Quote:
Originally Posted by Duskflight
Falling in step by the older tom, even though Grousestar himself wasn't as young as he used to be; though he did seem just as energetic as he was when he was a young warrior. That was a blessing it seemed, for many warriors never really seemed to keep the same energy and love from when they were fresh warriors. You had to think, what was it that kept him going? What kept him so happy, so fully of life? Or was that how he always was? As friendly and outgoing as he was, and still is, he never actually made a lot of friends in the nursery; instead, he had spent a good majority of the time off doing his own thing, sneaking into the warriors den and elders den to hear their stories. He had always loved a good story, and he still did.
"How fun! I've never had the pleasure of accompanying a medicine cat on one of their herb-gathering adventures." He purred out with what seemed like a truly excited grin. Not many warriors found the task exciting at all, in fact, they'd likely find it rather boring and would much rather be out patrolling or hunting. Grousestar? He found interest in nearly everything, but then again, that was a pretty well known fact wasn't it?
"Oh they're doing fine, I think they're healing up pretty nicely. The only time they bother me is when I'm trying to rest, but even that is starting to go away now." He reported to the medicine cat, his paws stepping lightly on the bed of dead leaves that coated the ground, hardly even making a sound. "How are you enjoying the position by the way?" Turning his head, he'd look over at Shinefang curiously. Sure the tom had been the one to suggest it, but that didn't mean he was going to like it. He hoped that Shinefang liked what he did, but there was always the possibility that he hated it. Hated having the responsibility of other cat's lives in his paws. Sometimes even Grousestar hated the responsibility he was burdened with, but then he reminded himself of his love for his clan and the hate would dissipate. Was it the same for Shinefang? |
Fun? Not exactly how most cats would describe walking around the territory just to collect herbs, he thought to himself as he walked along the leaf-strewn forest floor. Shinefang wondered briefly if the tom had some kind of agenda in joining him for his herb gathering. After all, Auroraflame clearly didn't trust him in the medicine cat position and he'd lost his first patient mere days ago. Acornpaw had wandered into his den with a head injury and bleeding scalp. He'd treated the bleeding, made the apprentice comfortable, and told him he'd be up and about in a couple of days once his wounds were healed and his head was feeling better. Instead, he'd died in his sleep that night. The walk to the center of the clearing for the vigil had been been rife with shame. He'd failed that apprentice. The humiliation had been worsened by the Shadowclan and Riverclan medicine cat arriving just in time to see his little tantrum when he discovered the apprentice was dead. Did Grousestar also wonder if he was fit for this? Surely the deputy and leader wouldn't necessarily agree on everything, but he'd clearly demonstrated an impressive failure recently. "Good, good," he answered hollowly to Grousestar's report regarding his wounds. "Don't hesitate to come see me if it gets worse." When Grousestar asked about his enjoyment of his new position as a medicine cat, the old tom gave a small chuckle. "Let me tell you, Grousestar, it is
not as easy as it looks. I'm doing the best I can with what I know, and if a cat comes in with a bleeding wound, I can help, no problem. The trouble is that I'm trying to help a cat who's sick, and they don't have greencough, I don't always know how to help, and I know a lot of the herbs but not all of them." There was no point in lying to the leader, and if he already had negative opinions of his abilities, there was nothing he could say to change that. Well, perhaps there was one thing... "But the good news is that I've made my trip to the Starcave. The twinkly foxhearts have said I'm legit. And Daydream has agreed to teach me some of the things I don't know yet. Oh yeah, the Shadowclan medicine cat has their new name now, so that's exciting."