I'm Stranded In The Middle Of Nowhere, Kinda Need Some Help Here (CLOSED for cotton)

Shrikesong padded to Fourtrees. Her mind was swirling with emotions, all culminating into a giant lump of sadness. It made her want to cross to Fourtrees all the more often. She knew that it was sacred territory, but she could still visualize the Asylum cages across the trees, pinning the Clan cats to their sacred place. For those Asylum cats, she felt nothing but hatred. They did everything in their power to bring the Clans into their orbit, and Shrikesong was glad that they were unsuccessful in the end.

While she was padding to the place, a raccoon came bursting from the bushes. Reacting quickly to the predator's iron-hard bite, the she-cat raked its soft belly. The raccoon still came after her, though, and slashed at her with its sharp claws. The adrenaline rushing through her veins, she slashed her claws through the raccoon's neck, killing it. Once the fight was done, the pain burst in. It felt like all of the pain that she had suffered during the fight had appeared now. She needed to get back to ThunderClan camp to get patched up by Dovefrost.

And then she saw him. Smallbean, the tom who was her biological father, the cat who she had very mixed feelings on. But he wasn't a bad cat, and he was WindClan's medicine cat. Maybe he'd be able to patch her up before she went back to ThunderClan camp. "Hey, Smallbean, could you help me with something? I got injured in a fight with a raccoon, could you patch me up?" She hoped that he'd say yes, though the fact that she was his daughter from a forbidden relationship probably didn't help her be convincing. Well, if he says no, I'll just leave for ThunderClan camp, and if he says yes, he can patch me up and I can be on my way.

The wind blowing through his thick fur and his gaze set on the horizon, Smallbean fought against the breeze and pushed himself toward the edges of Windclan territory. His tail streaked behind him as he ran, his paws drumming against the earth. His mind ran too, although it was mostly just full of reminders. Earlier that day he had reminded himself to look for some borage leaves, his stock had been running low. But that wasn't his reason for traveling across the territory. He simply just wanted to have a good run. He had been spending far too much time in the medicine den recently so he thought it would be nice to get out for a bit.

He slowed his pace as fourtrees came into view, the fatigue from all of the running setting in. His chest heaved as he entered the thin woods, the tall moor grass turning into shrubs and bushes. He hadn't planned on going to fourtrees, he really just let his paws lead him. It wasn't as if he was just going to turn around though, he could find some herbs here. As he entered the clearing he sucked in a deep breath, but instantly stopped in his tracks. A fresh Thunderclan scent entered his nose. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but the Thunderclan scent was mixed with blood. Did someone get hurt? Gaze sweeping over the clearing, he opened his mouth to call out, only to see the source of the scent before he could. A brown tabby approached him, one that he recognized. "Sh-Shrikesong?" He stammered, stepping back. It had been so long since he had to confront his mistakes, if it were up to him he would pretend to be oblivious for the rest of his life. Then again, he wasn't expecting to encounter any of the kits in a situation like this.

Forcing his medicine cat mindset to take the wheel, he thought about what herbs he would need for her wounds. He didn't need to ask how she got them, the first thing she said to him was an explanation of what happened. "Of course i'll help you... it's my job." He avoided eye contact as he hesitantly approached her, getting a better look at her wounds. Muttering words about herbs under his breath, he quickly turned away and padded toward the outskirts of the clearing, snatching some cobwebs and tearing off the roots of a comfrey flower before returning. "I'm going to uh.... yeah." He showed her to cobwebs and comfrey root before he started tending to her wounds, placing the cobwebs on the ones that were still bleeding. He felt uncomfortable, averting his eyes from hers. There was some invisible barrier keeping him from talking to her, but he wasn't sure whether or not he was unhappy about it. But there was the quiet voice inside him that told him that he had to say something, that he owed it to her. And maybe it was right. Clearing his throat, he broke the silence. "It's... nice to see you again." He turned his head away as he said the words, knowing full well that it was a lie. He almost wished that she wouldn't respond. With a slight shake of his head he returned to applying cobwebs to her wounds.

Shrikesong could feel the cobwebs patching up the injuries that she got. It was definitely a strange experience to be patched up by her biological father, something that the tom seemed to feel as well from the tone of his voice. Though she didn't think that what he was saying was matching up with what he was feeling, he was in the end trying to create conversation with her. And the least she could do is answer back. "Yeah, I feel the same way," she said, half-lying. The truth was that she didn't expect to see Smallbean here, at Fourtrees, and their relationship was still as rocky as ever. He didn't exactly like her, and she didn't exactly like him.

Smallbean only accepted because it was his duty as a medicine cat, which made sense in retrospect. Shrikesong probably should try conversing with small talk with her father, if only to attempt to mend ties with him. She didn't know what to say at the moment, so she ended up just staying still while the medicine cat put on more cobwebs on her wounds. "How's WindClan doing?" the brown she-cat ended up asking. Okay, I attempted small talk. Sighing, she looked down. [i]It's not gonna go well, is it?

A wave of relief washed over Smallbean as he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Thank Starclan that Shrikesong wasn't upset with him, or at least she didn't show it. He would have been happy with any answer as long as it wasn't a negative one. Although, it felt like she, too, wasn't being very truthful. A heavy sigh escaped him as he picked up a small clump of comfrey root, raising it to his mouth to chew into a poultice. He repeatedly crushed it between jaws until its texture resembled a paste. He removed the poultice from his mouth and placed it onto Shrikesong's deeper wounds to reduce any pain that still lingered.

He had started to zone out when Shrikesong spoke again. "Oh, Windclan..." He began, taking a moment to think. It was a relatively common question, one that would often be asked during gatherings, but he was unsure of whether or not he should go into detail. Even if they were related, they were still from different clans. 'No, be honest.' He silently scolded himself. "Windclan is doing well. The prey is rich and we've had few apprentices become warriors. And... Softbreeze stepped down, leaving me as the sole medicine cat." His expression briefly fell before a small smile spread across his maw. "Y'know, if you had told me that I would be a medicine cat back when i was an apprentice i would never have believed you. Now I couldn't imagine going back to being a warrior." He admitted, checking the cobwebs again to be sure that they would stay in place until Shrikesong could return. "What about Thunderclan though? How are you doing?"

Shrikesong gave Smallbean a warm smile. The job of a medicine cat did seem to fit the tom's personality much more than the duties of a warrior did. Softbreeze stepped down... that's interesting news. She didn't know a ton about the former WindClan medicine cat herself, but it was nice to know. How was ThunderClan doing... well, that was a long and complicated answer. "ThunderClan's alright, for the most part. However..." the brown she-cat said, trailing off.

She didn't want to tell Smallbean what had happened to his former mate and the rest of his kits. At the same time, a voice in her head told her that she should tell him, that he deserved to know. And since he was so open about his clan, she should be open about her clan as well. "I don't know if you have heard the news yet, but Cedarheart is dead, killed in a fight with a predator. Crowcaller was killed by a snake bite. Buzzardpaw was killed by a hawk when out hunting. And Kitefire... well, she may be leaving ThunderClan soon." Maybe she was being too open about saying that Kitefire would leave ThunderClan soon. But she didn't think that Smallbean would use this information to hurt ThunderClan. And she didn't say which clan that Kitefire was planning on going, either, so that could be a secret she'd be able to keep for herself.

The tom stepped back to survey how the cobwebs were holding, his torn ears flicking as he listened to Shrikesong speak. He nodded his head to her words, pleased to hear that Thunderclan was doing well. His soft smile soon fell, though. 'Cedarheart was dead?' He was confused, getting a feeling similar to the one he experienced the first time he met Cedarheart's kits. His eyes widened and he turned away, continuing to listen as she explained what had become of the rest of the kits. "Oh." Was all he managed to get out. He didn't expect this news, and he didn't expect himself to have such feelings about it. Of course, he felt bad about the fact that a cat had died, but for some reason he felt much worse. "I'm... sorry to hear. It must be hard for you." He felt a sort of guilt but wasn't quite sure why. His mind raced, Kitefire soon coming to the front of his mind. "Kitefire... Why is Kitefire leaving Thunderclan? Where is she going?" He asked, trying to mask the urgency in his voice. Surely if Shrikesong knew that she was leaving, she knew where she was going.