Larkfire was going to murder something. Was Starrylight an idiot, bringing a RiverClan kit straight into ShadowClan's camp? Fool. Keeping her facial expression passive and calm was all Larkfire could do to keep from snarling outright at Starrylight for her utter lapse in judgement. “Go tell Dawnstar you've brought a RiverClan kit to camp.” She barked at the warrior, patience thinning by the moment.
Once Starrylight had (hopefully) left, the Medicine Cat turned to 'Fogkit', brow creasing in thought. She gestured to an empty nest, and then turned away to rifle through her herbs. “Sit there. Don't move unless I tell you to. If you leave this den, I can't promise you won't be killed just because you smell like a RiverClanner.”
Gaze flitting over her shoulder as Marigoldfur limped into her den, Larkfire instantly pivoted around, aiming to lend the elder a shoulder to lean on as she helped them over to an empty nest. Once Marigoldfur was (hopefully) settled, Larkfire took a step back and took stock of the elder's condition. "Any symptoms that have stood out to you lately?" She asked. She could guess what the elder was likely going through, but she needed to make sure.
Fogkit stares up at the medicine cat, eyes watering and lips quivering. What did he do wrong? Why are they mad at him ‘cus he’s from… from Riverclan? “Y-Yes, Miss…” he whispers.
Trying his best to hold back tears, he sits right there. As he sits, he winces and squeaks. The cut in his side from the talons of that… that thing must have cut him. Now it’s exponentially harder to hold back his tears, and he digs his face into nearby moss to hide the tears.
Is he ever going to get back home? Will he have to stay here forever? With all these meanies who don’t like him? Cus he made them all mad by smelling wrong. He hiccups and continues trying (and failing) to stop crying.
Marigoldfur shifted so she lay in a more comfortable position for her twisted leg. A wheezy sigh followed by a fit of coughing had the elder feeling slightly embarrassed.
"Looks like starclan wants to swipe me up, maybe I'm getting a bit too old" She croaked with a gruff laugh. Clearing her throat she managed to continue "My shoulders have been stiff and aching, and I think I may have a fever with all this coughing"
This cat was kind. This cat was comforting. This cat was... Just like his mother. For a moment it makes his skin crawl to think about, the sting of betrayal still fresh in his heart. But more than anything right now he sought the comfort that only a mother could give. This molly made him feel safer than any other cat in the clan had thus far. So narrowed eyes stare back into matching amber as he thinks on her words. He liked his name. It wasn't fair that he had to change it. But perhaps it was better this way. Burying the Moon that he was named after by one that no longer cared for him was maybe better. In his kit brain, anyway.
Glancing away, he cannot hide the frown that appears on his features. He was so used to being called Moon-- 'Moonie', by his siblings-- that the change would definitely be hard on him. His sense of identity was already slipping and changing who he was... Well. Everything is hard right now. Especially his raspy breathing. Despite the turmoil so obvious on his face, he just shakes his head.
"Can't be Moon anymore... Big scary cat said there's already a Moon... So I can't be Moon anymore." Though he tried his best to speak in a way that showed he was unbothered, he cannot help the disappointment in his tone. "So... Don't have a name. Not really... N-Not fair..."
As he thinks abou the situation a little more, narrowed eyes begin to grow glassy, as if at any moment a flood of tears would rush forward and dampen his tiny face.
[Black cat with a half-white muzzle and green eyes, one gouged out]
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[Fogkit - @MangofDoom ] [Larkfire - @Rose ]
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Mistlewhisker nosed into the medicine cat den, her good eye flicking from wall to wall in search of the small kit she had seen Starrylight waltz into camp with. She wasn't entirely sure why the warrior had thought to bring the kit into camp, since it was from RiverClan, but she supposed that if the alternative was leaving it to die... surely this was the better option. She spotted the sad little scrap of fur, padding over to him and nudging him with a paw. She had a frog in her mouth--the one she had when Fogkit first spotted her. Setting the frog down at her paws, she gave the kit a once over. "Crying already? You've hardly been here for a day, tiny one."
[Black cat with a half-white muzzle and green eyes, one gouged out]
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[Fogkit - @MangofDoom ] [Lostspark - @Rose ]
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Mistlewhisker nosed into the medicine cat den, her good eye flicking from wall to wall in search of the small kit she had seen Starrylight waltz into camp with. She wasn't entirely sure why the warrior had thought to bring the kit into camp, since it was from RiverClan, but she supposed that if the alternative was leaving it to die... surely this was the better option. She spotted the sad little scrap of fur, padding over to him and nudging him with a paw. She had a frog in her mouth--the one she had when Fogkit first spotted her. Setting the frog down at her paws, she gave the kit a once over. "Crying already? You've hardly been here for a day, tiny one."
Fogkit slowly looks up at Mistlewhisker with shining, terrified, dull blue eyes. "I-I-" he says and hiccups. "I'm not crying..."
He blinks down at the frog in front of him and sniffs it, tilting his head. "What is this?" He asks.
Fogkit had seen some things like this before, but had never been so close. It smells dead. Why'd they kill something that they couldn't eat? His little body shakes.
Marigoldfur shifted so she lay in a more comfortable position for her twisted leg. A wheezy sigh followed by a fit of coughing had the elder feeling slightly embarrassed.
"Looks like starclan wants to swipe me up, maybe I'm getting a bit too old" She croaked with a gruff laugh. Clearing her throat she managed to continue "My shoulders have been stiff and aching, and I think I may have a fever with all this coughing"
Eyebrows furrowing with concern, Larkfire blinked down at the elder for a couple moments, attempting to formulate an appropriate response. It came to her, then, that Elmshadow had mentioned the signs of illness to her. Glancing briefly over Marigoldfur, and then stepping over to her herb storage, the pregnant Medicine Cat nimbly picked out the herbs she needed before making her way back over to the elder.
Chickweed instead of Boneset, because the latter only grew after leafbare had passed, and Larkfire was in no hurry to get rid of her more season-sensitive herbs. "Eat this." She murmured to the elder, nudging the Chickweed towards Marigoldfur, and then turning away to soak moss in water to mix it partially with the honey before she offered that, too, to the elder. "Drink this. It'll sooth your throat and halt the coughing."
This cat was kind. This cat was comforting. This cat was... Just like his mother. For a moment it makes his skin crawl to think about, the sting of betrayal still fresh in his heart. But more than anything right now he sought the comfort that only a mother could give. This molly made him feel safer than any other cat in the clan had thus far. So narrowed eyes stare back into matching amber as he thinks on her words. He liked his name. It wasn't fair that he had to change it. But perhaps it was better this way. Burying the Moon that he was named after by one that no longer cared for him was maybe better. In his kit brain, anyway.
Glancing away, he cannot hide the frown that appears on his features. He was so used to being called Moon-- 'Moonie', by his siblings-- that the change would definitely be hard on him. His sense of identity was already slipping and changing who he was... Well. Everything is hard right now. Especially his raspy breathing. Despite the turmoil so obvious on his face, he just shakes his head.
"Can't be Moon anymore... Big scary cat said there's already a Moon... So I can't be Moon anymore." Though he tried his best to speak in a way that showed he was unbothered, he cannot help the disappointment in his tone. "So... Don't have a name. Not really... N-Not fair..."
As he thinks abou the situation a little more, narrowed eyes begin to grow glassy, as if at any moment a flood of tears would rush forward and dampen his tiny face.
When the kit turns away, Larkfire can't help but keep watching him, remaining silent and allowing him to work out whatever it was he was thinking. When finally, he spoke, the Medicine Cat didn't react to Moon's vaguely pensive tone, if only for the sake that he didn't want to seem saddened. She understood bottling up, trying to shove down all the emotions that threatened to overwhelm.
But when Moon's gaze turned glassy, distant, Larkfire couldn't stop herself from lifting her plumed tail and attempting to gently lay it over the dark-furred kit's back. "Hey." She whispered, allowing a tentative smile to tilt the corners of her mouth upward. "Big scary cat isn't so bad. Really. When I joined ShadowClan, she seemed terrifying to me too, but... I'll tell you that Dawnstar is just... just like us, see? She doesn't like sharing her feelings, so that makes you braver than she is, telling me this, hm? Before I joined ShadowClan, my... um, Mama was not the nicest." Larkfire's gaze darkened for a moment with unhappiness at the mention of Fablespinner, but she continued on. "After I joined ShadowClan, I had to find my way around alone for a little while. And even if Dawnstar seemed scary at first, she's my new mother now, and she's a way better mother than ... my old mother was."
Turning onto her side, the pregnant molly blinked sidelong at Moon. "You'll be okay, here. It's not so bad. ...We can pick a new name for you, and tell you what, you can stay with me in this den if you want. Just until you get used to everything. Sound good?"
Marigoldfur bent her head and picked up the herb in her maw before chewing and swallowing. She took a quick look around the medicine den before lapping up the honey-water mixture. Her tail twitched at the sudden sweetness but she didn't complain.
Fogkit slowly looks up at Mistlewhisker with shining, terrified, dull blue eyes. "I-I-" he says and hiccups. "I'm not crying..."
He blinks down at the frog in front of him and sniffs it, tilting his head. "What is this?" He asks.
Fogkit had seen some things like this before, but had never been so close. It smells dead. Why'd they kill something that they couldn't eat? His little body shakes.
Mistlewhisker
ShadowClan
she/her | 35 moons
[Black cat with a half-white muzzle and green eyes, one gouged out]
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[Fogkit - @MangofDoom ] [Larkfire - @Rose ]
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The pitch black molly glanced down at the frog, staring with blind eyes up at the roof of the den. "It's a frog. What, you don't have those in RiverClan? Right shame, then." She thought about it for a second, glancing around and watching Larkfire deal with other clan cats, before nudging it towards him. "Go on then." Surely her clanmates wouldn't appreciate her giving food to an outsider, but he was a kit for StarClan's sake! "I can't imagine you've eaten in a while."
She looked back up at him, the pit where her left eye had been gouged out stark in the watery light filtering through the den walls. She was terrifying, standing over the kit. She was much bigger than the average she-cat, and her short fur was riddled with scars, a particularly nasty bite made by something much too big to be a cat still red on her shoulder. This combined with the hard glint in her one good eye made her a frightening figure.
When Mistlewhisker entered, Larkfire offered the warrior a small frown at the abrupt interruption, but aside from that, she did nothing. She'd likely need to get used to this; cats waltzing in. After all, how else could they get their healing? Hovering beside Fogkit as the teary-eyed kit stammered out a reply to her and then buried his muzzle in the nest, ShadowClan's Medicine Cat let out a soft sigh. Maybe she'd been a tad bit too harsh, but... that if her blunt words kept him alive, that was preferred. Better safe that sorry.
Maw parting, Larkfire debated comforting the kit verbally, considering that he was having a break down, but then she shook her head and settled for attempting to stroke her tail once over Fogkit's spine before she turned to her herb store, ears pricked to pick up the conversation between Mistlewhisker and Fogkit as she sought to get the kit his required herbs.
Once she'd grabbed what she needed, the heavily pregnant molly moved around Mistlewhisker, only nodding once to the half-blind she-cat before turning back to her work; Fogkit. There was a nasty gash in his side, one that would lead to infection and probably ultimately death if not treated. He was a RiverClanner, but then again... Well, Mistlewhisker was feeding the kit, so what if Larkfire healed him too?
"How did you get in ShadowClan territory?" The grey feline asked as she ducked her head to clean out the blood from his fur, lapping at the gash a couple moments until she was satisfied, and then moved on to applying the marigold paste she'd chewed up, along with a cobweb to seal the wound. Once Fogkit was patched, and not at risk of dying on her floor, Larkfire sat back, amber gaze drifting to Mistlewhisker in case the warrior had any clue. "Starrylight failed to mention when she burst in here without preamble and then disappeared without a word. Now to hope she followed my advice and went straight to Dawnstar."
Fogkit tilts his head. He’d heard of frogs, but he didn’t know cats could eat them. He’s not sure he wants to, but his empty stomach suggests otherwise. The imposing shadow over the kit makes him want to bolt. So many scars, and their eye is always closed. Could their other eye turn him to stone if it opened? He couldn’t get home if he was made of stone…
His thoughts are interrupted by the medicine cat’s tail. He flinches at her touch but doesn’t move. Fogkit’s thoughts turn to what the Shadowclanners would do to punish him if he did anything wrong. So he sits there, unmoving, and petrified.
How did he get here? Fogkit is distracted by this question. He… he remembers it all vividly. Frighteningly vividly. But he doesn’t know what to make of it at first. He doesn’t notice when the medicine cat approaches to patch up his side. He squeaks but doesn’t move, knowing moving will make it harder for medicine cats.
When they’re done, he quietly answers, “I was… in the clearing. And then I was snatched. It was a bird.”
The memory digs itself into his head. He relives it again and again, making him quiver. “I didn’t see it… What if no one saw it?” He looks up at Larkfire with dull blue eyes shining with tears.
Re: ShadowClan Medicine Cat's Den
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