Come In [Yarrowblossom]

Yarrowblossom was taken aback by the look on Dovesight’s face. He’d been having issues with his injured paw recently; on top of the joint aches, the mobility in his leg only seemed to be getting worse. His bones had healed long before, but the sheer amount of injury to his leg had made the bones fuse incorrectly. Now, moons after the fox attack, his scarred-over leg was oddly bent and the paw was losing its ability to keep up with Yarrowblossom’s others. He refused to be downed by it though, keeping his head up high as he maneuvered his way into acclimating.

The aching was becoming a bit of an issue, though. One that Yarrowblossom was hoping to have Dovesight help with. His plans changed sharply, however, when his odd eyes fell upon a clearly devastated Dovesight. He’d seen her at her absolute worst, he was well acquainted with the fear in her eyes regardless of how hard she attempted to hide it. ”Hi Dovesight, I didn’t mean to scare you! Everything’s fine, I just came over to talk about my leg a little. Is everything okay with you, though? You seem out of it.”

Yarrowblossom followed Dovesight through the medicine den, a little put-off but unsurprised nonetheless. He knew full well that Dovesight would rather have her claws ripped out than admit she was floundering in any way.

”It doesn’t really hurt, not anymore.” the tom answered unsteadily, still eyeing Dovesight. ”It aches when I move it too much though, and it doesn’t quite bend the way it used to— I’ve been putting weight on it just fine but our clanmates keep saying I walk funny. I always walked funny, of course, but apparently it’s been funnier than normal for me.” The limping was getting almost annoying, if Yarrowblossom could help it. He’d spent his entire life clumsy and unbalanced, but now… now it was beyond a quirk and onto something that’s stuck with the tom for his entire life. He didn’t even hate it that much, and that irritated him the most.

Dovesight, in all of her self-sacrificing glory, finally addressed Yarrowblossom’s concerns only to brush him off completely. He couldn’t even say that he was surprised. Unfortunately, Dovesight wasn’t a cat you could force into confession, so Yarrowblossom quickly relented, aiding in changing the conversation. ”How is Sandypaw, by the way? I haven’t seen her much since the eagle, especially now that she’s your apprentice.” Yarrowblossom eyed the empty den for a few seconds like Sandypaw would jump out. ”The predators are… a lot, I know. I’m sorry.”

Yarrowblossom almost felt guilty about the predators. He and Woolywing were the first big attack, back when they were newly apprenticed— had they done something to cause all of these predators to swarm RiverClan? It was preposterous thinking, Yarrowblossom knew, but he couldn’t help himself from letting his mind wander. ”It’s fine. It’s usually my shoulder that hurts the most, anyway.”

Yarrowblossom gave Dovesight a warm smile, warped ever-so-slightly by the stinging in his leg. The medicine cat was a great friend and an amazing healer; it hurt Yarrowblossom to see her struggle. If learning about a few silly plants put a smile on her face and gave her some of the assistance she desperately needed, he would do so without hesitating. ”Go on! I should learn how to treat my leg myself anyway— I don’t want to keep bothering you!”

Dovesight went on a tangent about herbs for a few moments, guiding Yarrowblossom through the poultice now smeared into his fur. The smell was a little overwhelming, but the gangly tom tried his hardest to listen in rapture— if he learned how to make the concoction himself, he could skip relying on poor Dovesight entirely! She was so busy recently anyway… ”I’m okay!” Yarrowblossom but in, suddenly all too aware that Dovesight had addressed him. ”I can do plenty! Running and sneaking around is a little difficult though, and I’m not that great of a hunter… but I can help on patrols!”