The First Deaths [Part One, For Tyleca]

Starclan must have been testing her. Or maybe... Everything and everyone was just trying to make her go insane. Every day, she'd been slowly sinking. Her faith in Starclan was lowering ever so slightly, little by little... Oh, yes, she knew there must have been something wrong with her, to make her feel this way. She was sure no one else did, to want to deprive themselves of joy because of meaningless theories about why everything was turning on them. Why waste all your energy crying and sad? She didn't know why she did it. Each day was getting less progressive. And worse.
So, she had an idea, to boost herself again, to get out of the sinking depression and endless darkness. She had discovered that, with the early spring this year, bees had started arriving, though slowly. Cautious of the bee stings that might occur, she went to plant her own herbs due to the lack of dandelion and blackberry currently. Then, she had another idea. Why not mix them together to get a faster, stronger affect? Proud of her idea, she planted the seeds next to each other, trying her best to push them together well.
. . .
They grew within a short time. It was astonishing, truly. After what she assumed to be the peak of their growth, she picked the plant, an old combination. She stripped it's new leaves, and was about to walk into camp before she was approached by Mantiskit and Antpaw (NPC) at the entrance to camp. "Silverfern! We got bee-stings and Dawnflower was really busy and you were out, so I was about to look for you when you showed up! Can you help us or somethin'?" The tiny she-cat mewed, her grey pelt shimmering in the sun, green eyes glinting. "O-oh! Sure... In fact, t-this herb is f-for b-bee stings! Heh...

OOC- Sorry for taking so long, I forgot about this. But there you go!

Mantiskit eyed the herbs suspiciously. "I've never seen it before... but okay. You are the medicine cat apprentice!" she mewed enthusiastically, trying to soothe her own worries. She padded forward slowly with her slight limp and sniffed the herb. "How do you use it?" she asked curiously, gesturing to her bee-sting on the top of her paw.

"W-Well... Heh... Y-You just... Chew it t-to a... p-pulp, I-I suppose... Uh... I can d-do it for y-you, I g-guess..." She stuttered, and quickly, swiftly, got to work on chewing it for the two. Once it was finished, she spoke to them again. "This... i-is going to h-hurt, b-but you have to know it'll b-be okay, a-alright? Here..." She quickly yanked the stingers from their paws, swiftly so it got over with faster. Antpaw let out a sharp 'eek!' before settling down again. Silverfern applied the goopy herb to their small bee sting cuts, hoping the plant would work right. She had a feeling it would be successful, but who knew. "N-now, if it still isn't h-healing right, come to m-me in my den." She said, carefully examining their paws. Antpaw nodded gleefully.

---

OOC- After this, shall we do a time-skip to where 'it's not healing right'?

OOC: Yep! I'll do it!

IC:

~~~~Time Skip~~~~

Mantiskit limped over to the medicine cat den. Her twisted leg made it hard enough already, but her swollen bee-sting made her other front limb unusable as well. But, with work she made it into the medicine cat den. There she saw Ant paw already by the entrance. "You having the same problem?" Mantiskit asked worriedly gesturing to Antpaw's swollen paw.

"Yeah.. hopefully Silverfern knows what she's doing!" Antpaw mewed anxiously, as they padded into the medicine cat den. Once they were in they looked around it seemed that Dawnflower was out doing something leaving only Silverfern in the den

"Silverfern our stings hurt still!" Mantiskit mewed with worry. She tried to place her paw down on the ground, but she flinched and let out a small 'ah' before raising her paw once more. "I cant even place my paw down!".

Silverfern blinked her wide, light green eyes at them, and, in a sense of worry, rushed them to a few moss nests, slowly, though. "J-Just... Lay here, and I-I will find a-a remedy. I s-suppose another d-dosing should do the trick..." She mewed and helped them lay down, before running to get the new herb again. Perhaps this takes longer to heal... She soon came back with the herb and applied it a second time, unaware of the poison in it.
---
Antpaw squeaked as it was applied. It stung worse than the bee-sting, this wasn't supposed to happen! ...Right? No, no, Silverfern knew what she was doing. This was probably part of the process. But unknowingly, from her paw, the poison was traveling through her body, slowly.

Mantiskit braced herself before Silverfern applied a second dosing of the remedy. But, it didn't matter how much she did, she still flinched when Silverfern applied more. "How long do you think it will take to heal?" she asked shakily as the unknown poison was seeping through her body. She settled into her makeshift nest and rested her head down on the ground, trying to drown out the pain in her paw.

OOC: Should we do a time skip again?

"Until sundown, most definitely..." Silverfern mewed, nodding as she applied it to Mantiskit. When she finished, she instructed them to try to sleep it off.

---Time Skip---

Antpaw didn't feel good at all. Her chest pounded and she was short of breath, and pain forced her to crumble like... Well, an ant. Foaming began at the back of her mouth with the infection, and it washed over completely new. A certain ripple cascading through her being as she felt like she was dying. "Sil... S-Silverfern..." She called weakly, eyes dimming.

Mantiskit felt as if her whole body was being crushed underground. Pain seared throughout her entire body and her mouth was brimming with foam. She knew at this point somethings wrong. She couldn't open her eyes, her body was draining the energy from her too much. "S-silve..." she mewed just barely, not being able to finish the medicine cat apprentices name.

Silverfern hadn't heard it at first, but soon heard the young cats' squeaky voices and she padded over, quickly grabbing more of the herb to help. It was odd; their voices sounded weak and... Pained? She made her way over to them from the long side of the den, and dropped the herb from her mouth as she stood in shock. "Oh no, no, no, no, no, no... What's going on?! What...?! No, no, no!" She exclaimed, rushing to her herb pile, trying to find something, anything, to stop their mouths from foaming. It was her instinct to tell what others needed and what was happening. But she couldn't find anything- wait. Had this herb done this? She looked to the mystery plant and, eyes wide with fear, she crushed it under her claws.
"Can I use blackberry le- No. That stupid plant used it all up. What have I done? I have to think faster. I can't let them... H-Honey, perhaps? Maybe it can sooth their throats... A-And... H-Horsetail? I suppose...? She rushed to find honey, but found none. Horsetail, however, was there. She quickly chewed the tall-stemmed plant into a poultice and applied it to their aching paws.

~~~

Antpaw couldn't feel a thing. he knew Silverfern was trying her best to save them, but she felt death coming like a slow ripple that grew. It churned through her body and everything felt hazy as Silverfern's yowls of terror cascaded through her mind as she slipped away, everything spinning before her stomach lurched and it all went black.

~~~

"Antpaw! No! You can't... You can't... C-can't... N-no..." Silverfern cried out, and then collapsed and began sobbing. What had she done? She was... A murderer. How would she tell their families? Their friends? The clans? She was... Evil. Would Starclan welcome her? Would Antpaw forgive her in the afterlife? Nervously and weakly, she got up, paws shaking, as she applied the horsetail to Mantiskit. "Stay strong, I-I believe in you... You can make it, Mantiskit... Just keep holding on..." She said quietly through her tears as she nervously awaited Mantiskit's mouth foaming to cease and her breathing to return to normal, her bright eyes gleaming again, her happiness returned... Please... P-Please be o-okay...

Mantiskit couldn't even hear Silverfern's cries, or feel her attempts at applying Horsetail to her paw. All she could feel was Death cascading throughout her entire body. She tried to keep breathing and stay alive. I cant die! Im a kit! were her final thoughts. Eventually her breathing fell silent, her body as limp and cold as an old piece of prey. Everything went black.

OOC: Should I make a topic where she wakes up in Starclan?

OOC- If you want.

IC- "No, no! Mantiskit... Antpaw... Get up! Get up! Please! Please! Please... Please... Please..." Her cries grew longer and quieter, each sound followed by a hard sob. "What have I done...?" She said, the words barely leaving her mouth, yet alone audible. Her claws sunk deep into the grass surrounding her, and tears fell fast from her eyes. I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry... No... Weakly, she got up and carried their bodies outside...

OOC2- Gonna continue in camp.

OOC: Okay!