Mourning Ruins

[Spiderfrost]

@Moon Lily
@Arie

Originally Posted by Arie

-- @Spiderfrost --

Breezefeather somehow managed to not hear the hunting of mice, being too occupied studying the female cat in front of him. Daisybloom it was... Hmmm. "I'm Breezefeather. Windclan warrior... The last time I was aware of it, that is." He looked out the water barn before nodding at her words. "That sounds good, I can help with that." But that was when the word mice was repeated in his head. She didn't seriously mean that he, the depressed cat with a serious fear of mice was supposed to ahead and catch those fickle creatures? Oh apparently she did. Moving out of the barn, he hoped she was following. He looked up his head tilting back as he let out a heavy sigh, he was not able to see the sky... There was so much undergrowth and the ground here... He lifted his foot and snarled with immense frustration as when he placed it back it sank down to where it'd been before. How the living hells was he supposed to hunt on this ground? How was he supposed to do anything properly that was the main question. So he sat down on his haunches, and smelled out the mice. He was absolutely terrified but he had to prove that Windclan was not all weak... Well it all depended if he saw the mouse or not... Maybe if he just imagined it was bigger, like rat, maybe the fear would go away... Yes that was his plan.
So he sat there and then slowly started walking towards where the smell was. Luck was not on his side because as soon as the thin grey tom turned the corner they were there. All 4 faces looking up at him. He was going to pass out... He turned his tail and raced away, lifting his feet strangely like a stag trying to just put as much space between himself and horrible horrible small little critters. It worked... Somewhat. He saw Daisybloom and tried to change his direction towards her. He ran towards her, and then past her as he crashed into a tree, and promptly passed out just by her paws.

Before Daisybloom could answer Irispaw, Heathernose took her away and she was off calling for any more Windclan cats in need of aid. She waved her tail when she caught the medicine cats attention and assured her she was fine and that the tome appeared to be more aware now.

Turning back to who she now knew as Breezefeather the she-cat nodded.

"Thank you, just don't push yourself, ok?" she asked as she followed him out of the barn and became the unfortunate witness of his awkward paw steps on the loamy earth of the pine forest, her own foot falls just about silent compared to his. She hid an amused expression as she watch him furrow his brow and scent for prey. The warrior left him too it and didn't go too far and began a delicate process of scrapping good sized chunks of moss for absorbing water for the exhausted cats.

Daisybloom had barely started on her second before the sound of panicking paw steps swiftly closed in on her. In surprise, she barely registered Breezefeather scampering past her and then promptly knocking himself out by face planting into a tree.

Daisybloom looked at the warriors prone body for a good minute. Her mind couldn't quite register what it was she had just witnessed. The Shadowclanner blinked. Then she blinked again for good measure and the warriors body was still just laying there. It finally clicked and Daisy shot up and scampered over to the fallen cat.

"Oh stars! Are you ok, what happened?" She fretted as she nosed at his side in concern. Looking up at his face, the she-cat was greeted with the expression of a cat that was out for the count. And then she couldn't hold it in anymore and snorted before a giggle broke out, her body shook.

"Oh spirits, that was ridiculous to silly tom!" she mused to the unconcious body. "What in the world am I going to do with you?" she said more to herself. Shaking her head, Daisybloom supposed she shouldn't leave the poor guy outside like this and wriggled herself under him and lifted. The she cat was surprised how light he was, but Windclan cats always seemed like a stiff breeze could knock them to the ground on a good day.

"Breezefeather, you should maybe eat more..." she hummed to herself as she carried the tom back inside the barn and lay him back into the nest by the door. She looked down at him and huffed another small laugh before turning to go back to gathering her moss.

_______________

Several minutes later and one mouse hunt after the calico dropped a wet ball of moss off beside Breezefeather with a mouse for him to eat later--Still oblivious to what had cause him to run into the tree in the first place.

She then joined Irispaw again with a good pile of moss to soak in water for the cats too weak to move.

[dionysus]

@Moon Lily
Heathernose sighed wearily but dipped her head in response to Irispaw’s gratitude. The warrior let out her own rueful mrow or laughter and offered, “you know something, Irispaw, I don’t think anyone does.” Maybe it was exhaustion after the days events or the emotional strain had pushed her toward the brink of insanity, but Heathernose actually started to laugh. She didn’t laugh loudly or boisterously, it was more a breathy exhale, but it was still laughter. The molly shook her head and gave Irispaw a warm smile, pulling herself together, “well, I haven’t seen you in action much since I’m not in your clan, but if I t means anything, I’d say you seem to be where you belong.” Heathernose could sense a deeper agitation in the young cat, which might have had something to do with the lone of cats awaiting her healing, but Heather didn’t think so; even if Irispaw didn’t need any reassurance, it never hurt to offer kind words to someone else. In fact, Heathernose’s kindness was actually rather selfish. She used the gift of kindness as a crutch; each time her emotional state deteriorated, Heathernose built herself back up through compliments and reassurances. She helped other cats and, for some reason, felt better herself. At least better enough to continue to ignore the unhealthiness of her drive to always be of use and be kind.
Heathernose pulled back from her thoughts as Irispaw spoke again and the warrior nodded as she listened. She watched Irispaw scramble up the hay and sat down to the side to listen. The announcement seemed authoritative and confident to Heathernose and she was sure the injured would organize themselves accordingly.

[Moonraven]

Batglare, after watching the youngsters carefully lifted his head from the uncomfortable bedding as he heard Irispaw's call. Gathing his tremendous weight underneath him, Batglare wandered over to where the apprentice stood. "I need my shoulder looked at." The irritable tom called out, already moving to rest on his belly because he was certain that the runty medicine cat wouldn't be able to reach the puncture without standing on another cat back. The brown and white coon cat had cleaned up the wound as best he could and it wasn't too deep. He glanced at Heathernose and then went back to watching Elderpaw and Boulderkit while waiting for Irispaw to do her stuff. He did notice Deadpool's return although the chimera seemed to be keeping to herself. "Will keep me from doing normal activities?" He asked in that gruff tone of his without looking at Irispaw. He still had Elderpaw to train and would like to help keep his clan from falling apart.
@Moon Lily

[The Cannibal]

@implimm

Boulderkit watched the apprentice with wonder, his eyes big as he took in the absolute concentration she seemed to have while turning the sheet of moss into a ball they could play with. He watched her paws working, peering closer because he thought it would help him commit it to memory so next time maybe he could make the ball. It looked pretty hard with how much Elderpaw was concentrating on it... But she made it!
Eyes brightening in excitement, the gray, brown and white kit quickly scrambled backwards, turning in a circle with a small hop. They could play moss ball now!

As the ball of moss was flung to him, he would leap into the air, wrapping both of his big kitten paws around it and landing on his side with a huff, giving it a few kicks for good measure before flinging it back to the apprentice with a good amount of umph. "I like this moss ball better than the one the nursery!" He would mew to her as he scrambled back to his paws, ready to catch it again, his skinny kit tail flicking and twitching with the excitement of playing.

[chaton]

- @Moon Lily -

Rookflight had forced herself awake at Irispaw's call for healing. She was unsure of how she missed the first call, but that wasn't as important as actually just getting help. Eventually making her way to the haystack where the medicine cat resided, the dark molly once again sat to rest. "Hello, Irispaw. There's a gash on my side, but I'm not so sure on how bad it actually is... I've felt a bit weak, unable to move well, so I'd like to have it checked just to be safe." She hadn't wanted to die so young, so having the option of treatment was quite the relieving thought to her. Rook could wait if other cats needed more urgent treatment, but she'd hoped to be able to get back to normal status soon.

[Arie]

Originally Posted by Spiderfrost

@Moon Lily
@Arie




Before Daisybloom could answer Irispaw, Heathernose took her away and she was off calling for any more Windclan cats in need of aid. She waved her tail when she caught the medicine cats attention and assured her she was fine and that the tome appeared to be more aware now.

Turning back to who she now knew as Breezefeather the she-cat nodded.

"Thank you, just don't push yourself, ok?" she asked as she followed him out of the barn and became the unfortunate witness of his awkward paw steps on the loamy earth of the pine forest, her own foot falls just about silent compared to his. She hid an amused expression as she watch him furrow his brow and scent for prey. The warrior left him too it and didn't go too far and began a delicate process of scrapping good sized chunks of moss for absorbing water for the exhausted cats.

Daisybloom had barely started on her second before the sound of panicking paw steps swiftly closed in on her. In surprise, she barely registered Breezefeather scampering past her and then promptly knocking himself out by face planting into a tree.

Daisybloom looked at the warriors prone body for a good minute. Her mind couldn't quite register what it was she had just witnessed. The Shadowclanner blinked. Then she blinked again for good measure and the warriors body was still just laying there. It finally clicked and Daisy shot up and scampered over to the fallen cat.

"Oh stars! Are you ok, what happened?" She fretted as she nosed at his side in concern. Looking up at his face, the she-cat was greeted with the expression of a cat that was out for the count. And then she couldn't hold it in anymore and snorted before a giggle broke out, her body shook.

"Oh spirits, that was ridiculous to silly tom!" she mused to the unconcious body. "What in the world am I going to do with you?" she said more to herself. Shaking her head, Daisybloom supposed she shouldn't leave the poor guy outside like this and wriggled herself under him and lifted. The she cat was surprised how light he was, but Windclan cats always seemed like a stiff breeze could knock them to the ground on a good day.

"Breezefeather, you should maybe eat more..." she hummed to herself as she carried the tom back inside the barn and lay him back into the nest by the door. She looked down at him and huffed another small laugh before turning to go back to gathering her moss.

_______________

Several minutes later and one mouse hunt after the calico dropped a wet ball of moss off beside Breezefeather with a mouse for him to eat later--Still oblivious to what had cause him to run into the tree in the first place.

She then joined Irispaw again with a good pile of moss to soak in water for the cats too weak to move.

Breezefeather woke with a shock. As he lay there, eyes closed, he couldn't recall at first what had happened... Why was he in a nest? Hmph. Then all of a sudden it came back to him, he remembered the horrid mice and his stupid decision thinking he could go out mouse hunting! Why. Why was he so stupid. These moments as he sat there and asked himself these questions, was answered by a pulse of the void... It made him aware that this horrible horrible thing, something worse than even the mice was still just lingering beneath his fur, ready to strike his mind with a single attack. That was what made the silver tom open his eyes to the dim light of the waterbarn. And he promptly shut them again... There was a mouse... A mouse. A MOUSE, lying just in front of him. Who would be so stupid to put a mouse just right in front of his face... Mhm. He knew it wouldn't be one of his clanmates cause most knew better, but that ruled out all... Except for Daisy. The shadowclan cat who'd suggested they went hunting mice. He couldn't totally fault her for that, but he was still terrified of opening his eyes. So he did the best he could and closed his eyes, unaware that he was being watched, and reached a paw out to flick the mouse away. With that he opened up his green eyes yet again and let out a relieved sigh. He'd managed to push the mouse out of sight and he could comfortable curl up in his nest again. His head did hurt but not as much as his fear of that mouse. And so he looked around on the clan again before burrowing his nose between his paws and rubbing it. He missed his old nest that smelled off him.. Yet as soon as his thoughts began to drift he refocused his eyes on Daisybloom, trying his hardest not to open a door way that the void could walk through. He hoped she hadn't seen him struggle with the mouse, but that was highly unlikely as he caught her eye.

[Doom]

Coldsong was reluctant to approach Irispaw, but his injury was becoming hard to ignore...

He didn't think it could be life-threatening, but looking back at his own tail, what used to be teeth marks had grown into something worse. Coldsong's once beautiful fluffy tail now looked more like rat's tail, all red and no longer fluffy. He didn't think the bite would become infected without treatment, it didn't even hurt that bad until recently.

But now there was a new problem...he couldn't move it.

"Um..." Coldsong cleared his throat, "When you have the time, could you, um, look at my tail? I...think it's infected." Thought was an understatement. It was clearly infected – limp, crooked, and black in some parts.

@Moon Lily [coldsong will have to lose his tail, otherwise the infection will spread!]

[RedHead]

@shortstack

Scorchpaw made his way to the Waterbarn, ears flicking in interest as he spotted the many long-legged cats within it, all lounging around on the hay bales. He'd come here after a training session, intent on finding out how bad off the Windclan cats were. And as he glanced around, he noticed they didn't seem to be in the best of spirits.
Scorchpaw ducked behind a hay bale, padding around the edge of the waterbarn, unsure if he was supposed to be here or not. But he was curious, plus he wanted to talk to some of the Windclanners. Maybe he could help in some way. As he was making his way behind the haybales, he leaped up onto a small one, scanning the area before he spotted a smaller she-cat hanging around near the bottom of the haybale he was on. "Hey. How are you?" He called down to the cat, putting a friendly smile on his face.

[Moon Lily]

[ @Beau ]

Irispaw felt her eyes widen at the molly's laugh, orbs flashing with amusement. It wasn't too long before she felt a smile crack through her maw, and a ticklish feeling build up in her throat. Bursting out in a little laugh herself, she giggled, nodding vigorously.
"Seems like it at this point! Starclan save us!" She huffed with laughter, trying to get her breath back. She hadn't laughed in a while. A few years, possibly. Her lungs weren't strong enough to do so, and there really wasn't any reason to, in her situation. But, she did. And it felt good. She hoped Windclan could get their home back. They seemed to deserve it. It wasn't everyday you met a clan of pleasant cats! She was taken away by her next words. Her? In the right place? She'd dipped her head.
"Thank you. I needed that." She mewed, eyebrows curved happily.

She looked down at the gathering group of cats that still awaited healing. Great Starclan! There were a lot. She clumsily hopped from the haystacks, landing anything but gracefully on the ground. Well. This would take a while.

[ @Spiderfrost @Arie ]

Irispaw stalked over to the two cats, admiring Daisybloom's handiwork. The tom seemed a bit flustered, but he would be fine. She turned to her herb storage, looking for the small black poppy seeds. That would help with distress, right? Well, Thunderhowl, time to trust my gut. Turning to Daisybloom and the tom, she dropped some poppy seeds at his feet, smiling gently. Looking between Daisybloom and the grey-furred tom, she paused for a moment. He looked a bit banged up.
"So, what happened to you?" She asked, tilting her head. If the tom didn't respond, that was alright, but she was a bit concerned... He looked a bit bruised. Exchanging a glance with Daisybloom, she shook her head.

Dipping more moss into the water with Daisybloom, she smiled at the she-cat. "Thank you so much! You've been so helpful."

[ @Moonraven ]

Irispaw padded over to the fluffy tom, her pawsteps careful. She didn't want to bump into anyone in this crowded space. She noted his gesture, happy that at least somecat acknowledged her size. Or, at least, that's what she hoped. Perhaps it was just more comfortable. Oh well. Stopping at her first patient, she nodded to his shoulder. It looked like a bitemark. She looked up at him, composed and hopefully calmer than she had been.
"So, did you get bitten by a coyote, or is there some grump that I should know about?" She mewed, narrowing her eyes at the puncture wound. She placed some marigold in her mouth, chewing it heartily. Licking it into the puncture, she stuck cobwebs into it, trying not to look at the deep wound. Stepping back, she almost laughed at the tom's question.
"Of course not! You need a few days rest, and then you can. It's not like you have much choice here anyway." She exclaimed.

[ @starshooter ]

Irispaw smiled softly at the she-cat, eyeing the gash. Starclan! It was deep. Not the deepest she'd seen, but it was close. She would have to use quite a bit of marigold, and some dandelion, in this situation. Would she even have enough cobwebs?? If she ran out of marigold now, there would be trouble.
"Yeesh- you should have come earlier! How did you get it?" She asked, chewing more marigold. She licked it into the wound, feeling blood on her tongue. She winced at the taste of it, but licked until it had been absorbed along with the dandelion. Plastering cobwebs over it, she nodded stiffly.
"Don't go around doing anything stupid."

[ @Fae ]

She tottered over to the last patient, a bundle of herbs in her mouth. She looked at his tail once, and almost threw up. It was super infected. How could it get like that in a few days?? She looked at it some more, glancing at the tom with concern. This wouldn't come lightly.

"Your tail will have to be..." She couldn't finish the sentense, she made a slicing movement with her paw. Hopefully he'd understand that.

[Doom]

Coldsong blinked. Wait. It would have to be removed?!

"You're joking me, right?" He chuckled nervously, shaking his head. "It's not that bad! I mean, it happened before the coyote invasion and I didn't get it treated because it didn't hurt all too much, but..." he looked down at his tail, swallowing hard as his throat tightened. "I mean...yeah, I can't move it at all and it looks absolutely hideous, but come on! Surely there's a herb you can give me to stop the infection and get the movement back? I don't actually have to lose my tail...do I?"

The warrior's eyes glittered desperately, hoping Irispaw wasn't serious.

@Moon Lily