**Elmshadow & Cougarivy**
It seemed like every time a little dark desire crept into Elmshadow's subconscious Cougarivy was there to capitalize on it. As he was walking out of camp to assess his new hopeful herb destination, the little she-cat had bounced her way over. He'd rolled his eyes mildly but somewhere deep within himself he realized he didn't revolt at the thought of having her around anymore. A pang of guilt, an emotion he had not felt until the recent moons but was now all too familiar, shot through his gut. It'd been three moons since he'd found Goldenstep dead, five moons since he'd lost her from his life, but her memory lingered on. He was a medicine cat now, would it not be reasonable to hope for his former mate to visit him in his dreams? Could he say nothing to make amends? Though thinking of his mate in Starclan made it worse. Of course his dead mate would want nothing to do with him after the time he's spent with the she-cat who triggered the downfall of their relationship. But for how much longer could he hold onto the memory of a dead she-cat? A she-cat who'd left him, taking his kits with her, in the dead of night with no word? For everything Cougarivy wasn't compared to Goldenstep, she was at least loyal, even if to a fault.
The tailless tom walked slowly into the clearing, taking in a deep breath to assess the herbs present. Cougarivy smiled at the new piece of territory, recognizing it quickly.
"Oh!" she squeaked pointedly,
"So you've made our place your new herb hangout, hm?" She glanced at the much larger tom. The little piece of territory they'd found the last time they went out together is now his new spot, Cougarivy couldn't take it any other way than to believe them finding it together put some extra value in it for Elmshadow; he'd surely be spending a lot of his time here and he'd undoubtedly think about how he found the spot. She leaned a little closer, daring to brush her fur up against his. She could feel his walls slowly tumbling down each time they spent time together. With that annoying traitor of a she-cat out of the way it should only be a matter of time now before he felt comfortable taking her officially as a mate again, but this time there'd be no sneaking around, no stupid she-cats stealing his attention from her. He'd be all hers. If he still wanted to go back to his prior dalliances from his younger moons then she wouldn't be a prude about it like that annoying what's-her-name, she'd be happy knowing that she was his only true mate, the she-cat he loved.
Elmshadow's green eyes surveyed the clearing, ignoring Cougarivy's comment. He was aware of her flank brushing into his but he shoved down the whisper of feelings that arose. It'd been so many moons since he'd truly let another cat in, so many moons since he'd consistently had a she-cat to warm his nest. It'd come so far in such a seemingly short amount of time from when Cougarivy made his skin crawl to meaning nothing and now...now what? Had she gone back to just another she-cat to him? Another she-cat to begin a clean slate with? So soon? This was the she-cat that had caused the erosion of his relationship with the love of his life, how could she simply be
just another she-cat? He took in a deep breath and stepped forward. He instantly recognized the small patch of marigold, a wilting few celandine, as well as daisies and dandelions scattered through the largest patches of sunlight. He let out a sigh, trying to concentrate on the relief these herbs brought him.
Cougarivy smiled wider even as Elmshadow stepped away from her. He hadn't immediately withdrawn and she could feel the tension of internal struggle nearly radiating off of him. She let a shive run up her spine but then a croak set her instantly still. Her ears perked towards the source of the sound then she crouched down and launched herself low over the ground towards the downed log. Her paws shot under the log and into the mucky mud but when she withdrew, she had a dead toad locked in her claws. She sat down quickly and carefully carved the secretion sacks off its back with a claw before lifting it in her mouth and carrying it back to the entrance of the clearing. Elmshadow gave her a small nod before weaving himself through the herbs. There were a decent number of marigold in the storage now and he decided against injuring the small patch of marigold, hoping to let it continue cultivating here so it'd grow into a larger, better established supply for future moons. There weren't any celandine, daisies, or dandelions though. The celandine was dwindling so he grabbed a few, then picked off a dandelion as well as a daisy. He turned to Cougarivy, giving her a momentary look before turning his eyes away and walking passed her. A fuzzy feeling spread through her so, with a little bounce, Cougarivy grabbed her toad and followed prancingly after the medicine cat.
[ +3 celandine +1 dandelion +1 daisy ]