In twoleg place, a few days journey away from the clans, lays a calm public park surrounded by idyllic little apartment complexes.
It is a calm little place, safe from dogs who never seem to be free of their twoleg's ropes, and full of birds the strange wrinkled twolegs feed every morning. It is not perfect, it is a fraction the size of the smallest clans territory and the areas surrounding it are harsh pavement and alleys with the only green being the small rare patches in twolegs yards, but it has a small stream and duck pond and that is enough for Nathaniel.
As for the main resident, the aforementioned Nathaniel is a strange one. A scarred cat with no fighting skills. One who uses strange words and has a quiet aching sadness to him beyond his years.
In this park Nathaniel makes his clinic, healing injured outsiders and kittypets who come in and ask with decency. He heals not with twoleg skills, but with strange smelling herbs and methods that nevertheless seem to be effective. Sure this medic snaps at times but with his mate and sometimes helper you can seek healing here for a non clan cat who might not have any other option. If you ask nicely enough, Nathaniel might even teach you a herb or two for your trouble
He doesnt even ask anything in return.
Well..... Nathaniel appreciates any additions made to his herb store by those he's taught herbs to as thanks. And prey for those unable to hunt for themselves is always appreciated even if Nathaniel has food at him home to feed himself.
So welcome to the park, take a load off in the den nestled under the wooden bridge over the stream, and if you need help? Just ask. Just dont expect Nathaniel to sleep there, hes got a nice soft bed in his twolegs home with his mate to get back to at night.
== > @Rani || slightly updated his healing form by the way! he got a few more extra wounds
The Holy Ghost was not sure where he was, nor where he was headed. The Dusk Syndicate had been disbanded, gone, and they weren't.. upset, per say. It had been entertaining while it lasted, short-lived, but it wasn't what they expected. Bumble had sent them in to be slaughtered, what was so bad about being dead? Spirit was dead, long since before the rag-tag group; it just got .. lonely. Boring.
Their pads were beginning to ache, blood having dried on their pelt. An interesting sight to see. A scrawny cat with black, grey, and white fur that seemed to clash together. A mix of longhair tufts and shorthair, silky & coarse fur, mismatched in every way possible. A part of them felt guilty. He had made a break for it the second there was an outing, instead of staying for Rake.. Spirit was genuinely.. fond of the kid. He was sad. Pitiable. That was why, surely.
Having arrived at a pond, he almost collapsed at the bank. Sucking in a deep, sharp inhale as a shudder wracked through his body. Alone with their thoughts and it wasn't fun. Thoughts that screamed at them; against them. They would have freedom, for now, before they returned.
Shuffling over, he made a weak attempt to lap at the cold water. Relishing it in the way it went down his throat before flopping right back down on the bank. They would like to sleep, but the dull pain kept them awake. Maybe that was a good thing, their thoughts didn't get hazy then.
If there was something Nathaniel missed about the disaster of being medicine cat it was the predictability, if not the number of it. Cats came right to his den, they knew to do that and even if he didnt know them by name he knew who they were at least, warrior apprentice or kit and he could deduce how the injuries occurred.
Now he just kind of.... tripped over his patients more often then not. And it was never predictable.
Like today. Nathaniel was out of the clinic wandering the park looking for dandelion the weird grass cutting twolegs had missed and was now tracing the stream back to his under bridge hideaway prize in mouth. It was only three, sure but it was better then nothing and it was rare to find any after the twolegs did their.... thing. Whatever it was fine they were weird and oh my starclan thats a dead body.
WHERE HAD THE DEAD CAT COME FROM!?!? HE WAS GONE FOR ONLY A BIT- oh yeah that'd do it Nathaniel knew full well how much chaos could occur in less time. Ok ok first step deep breaths Rhiannon said he made bad decisions and tended to yell when stressed and it wasnt helpful so calm was key. Then.... Well figure out if the dead body was really dead. The angle he was at, unable to see the face made it hard to tell, especially with all that fur concealing breathing.
Placing his bundle down the tom hesitantly creeped forward, one wary but gentle paw reached out to poke the body as he muttered.
"Please dont be dead. Please dont be dead. Please dont be dead, I cant fix that come on."
@x ghostie (I have the feeling this will be a kinda funny interaction lol)
__________________
Crowtooth is Deputy of Windclan, If he's needed mention me at any time~
Have a kittypet/outsider who needs healing? Vm me!
== > @Rani || heuehuehe yes
It felt unfinished, and he was not .. he did not enjoy leaving these situations unfulfilled. Something ought to be done. They did not even get to play with the Dusk Syndicate - barely trained, and now the Council would have to be informed. Informed how absolute pathetic and a waste of time the whole operation had ended up being.. Spirit frowned, eyes fluttering close. He didn't even get to experiment on any of them.
Pawsteps started to approach them. They hadn't realized at first, all too caught up in their own thoughts of dismay to realize. Aah. He didn't want to fight.. he was tired, and it wasn't going to be any fun. Their last fight hadn't.. that tom had been so mean. Which meant the chimera's instinct was to fall completely limp and hold their breath.
Cats did not tend to like dead bodies.
It was only when he was poked - realizing this gig was up - he let out a huge gasp, amber eyes fluttering open to stare at the stranger. Chest slightly heaving up and down, woosh, shouldn't have held their breath. "..Afraid I am, " Spirit replied in a monotone voice. Eyes closing once more. "..Absolutely dead. Would you mind.. burying me.. perhaps close to a tree.. I would like to become.. one with the roots again.." That sounded nice.
"..What did you mean.. fix?" They asked, one eye opening - shifting to turn towards the stranger. Interest piqued.
.....What? Was this cat in shock or something? Did he think he was dreaming or was this a bad attempt at a joke? It'd better be a joke Nathaniel didnt have the poppyseed to treat the shock but the breathing and talking and moving thing should make it obvious to not take this cats words seriously. Choosing to interpret at as a joke Nathaniel gave an awkward chuckle he didnt really mean as he moved close and started started cataloging injuries.
"Well sorry for your tree... thing, but I mean fix as in fix. Heal. I cant heal dead cats but seeing as youre still breathing I can do that for you. Unless you want to be taken to a twoleg to be healed by then of course, its weird their healers do it faster but you'll be subjected to the cutter."
Nathaniel had been paying special attention to the twolegs when they took injured cats away and it was strange no matter how bad the wound theirs healed faster. Buuuut the cutter, nope. Nathaniel was just thankful his twolegs didnt seem keen to take him and Rhiannon to that place as interesting as it'd be.
Back on topic however. "You are a really lucky guy I know herbs and techniques that can take cure of injuries like yours so you wont bleed out or get infected. Im not carrying these flowers for fun theyre herbs." He flicked a tail at the dropped dandelion. "If you let me I can take you somewhere safe and help you but I need you to work with me your a tad bigger then me." Understatement but Nathanniel still offered a paw to help haul the limp tom up if he took him up on it not wanting to waste time that wouldnt do this strange cat any good.
Palehound trekked through the stone territory, paws making a distinct padding sound with each step, and feeling more than a little frustrated with the instructions she'd been given. She'd heard about an extraordinary healer around this area and decided that this would be the cat she asked for his opinion of what could be going on with her.
The number of twolegs that had bent down to stroke or grab her was more than enough to make her reconsider if she wasn't so concerned about what was going on with her. She'd gained a noticeable amount of weight and now her stomach was starting to become.... oily!?
What in the world!
She'd heard of this healer through one of Shark's friends, who had given some confusing and honestly vague directions.
She was so close to giving up and following her scent trail back home with a distant patch of green caught her attention. She turned towards it, and took a few steps closer.
Was that? It looked like this.... "park" the cat had spoken of.
Energy returned to her, her pace sped to a trot. She was so, so ready to be on her way home after this.
She paused and took a few moments to just take in the sight of trees. As gorgeous as the beach had been, she missed trees.
Stars, did she miss trees, the safety they provided.
She eventually turned her attention back to the rest of the park and set onward, carefully scenting for where this healer could be.
Palehound trekked through the stone territory, paws making a distinct padding sound with each step, and feeling more than a little frustrated with the instructions she'd been given. She'd heard about an extraordinary healer around this area and decided that this would be the cat she asked for his opinion of what could be going on with her.
The number of twolegs that had bent down to stroke or grab her was more than enough to make her reconsider if she wasn't so concerned about what was going on with her. She'd gained a noticeable amount of weight and now her stomach was starting to become.... oily!?
What in the world!
She'd heard of this healer through one of Shark's friends, who had given some confusing and honestly vague directions.
She was so close to giving up and following her scent trail back home with a distant patch of green caught her attention. She turned towards it, and took a few steps closer.
Was that? It looked like this.... "park" the cat had spoken of.
Energy returned to her, her pace sped to a trot. She was so, so ready to be on her way home after this.
She paused and took a few moments to just take in the sight of trees. As gorgeous as the beach had been, she missed trees.
Stars, did she miss trees, the safety they provided.
She eventually turned her attention back to the rest of the park and set onward, carefully scenting for where this healer could be.
If there was one thing habit Nathaniel had started that brought him no end of amusement and enjoyment it was walks in the park with his wife and twolegs.
It had started simply enough, Nathaniel had happened upon his twolegs in the park one day and had, of course, happily gone up to great them while they were there. Then he saw them again. And again. Eventually Rhiannon had grown so amused by his confused rambling she'd followed them out of the house to the park to see what they'd be doing. Which was a whole lotta nothing turns out but the weird creatures had been so enthused to see their kittypets following them on their walk Rhiannon and him had gotten showered with gifts and very nice scratches so it was worth it to repeat.
So the 'romantic walks' continued, twoleg pair walking with cat pair behind them, parting ways at the park entrance as Nathaniel stayed behind to tend to his clinic or patients.
This was how he first spotted Palehound, purring out a loving farewell to his mate, rubbing cheeks and playfully resisting her tail pulling out of its twine with his. He'd see her at home tonight of course, but still, she was amused by his whining. So it was with a happy relaxed grin on his face that the tom watched his mate leave the park and his gaze drifted to spot the other cat just walking in.
Snakeheart, suddenly Snakeheart again, froze.
Froze with a grin his clan wouldve never seen on his face (to happy to calm for the stressed suffering beast he once was) as Snakeheart didnt know how to react to seeing a clanmate, much less one he'd had a decent relationship with, again.
Was she here looking for him? Did riverclan know he was here, still alive? The tom wasnt sure what he thought about that idea. And what did she think of him trailing after some twolegs, a kittypet like they'd so derided. With a mate no less. Or was she just as shocked as he was locked in place with wide eyes and his smile slipped into something more thunderstruck with this twist of fate.
__________________
Crowtooth is Deputy of Windclan, If he's needed mention me at any time~
Have a kittypet/outsider who needs healing? Vm me!
「〷」 THE HOLY GHOST「〷」 ╰► SPIRIT he | they ♛ tall black, grey, and white chimera with varying fur lengths and texture; bright amber eyes ♛
ೃ⁀➷ @Rani || very sorry how long this took
The chimera stared blankly at the stranger in front of them who was awkwardly chuckling. "Do.. you not have any trees..?" Spirit inquired, "or are denying my birthright..?" It was a quiet murmur, but they didn't really feel like talking anymore. Not many words, even if he was frowning at the implication he was alive.
Clearly. He was dead. He was rotting, his heart did not beat. He did not breathe. Pain was only imaginative. That had been what he was taught. If you were obedient, all good would come. Expect, they were never obedient. That's why they were dead. "you speak,, funny words,, I dunno.. what a cutter is.. " He confessed quietly. Both of their eyes were opened, staring at the tom with a bit of wary. He was being kind to Spirit. For,, some reason.
Spirit stared at the paw that was being offered, eyebrows raising. Strange. Very strange. "mm,, okay,, mister-hopefully-not-a-kidnapper.." He agreed, because even if this stranger wanted to harm them, they could handle it. He grabbed ahold of his paw, pulling himself up into a sitting position. Wincing at the pain that throbbed through their lanky body. Clearly, there was a story to this cat. Spirit had never met a cat who could heal. Maybe a few tricks, but they didn't speak like him. They didn't have so scars.
And they wanted to know more - to have the knowledge this cat had. Standing up, ready to follow. "Do I gotta eat anythin'? I once ate a berry, 'n it wasn't.. very nice. Poison, was not a snack, but it was pretty. As red as the crimson that leaks from my wounds, " Spirit hummed, "do you know any.. poisons to avoid.. if you know so many others?" It was an honest question. They had never eaten any hollyberries after seeing what it had done to one of the ShadowClanners. Though, it hadn't been enough to kill them. So, while delayed, they still wished to know what deathberries truly were.
If there was one thing habit Nathaniel had started that brought him no end of amusement and enjoyment it was walks in the park with his wife and twolegs.
It had started simply enough, Nathaniel had happened upon his twolegs in the park one day and had, of course, happily gone up to great them while they were there. Then he saw them again. And again. Eventually Rhiannon had grown so amused by his confused rambling she'd followed them out of the house to the park to see what they'd be doing. Which was a whole lotta nothing turns out but the weird creatures had been so enthused to see their kittypets following them on their walk Rhiannon and him had gotten showered with gifts and very nice scratches so it was worth it to repeat.
So the 'romantic walks' continued, twoleg pair walking with cat pair behind them, parting ways at the park entrance as Nathaniel stayed behind to tend to his clinic or patients.
This was how he first spotted Palehound, purring out a loving farewell to his mate, rubbing cheeks and playfully resisting her tail pulling out of its twine with his. He'd see her at home tonight of course, but still, she was amused by his whining. So it was with a happy relaxed grin on his face that the tom watched his mate leave the park and his gaze drifted to spot the other cat just walking in.
Snakeheart, suddenly Snakeheart again, froze.
Froze with a grin his clan wouldve never seen on his face (to happy to calm for the stressed suffering beast he once was) as Snakeheart didnt know how to react to seeing a clanmate, much less one he'd had a decent relationship with, again.
Was she here looking for him? Did riverclan know he was here, still alive? The tom wasnt sure what he thought about that idea. And what did she think of him trailing after some twolegs, a kittypet like they'd so derided. With a mate no less. Or was she just as shocked as he was locked in place with wide eyes and his smile slipped into something more thunderstruck with this twist of fate.
Palehound continued to sniff around, but the many scents that clouded the area made it difficult to look for any one specific cat. She passed by a few, but they'd immediately skittered away from her. Surely, none of them would be this healer, she reasoned.
She might not have known who she was looking for, a description having never been given to her, but she never would have expected, of all cats, for this healer to have been a former Clanmate.
She only saw him out of the corner of her eye ,but immediately her attention was caught. She swore, swore, swore she'd seen him before.....
As she laid eyes on Snakeheart, former healer of RiverClan, she paused.
Suddenly she was Palepaw, accepting a task entrusted to her that no other ever would. Palepaw, happy to catch him his favourite fish when he was having a bad day. Palepaw, when Kestrelstar had paired them for training water fighting. She swore she'd almost drowned him, and later he had clung to her trying to drag her down for.
The longer she stared, she became Halfpaw. Halfpaw, who he'd teasingly tripped in the snow when she'd been causing mischief.
That sense of nostalgia she'd felt to be surrounded by trees became painful, and became a longing for a home that she couldn't return to anymore. A brother she never reached out to.
The massive charcoal was the first one to approach, trying to ignore the heavy feeling in her chest. "Snakeheart?"
It was the only thing she could manage to speak, her usually strong and abrasive voice wavering, questioning. What if she was mistaken and she'd gotten her hopes up??
Oh, she'd be crushed to have been so foolish as to have a piece of home returned to her.
__________________
Profile picture drawn by Rani and used with permission
「〷」 THE HOLY GHOST「〷」 ╰► SPIRIT he | they ♛ tall black, grey, and white chimera with varying fur lengths and texture; bright amber eyes ♛
ೃ⁀➷ @Rani || very sorry how long this took
The chimera stared blankly at the stranger in front of them who was awkwardly chuckling. "Do.. you not have any trees..?" Spirit inquired, "or are denying my birthright..?" It was a quiet murmur, but they didn't really feel like talking anymore. Not many words, even if he was frowning at the implication he was alive.
Clearly. He was dead. He was rotting, his heart did not beat. He did not breathe. Pain was only imaginative. That had been what he was taught. If you were obedient, all good would come. Expect, they were never obedient. That's why they were dead. "you speak,, funny words,, I dunno.. what a cutter is.. " He confessed quietly. Both of their eyes were opened, staring at the tom with a bit of wary. He was being kind to Spirit. For,, some reason.
Spirit stared at the paw that was being offered, eyebrows raising. Strange. Very strange. "mm,, okay,, mister-hopefully-not-a-kidnapper.." He agreed, because even if this stranger wanted to harm them, they could handle it. He grabbed ahold of his paw, pulling himself up into a sitting position. Wincing at the pain that throbbed through their lanky body. Clearly, there was a story to this cat. Spirit had never met a cat who could heal. Maybe a few tricks, but they didn't speak like him. They didn't have so scars.
And they wanted to know more - to have the knowledge this cat had. Standing up, ready to follow. "Do I gotta eat anythin'? I once ate a berry, 'n it wasn't.. very nice. Poison, was not a snack, but it was pretty. As red as the crimson that leaks from my wounds, " Spirit hummed, "do you know any.. poisons to avoid.. if you know so many others?" It was an honest question. They had never eaten any hollyberries after seeing what it had done to one of the ShadowClanners. Though, it hadn't been enough to kill them. So, while delayed, they still wished to know what deathberries truly were.
????? What was the tree thing could the cat not see the trees in the park??? Nathaniel was pretty sure there was an equal amount of miscommunication and stupidity going on here. Ok maybe that was mean this guy was probably loopy with bloodloss. Moving on.
"A cutter is a twoleg healer I dont have any clue how they do it but Ive seen enough kittypets healed by them to know they do miracles no cat could manage even if they.... well... Cats who go to the cutter come back not able to have kits thats all Ill say. But hey youre with me now that shouldnt be an issue."
Nathaniel was frankly lucky his twolegs didnt seem keen on taking him or Rhiannon and he was fairly certain as long as he healed their injuries before the weird semi hairless things noticed he could keep that from becoming a necessity.
Cat up Nathaniel made his move, sidling his body alongside the other and trying to half carry half support him back to the healing den where all his herbs were. Luckily it really wasnt much farther down the little creek under the bridge. As they walked the healer talked. Well more like yelped.
"You ate deathberries?! WHY!? Ok ok ok youre alive so I assume you threw up or something but those 'little red berries' are deathberries or yew because they KILL YOU. Dont eat! As a rule dont eat any berries or plants unless you are certain theyre safe! A ton are poisonous or will make you feel ill its really bad. The healing herbs I have right now are topical, though I'd kill for poppyseeds which you eat, but ugh no before you leave here remind me to teach you about yarrow which is basically anti poison."
The tom sighed now no longer wondering if this strange cat was stupid because even kits knew better to not eat strange plants and if they didnt they were taught better! Who raised this weirdo!? Ugh whatever eventually the duo go there and Nathaniel laid him down in one of the nests (not moss, not here but some nice soft twoleg blankets the tom had 'appropriated').
"Here relax here and I'll get herbs on those wounds and teach you what they do yeah? So you know Im not poisoning you or something though I think youd do a better job at poisoning yourself then me at this point."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Abyssopelagic
Palehound continued to sniff around, but the many scents that clouded the area made it difficult to look for any one specific cat. She passed by a few, but they'd immediately skittered away from her. Surely, none of them would be this healer, she reasoned.
She might not have known who she was looking for, a description having never been given to her, but she never would have expected, of all cats, for this healer to have been a former Clanmate.
She only saw him out of the corner of her eye ,but immediately her attention was caught. She swore, swore, swore she'd seen him before.....
As she laid eyes on Snakeheart, former healer of RiverClan, she paused.
Suddenly she was Palepaw, accepting a task entrusted to her that no other ever would. Palepaw, happy to catch him his favourite fish when he was having a bad day. Palepaw, when Kestrelstar had paired them for training water fighting. She swore she'd almost drowned him, and later he had clung to her trying to drag her down for.
The longer she stared, she became Halfpaw. Halfpaw, who he'd teasingly tripped in the snow when she'd been causing mischief.
That sense of nostalgia she'd felt to be surrounded by trees became painful, and became a longing for a home that she couldn't return to anymore. A brother she never reached out to.
The massive charcoal was the first one to approach, trying to ignore the heavy feeling in her chest. "Snakeheart?"
It was the only thing she could manage to speak, her usually strong and abrasive voice wavering, questioning. What if she was mistaken and she'd gotten her hopes up??
Oh, she'd be crushed to have been so foolish as to have a piece of home returned to her.
It was Palehound it really was, much the same as she was when he last saw her..... That mustve been years ago now. Or something like that at least, the healer found his memory foggy with grief and stress and other such mental injuries at that time. It was all a pain filled blur except.... Not really all of it was.
Palehound was one of those nicer kinder spots. Though not a lot of cats would call Palehound kind, cold she was at first glance, but they'd say the same of Snakeheart too so their opinions were wrong in that regard. So Snakeheart wasnt cold and Palehound was kind and the tom didnt turn tail and run at the sudden confrontation of a past he did run from even as he flinched at his own name.
The toms mouth opened revealing more of his long fangs though it wasnt a sign of aggression. He just.... stood there for a moment, mouth opening and closing for a moment before he finally mustered the simple horse name:
"Palehound?"
Snakeheart coughed, clearing his throat as he re-steadied himself even as his mind raced with incorrect assumptions of why the warrior was here.
"Wow its weird hearing that name again, Ill admit its.... been awhile. Has.... Has riverclan come to take me back?"
It had to happen at some point. He'd left the clan with no medicine cat something that had to leave them struggling and that was assuming the knowledge of the poison claws hadnt spread. Skystar might protect him from targeting for his tactics but no leader lasted forever. Snakeheart wasnt totally sure this was the situation though, because why send Palehound? Sure she knew him well enough to lull him into security if that was the hope because he trusted her to not be cruel to him but... That was also a downfall for any idea of taking him back by force. The healer didnt believe she'd do that so they'd have to send another with her. And here the molly was, alone.
Maybe this was all moot its not like he had any fighting skills to resist or the heart to do so. Time to table the doubts and stress the tom decided. What would be would be. "Heh.... Perhaps its callous of me who left but..... It's nice to see you."
__________________
Crowtooth is Deputy of Windclan, If he's needed mention me at any time~
Have a kittypet/outsider who needs healing? Vm me!
Caduceus Place [Invite Only]
Re: Caduceus Place [Invite Only]
