[Deleted]

redscar

Lightningclan's deputy had received his fair share of cuts, scrapes, and gashes in the line of duty. Today Redscar would begin the journey of adding another fine scar to his collection thus improving upon his namesake. Sauntering back into camp with an ever so noticeable limp and the occasional droplet of blood marking his trail Redscar deposited the rabbit on the fresh kill pile before making his way over to the medicine cat's den. After poking his head in and announcing his presence Redscar looked around the den noticing the absence of Kindleflare, leaving her apprentice Tigerpaw in charge. The young tom was the brother of his current apprentice and it seemed the two couldn't have been more different. There had never been much interaction between Redscar and Tigerpaw, however the deputy had observed him from a distance and decided to try and put him at ease. Lifting his paw to display his wound Redscar explained, "I got this chasing a Rabbit, think you can help me out?"

deputy of

lightningclan

background image | @zen | table by phoenix

[Deleted]

Can you hear my heartbeat? Tired of feeling never enough...

---

With Kindleflare out, Tigerpaw was working on his usual memory exercises, trying to see how many herbs he could confidently name and put a purpose to, as well as how they were administered and where they could be found. There were still plenty he had no idea where to find yet, other than that they could only be found beyond LightningClan's borders, but he still went over locations in his head when he knew them.

When a shadow blocked the den entrance, Tigerpaw turned, expecting Kindleflare, and squeaked when Redscar announced himself instead. With all those scars, so many it was in his name, all Tigerpaw could imagine was how many fights he must have been in to get them all. For a tom absolutely terrified of battle above all the many other things he was afraid of, Redscar seemed like a walking nightmare. It took him a moment, staring stupidly up at the deputy with wide eyes, to realize the older tom had spoken to him.

He blinked a few times, rapidly, and looked down at the paw Redscar held out for his inspection, “Ah... oh... uh....” You can handle a cut pad, Tigerpaw! He mentally chided himself, cutting off his own stammering. Imagine if his mother had walked in while he was a stammering mess that couldn't even take care of the most basic of injuries. Or Kindleflare? She'd think he wasn't listening when she was teaching him, or that she was a bad mentor. His ears flicked back as he felt them burn with shame at the thought, “I, uhm... yes. I can... I can help. Uhm... did you clean it? If... if not, then... you... you should do that. Uhm. While I make the poultice.”

---

I close my eyes and tell myself that my dreams will come true.

@poptart

[Deleted]

redscar

Redscar wasn't surprised that the timid tom was taken aback at the sight of him, his frame blocked out much of the light streaming from the entrance of the den. The deputy wasn't unaware of the reputation he had and was sure a young tom, that clearly didn't seem at all keen to partake in the battles between the clans, thought a cat with as much blood on his paws as Redscar was intimidating. Even Tigerpaw's mentor seemed to get a bit flighty when the fiery pelted tom was around, or perhaps she was just always ready to run if need be. Redscar waded through Tigerpaw's stuttering speech before nodding and beginning to lick off the dirt and grime he had tracked in from the trek too the medicine cats den. After spending what he deemed an appropriate amount of time dragging his tongue across the wound he presented it to Tigerpaw before asking, "Is this good?"

deputy of

lightningclan

background image | @zen | table by phoenix

[Deleted]

Can you hear my heartbeat? Tired of feeling never enough...

---

Tigerpaw turned quickly back toward their herb stores as Redscar began to clean out his wound, momentarily blanking on just what he would need. Shaking his head to clear out all the unnecessary nonsense from his mind, he took a deep breath and remembered Mapleheart's words. If StarClan believed in him, then he should be able to believe in himself. Goldenrod? He paused, head tilting, and chose dock instead, but hesitated once more, glancing back at Redscar. The dock would sting, but... with all those scars, Redscar ought to be able to handle it. And dock was best for pads. Pleased he'd remembered that distinction, he chewed some dock into a pulp and considered the rest of the herbs. Something to keep out infection. Marigold, right, it was yellow like goldenrod. Gold and gold made a good poultice.

He turned back to Redscar, leaning forward to look over his cleaned paw and nodding shortly, “Uhm-uh huh.” He chewed up the necessary marigold as well, “Uhm. Sorry. It'll sting a little....” Dabbing the pulp together, he glanced up at the deputy once more before he leaned down to apply the poultice, “So... so how'd you hurt it? Your paw? You said you were chasing a rabbit but....” He tried to fill the silence, feeling not quite as intimidated when it wasn't just Redscar silently staring at him, when he wasn't guessing just what the deputy might be thinking about him. Nothing good came of that line of thought.

And then he thought maybe he should have asked for details about the wound first. Oh no, should he have inspected it better? What if he'd missed something? No, it was fine. There wasn't anything... it didn't take a medicine cat to clean a wound properly, not a little one like this anyway. Redscar was the deputy, surely he could clean a simple wound properly.

---

I close my eyes and tell myself that my dreams will come true.

@poptart

[Deleted]

redscar

Redscar watched quietly as Tigerpaw worked, clearly deep in his thoughts as he began to prepare a poultice for the older tom's wound. It would be untruthful to say Redscar had much knowledge of herbs, it would be a much more accurate assertion that he had next to no knowledge as a matter of fact. This fact didn't stop Redscar from ascertaining that the tom before him was taking a little longer than would be expected for such a simple wound. Perhaps the deputy was being unfair, Tigerpaw was still only an apprentice after all, however he suspected there was more to it than just inexperience. As he was advised that the poultice Tigerpaw had just prepared would sting Redscar couldn't help but give the tom a small grin as it's application did nothing to elicit a reaction from him. Then it was on to small talk as Tigerpaw inquired how he had injured his paw to which he replied, "It was a rock in the tall grass, it can hide all kinds of nasty surprises."

deputy of

lightningclan

background image | @zen | table by phoenix