All That Glitters Is Not Gold (Closed)

The tom walked calmly between the reeds and streams, enjoying the quiet and peace. When was the last time he left the camp alone for a walk? Since he became deputy, it was hard to find free time to do this kind of stuff. That’s why he was enjoying the best he could, only wandering without any other worry rather than maybe hunt some fresh-kill for his clan before he would come back.

However, the peace was broken in the moment he heard a screech of pain. The lean tom stopped for a second and he turned his head to the direction where the noise came. It sounded... like a cat was suffering. Afraid that it might be a clanmate, the Riverclan deputy trotted, following at first the hisses and screeches of a battle and then following the scent of fresh blood that led him to the place of his most horrible nightmares: the Gorge.

With trembling paws, the tom followed the traces of blood until his eyes met the weary body of a cat covered in blood. The warrior froze and for a second, he felt like his heart stopped. Images of the past appeared on his mind as he moved closer: the blood painting the water... the body of a small calico she-cat with deep wounds over her body. But this time... the victim wasn’t Cinderpaw.

It was Goldenpaw.

”Goldenpaw!” He cried when she called his name, blood spilling from her mouth. He looked at her wounds horrified by the scene. ”No... no, no, not again! Hold on, please! I-I am going to bring you back to camp and there Cloudstone will help! Please, don’t close your eyes!” The idea of Goldenpaw falling into a coma or worse terrified him. Why was this happening again? The green-eyed feline moved closer and he tried to stop the bleeding with his paws, thinking about the best way to carry her weakened body. Who would do this to her? She smelled like Windclan...

"K-Keep the pressure on the wound." Goldenpaw sputtered, her eyes shutting tightly once more as she wrapped her paws as well as she could around her belly. Her back legs pulling up to prevent her belly from dragging against the sand, and to prevent her skin from stretching and tearing. "Stop the bleeding..." She huffed, she knew the pressure wasn't going to be enough, her fur tried to clot it but with how horribly her belly was shredded she didn't think it'd help any. Trying to slow her heart-rate, to soothe the adrenaline that could very well put her through shock if she didn't calm. Breathing as gently as she could she tilt her head up to look at the bank, snow... that's it! "Jaystream, g-get me up there. Drag me by my damn scruff and drag my belly through that snow. It'll hurt like no tomorrow but until we can get to Riverclan camp, we need to pack snow into my wound, slow by bleeding and see if we can get the blood clotting." She ordered raspily, struggling to get even a paw under her.

"If you don't get me up there I swear to Starclan I will haunt you because I will be dead, and it'll be your damn fault." She snapped, knowing that her words were cruel, but they would be fuel. There will be a fire in her friend's belly, stoked and fueled by her words, because no cat would want a medicine cats death on their shoulders, not even Otterleaps. She'd have to apologize once this was over... if she was alive to do it that is. Another cough racked the she-cats body, flinching and collapsing back onto her side.

He felt dizzy by all the blood and how horrible the wounds were but he wasn’t going to pass out now. When he was an apprentice, he wasn’t able to help Cinderpaw but now... he was stronger and Goldenpaw was going to be a medicine cat. She knew how to treat wounds. Nodding energetically, the tom pressed the wound with his paws but the bleeding didn’t stop and the deputy started to panick. ”No... I-I-I can’t stop it...” He muttered, his voice trembling. Desperation filled his body as he realized he wasn’t able to do anything... until she talked again.

His green looked at the place she was talking about and then turned his head to her when she said she was going tu suffer. He didn’t want to cause her any pain... but it was worse if she died because he was too coward to do it. A shiver ran through his spine when the young she-cat suggested that her death would be his fault and, freaking out by the idea of losing her when her body collapsed, he grabbed her by the scruff, trying not to hurt her with his fangs. He carried her quickly to the snow after apologizing for the pain that was going to show up. ”I’m sorry for this... I should be there when you needed me but... I won’t let you die. Just hold on a bit more.”

"Don't blame yourself, you can't be everywhere when stuff like this happens." She hissed quietly, her paws scrabbling as she helped Jaystream move her. Inhaling sharply in anticipation of the pain that would no doubt be arising from having her already torn belly dragging through the snow. She quickly sent a prayer up to Starclan, hoping that the snow was soft and compactable; and they were answered! Gritting her teeth Goldenpaw twisted herself so her belly was flush with the ground, being nearly fully grown it wasn't a hard problem to fix. Goldenpaw nearly sighed with relief as it soothed her belly, washing away the blood, numbing the wound, slowing the blood-flow, and leaving a frightening blood smear trail.

Snow worked miracles, that was for certain. Goldenpaw, with all in the trust in the world she could muster, let herself relax. She had better chances if resting made her breathe better, and slow her heart rate. She would be unable to tell when she was actually dying since it seemed she almost was. Her thoughts weren't scattered so she supposed she would be alright, softly inhaling and exhaling she looked up at Jaystream, "Once you get to Riverclan camp, get cobwebs on the wound immediately, blood loss is your most important risk factor right now. Cloudstone and I will worry about the rest." She meowed before the word fell away and the she-cat lost all consciousness.

The green-eyed feline kept holding Goldenpaw as he tried to push more snow to her wound. He felt a bit relieved when he noticed that she had less blood coming out from her open belly but he also knew that this wasn’t over. Goldenpaw was so weak....

He looked down at her when new orders came out of her muzzle. Cobwebs... he had to keep that in mind. ”Don’t over-work yourself! Cloudstone and I will take care of... Goldenpaw?” Jaystream’s eyes widened in fear when the apprentice closed her eyes and didn’t open them again. The nightmare repeated itself and he breathed fastly while he tried to wake her up. ”Goldenpaw! Wake up!” He cried desperate in vain. No... he couldn’t let her died... he couldn’t let her end like Cinderpaw.

With a new determination, he picked up by the scruf snd started walking as fast as he could toward the camp, making sure to drag her through the snow. He thanked to Starclan for his long legs, which made him able to move faster. Jaystream couldn’t think in other thing rather than Goldenpaw. He had to save her... he wouldn’t make the same mistake that he did in the past. He wouldn’t...