seemed... pleasant, and kind. Perhaps she could make a point to chat with her.
Then she looked back at Sunheart, briefly brushing her thin pelt by his as she stepped forward to inspect an interesting clump of grasses and wildflowers. "Mm... y-you're right, there's so much growing here." Perhaps the combination of full sun in some areas, and partial shade in others (thanks to the lighthouse's looming form) made way for a variety of plants to grow. "I'll s-start looking over here, then..."
Berryshine was spying plenty of yellow, to no surprise. Goldenrod, dandelion, maybe even some coltsfoot...? Or, no, was celandine, from afar? All of it was yellow. She'd have to get closer to inspect. The scent of a few other things, like lavender and maybe chervil? was on the breeze... it excited her for a moment, wanting to find all this place had to offer.
Not wandering far from the golden bengal, she firstly took her time to scope out the landscape before she'd start plucking away. She'd want to make sure that she left plenty to regrow, after all.
mind reader - [ active ] | agatha kitty - [ active ]
Nodding approvingly at Eaglewing’s eager nature, the rosetted tom purred happily as Berryshine gently brushed passed him, glad to be spending time with his friend. He had been slacking on checking on those close to him. He would be sure to make more of an effort in the future. For now, he’ll enjoy his time.
Following closely behind, the deputy sniffed at a few of the herbs they passed. Not that it made a difference. He only knew what marigold looked like. Sunheart laughed inwardly at the teaching moment with Berryshine, Berrypaw, at the time if he wasn’t mistaken. It’s a good thing he wasn’t RiverClan’s healer, because a lot of these yellow herbs looked the same to him.
Glancing towards the young she-cat, he trotted back up to her side, looking curiously at a nearby patch of herbs. ”See anything useful?”
Eaglewing
RiverClan Warrior
she/her | 18 moons
[Ginger and white tabby with green eyes and a heavily scarred maw] Purrks: Dreamwalker, Herbal Knowledge T2 Header by @/Marigoldwhisper
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ The Star ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
· · ────────────── · ·
[Sunheart - @korok ] [Berryshine - @squidz ]
· · ────────────── · ·
The new territory truly was something. Eaglewing nearly swallowed several bugs as she wandered about with her mouth open in awe. Stars, this might be her new favorite territory! And it definitely didn’t have anything to do with the giant twoleg structure that she really really wanted to take a peek into. But she would almost certainly be denied and besides that was a very childish request, one she should know better than to ask as a warrior. So she kept her thoughts to herself. For now.
On top of being pretty, things were also rather peaceful. It was open to the sky enough to reveal its secrets to her without having to look too hard. One side of the clearing dropped away in a sheer rock face that ended in another, rockier, clearing. She whistled appreciatively, the great distance stretching out beyond the cliff a stunning sight. She could sit here for hours. The sound of clattering rocks caught her attention, and she frowned at its origin. Had she imagined it? She padded over cautiously, peering past some lush herb growth and gasping.
“Sunheart?” Eaglewing called, glancing over her shoulder at the paired up Deputy and Medic. “There’s some unstable ground here.”
Berryshine hummed in thought as she nosed through the plants, happy to see the variety. One in particular, a newer herb that she'd learned, caught her eye — and hopefully, it'd be easier on Sunheart to pick these out among all the yellows. He'd struggled to remember marigold, if she recalled correctly.
"Y-Yes... see this plant here, with the white, clustered flowers shooting out of it? T-That's yarrow," she explained, glancing back at the deputy. "It's one of the newer herbs t-that Shadowedcall taught me. Would you mind g-grabbing some of the leaves for me...? Don't swallow any, though," she added quickly, meeting his light green gaze with an almost sheepish look. "T-They, uh... make you vomit." That was probably not the nicest way to put it, but the most effective. Heh.
The medic had begun plucking off a few for herself when she heard Eaglewing's call. Lifting her head, she glanced between Sunheart and the direction of the warrior's call. "O-Oh... I'll just grab a few more leaves, a-and then head over there. W-Why don't you see what that's about? Oh, and... be careful... b-but you know that, of course," she mewed, her voice turning a bit more wary at the end. Berryshine would want to see where the ground might be shaky as well, so she could both avoid it and be able to warn others. But she took the extra moment to finish up the plant cluster she was working on.
[ +2 yarrow | +2 chervil | getting some herbs in there y'know ]
mind reader - [ active ] | agatha kitty - [ active ]
PLEASE BE ADVISED: this post contains descriptions of a serious injury/blood. Read at your own risk.
Nodding along thoughtfully as Berryshine educated him on herbs, the tom was about to pluck some yarrow leaves when he heard Eaglewing call out to him.
”Unstable ground?” He echoed, expression changing to worried. Nodding at the medicine cat as she told him to go check it out, he signaled to Eaglewing with his tail to take his place and accompany her. ”I’ll take a look.” Sunheart mewed, padding cautiously over to the area the warrior had pointed out.
He paused for a moment. He too could hear the slight clattering of rocks. But…this wasn’t where Eaglewing had pointed him to…it was close, sure, but he hadn’t quite reached it yet. The deputy tensed. Something was wrong.
”Fox dung!” He hissed.
It was too late, the cliffside began to crumble beneath his paws, and the rocky surface provided him nothing to hold on to. Desperately, he tried to scrabble his way back towards his companions, a yowl of shock and distress the only thing he could muster before he felt himself lose all grip.
…
……
Thud.
Silence stretched for a moment as Sunheart struggled in and out of consciousness. How far did he fall? Was he still alive? No! He couldn’t be dead. He had so much left to do! Make sure Owlstar was okay, Blueberry, the kits, the clan. The tom coughed up a thick layer of rocky dust and he forced himself to crane his neck towards where he had fallen. It had been a steep fall, that’s for sure, but not life threatening this time. Or so he hoped.
After a few more coughs, he called out hoarsely. ”Berryshine? Eaglewing?” Despite his best efforts, he voice was tinged with fear. The pain. It didn’t feel right. The pain. It was getting hard to stay conscious. But no. He must. Sunheart tried struggling to his paws, but let out a sharp shriek when he tried to move his left hind leg. Taking a deep breath, he looked back, tears stinging his eyes. Or maybe it was the dust. Everything was becoming a blur. The pain. It was so intense. His whole body felt sore, cuts and bruises littered his frame, but this?
His leg was twisted at an unnatural angle, bloodied and battered. There was no way he would be able to get up on his own. The deputy looked around desperately, still fighting to stay conscious. Was there even a way they could reach him? He didn’t know. It was so hard to see. Everything was dusty and he was unfamiliar with the area. The pain.
He couldn’t do it. Darkness drifted in and out of his vision until he finally succumbed to it, falling unconscious at the cliff’s bottom.
Eaglewing
RiverClan Warrior
she/her | 18 moons
[Ginger and white tabby with green eyes and a heavily scarred maw] Purrks: Dreamwalker, Herbal Knowledge T2 Header by @/Marigoldwhisper
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ The Star ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
· · ────────────── · ·
[Sunheart - @korok ] [Berryshine - @squidz ]
· · ────────────── · ·
Eaglewing wasn't keen on leaving Sunheart close to the edge alone, but she didn't argue. She kept an emerald eye on the Deputy for as long as she could before turning to meet Berryshine, her nervous expression softening instinctively near Cobwebstorm's best friend. "Find anything good?" She chirped, pleased to see the Medicine Cat's mouth already full of herbs.
A curse had the warrior whipping around just in time to see the golden Deputy flung off the cliff, the ground crumbling to dust beneath him. "SUNHEART!" Eaglewing shrieked, bolting to the edge and looking down. Stars, oh stars, she'd killed the Deputy, she'd led him to his doom!! Eaglewing's mind screamed incoherently, panic freezing her muscles and seizing her lungs. But then instinct kicked in.
Eaglewing looked back at Berryshine. "Don't come too fast--We don't know if it'll fall again. Sunheart!" She called to the fallen tom below, unsure if he was even awake to hear her. "Sunheart we're coming!" Eaglewing began scanning the cliff for a way down. "Berryshine, I think his leg might be broken." The twisted, bloody mess was a pretty good indication. "Do we need to stabilize it before we move him?" Her limited experience didn't include broken bones, but she didn't want to bring Sunheart back up--because she was going to drag him back up even if it killed her--and hurt him more if she could help it.
Berryshine was just turning to Eaglewing, unable to verbally answer but giving a happy nod in response to her question. This place seemed so promising already—!
Aaand... she spoke too soon.
The medicine cat's ears heard the crumbling of rock; her eyes were just seconds too late, only seeing a glimpse of gold amongst the rock as it fell down, down, down... her heart seized, body locking up. All at once, it was like time seemed to slow.
No. No, no, that couldn't be... that wasn't—
'SUNHEART!'
Eaglewing's yowl unfortunately proved to Berryshine that what she'd seen had been true; their beloved deputy, and one almost like an older brother to her, had just cascaded down the rocky slope. When Eaglewing was also bolting to the edge, the small brown molly was stumbling forward, momentarily dropping her herbs in order to call out.
"O-Oh, Eaglewing! W-Wait!" What if she fell, too!? Her brain was hardly processing the shock of what just happened, cold dread running down her spine. But to her relief, the warrior was fine. As for Sunheart... stars, she didn't even want to look. Her mind was already filling her with horrifying images of seeing the fun-loving deputy mangled and lifeless on the ground below. Berryshine didn't know if she'd recover from that.
At Eaglewing's warning, the medic slowed down, nodding. Her entire body shook like a leaf as she carefully slunk forward, each pawstep meticulous and wary. Her breathing came in low, shaky gasps as she reeled. Sunheart... oh, StarClan, please don't tell me—
Biting her lip so hard that it might've bled, she was brave enough to sidle right beside the ginger-and-white tabby, peering over. She could see a slumped shape, far below... her heart sank to the grass.
"I—..." At first, she couldn't speak. Her throat had closed up, and Berryshine wasn't sure she was going to be able to choke out anything except a whimper. Sunheart, was he...? She could've sworn she saw the faintest movements, however, or heard his cry. Maybe it was in her head.
First Owlstar with that otter, and now.... was StarClan trying to take both of them away!? Yet more cats she'd have to say goodbye to—?
Broken leg. Those words snapped Berryshine out of her haze, reaching through the ringing in her ears. Oh, stars... right. Right right right. Snap out of it, Berry! He could be alive, and you're just standing there!
Shaking her head roughly, the she-cat took in a deep breath through her nose, focusing. Broken legs, blood, fall... it was hard to see clearly from up here, but she could tell it was bloody, and no doubt that the force of that impact would've done some damage.
"W-We'll need to stem the bleeding," she finally managed, her voice hoarse in shock. "A-And, if we're able, I should fix his leg before w-we move him... otherwise, j-jostling it around will cause him more pain." That seemed reasonable in her mind, as much as it was racing. Trying not to panic, Berryshine swallowed hard, eyes darting around for a safe passage down. A trembling tail flicked towards a gradual slope; a longer way than she would've liked, but they had to be safe. There was no way Berry was going to be able to treat and carry both of them... or even one of them, really. She was kinda small.
"O-Over there, maybe...?" She rasped, her voice low and thin as she tried to keep it together. Stars... that fall wasn't guaranteed to be fatal, but it'd sure looked like it with all those rocks coming down after him. He couldn't die... not now...
One thing she thought to do before going that way, as quickly as she could: clawed up some moss, marigold, and cobwebs. They were going to need it.
[ +2 moss | +2 cobwebs | +2 marigold ]
- - -
Clambering down the rocky slope, one shaky pawstep at a time, felt like it took days instead of only a few minutes. Sunheart was down there, and as much as Berryshine wanted to rush to his side before it was too late, she had to make sure that her and Eaglewing didn't join him as crumpled heaps at the bottom.
Focusing on steady breathing (she could really use some thyme right about now), the medic was finally able to make safe passage to her friend. Racing over, she immediately dropped her herbs and dipped her head to his muzzle, nosing his face. "S-Suheart..." she whispered, desperately trying to see his eyes. They were closed; he looked unconscious, but was he...?
Pressing her ears to his chest and her tail in front of his nose, she paused. Waiting. And then... she could hear the drum of his heartbeat, and feel the brush of his breath on her fur. Thank StarClan...! the she-cat nearly sagged to the ground in relief.
But a moment later, she tensed up again, blood roaring in her ears. He was bleeding, damaged, and no doubt going to be in so much pain when he woke. She sucked up a breath, glancing over at Eaglewing with a distressed expression that was only just able to be focused on her patient.
"E-Eaglewing... I'm going to stop the bleeding as best as I can before I do anything. Cobs said you... y-you knew some stuff, right? Could you help me?" Berryshine's voice shook, but she was otherwise able to function just fine, pawing over one of the chunks of moss to Eaglewing. Even if the warrior couldn't, Berry only had so many paws; she had to do what she could, even for injuries that covered an entire body.
Pressure to the wounds... thankfully, not much was as bad as that leg. Unless any internal injuries were going on, and in that case... she'd unfortunately have to wait for Sunheart to wake up. Her mind was a blur as she chewed up marigold, applying the poultice to where she could to prevent infection. That was another priority for her; if he lived, he was going to be weak and out of commission for awhile. Infection might bring him over the edge.
Finally, smattering cobwebs on whatever might be covered in marigold poultice and bleeding... some of this would no doubt get jostled and fall off as they carried him back, but that was okay. She had more at home. What was important right now was preventing as much damage as possible, and cleaning out his wounds quickly was part of that.
Finally... the leg. Dread filled Berryshine as she turned to face it, shoulders tensing. She'd only done this a few times before. There were some sticks nearby, and of course a good sized stone; she grabbed a few sticks and one of the rocks, returning to Sunheart's unconscious form.
"E-Eaglewing... I'll need your help again." Her expression was grim as she gestured to Sunheart's leg. It was probably a mercy from StarClan that he was out right now. "I-If you could help me hold his leg in place with these sticks, I-I'm going to pop it back in." Berry was setting them up as she spoke — she could just use the extra paws. Her green eyes met Eaglewing's, making sure she was ready before continuing.
Eaglewing
RiverClan Warrior
she/her | 18 moons
[Ginger and white tabby with green eyes and a heavily scarred maw] Purrks: Dreamwalker, Herbal Knowledge T2 Header by @/Marigoldwhisper
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ The Star ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
· · ────────────── · ·
[Sunheart - @/korok ] [Berryshine - @squidz ]
· · ────────────── · ·
Eaglewing nodded as the Medicine Cat described what they should do before moving the Deputy, her eyes following Berryshine's tail to the slope. Could they take that long? Would it be faster to climb down and meet Berryshine there? Anything would be faster than standing here, she decided, and lead the way down.
The rocks disturbed by their pawsteps sent cracking echos through the gorge, instilling the primal fear of falling rocks into the young warrior.
Finally, they were on the ground and racing towards the fallen tom. Eaglewing glanced over his injuries, Nathaniel's voice echoing in her ear. She didn't hesitate when Berryshine asked for her help, rather, her eyes brightened with purpose. "Sure thing." Grabbing some moss, Eaglewing did the best she could to clear debris from Sunheart's wounds. They'd clean them better back at camp, but for now this would have to do. The marigold would hopefully stave off infection long enough. She side-stepped Berryshine as the medic slathered marigold onto his wounds, the warrior placing some leftover cobwebs on the worst of the lacerations.
Berryshine's next request had Eaglewing blanching. She'd dealt with infection, face wounds, burns, even smoke inhalation. But popping a limb back into place? Stars above, what a time to learn! She nodded weakly before placing her dusty white paws on the sticks keeping his upsettingly limp leg in place. "Ready." She confirmed, feeling, actually, not at all ready.
[p] What Can Rise Will Only Fall
Berryshine is RiverClan's medicine cat! 
