the lucky ones {open}

[spectresight]

jasmine, chamomile, poppy seeds, thyme, dock... so many herbs, so little time to keep track of them all. in the darkness of her den, spectresight worked mostly by scent, thrusting her nose into each leaf covered hollow that held her stores of herbs. on occasion she would pause in her efforts to give a dissatisfied hiss upon finding that her stocks of a particular medicinal plant were growing low, or that the herbs had gotten too old to be of much use for healing. like now. "scat," she snorted unhappily before reaching down to hook a wilted clump of horsetail stems on one claw and remove them from their storage place. horsetail kept best in dry conditions, but in the middle of greenleaf it was impossible to keep the humidity from getting to her stores. had it not been the middle of the clans' most plentiful season she might have rationed the herb, but why bother when she could replace the less potent stuff with ease. besides, limp horsetail was disgusting to handle.

curling her lip in distaste, the she-cat moved to sweep the discarded plants towards her den's entrance, muttering under her breath a list of fresh supplies she'd need to go out and get soon enough. she really needed an apprentice, loathe though she was loathe to admit it. the calico wasn't getting any younger, and, to be perfectly honest, some young blood helping out wouldn't be unappreciated. wishing didn't solve her current troubles. stretching, spectresight paused a moment at den's entrance to enjoy the mid-morning sun on her fur. this was the best weather to work in, before the sun rose high into the sky and made all the territory a stifling pool of humidity that left a cat wanting to do nothing but sleep. there were still new hollows to dig. plenty of work to do, but her stomach was grumbling. the prey pile hadn't been filled for the day last she'd checked, though, which meant waiting for some warriors to return unless she went out hunting on her own while herb gathering. and that probably wasn't the best idea. she grimaced as she moved to go back to hollow digging. an old, one eyed she-cat trying to hunt would probably look ridiculous. 

[dreamstar ★]

dreamstar had been out in the fen to hunt early that morning, alone, as she was wont to do as of late. she'd been pretty slow, sporting an injury as she was. the added burden had caused her to miss not one but two catches, first a sparrow that had heard her heavy paws and secondly a frog, when she'd let her injured leg down too heavily into a bit of water. she'd cursed her bad luck, managed to take down a raven, and then carried it back to camp. she should have seen the medicine cat yesterday, when she'd been bitten by the rat, but of course, dreamstar was still a young and stubborn cat. and perhaps a bit of a stupid one too. now, her injury was stinging and she decided it was probably about time to follow her clanmates advice and go see the sharp-tongued healer.

though she hoped she could say that she got the injury recently and came to spectresight as soon as she did, she had a feeling that the old cat would know a day-healed wound to a fresh one. medicine cats always knew. head brimming with dark thoughts, she cared the black feathered bird to the medicine cat's den and dropped its slightly battered body to the earthy ground. "hungry?" she greeted with a polite dip of her head, blue eyes cast downward. 

[spectresight]

the medicine cat lifted her head at the sound of some cat entering her den. nose too full of herbs to recognise whoever the warrior was by smell, she turned, a harsh meow about her workload and how this interruption had better be good ready on her tongue. a statement that she let die at the scent of fresh-kill wafting towards her. she was silent a moment, one-eyed glance shifting between the dead bird and the silver-furred she-cat who had brought it in. "dreamstar," she spoke dryly, returning her leader's greeting with a nod of her own. "i'm starving, actually, starclan must have sent you to bring me something." spectresight gave a second dip of her head, grateful for the meal even if she didn't say so out loud. the calico crouched down and took a bite out of the bird, giving an appreciative hum as the pangs of hunger faded from her stomach. after a moment she raised her head, gesturing to the rest of the raven with one white paw. "it was a good catch. i imagine you must be hungry too?"

stepping back from the kill, the healer narrowed her good eye, curling her tail around her paws. "cats usually don't bring me food unless they want to be sure i'm in a good mood," she began slowly, raising one brow at the younger she-cat. "so..." she smiled wryly, "what do i need to be in a good mood for?" dreamstar was favoring one paw -- doing a good job a trying to hide it, too, but little escaped a medicine cat with moons of experience behind her -- and spectresight could take a guess at what might be wrong. still, it was more fun when a cat had to admit to their own blunders.

[dreamstar ★]

she grinned at spectresight's dry tone. "yes... i suppose they did," dreamstar replied carefully, contemplating whether starclan would care about a hungry healer when they cared so little for ill kits and battles fought over nothing. dreamstar herself, in fact, hadn't believed in starclan much if at all until her leader ceremony, during which she had been forced to confront their unfortunate existence. starclan was real, and they had given her surprising power in her lifeblood, and she was grateful for it. but that didn't mean she was about to go bowing down to the ancestors and thanking them for every stray mouse that came her way. just as they had the power to give, they had the power to take away, and they had taken away more than their share from her clan. that was not something that dreamstar readily forgave.

the leader let the raven sit, shaking her head. "i ate before i went on patrol," she meowed truthfully. she regretted it though; she'd missed more catches than she'd brought in, and had nothing to add to the freshkill pile now. besides which, dreamstar seriously doubted that the medicine cat would let her go back out for another hunt after she was done raking her ears for letting the injury sit and fester. 

she felt the silvery fur on her spine prickle as the one-eyed healer looked at her suspiciously. "good mood, i just wanted to make sure my favorite medicine cat was well taken care of," dreamstar bluffed, smiling back at spectresight. the two had been at odds in the past, but she did care for the scarred old cat, even if she was a bit hard to get along with. "alright, alright..." she could feel herself weakening under that one ice blue eye. "i, uh, may have run into a rat during one of my... expeditions into the fen," she explained, moving her paws in a restless manner as she looked down at them, guilty as a fresh-made apprentice.

[spectresight]

the medicine cat shrugged as dreamstar declined a share of the half-eaten bird. so long as her leader had already eaten that day, spectresight had little reason to be insistent. still, there was something off about the way the tabby had brushed off the offer, and spectresight couldn't help but frown as she picked up the fresh-kill - she'd eaten her fill for the moment - and moved to place it in a sheltered nook for later. "so long as you eat. there's prey in the forest right now, and no reason to worry about anyone going hungry." the last thing the healer needed was for dreamstar to be neglecting her health when she ought to be building her strength for the more troubling times to come once leaf-bare set in.

the calico snorted disbelievingly, smirking at the she-cat's casual response. "now i know you want something from me," she scoffed, though not unkindly. "'favourite medicince cat' my tail, i'm nobody's favourite medicine cat." spectresight let out a short laugh. she was abundantly aware of her reputation within the clan as the one-eyed medicine cat who treated cats with the forcefulness of a warrior. a bit too rough and prone to being rude to just about anyone who had to come into her den for help, but good at her job, and it wasn't as though there was anyone else who could heal in tempestclan. "'one of'" she echoed slowly, still staring at dreamstar even after she shifted her gaze towards her paws. taking a deep breath, she relented, stepping closer to sniff at the silver tabby's pelt. "i don't smell fresh blood on you... which means you weren't bitten while out hunting this morning." there was no question in her tone, note when the guilty apprentice look on the younger cat's face spoke volumes. spectresight shook her head, running her nose down one black-striped leg speaking as she worked. "i thought you were favouring a paw earlier. hoped my eye was playing tricks on me, though that's clearly not - aha, there's the bite." she pulled away, glaring at dreamstar accusingly. "you know better than to let these sort of things sit and rot."

[dreamstar ★]

    dreamstar held back a huff of frustration. her mother had deserted the clan when she was an apprentice and her father had died early on in her warrior days, so she still wasn't exactly used to other cats "parenting" her so to speak. her parents had been around, but had been too busy betraying the clan and ailing in the medicine cat's den, respectively, to dote on she and her siblings. though she was still uncertain of whether or not she was capable of being a good leader, she was still the leader and being chastised was irritating, if expected in this case. still, she knew that spectresight was right in her nagging. 

the silver she-cat let out a small hiss of pain as spectresight poked her nose into the festering rat bite. "i know," she sighed, finding admitting that she had poor judgement a very agonizing task. "i just... didn't have time to get it checked up yet, that's all." she frowned. "didn't even know there were rats out in the fen- ow! easy there!" hoping to change the subject, she cocked her head to the side and tried to ignore the pain in her leg. "think vertigoclan will try and stir up trouble before the gathering? things've been awfully quiet lately."


ooc// thought i'd give her vertigoclan hatred a chance to shine

[spectresight]

spectresight was tempted to prod the rat bite even more roughly in response to dreamstar's complaint. nothing like a little extra discomfort to discourage foolish behaviour in the future. she quelled the impulse, though. she might have a bit more forceful with a warrior or apprentice for making a similar mistake, but a little pain would never stop her leader from clinging to her stubborn streak. the calico rolled her good eye, walking back into the shadows further inside her den to seek out the usually herbs for rat bites. burdock root, of course, and horse tail... spectresight clucked her tongue. no horsetail of course. 'luckily there's a subsitute i do have.' gripping the herbs lightly in her jaws, the she-cat returned to the silver tabby.

"there's always time to get a wound treated," she retorted sharply. "especially a rat bite." she might have kept lecturing, if the burdock didn't need to be chewed for the poultice. her ears perked forward as dreamstar tried to change the subject, moving the chewed root onto a leaf. she grabbed the next plant delicately, nose wrinkling at the pungent smell. "had you come yesterday like you ought have, then i'd still have had good horsetail for the mix. all i've got now is garlic." she pressed down on the bulb, and grimaced at the scent wafting her way before motioning for dreamstar to extend her hurt leg.

the frown on her scarred muzzle deepened as her thoughts turned toward their neighboring clan. "vertigoclan is always scheming, i'm sure," she replied with a derisive snort. "might not be before the gathering that they do anything though. i'm sure those overgrown squirrels will wait to assess our strength before making any moves." the ex-warrior felt a twitch in the socket where her left eye had once been. talking about vertigoclan always brought back phantom pains.

 

[Rainbreeze]

The rabbit had been swift and taken her through thick undergrowth, but at the end of the day, Rainbreeze found herself dropping the plump rabbit onto the fresh-kill pile. Some of the prey carried Dreamstar's scent, she noticed, and she sniffed at the air for the leader.
Perhaps she'd like to join me for a patrol? She pondered and followed her scent to the medicine cat den, then hesitated. If she was speaking to her medicine cat, she should not disturb her... Rainbreeze lingered outside of the den, a conflicted look across her face as she considered if she should wait or not. Her ears pricked at the sound of voices but she shook her head and refused to eavesdrop, waiting outside the den patiently.

[dreamstar ★]

dreamstar nodded, knowing now was the time to take spectresight's lecturing and not complain too much. luckily, the calico medicine cat was forced to be silent while she chewed the medicine for her leg. wincing at the movement, she slowly complied to spectresight's gesture and extended her leg. glancing down, the leader realized that her wound really didn't look too good. she hadn't noticed it much yesterday, but today it was colored strangely with red and white patches of things she'd rather not identify. 

relieved to have changed the subject, the silver she-cat spoke up again. "do you think they'll try to take more territory? everything has been so quiet since we settled the new territories." she frowned, remembering the hard journey they had taken to get where they were now. during the journey, her friend and lover, voidstar, had weakened and ultimately been lost when they finally settled in their new home. her closest friend, islandsplash, had also disappeared during the flooding that had forced them out of their old home. it had been a tough few moons, emotionally, for dreamstar. "flamingstar seems unwilling to wage war while we're all still getting used to this new place."

she flicked her ears for a moment, hearing a noise outside of the den, and instinctively glanced out through the entrance. though she could not see the she-cat there, she scented rainbreeze. "is everything alright, rainbreeze?" dreamstar addressed her, looking expectantly in the direction of where she expected the she-cat to pop up.

ooc// it's dusk's turn to post now with spectresight c:

[spectresight]

spectresight worked quickly, pressing the poultice onto the wound before wrapping the entire thing with a strip of cobwebs. she squinted at her handiwork, assuring that no sign of the wound was showing through the dressing. 'she'll stink of garlic, but it should flush out any infection before it takes hold.' the medicine cat thought to herself. it wouldn't do to have their leader lose a life because of an infected rat bite.

"maybe not right away," she replied coolly. it took effort not to grimace at the mere thought of vertigoclan. "we're all still warm and full from greenleaf, but once the leaf-fall winds start blowing i doubt they'll be quiet for long. you and i both have the scars to prove that no clan stays where they belong forever." the healer felt a low growl rising in the back of her throat. in her warrior days, spectresight had fought often in border skirmishes, and lost much in them over the moons. to say that she was inclined towards disliking their rivals was an understatement. "if flamingstar thinks we're weak she won't hesitate to take what she can. the bonds we forged over the journey will be lost as soon as cats start feeling hunger gnaw at their bellies." her tail lashed furiously behind her.

she looked towards the den entrance in surprise as dreamstar turned. her nose was useless at the moment, filled as it was with the pungent smell of herbs. "don't tell me i've another cat to treat before it's even sun-high," spectresight mewed gruffly, raising her voice to assure rainbreeze would hear. she was a bit disgruntled that she hadn't even noticed the warrior's approach. "mine will be a battered and bruised clan presenting itself at the gathering at this rate."