ShadowClan Medicine Cat's Den - Page 56

**Pitou** · #**551** July 11th, 2022, 10:51 PM

**Elmshadow**

The herbal scents of the den were becoming familiar to the newest medicine cat in the clans. It'd been over a moon now since he'd earned the rank and things were beginning to fall more into place for him. There were still herbs in his stores that he didn't know the use of and hadn't had the opportunity to test them out. The purple stalk flowers with the strong aromatic smell were beginning to crumble, making a mess of the storage area. While he decided they still may have some use in something like rubbing on the dead to quell the stench, these ones needed to be replaced ( -2 lavender ). The root, too, was now shriveled and, though Elmshadow didn't know what it was he couldn't imagine a use for a tough shriveled stick ( -1 tormentil ).

***Undertaker*** · #**552** July 16th, 2022, 09:53 PM

@Ravensong @AshCloud67 @TheNyanCatMinecart [Nyan I'm just mentioning you cause Ivy's a med cat. You don't have to reply if you don't wanna.]
The mountain of a cat actually felt a little tired as she moved with extra care climbing down the incline that led into the clearing. Her jaw was killing her, and she felt like she might have some sort of cramp in one of her shoulders, but it felt like she had good work out so she couldn't complain all that much. After descending to the bottom of the gorge, she immediately made her way over to Elmshadow's den with two whinings, squirming, newborns trapped within her maw. Their mother was slumped over the leader's broad back, adding to Dawnstar's troubles.

Finding the nearest and cleanest nest, Dawnstar set the newborns down there and then had to actually move into mimicry of a crouch to make sure that Robinscratch didn't slide or fall off her back. Dawnstar wasn't used to caring for or carrying cats on her back, so trying to walk without jostling the kits and queens had been a new challenge for her, but she felt like she had done a pretty good job all in all. "Elmshadow, Ivysnake, one of you come over here and check on Robinscratch and her kits, she kitted in the middle of the forest." Dawnstar hissed while leaning over her shoulder to try and help Robinscratch off her back without dropping the third kit she carried.

**Weekend-Wondering** · #**553** July 19th, 2022, 09:48 AM

Hopekit crawled into the medicine, with the small wound on her nose. She looked around, with her usual bored, somewhat angry expression. It had been cut on a thorn, though she had managed to take it out on her own.
“Elmshadow? My nose.” she muttered. @Ravensong

**Pitou** · #**554** July 19th, 2022, 12:59 PM

**Elmshadow**

@AshCloud67

There was little stealth in the sounds of the cats entering his den, triggering his intrigue. He turned the corner to see Dawnstar settling Robinscratch and a litter of kits into a clean nest. Elmshadow padded over to first grab the kit from Robinscratch’s mouth in order to lower it down with its presumed siblings before using a shoulder to help Dawnstar ease the queen into the nest. ”Kitted in the forest?” Without waiting for a response, Elmshadow turned towards the entrance of his den to collect a ball of moss. As he turned to soak the moss in water, he turned instead to his herb supplies. He wasn’t sure if poppy seeds would be good for a queen with new kits. There was the risk factor of shock, especially with such a tumultuous kitting, but a poppy seed caused drowsiness which could put the kits at risk. He knew she’d need hydration after such exertion. An idea crossed his mind that he figured couldn’t harm her. He twisted the moss over a honeycomb, covering the moss in sweet, sticky honey. He figured at worst it’d make the water more appealing and encourage her to drink more. He took the honeyed moss ball to the water to soak it before padding back to the queen and set the moss in front of her. With the queen hydrating, he moved to the kits, sniffing over each one as he nudged then closer into Robinscratch’s belly to encourage them to begin nursing.

**Elmshadow**

@TheNyanCatMinecart [Feel free to respond or not]

The tinny, young voice rang clearly enough through the medicine cat’s den. Elmshadow’s green eyes switched to the den’s entrance, making out the shape of a kit. He rose to his paws, dipping down into a deep stretch before taking long, measured steps up to Hopekit. He looked over the kit quickly, the cut on her nose standing out as a distinct red line. ”What happened?”

He didn’t see any foreign matter in the cut but he leaned closer to the kit to clean it out just in case. The cut wasn’t large enough to be bleeding much at all and he figured infection was a low risk; however, excessive licking could delay healing. A cut on the nose was too convenient to lick, especially for a kit. He turned away from Hopekit and padded back to his stores of herbs and sat down for a moment. He cocked his head as a thought crossed his mind. He’d recently found that bitter tasting plant; he couldn’t be sure it’s full effects so it wasn’t sure he wanted to use it in a kit first but it seemed the perfect opportunity to test it. He knew it’d likely do what he wanted it for and he wasn’t concerned about it being deadly as he’d tested it on himself to some degree. He made up his mind and bit off a piece of one of the roots. He chewed it as he returned to Hopekit, the bitter taste flowing his senses before he spat it into his paw as a sticky poultice. ”Hold still. This is mostly just to deter you from licking. Keep it out of your mouth or you’ll get an unpleasant taste,” he warned as he spread the poultice over the kit’s cut nose.
[Elmshadow doesn’t know what all burdock root does other than taste bitter but it also has numbing qualities and can cause a bellyache if too much is eaten. It’d be appreciated if Hopekit makes some comment about it being numb or the pain going away? Also if you wanted her to lick it too much and end up getting a bellyache, that’s up to you]
[ -1 burdock root ]

**gravekeeper.** · #**555** July 20th, 2022, 07:32 AM

@Ravensong @Undertaker
Robinscratch began to lap up the water in the moss laid out by Elmshadow, encouraged by the sweet taste of honey and well, she was thirsty. She curled her tail over her kits as she drank. “When will I be able to head into the nursery?” Robinscratch sighed after she finished drinking.

**Pitou** · #**556** July 23rd, 2022, 12:34 PM

**Elmshadow**

It had seemed kitting in the forest had done little other than exhaust the she-cat. There was surely plenty of dangers in that alone but she had made it here and seemed already to be livening up some. The kits didn’t appear too worse for the wear though he’d keep an eye on them for any signs of developing greenleaf cough from being exposed to the elements and early life stressors.

While Robinscratch drank and tended to her new kits, Elmshadow left the den to retrieve some prey. Dropping the mouse in front of Robinscratch, he considered her question. ”As long as Dawnstar is finished with you, you can go to the nursery as soon as you’re strong enough to carry yourself, and your kits, there.”

**Pitou** · #**557** July 23rd, 2022, 01:40 PM

**Elmshadow & Sunsetpaw**

After leaving Dawnstar’s den, Sunsetpaw felt as though her legs wouldn’t carry her any further, nearly buckling as soon as the fresh air of the clearing washed over her. The wounds in her back leg and shoulders, the deep pain in her back and chest with each breath she took, but most pressing of all, the heaviness of loss constricting her heart. Her mother was dead, her sisters were out in the forest with only their uncle, and it was all her fault; Dawnstar had said it herself, hadn’t she? Sunsetpaw hadn’t missed the leader’s comment about her being the cause of Goldenstep’s death. The pain pierced her heart and labored her breathing deeper than the bruised ribs ever could’ve. Thoughtlessly, Sunsetpaw followed her father down into his own den, dropping herself into a nest at his beckoning.

With his daughter now safely in a nest, Elmshadow turned toward the back of the den. Grabbing marigold and cobwebs, he returned to the too-old apprentice. He didn’t meet her eyes and she didn’t look to meet his as he cleaned out her various puncture wounds, chewed the marigold to a pulp to spread over the raw injuries, then applied a layer of cobwebs to hold it all in place. The image of Goldenstep’s body lying, bloodied, on the forest floor filled his mind. He couldn’t stifle the intrusive thought as he patched his daughter’s golden pelt, wishing it had been Goldenstep’s.

As he finished, he opened his mouth to say something but realized there was nothing to say. His mate was dead, he and his daughter had both walked in on the aftermath. He was aware how the sight would inevitably affect the young she-cat but nothing he said would change that. ”Come back if it seems to be getting worse, but you’re free to go.”

Sunsetpaw wasn’t sure what she’d been hoping for, what she’d wanted her father to say, she had no plans to strike up a conversation either, but when he simply gave her instructions then turned away she felt a coldness spread through her, hardening her heart. She rose to her paws, shaky but resolute. If he doesn’t care to talk ti his daughter even after all that then I don’t need a father. She hadn’t had much of one so far anyway but, after leaving the rest of her family Maybe there was a part of her that thought maybe, maybe things could be different. She now saw she returned to the same cold father she’d left. Taking in a deep breath, she marched out of the medicine cat den. She still respected Elmshadow as her clan’s medicine cat but nothing more.

**gravekeeper.** · #**558** July 26th, 2022, 05:31 AM

Robinscratch nodded. I wonder what the kits will grow up to be, she thought curiously. She gazed lovingly at the three kits near her belly. They were two she-kits and one tom. Two of them were black, like their father, and one was a tortoiseshell. She named the black she-kit Moonkit. The black tom was named Pinekit and Robinscratch named the tortoiseshell Skykit.
@Wingnettle @Ravensong @Starlily

**Wingnettle** · #**559** July 26th, 2022, 05:58 AM

Eyes closed, the first things Moonkit sensed were the sweet scent of milk, the soft, warm fur of her mother's belly and the strong mews of her siblings. Within her first drink of milk, life and strenght flowed through her.
@AshCloud67 @Ravensong @Starlily

**Weekend-Wondering** · #**560** July 29th, 2022, 03:15 PM

Hopekit’s eyes flew open, and she
jerked her head back once Elmshadow
had finished the burdock root. A small sting
arose, and she flung her paw onto the wound.
But right before her paw hit the bridge
of her nose, the pain slowly began
to fade… though very slowly.
“’EY WHAT IS THA- Oh.”
She took her paw off her muzzle,
and looked up at Elmshadow. She
suddenly seemed to remember that
the Tom was now medicine cat of ShadowClan,
and he needed to be treated with respect.
“My apologies for yelling,
Elmshadow.”
She meowed, and dipped her head.
“Anyway… this stuff feels nice after a few moments- what is it called?”
She glanced at the used herb, and back at Elmshadow, curiously.
@Ravensong