Quote:
Originally Posted by Duskflight
"Oh I know. I'm sure Auroraflame is handling herself well, but I'd like more than anything to be out of this den and back in my own." The brown tabby held his head still just long enough for the medicine cat to check the stuff crusted onto his nose before leaning down for his meal. His head felt less muddled than it had been in the past moon, which he felt was also a good sign. He could finally think more clearly. Inadvertently his ears flicked a bit when Shinefang got close enough to sniff them but lay still again afterwards. Grousestar glanced up slightly as he heard the comment from the other tom, a snort of amusement escaping him. "Starclan won't have me that easily," he purred out before starting to take the first few bites out of his meal, relishing the taste of it and happy to find that it didn't make his stomach lurch.
As the older tom suggested that they could possibly take a walk to the nearest stream, the leader immediately perked his head up with a nod. "I would be more than fine to do that! I'm desperate to get out of here and feel the sun again!" Even though he could feel the aches in his limbs, he was more interested in the chance of getting out of here for a little bit than what pain walking might induce. There was no way he would give up this chance that was for sure. Grousestar was an active cat and he felt it was killing him to stay in here any longer, even if he was sore. He would reluctantly eat the two flowers pushed towards him; though they didn't exactly have a bitter taste, he was certainly tired of having to eat them. Afterwards he would go back to eagerly gulping down the mouse, now that he was sure he wasn't going to regurgitate it. |
"Mmmhmm. She managed to not let Skyclan burn to the ground," Shinefang agreed. It was meant to gone off as a joke, but Shinefang had not relished Auroraflame's time as active leader either. Things had remained stile between the two of them, and with Auroraflame's less than a confident feelings in his abilities as a medicine cat, the old tom feared he'd have to claw out the right to treat his patients. And everyday that had gone by that Grousestar hadn't recovered, he had felt the shecat's judgmental eyes on his back. Of course, she'd been wrong. Here the Skyclan leader sat, alive and chomping down mice like he worried they would scurry off. Perhaps Slatepelt wasn't all talk after all. He might actually have a knack for this medicine cat stuff.
The old tom spat the daisy pulp into his paw and and began to rub it on the leader's legs. "That's the spirit," he meowed with a small chortle, "Starclan can wait. Skyclan needs you more than they do," Shinefang put in, a faint hint of warmth in his smile during a moment of sincerity. Shinefang had made some mistakes since he took on this role. He'd done things that he could never take back and that had cost others dearly. But, thankfully, Grousestar hadn't been one of them. Seeing him wolf down his meal now, he knew it was worth every late night the last moon fetching water, applying herbs, and fretting over the tabby tom. He was a good leader for Skyclan. It was more than that though. He had come to regard Grousestar as a friend. A good friend even. "Well then, once you finish your meal, we can get going," Shinefang replied, patting the glob of pulp again. "This should take the edge off the ache. I am serious though, while we're out there, if you need to stop and rest, you say something or I'll make your ears look like mine," the tom said with a wry expression, flicking a shredded ear to emphasize his point as he went to his herb wall to grab a piece of willowbark. He popped the gritty thing in his mouth, scrunching his face as he chewed it and hoped it would kick in before the leader was ready to move.