Scars [open]

A dark tabby found herself wandering through RiverClan camp as a certain cat had requested her to look out for supplies. A plentiful herb hunt it had been, surprisingly fruitful. Thornpaw held onto a variety of herbs in a small pouch she had in her mouth - chickweed, horsetail, and goldenrod. Walking what she first assumed was the the right path to the medicine cat den just by the constant visits made. Padding through the den she mistakenly turned the wrong turn bumping head first into the sharp walls. She let out a muffled grown dropping her neatly packed stash to tumble on the ground, a newly formed wound had opened up on her snout.

Bits of dirt that fell from the wall buffeted her eyes causing her to shake off her pelt. In doing so her pale green eyes cringed at the debris and the invading light pouring through the worn down entrance. "Sorry, I'm sorry." The apprentice stifled a sniffle already get closer to the ground collecting the fallen herbs.

Spiderquill was having a rare nap in his nest, feeling only a little guilty for sending Thornpaw out on her own to get herbs. She was capable of taking care of herself, though, and he hadn't slept in ages. He'd allow himself this one nap, at least until he was needed. He was just drifting off into a peaceful slumber when he heard a dull thud and the fluttering of leaves falling onto the ground. Reluctantly, he stretched all his limbs out and got up. Thankfully, what greeted him at the cave's entrance wasn't a mauled apprentice this time, rather a flustered an apologetic brown tabby. He padded over to his apprentice's side, scooping up the dropped herbs and placing them near the herb pile to be sorted later. "Oh Thornpaw, don't apologise. Are you alright? You're bleeding." This was nothing compared to what he'd seen with the likes of Shimmerpaw or Mistleshine, but some odd brotherly instinct was compelling him to tend to his young apprentice. He guided her towards a nest, it wasn't strictly necessary given her minor wound but it would make reaching Thornpaw's face easier. She was bigger than Spiderquill now, not counting the ears. It wasn't often that his healings weren't urgent, so he took his time as he grabbed a patch of wet moss and began dabbing Thornpaw's muzzle with it. "You ought to be more careful, I've seen much worse injuries than this happen because someone tripped or fell." An unpleasant thought popped into his mind. "Is it my fault you were distracted? Am I working you too hard? Cause you can just tell me if you've got too much on your plate, you know. I've done this alone before, I can handle doing extra work if you're not feeling 100%." Spiderquill stifled a yawn, hoping the young she-cat wouldn't notice the bags under his eyes. He didn't want to stress her out with too much work, not at her young age. He wanted to introduce her to her job gradually. "It wouldn't do to have you drop dead of stress before you're even fully named. Plenty of time for that after you graduate."

Calming words began to soothe the young apprentice's worries. At first she felt a slight panic overcoming her senses blinding her to stand before Spiderquill in shame. She hadn't thought he'd get up in the state he was in after attending their more recent visitor. Hearing him come to her aid made the youthful she-cat shy away her paws now placed on the side of the herbs. Wounds dealt by an unkind opponent who sought out to purposefully harm. This was on another level for it was herself that had brought it down upon herself so carelessly. Thornpaw raise her head grasping the advice given, a tone that she hadn't heard from another cat in the tight knit clan. Streamtail, her mother, wasn't in the nursery any more and neither was her brother who'd become a warrior's apprentice. Their father...wasn't one to be spoken highly for one reason or another.

The fluffy tom's worrisome chiding brought her back from her silence, her sight slowly healing from the incident. Clumsily did Thornpaw walk down to where she was being guided to, promptly sitting down to be taken care of. She winced when the moss was applied onto the warm wound that would surely raise questions at the next gathering. That was a big if - the medicine cats were accepting enough, their clanmates on the other hand might be less merciful. "I have to earn my keep...don't I?" Thornpaw protested at the suggestion of a heavy workload. "Being your apprentice has given me much to do, yes, but I have to put effort into my duties. I don't know what might happen next but I won't let you or the clan down. I won't let that happen, Spiderquill." She craned her head down, her growth since kithood was monumental. Overshadowing her own mentor was not one of things she'd come to expect but nonetheless she felt like an ant compared to the tom. "You've done so much for everyone, it's hard to ignore that you're under stress yourself."