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Swanfeather was slowing down, it didn’t take a medicine cat to notice the effects of age on the old she-cat. But her end couldn’t come soon enough for Rushwhisker, for RainClan. Especially now that Dewfrost was fully trained. Rushwhisker didn’t know why Silverstar didn’t just tell the traitor to leave now that her singular duty of training a new, trustworthy medicine cat was complete. RainClan no longer needed the scheming foxheart in their midst, sowing mistrust and animosity. RainClan had to reject her, reject the curse she brought on them, or he was certain it would never be lifted. StarClan had forsaken her, there couldn’t possibly be anything she could do to earn redemption after all she had caused. RainClan’s acceptance of her was an acceptance of those actions, and until they had rejected Swanfeather, there would be no healing of the Clan’s collective spirit.

Yet no cat seemed in any hurry to do anything about it.

Certainly plenty of cats mistrusted her, openly even, but no one dared to actually do anything. He had not been at the tragic gathering, but he had seen the RainClan bodies brought back to camp, their own deputy, a respected senior warrior, an apprentice. He had heard from some others, StoneClan’s medicine cat was dead. If only it had been Swanfeather instead. But of course it wouldn’t be, not when it was Swanfeather’s fault the foxes had attacked in the first place. Her curse was spreading. Rushwhisker was certain that if she remained much longer she would infect the entire valley with untold tragedy. As if the coordinated fox attack wasn’t bad enough. Who had ever heard of such a thing?

But no cat would listen to him. He had mentioned to Ashflight how he was certain Swanfeather was cursed, and though he knew his sister mistrusted the medicine cat just as much as he did, she still laughed it off as a joke, telling him that she knew he hated her but not to be ridiculous. She didn’t take it seriously at all. Of course, she also had no faith in the power of StarClan, but her words did remind him that no cat was likely to take him seriously. Not after his public display after Surgeclaw had attacked. They would only chalk it up to his hatred of the medicine cat. But he’d never been so certain of anything in his life.

However, he was mildly concerned about Dewfrost. She was Ferngaze’s sister, and he cared deeply for his former apprentice, and so he could only hope that learning under Swanfeather had not corrupted Dewfrost, that StarClan would not forsake her as well. And when the young, newly named medicine cat required an escort for gathering herbs, Rushwhisker volunteered so he might have some time with the younger cat to test the waters. He allowed her to lead the way and as they left camp behind them, he tried for easy conversation to start, “So what are we looking for?”

williams

[williams]

dewfrost,

Discovering their entire celandine collection had gone bad felt like a good start to Dewfrost's career as a full medicine cat. In all honesty, she had laughed in surprise when she had discovered it. It was probably an omen, for what she would have to think on later, once the stock was replenished. When Rushwhisker had volunteered to be her guard, the young medicine cat hadn't denied his request. After learning the side of the story from Frostfang, it would only be a matter of time before Rushwhisker's perspective would to come into the picture. Then, with the full story, Dewfrost knew she would be able to truly fix what had been broken.

She ensured Swanfeather knew where they were going, then set off.

Though Dewfrost's steps were not as quiet as the tom next to her, they were confident. She knew these paths well, and with her tail held high, the medicine cat consciously picked the longer path to their destination. There was a conversation to be had, and she knew for an understanding to be reached, they would have to reach a conclusion before the day was up. "Celandine." She told the warrior, glancing over at him briefly to see if he recognized the herb."It's a small flowering plant, with little yellow flowers. Unfortunately they like to hide under other plants so we'll have to do a bit of digging." Dewfrost was the daughter of the leader yes, but she was raised by two mentors who either spoke the truth bluntly, or let others speak their piece first. It was an odd balancing act, one she had to tread carefully here. She was going to listen, Dewfrost decided, so she had started by answering the actual question asked of her. They were out to get herbs, nothing more, until proven otherwise.

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@zen

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[Deleted]

“Little yellow flowers... got it,” Rushwhisker took to paying a bit more attention to the foliage around them, though his main purpose wasn't to do Dewfrost's job for her, but to protect her while she did it herself. He wasn't about to go looking under every leaf, trusting that Dewfrost at least had some idea where to start looking. If Swanfeather had trained her properly. The tip of his tail twitched at the thought. What if the old she-cat hadn't even trained her correctly? There could be chaos after Swanfeather died, took her knowledge with her to the depths of the dark forest where Rushwhisker was certain her spirit was headed.

He wanted to just ask the question. He wanted to do more than that, as question after question bubbled up to the tip of his tongue. He wanted to outright interrogate the young she-cat about her training. How could StarClan ever accept a medicine cat trained by her? His ears flicked back against his head briefly, but he managed to stop the snarl from pulling at his lips as he thought about how Swanfeather should never have been allowed back into the Clan. StarClan would have chosen RainClan's next medicine cat, they would have showed them their path, ensured they got the training they needed, and they wouldn't be tainted by Swanfeather's dark legacy.

But if Swanfeather had corrupted Ferngaze's sister, interrogating her would get him nowhere. He forced some semblance of calm over himself, his twitching tail stilled and his ears lifted from his head. After a moment he spoke, “I haven't congratulated you on receiving your name.... It must have been... interesting, having Swanfeather as a mentor.” He couldn't quite keep the disdain from his voice as he spoke the traitorous she-cat's name, regardless of how hard he was trying to keep a neutral tone.

williams

[williams]

dewfrost,

With a nod, Dewfrost started to fan out from their position. Her steps became lighter as she started to search, blue eyes scanning wide then trotting to each possible location. They had a wide swath of forest to get through, and she wasn't going to meander. They were other tasks to get to after this one was completed.

As her search began, Rushwhisker's voice flowed behind her. “I haven't congratulated you on receiving your name.... It must have been... interesting, having Swanfeather as a mentor.” The she-cat suppressed a knowing smile, a task made easier by the bitterness the tom couldn't mask in his words. How long had these feelings been in his blood? Dewfrost wanted to sigh with sadness. She wanted to help but at this point, there was nothing she could do that would make him okay. At least, she figured, she could help him believe in her.

"Thank you Rushwhisker." Dewfrost started, turning to give the warrior a smile. She did appreciate his congratulations and it was important to acknowledge it. Her next words were directed outwards, her focus back on checking a patch of flowers she had spotted. "It was. She is very skilled when it comes to healing and I hope I will continue to learn her techniques to better serve Rainclan."

"I didn't have just one mentor though." She clarified, paws gentle against the flowers. It seemed to be a mixed patch, not the ones she was looking for. Instead of immediately moving on, Dewfrost carefully removed the dead leaves from the plant with her claws as she continued. "Frostfang is my Starclan mentor. We work together on rebuilding Rainclan's spiritual connection from Starclan's lands."

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@zen

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[Deleted]

Enemies surround me but the worst appear as friends...

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“She is very skilled when it comes to healing and I hope I will continue to learn her techniques to better serve Rainclan.”

He couldn't quite help the disbelieving snort that escaped him at that. She was skilled at destroying lives at least. His ears pricked curiously as the younger she-cat stated that Swanfeather had not been her only mentor, however. Frostfang? He didn't know the name, but it registered after a moment that she meant StarClan mentor in more than one way. Whoever the cat was, they were dead, a member of StarClan, helping Dewfrost rebuild what Swanfeather had destroyed.

Which meant that StarClan must accept Dewfrost, despite her mentor. Tension he had not even realized was there suddenly ebbed away as relief washed over him like a cool stream on a hot greenleaf day. RainClan was not as lost as he had thought it might be. StarClan had not entirely abandoned them. Dewfrost could fix what was broken. His ears flicked back briefly. But not while Swanfeather was still around.

He cleared his throat, “I'm glad to hear it. I worried....” He trailed off, shifting, but forged ahead, “I worried RainClan might be cut off from StarClan forever. I'm glad Swanfeather hasn't tainted you in their eyes.” The words were spoken carelessly in his relief and he glanced around them, trying to spot those yellow flowers Dewfrost had mentioned, more content to help now that that had been settled. StarClan had reached out to Dewfrost on their own. They had to have. He couldn't believe they were at all still in communion with Swanfeather. StarClan was waiting for RainClan to return to them. Swanfeather's return was a test. Yes. A test they were failing. His gaze got a faraway look, but a single angry lash of his tail brought him back to reality a moment later.

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Liars and pretenders only seek to reach their ends.

williams

[williams]

Dewfrost heard the snort, though she wish she hadn't. The words that followed only soured the feeling in her belly, her claws halting their action mid-gesture. Would the tom ever understand? She thought. Could anything she say make him understand his mentor's side of things, or did the blame of the civil war sit squarely on Swanfeather's shoulders like a tree that fell by a storm. 

With a politeness tempered by disicpline, Dewfrost returned to her task, answering. "I think Starclan was waiting for all of Rainclan to be ready to move on." Her voice was cool and collected, a far cry from the stumbling apprentice who chose to say everything at once in hopes one of the phrases was what the other cat wanted to hear. This was important, she knew, and her words had to be chosen carefully. 

"Starclan does not want to abandon any of its living clans, there are Rainclan cats up there as well, ones from both sides of the fight." The flowers beneath her paws were wrong, and the medicine cat moved to the next bush before continuing. "If Swanfeather was the only reason Starclan did not reach out, then they had several opportunities as I am to understand. She trained more than just myself." Another mixed plant met her gaze, the flowers assessed and the dead ones clipped away. As the last flower was removed, she looked at Rushwhisker, giving him for probably the first time that day, her entire attention. "I know you do not like her, but I do belive they wanted to help us even back then, but had to wait for the entire clan to recognize what had been done and that they had made progress towards a better future."



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@zen