Closed Thread [Closed] Here Lies Celandine (13th Moon of FG 2020)

Shadesleek was out hunting. Definitely just out hunting, not just out to stretch her legs and take a longer route so she could pass closer to Fourtrees because the moon had looked pretty full the night before and reminded her of Gatherings. She had already caught a vole and a mouse earlier and buried them for safekeeping so she wouldn't come back with nothing to show for her trip. She'd check back around the Rockfields later too. There was always something more there.

The black cat moved with purpose but kept her steps soft and her ears up for prey. Just in case, she told herself. Who knows? Maybe I can find a squirr--

Shadesleek stopped completely, not even setting down her paw, when she saw somecat farther ahead, nearer to the border--nearer to the borders. That was where Shadesleek wanted to go! How was she supposed to do that now and not be confronted? She almost flicked her whole tail in frustration, and she would have had she not wanted anything alerted to her presence.

Think, mousebrain, she hissed at herself. You're a warrior. You're allowed to be there too. She just had to assess the situation and act accordingly. But who was that out there? Rowanglade? A partial answer came on the breeze Shadesleek scented.

She was right about Rowanglade, and there was ThunderClan scent, but was it an actual other cat or just a very fresh border marking? It had to be another cat, right? Else why would the medicine cat be looking around like that?

Her would-be tail flick turned into a tail curl. Shadesleek started her stalk over, now on alert for more than mere prey.

((I might be taking some liberties about Shadesleek's distance/direction vs theirs. I saw her as coming from farther south than Rowanglade and Tigerrush.))

A couple mature celadine plants were exactly what she was looking for! Tigerrush set down the bundling leaf she had brought and began to examine the plants more closely. They seemed to have made it through the winter with little difficulty, their leaves now fanning out and starting to stretch towards the sky in hopes of more sunlight to help it strengthen and grow so it could later produce flowers.

The leaves would be the easiest to harvest so the small brown tabby decided that starting with the roots would be the best place to start. Without hesitation, she approached one of the plants and began to dig down. Being at Fourtrees didn't give her any anxiety, she was a medicine cat. Her purpose was to heal others, even if it meant a cat from another clan and Tigerrush needed herbs to that.

So entraced with her work in digging up some roots, the Thunderclan medicine cat didn't notice yet that she had company.

Shadesleek carefully continued on. Moving like this for so long reminded her of her apprenticeship and how her mentor made her do the same thing to raise her endurance. Great StarClan, had it been boring without a target... But it was interesting.

She wondered what ThunderClan cat might be there. No one would attack a medicine cat, right? Even so, Rowanglade looked so cautious, so what if--

Shadesleek stopped again, but this time with less urgency. Rowanglade's body language had completely changed. So she knows them...? Shadesleek thought, watching the medicine cat's sure steps. That was a relief. Shadesleek relaxed and went into a normal crouch.

Not that anyone should attack a medicine cat, but Shadesleek had been ready to sprint over there just in case. Rowanglade was old! Did medicine cats even remember how to fight at that point? So it was a good thing that Shadesleek was in the area, wasn't it?

Now she just had to act normal. The young warrior stretched and got back up. Her feathery tail swished slowly as she scented the air again and took another look around before continuing towards Fourtrees. She kept her body a bit low too, just in case Rowanglade did spot her before she got there. Plus if Shadesleek did find prey, that would be a bonus.

To give her credit, despite Rowanglade sneaking up on her unexpectedly, Tigerrush gave only the slightest of starts as she stopped digging and lifted her head to see the Windclan cat sitting a short ways from her. She closed her eyes and gave a small trill of delight. "Greetings Rowanglade! Beautiful day to search for fresh herbs!" The brown tabby brushed some of the loose dirt away with a paw the flicked said paw. "Do you happen to need celandine? There's another mature plant here next to the one I'm harvesting that you can make use of."

The wind was still blowing away from her so Tigerrush didn't notice Sleekshade's approach just yet. The Thunderclan medicine cat judged the how deep the hole was and was pretty satisfied. She was just about deep enough to check the roots to see how damaged they might be. With the plant so big though, she was pretty positive that the roots were healthy enough to harvest some.

"Have things stayed well in Windclan? Thankfully in Thunderclan, there hasn't been any new illnesses popping up." She pricked her ears to listen to Rowanglade's response as she began to start her digging again.

Shadesleek padded onward, getting closer to where plain met forest. Taking another glance ahead at Rowanglade, she saw the medicine cat go forth and do... something. Whatever she was doing over there Shadesleek couldn't tell. Examining the ground?

Eh she's probably fine, Shadesleek decided, secretly hoping Rowanglade wasn't just looking for a makeshift dirtplace. The warrior decided to hold off on going all the way over yet, just in case she was wrong. And she was glad she had paused, because as she looked away from whatever Rowanglade was up to, she spied a prize.

There. was. a. squirrel! Shadesleek immediately dropped back into her hunting crouch. She hushed everything about herself, even her breath. The squirrel wasn't even doing anything. It was just right there, living its life, oblivious as Shadesleek stalked closer and closer. Stay right there, she willed it. Stay right there and I promise I'll kill you so fast you won't even--

Something, some bird--some kind of ridiculous, probably crowfood-eating, no respect for anything kind of bird--made a noise. An alert noise, Shadesleek assumed, given how the squirrel froze and then spotted her. "Foxdung!" Shadesleek hissed and took after it, aiming to drive it away from the direction of RiverClan's border. As much as she loved running, she hated a chase she didn't agree to! And of course--of course!--it ran for its stringy little life towards Fourtrees!

It had bees in its brain if it thought running onto the rockpath would save it. Shadesleek didn't care. She was catching it. It came from her Clan's lands. That made it hers as far as she was concerned, and Shadesleek was a WindClan cat. I will not, she growled in thought, tail flying, heart and legs pounding, be outrun by some bee-brained squirrel!

Paw for paw, her claws met fur and flesh and blood. Her teeth too, mercilessly obstructing the squirrel's journey on the path of life. Another thing they had met on this journey together was the ground. It was damp. Shadesleek didn't mind that so much--earth was earth. But this damp ground was not WindClan's. They'd rushed past that. No, this was... ThunderClan's, Shadesleek realized, steadying her breathing through her nose. Her pulse thrummed in her ears as her jaws stayed clamped down on the squirrel to make sure it was or would soon be dead. This was ThunderClan's side of that rockpath. This was past ThunderClan's border by more than mere tail-lengths. And now that she was there, she could see Rowanglade and Rowanglade's acquaintance, and there was very likely absolutely nothing to keep them from seeing her.

"Has your nursery been blessed with new kits recently?" It was an innocent enough question, but the truth was Tigerrush really was curious. She loved hearing about new kits and it was approaching the best time of year for the nurseries to start filling. "Sadly, we haven't had any recent arrivals but I'm sure the warm weather will be changing that soon enough!"

Tigerrush easily displaced the moist dirt to reveal the lovely looking roots hidden beneath. Green eyes sparkled happily as she looked over the healthy specimen and leaned into the hole to nip several hearty sections from the plant. She left plenty for the plant to continue supporting itself as lifted her head to place them in the bundle leaf. A good smudge of dirt stuck to her nose but she seemed not to notice. Taking a moment to look around, to see if there might be something else to add to her herb bundle aside from the celandine and ash she initially planned, the brown tabby blinked as she noticed the black form of Shadesleek standing with a squirrel hanging from the other cat's jaws. In Thunderclan territory. Interesting.

Twitching her whiskers and narrowing her eyes ever so slightly, Tigerrush tilted her head slightly before calling out to Shadesleek. "That squirrel must have given you a lot of trouble." There was no hostility in her voice- unlike some of her clanmates, she wasn't about to start anything over what might have been an honest mistake, but she couldn't help giving a little good natured ribbing. Even if she thought Windclan didn't usually go after squirrels, thinking they probably much preferred rabbits.

Shadesleek channeled whatever bashfulness she felt into her legs and bounded back across the rockpath. Once there, she set the squirrel down. That could've been worse, she told herself, shaking earth from her fur. That could've been so, so much worse. ThunderClan's medicine cat--StarClan help her, Shadesleek could not remember her name. She never paid close attention to the medicine cats when she went to a Gathering. She just remembered her name sounded strong. Tiger-something. Tigerdusk? Tigerstorm?

Whatever her name was, Shadesleek was just glad she didn't sound mad. Rowanglade, on the other paw... Well, Shadesleek had seen the way she'd sighed and just gone back to digging. Maybe the squirrel would placate her once it was back at camp.

"Well, y'know how it is," she replied to the medicine cat, giving a jovial shrug as she tried not to pant. "They're usually not over here, so uh..." She kept the squirrel protectively behind her forelegs and, more importantly, behind WindClan's border. Mousedung, this was not how she'd wanted this day to go.

"It did come from our side too, I swear," she went on, trying to sound trustworthy. "But hey, at least it didn't run through your spot over there!" As if even this squirrel would've been stupid enough to run towards two whole other cats. Shadesleek shifted her weight. "So, you're out plant-hunting, right?" That's right, just keep it casual. "Fourtrees must have all kinds of good stuff."

Tigerrush's eyes sparkled as she noted the young warrior hurriedly flee to the border and made sure to tuck the freshly killed squirrel behind her paws. "Unlike a few of my clanmates, I am willing to take you at your word." She was trying to remind the other warrior to be mindful without trying to seem like she was. "And yes, I have need to refresh my herb store so I'm ready for any illness that might threaten my clan. Ash is easily found here and the celandine plant I found here is the healthiest I've seen in the area so far this year." With great care, she began to gently take the leaves in her teeth and plucking them to add to her herb bundle. "Aside from your wayward squirrel, how has the hunting been?" The breakfast she had eaten before she headed off felt like a distant memory and she actually gave a slight start when her stomach gave a lout rumble to remind her how good having some freshkill sounded.

"Ooh, I see." Shadesleek nodded attentively to both of them. "I feel wiser for knowing now, thanks," she replied, trying to sound grateful about both the herb information and the medicine cat saying she'd take Shadesleek's word. Just don't let that be a mistake, Shadesleek intrusively thought.

"And the hunting's been great," she continued, tail slowly swishing again. The squirrel was a great victory in her opinion... but at what cost? Shadesleek had not heard the ThunderClan cat's stomach rumble, but she felt amazingly awkward just standing there watching them, and Rowanglade's silence about the prey was louder than the bird that had frightened it.

"So," Shadesleek meowed decisively, "I should get back to that and out of your fur. I hope you find whatever you're looking for!" She scooped up the squirrel and padded away with intentionally swift steps. Running would've made it look worse.

Tigerrush managed to mask her embarrassment at her growling stomach by pausing a moment to shake herself thoroughly and lick a stray tuft of cream fur on her chest. Hopefully the freshkill pile would be stocked when she returned to camp. As Shadesleek departed, she called lightly. "Starclan grant you good hunting!" Glancing at her bundle, she noted the pile of roots and leaves. Not a bad haul and she could collect from the Ash trees on her way back. Glancing at her fellow medicine cat, she mewed. "It was good to see you again, Rowanglade, but I must be off! Time for me to go dry my catch." Reaching down, Tigerrush picked up the bundle and trilled farewell before she turned and began to make her way away from Fourtrees.