[Abyss]

Rustpaw

Rainclan She-Cat

I'm talking with a big smile

Her heart beat against her chest a tad faster than normal as she shuffled about the Medicine den. She maneuvered around Dewfrost with small but quick steps, looking subtly frantic as she looked for specific herbs. Being a Medicine Cat, it was to be expected that sooner or later you would have to deal with rather unfortunate circumstances that could get dire at times. Though, she hadn’t thought she would be dealing with something like this as soon into her training.

Poisoned fish. Things were already difficult enough during the cold seasons in terms of fishing, but being unable to trust any fish, even if you did manage to catch it? It was definitely a concern. Fish were their main source of prey, and while they didn’t have the inability to hunt for prey that roamed on land, it was still a large cut in their food supply.

Only to make things worse, many cats had fallen ill due to eating the fish, leaving Dewfrost and Rustpaw constantly on their paws. It was one thing when cats you didn’t see or talk to very often got sick, but this was different.

“Uhh...I….which...” Amber eyes looked wide at the herbs in front of her, unsure of what to grab. Some of these herbs she hadn’t learned about yet, leaving her dazed and confused.

“Riverpaw?” Dewfrost only spoke the one name, voice flecked with a mixture of questioning and confirmation. Her mentor knew that of all the cats who had arrived to the den, sickly and seeking care, the red she-cat had been eyeing the somewhat younger tom.

When Rustpaw had first become an Apprentice, a Warrior Apprentice, she had been relatively good friends with Riverkit, but after her ceremony a large majority of her time was spent with Poppypaw. It was only after Riverkit had taken part in his own ceremony three moons later that she got the chance to become closer friends with him. But it didn’t last long, for within that same moon, she was chosen by Dewfrost to be her Apprentice. Even though she had moved her nest to the Medicine Cat den and spent most of her time with her new mentor, she didn’t neglect spending time with her friends. She adored her fellow Apprentices, particularly Poppypaw and Riverpaw. But she never thought she would be one of the ones assisting them if and when they got sick or hurt.

Dewfrost was silent for a moment, seeing the worry in Rustpaw’s eyes. The white and brown she-cat then turned away, shifting through the collection of herbs at their paws. “Borage will reduce his fever. It is to be chewed and eaten.” She pulled forward a somewhat wilted greenish-gray flower, likely from the cold weather, and placed it in front of the small molly. She then moved to the corner of the den’s storage, pushing aside a few branches to reveal berries, surprisingly still in what she presumed was good condition. “Juniper berries will help with the vomiting and will calm him. They are to be eaten as well.”

Gently lifting the flowers and berries in her jaws, she nodded to Dewfrost and turned quickly, trotting to the other half of the den where nests were lined. As she crossed through the den, her small paws beneath her stumbled, but unlike other times when this happened, she not only caught herself, but almost didn’t notice. She was more focused on one of the many nests that lined the den walls, in which a blue-gray figure laid.

As she approached, her steps slowed and her ears lowered slightly, eyes wide and tilted with worry.

“W...Wiverhaw?” Her voice was quiet, though still held her signature higher-pitched tone, muffled only by her jaws remaining careful not to crush the flower or the berries within them. She leaned her head down, very lightly nudging the blue tom with her red nose.

but they haven't got a clue.

652 | ♛ 𝔽𝕒𝕓𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 | Notes

[♛ 𝔽𝕒𝕓𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟]

[googlefont=Cinzel:900][googlefont=PT Sans][googlefont=Archivo Narrow:700][googlefont=Playfair Display]

if i could begin to be
half of what you think of me
i could do about anything

RIVERPAW

6 moons // rainclan // apprentice

[attr="class","rivertxt"]

[attr="class","rivertfl"]I

t was the coldest day that had dawned all season. The drooping willows that lined the snow-covered banks looked miserably, their roots clinging to a frosty, fruitless ground. There was an almost lifeless chill flowing through the entire territory, but that was not the reason Riverpaw found himself shuddering in a damp nest. In fact, he barely even felt a lick of cold. His paw pads were drenched with sweat, and the nest around him was so uncomfortably hot that he found himself feebly nudging the moss away. The stench of vomit hung heavy in the air, but he didn’t fully remember if the vomit was from him or from another sick cat. The medicine den smelled tangy, like desperation. Desperation to not be sick. He gasped as another clenching pain dug its teeth into his stomach, and he barely managed to poke his head over the edge of the nest before he heaved up the contents of his belly. Which… was mostly just water. Riverpaw hadn’t eaten much, not being able to keep anything down. At this stage, he didn’t even have the will to feel embarrassed for making a mess so near his nest, in front of several other cats.

“W… Wiverhaw?” A nose nudged his side. He hadn’t even really seen her come over. He blinked at her blearily, blue eyes unfocused. It felt like he was in some kind of dream. Her face came somewhat into focus. “Hi.” He meowed faintly, then groaned when he realised that Rustpaw was holding some kind of weird flower in her mouth. “Y… you’re not gonna make me eat that, are you?” He complained feverishly, a childish tone entering his voice. It wasn’t clear if he was trying to joke or if he was feeling too miserable even for humour.

Rustpaw was a good, and pretty (especially important) friend. She was sweet, and though he was always a bit mad at her for deciding to become a medicine cat apprentice… well, he still thought she was pretty great. Despite all this, he couldn’t help sounding a little bit grumpy. The fact that her being the one to look after him didn't seem to cheer him up much just spoke to just how miserable he really was. He just wanted to get better without having to force random plants into his system. And he didn’t want to talk to anybody, he didn’t want to do much more than just lie there in a sweaty, achy, uncomfortable lump until the world went away. “I just wanna sleep.” He closed his eyes, wishing everything didn’t feel so hot. Wishing his stomach pain would just stop, without him having to eat some random, disgusting plant. Why did he have to eat that stupid fish? He was never going to eat fish again, RainClan or not. He’d eat slugs from then on. Yes, slugs...

[attr="class","rivtag"]tagged Abyss

[attr="class","rivnotes"]notes Angst angst angst.

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[Abyss]

Rustpaw

Rainclan She-Cat

I'm talking with a big smile

The way that Riverpaw looked at her, and the misery in his voice, it pulled at her heart. She felt extremely bad for him, but she also felt bad for what she was doing. She knew how unappealing herbs were to literally anyone. She had been the same not too long ago, but now that she was learning about them and spent a lot of time around them, she had gotten used to them.

She knew how bad a lot of herbs tasted. And the thought of eating plants rather than meat was hardly something any cat wanted to do. It was hard enough getting older cats to eat herbs, it would be even harder getting a young cat too. Rustpaw could only hope that she could somehow convince him to take them without too much fuss.

For a split moment, her amber eyes flicked downwards, her body cringing slightly at the sight and scent of vomit, though the herbs in her mouth helped to damped the smell at least a tiny bit. Though, from what she could see, it was hardly even vomit. It was far too clear and had practically nothing to it. Riverpaw wasn’t eating. She didn’t blame him, but at the same time…

Her ears pinned backwards at his question and the tone of his voice. She lowered herself next to the nest, laying the herbs next to her before gently resting her chin on the edge of the nest.

“I...I know. I don’t like eating them either. But…..but you need them.” She tried to think. How were you supposed to comfort sick cats? She hadn’t done much of that in her short time as Dewfrost’s Apprentice. She could only assume that she followed her instinct and did what she would have done in any other circumstance: comfort him like a friend, not a patient.

“River, I care a lot for many cats in my life, and I don’t like to see them in pain or sick. And you are one of those cats. I hate seeing you this way. If I could, I would take this sickness away from you and give it to myself instead. But...that’s something herbs can’t do.” Her gaze lowered for a moment, but rose to see him once more. “I want to help you. I know you can’t like being like this either. I know you are hurting, and I want to get rid of it. But...I don’t have powers to make it disappear. I only have herbs.”

She glanced at the plants at her side with a gaze of both sympathy for her friend and a look of deep thought. She had berries and a flower. She didn’t actually know what they would taste like, other than what they were like on the outside. She was able to deal with the taste, but she was growing used to it. Riverpaw was not the same. She needed something to make it easier. But what….

Her ears perked suddenly, and she jumped to her paws. She stumbled over herself as she turned, legs twisting beneath her. She started to fall forward, nose nearly hitting the ground, but she caught herself at the very last second. She blinked in surprise, but she didn’t have time. She untangled herself and padded quickly to the back of the den, looking quickly around her. “Dewfrost, do we have honey?”

The white and brown Medicine Cat glanced at her, though didn’t seem surprised by the request. “We only have a small amount.” She turned and shuffled through some of the herbs in front of her, pulling a relatively small leaf with a thin puddle of thick, golden liquid on its surface forward in front of Rustpaw. “It is not much, but it will help.”

From what the small she-cat could see, her mentor had only given her half of the supply, but that half wasn’t much. She nodded in thanks before picking up the leaf gently. She padded back to Riverpaw’s side, crouching down next to his nest. She set the leaf with the honey on the ground before picking up the flower and the berries, placing them into the honey. She wasn’t entirely sure if this would work, but she had to hope. With one of her paws, she began to push and crush the berries into the honey, their juices mixing in and turning the first golden liquid into a more bluish-purplish-green color. In addition, she attempted to crush the flower into it as well, which somewhat worked, but was less effective of a mix-in than the berries. It didn’t look super appealing, but it was still worth a shot. Her wide amber eyes turned back to her friend. His eyes had closed, but she had to hope that he hadn’t fully fallen asleep. She needed him to be awake, at least long enough to get the medicine in his system.

She lifted herself a little bit and leaned forward, gently licking his ears and the top of his head in a comforting manner.

“Riverpaw, I want you to try something.” She turned and grabbed the leaf containing the honey, berry, and flower mixture, lifting it and placing it inside of the nest with him. “I know it does not look like it, but this is honey. It is sweet and tastes good. Can you try to eat this? It will make your pain go away and make your belly feel better.” She gently nudged the mix towards him, hoping and praying that he would be willing to take it if he knew it was sweet. Surely the sweetness of the honey would hide the taste of the other things mixed with it, right?

but they haven't got a clue.

954 | ♛ 𝔽𝕒𝕓𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 | Notes

[♛ 𝔽𝕒𝕓𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟]

[googlefont=Cinzel:900][googlefont=PT Sans][googlefont=Archivo Narrow:700][googlefont=Playfair Display]

if i could begin to be
half of what you think of me
i could do about anything

RIVERPAW

6 moons // rainclan // apprentice

[attr="class","rivertxt"]

[attr="class","rivertfl"]H

[attr="class","river-content"]e could see the guilt deep in her eyes despite his unfocused gaze. Rustpaw wasn't hard to read. Riverpaw could see every emotion displayed right down to the tip of her claws. She felt terrible that her job was to poison him. Okay, okay, maybe she wasn't poisoning him. But close enough. Herbs were disgusting, and he couldn't even keep down prey, let alone plants that he wasn't even supposed to eat. He was a cat, not a rabbit. Her face crumpled as she noticed the water he had brought up, and a blue-grey ear twitched remorsefully. "Sorry," He croaked, feeling ashamed that she would have to clean up his mess.

He felt pathetic and useless, a bundle of miserable blue fur huddled in the mossy depths of his makeshift nest. Oddly, Riverpaw mainly was just irritated and embarrassed about his situation. Not once did it cross his mind that this poisoning, sickness, whatever it was, could kill him. In Riverpaw's youthful mind, he was immortal, with seasons of life stretching before him. His suffering was an inconvenience at worst. A delay in his apprenticeship. Completely unaware that his mentor Frogchaser's wheezing shallow breathing would slow to a halt in the coming days.

Rustpaw's pleas did little to convince him that those leaves were worth eating. Surely eating green stuff was just gonna make him sicker? But there was a desperation to help in her eyes that made his heart twinge. Maybe he didn't understand why Rustpaw wanted to become a medicine cat. But this was important to her. She cared, and she sought to help him. What kind of friend would he be if he didn't value that? So lost in his own swarming, delirious thoughts that he hardly noticed she'd vanished and returned with some new concoction. Honey? He hadn't had honey much. Dewfrost had caught him trying to lap at it when he was just a scrappy little kitten. Lilygleam hadn't been too pleased by his foolishness, so he hadn't tried again. The promise of sweetness and the necessity in Rustpaw's gaze convinced him to shuffle weakly forward in the nest and pick up the leaf bundle. The plant's bitter taste was the first thing that assaulted his senses, an immediate sourness that made his stomach lurch. But then an amber sweetness soothed the urge to get sick, and guided the young tom in taking a tentative swallow.

"Thanks, Rustpaw." He murmured. That was all he had the energy to say as he lay his head against the side of the nest. He wanted to butt his head to hers as a friendly gesture of gratitude, but his eyes closed. Maybe when he didn't feel like a piece of rotten fish.

[attr="class","rivtag"]tagged Abyss

[attr="class","rivnotes"]notes Don't go breaking my heart.

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