RiverClan Medicine Cat's Den

[duckie]

Sootflare
__________

Soon after Lionstar stormed out of the den, Sootflare appeared with the body of Dusktail laid across his back. He had most certainly heard all the yelling - it was quite difficult to miss - and of course he had listened in. Who wouldn't? He was pointedly choosing to ignore the tension in the den as he entered, however, and waltzed up to Otterstone. Otterfall? He slid the elder's body gently into an empty nest and turned to the medicine cat, "Since you were too busy to come join me in the elder's den as I asked and it appears your new job assignment is to 'stay out of the way' - this is your responsibility now." He meowed flatly before disappearing back out the entrance, leaving no room for argument or protest.

[ @CheetahPelt ]

[lucidense]

Creekleap had heard that tone in Lionstars voice before. He was mad. She padded inside the den. "At your service." She mewed, her voice strangely calm. @BILL. @Elementals @Dipper @CheetahPelt

[CheetahPelt]

Originally Posted by Dipper

It was when Otterstone began handing out his herbs -- wait, his herbs? That was new. Fawnsqueak could've face-pawed at how protective he was being over some stupid plants that, although he did collect, didn't exactly belong to him. They were here for the purpose of healing, no matter who was doing it.

But that didn't mean he was about to allow Otterstone's habit of over-using diminish his hardwork. He scuttled forward to paw back two of the three poppy seeds, peering apologetically at Goosefury. "Uh, sorry-- about that. I'm guessing the extra were stuck to her paw or something when she got the other one out." His wound wasn't producing severe pain - Coyotesnarl said one poppy seed for pain, two for severe, three for overdosing a patient. With a tip of his head toward the last seed, he said, "You can definitely still have that one, though."

@Slushie

Otterstone shot a sharp grin at Fawnsqueak. “Thanks.” She said, meow irritated and tight. “A slip of the paw.” She said, tone slipping into something a little more carefree.

[Fawn]

Originally Posted by CheetahPelt

Otterstone shot a sharp grin at Fawnsqueak. “Thanks.” She said, meow irritated and tight. “A slip of the paw.” She said, tone slipping into something a little more carefree.

"I figured," Fawnsqueak replied, brushing it off with a practiced casualness. "I mean, it's not like you're some herb-waster accidentally overdosing Goosefury on poppy seeds, right?" The absurdity was passed through a laugh. "I have no idea why I'm even here since you're basically a poppy-slinging professional. Maybe if we get kit-helpers, you could teach them how to hand out those bad boys."

[CheetahPelt]

@BILL. @Dipper @wnder

The shaking she-cat’s eyes widened, aghast at the scene in front of her. No....no this couldn’t be happening.
Teaching moment..
The tortoiseshell chuckled in her head. He was using her own words against her.
Otterstone winced at her apprentice’s biting tone.
If you can’t supervise a single patient...
Emotions roiled inside of her. How had this all gotten out of hand? It seemed one day she was a warrior the rest of her life ahead of her and now she was a shadow of her former self.
How could she think holding a cat’s life in her paws was a good idea???

As Lionstar berated her she flinched like his words were physical blows. Her plans hadn’t come to fruition. She hadn’t followed through and the clan had or probably would suffer. And it was truly her fault.

Otterfall?

She had gone from the stone which holds up the clan to a fallen idiot.

She couldn’t even speak. What could she say?

And then Sootflare was there, Dusktail’s body with him. Now she had two bodies to bury.
Since your new job is to stay out of the way
A biting comment died on the tip do her tongue. That was what Lionstar had said, wasn’t it?

“I...I’m sorry Fawnsqueak.” Her words were shaky, proof of the tears threatening to fall. “I’ll take care of this.” Her eyes darting between the two bodies. At least she’s be doing something useful.

[Fawn]

Fawnsqueak took in the details of the upcoming task while he mentally envisioned what the expansion would look like, where they'd begin work. Importantly, how they'd effectively separate it from the rest of the den to contain the spread of respiratory infections. A project and a half, but it'd be worth it. This was actually work he was familiar with, a rarity that came with a confidence boost that he hadn't felt for months. It was comfortable, normal. None of the dumb guessing-and-hoping that he absolutely hated since it was a life on the line.

Although he inwardly acknowledged Sootflare's entrance, his focus didn't waver. He didn't want to see him, didn't want to interact. Nothing. Ignoring his presence was the only way he'd continue to function.

Otterstone's apology was met with a dismissive flick of his ear. That was.. something to think about later, he had too much on his paws right now. "Yeah, it's..." he began but faded, because it wasn't alright or okay or fine. He didn't have anything to say to her, didn't actually care at this point since he could already imagine things wouldn't change. Quite frankly, it was a repeat of an old conversation both he and Lionstar had with her on separate occasions and was always met with shame, but ... no change. So, he was over it.

Spotting the two warriors arriving in the den, Fawnsqueak perked up. They seemed on top of things, so he doubted it'd take them too long. "Okay.. so I'm thinking-- for this to work, we'll probably have to expand it over here." As he spoke, he trotted over to the far side beyond the herb storage where it was partially a reed-woven wall and half dirt, the den sunken below ground-level for optimal coolness. "Do you guys think you can dig out a little area? I mean, removing this first," his head tipped to the reed-wall, "and sort of make it into an extended wall for however much space you carve out?" His gaze was bright and curious as he focused on Splashfury and Creekleap, grateful for the assistance. "Maybe, as an idea, someone could dig and the other could start working on the barrier?"

Noticing the flash of golden movement, Fawnsqueak scanned over the herb supply and grabbed one of the horsetail - it was losing its scent anyway, he wanted to be safe and not use it.. just in case it actually went bad, considering it was for infections. And a stale, rotting herb might make it worse. "Wait-- Lionstar!" he said, muffled and rushed to catch up with him. "The patrols, if.. you're sending them out. It's probably best if they could bring back cobwebs or marigold--everyone knows what that looks like, right? Or sticks! Sticks are fine too. Um, but if you want, you could see if a patrol wants to take this for reference," he scooted the horsetail toward Lionstar, "and grab fresh horsetail. No mushrooms."

Fawnsqueak scooted forward to peer out of the den and look around the camp, sifting through the crowd for a cat... any cat would work, as long as they were reliable--

Oh! "Hey, Goosefury?" he called. "You, uh, got a bit? We kind of have to clear everything out of here and will need new nest material, so... maybe you could get some of that and bring it in, if you're not doing anything." Fawnsqueak supposed Goosefury could manage that task on his own since he found heather not terribly long ago, and they'd gathered feathers together too. Past experience culminated to this.

Ooookay... and the actual cleaning part. Apprentices were usually good about that sort of task. "Hey, um.. Dogpaw, Foxpaw!" Hopefully both of those were the right names for the cats he was thinking of. "Can you guys maybe, if you don't mind, clean out the dust and stuff? Don't clean out the herb supply but just make sure the den itself is not... gross." Like it kind of was now. Dust and grime had built up on the flooring. A flicker of a smile crossed his muzzle as he said, "If you finish early, you could assist the warriors with building and expanding the den too -- more of a warrior task, but I feel like you could probably handle it."

[ @BILL. @CheetahPelt @Elementals @~Lucid Dreams~ @Lynxpaw @Mentallyunstable @Slushie
for easy reference:
Splashfury + Creekleap: expanding the den, rebuilding den wall around new part.
Dogpaw + Foxpaw: cleaning out den (dust, dirt, grime, vomit), then helping warriors expand if needed.
Goosefury: nest supplies]

[dino.]

[ @Dipper ]

Goosefury
--------------

Goosefury poked his head in. Gee, the medicine den seemed to be rather busy these days. Lionstar was here, even. And Otterstone looked... less than happy. Was that a corpse in the corner? What was with all the expansion talk? What on earth... Everything seemed muddle together and it was screwing with his senses, but he did his best to focus on Fawnsqueak and nod in understanding. "You got it," he said with a ghost of a smile. "I'll be back with tons of stuff, don't you worry." With that, he spun on his heel and dived back out of the den, hoping to leave before the rest of the crowd showed up.

[wolfie]

Originally Posted by Dipper

"A little, yeah," he conceded with a lopsided smile. Despite how long the infection had gone untreated and the severity of it now, Wormbite was turning out to be one of Fawnsqueak's more enjoyable patients, perhaps because they had sort of a history, or perhaps because he was just a good sport about the whole thing. It helped that he was a fast learner.

Sympathy tugged at him, though diluted when it was an untreated infection that'd dragged the dude here. Fawnsqueak could safely say he agreed in wishing Wormbite didn't have to discover this the hard way Trying to be comforting (but not exactly achieving anything on that front), he offered, "Hey, man. It's not the worst thing. It should be good to go again in a couple sunrises, just kind of keep an eye on it."

The confirmation was a nod. "No swimming, no.. anything that might take off the poultice."

Wormbite lift his paw far up from the ground to get a proper look at it. "Eye on it. Understood, " He mewed-- squinting at it. He was so gonna watch the heck out of this. Well, at least he would be more careful. Wormbite did not want to gnaw his own paw off! Yuck!

Looking back at Fawnsqueak, he offered a subtle smile. "Thank you, " He replied-- lowering his paw back to the ground. However keeping it a few inches off of the floor. He was actually very grateful. The experience was mutually pleasant. Which he was a bit surprised by. Then again, Fawnsqueak generally was a pleasant tom. With one more nod, Wormbite turned away and exited the den. Casting just one more glance to his wounds.

[Fawn]

In keeping with the spirit of cleanup, Fawnsqueak was diligent in his herb evaluation. His organization wasn't the worst after a lifetime of a messy philosophy: it can go wherever, he'd deal with it later. Experience had taught him the painful lesson that such an approach wouldn't pan out in this role, so he'd arranged things according to usage. Similar herbs went together, but in separate piles within the cracks of the den.

Despite its ability to keep the plants in a dark location free of moisture, it didn't completely ward off rot and staleness. That's what his current task was, threading through everything he'd collected to ensure it was still a viable treatment. The cobwebs and stick received an instant pass since they appeared strong as ever, but the rest.. he wasn't as certain about.

To be on the safe side, he discarded the older poppy seeds and remaining horsetail -- the former, he imagined they had a sufficient storage that it wasn't worth attempting to use potentially-bad seeds. The horsetail gave off no scent and therefore its effectiveness was questionable, but with infections, Fawnsqueak was unwilling to take that risk.

[Exis]

Foxpaw nodded, happy to help. “Come on Fogpaw, then we could go hunting or something.” She said as she began dusting. She used both her tail and paw to get the job done.
@Dipper @Lynxpaw