i feel scared, and i'm starting to sink (open)

OOC: Set directly after this topic!

Hedgepaw couldn't quite recall the time between the owl attack and where she now stood, entering ShadowClan camp. She must have walked, she was sure--she hadn't been carried. She remained stuck to Fernpaw's side like a stubborn burr, but her eyes followed Heatherberry on her way to the medicine den. Medicine cats could heal, right? Hopefully she could make the pain go away. They were back. They were home. Only now was the shock beginning to wear off, gradually easing the tremors that ran through her body. With its disappearance, though, came a resurgence of the pain. The owl's talons hadn't opened wounds that were very wide or serious, but the places they had pierced through her flesh still hurt in a way she'd never had to deal with before. Still, she stayed as close to her brother as she could possibly get, as if his presence could fix everything. It was difficult to remember exactly what had happened between the impact and her arrival, but he'd protected her. She was sure of it. Something scary had tried to eat her and Fernpaw had saved her. Some other cats had been there too--the loners that were visiting, whose names she was sorry to have forgotten--but it was mostly her brother's indignant voice that stuck in her mind.

She had thanked him before, she was sure of it. But still she spoke again, her voice lower from its previously fear-raised pitch. "Thanks, Fern. I was really scared." Her words were half-muffled by her proximity to his gray tabby fur. She just wanted to lay down right here, honestly, and close her eyes and act like it had all been a bad dream. Heatherberry had said something about cobwebs and herbs, though, and so Hedgepaw kept her eyes open and let herself sit down on the soft, marshy grass of camp.

It was a good thing that Heatherberry happened to be nearby when the attack happened: an owl grabbing poor little Hedgepaw in its ruthless talons and flying into the sky, stopping its flight only when Virtue had nipped at its legs. After that, no breath was wasted as it was piled on one after the other, its life forfeit the second it had gone after such a young cat. "Come, come. I'll get you fixed right up, don't you worry." She soothed the limping apprentice as best she could, nodding to Pineblossom that all would be okay as the two disappeared behind the curtains that led into the medicine cats den.

Once inside, it was straight to business: dock chewed to a pulp and applied to the gaping wounds to both stop bleeding and prevent future infections. "You and Fernpaw were very brave, you know that? Chew these and swallow. It will ease the pain and get you some rest so you can properly heal." She pushed a leaf full of a few poppy seeds under Hedgepaw's nose, encouraging her to consume them. "You are well loved, Hedgepaw. I hope you know this."

As much as Hedgepaw wanted to just lie down and sleep, she knew she couldn't. Several insistent voices kept her conscious and moving forward. Heatherberry first, her authoritative words tempered only by the soothing cadence she affected, offering the promise of relief from the stinging pain in her back. Then the words of Fernpaw, as logical as ever, gently nudging her onward. She didn't want to leave his side, but another sound she couldn't ignore rose above the rest. Pineblossom. Mamma. Mamma. It was hard not to break away and bury her face in her mother's fur, forget that anything had ever happened--but if Mamma told her to go with Heatherberry, then she definitely had to. That combination caused her to nod at both her brother and her mother and follow the one-eyed medicine cat's tail to the medicine den.

She was being strong. She wasn't whimpering in pain or complaining. However, everything felt a little bit... sluggish. As if she were trying to wade through knee-high mud instead of just walking. They made it to the medicine den, though, and Hedgepaw sat down obediently. She'd been quiet this whole time, but she did let out a quiet gasp as the stinging in her back faded with a wet clump of leaves applied to it. The sensation was strange, but a welcome change from the aching. That made it much easier to comply with Heatherberry's instructions and lick up a poppy seed or two from the ground. They tasted strongly floral, and the crunch as they broke beneath her teeth made a fun sound. Hearing that she was brave caused a light spark of warmth to shove its way forward through the waning shock. "Fernpaw was the bravest," she said as she chewed. "But I had a lot of help. The, uh... I forget their names. Cherish's friends. They helped a lot, too. Once they come back I want to thank them." The medicine cat's voice held a gentleness beneath its responsibility as she spoke. Loved, she said. It wasn't something Hedgepaw had ever been given reason to doubt. Of course her family loved her just as much as her little heart burst with love for them. Seeing the proof though, the way that Fernpaw and Pineblossom had flocked to her, did ease what little of the pain had not already been chased away by the combination of poppy and dock. "Yeah," she murmured seriously. "I am. I love them lots, too. I'm glad I have them."

Another voice--one that didn't belong either to family or to authority figure--came from behind her. Hedgepaw turned her head curiously to see a pair of bright, concerned green eyes peering into the medicine den. Nightpaw. One of her friends had come to check up on her, too. Oh... She hadn't thought he would want to approach her, after she'd proved his suspicions right about the safety of the territory. She had been safe, 'cause she'd been with all the warriors and her brother. But she couldn't deny, it felt nice to know that Nightpaw would also push past the fear to see if she was okay. She offered him a warm smile, the first one she'd given since the talons pierced her back. "Hey, Nightpaw. I'm doing all right; it's not that big a deal." And she was telling the truth. It wasn't that big a deal. Her brother and Cherish's friends had saved her. Heatherberry was helping her. She would be perfectly fine. "We got s'prised by an owl, but everyone else fought it off real quick. It was kinda scary but it's all over now, so I'm okay."