Damsel in Distress ~(C L O S E D)~

Honeydrop padded carefully across the hard, stony ground of Twolegplace, keeping her ears pricked and her scent glands open for any sign of the herb she was searching for. With greencough running rampant through ShadowClan, in leaf-bare especially, she needed her herb stock more than ever. She stopped suddenly as she smelled the mouthwatering scent of her quarry coming from a nearby Twoleg garden: catmint. The golden dappled she-cat followed her nose to a high wooden fence. Backing up, she leapt strongly, lean body stretching out, vaulting herself over the Twoleg contraption and landing heavily on her tired pads in the soft dirt of the garden. With a quick check registering that no other cats came here often, she started to grip a large mouthful of the needed herb in her jaws. But her ears picked up the sound of a Twoleg coming out of its home.

It looked to be male, and there was anger in its face as it saw her rooting up the leaves. It headed towards her, rumbling something in its strange language. She quickly tried to run away, releasing the catmint, but the Twoleg was too fast, grabbing her roughly with large paws. Panicking now, the medicine cat struggled and tried to bite or claw the Twoleg, but it held her too securely, tightly enough to hurt. With large, heavy steps, it headed towards its bright red monster that rested just outside its home. Any cat knew that Clan cats who were taken by Twolegs seldom came back, and hardly ever whole. Remembering Magpiewing didn't make the she-cat feel any better. She barely managed to rake a claw across the Twoleg's arm, which earned her a painful cuff on the ear. Tears started to escape her eyes. "Help! Someone, anyone!" Honeydrop screamed out in terror, voice breaking, as the Twoleg hauled her towards the monster, which had its maw opened hungrily.

It had already been a long day hunting when Swiftpaw caught scent of Honeydrop not too far away. Perking up, he left his patrol to see where she was going but only casually followed a decent distance behind her. It was only when he saw that she was going into Twolegplace when he began to grow curious, watching her hop the fence and into the territory of the Twolegs. This was one place Swiftpaw had never been before, but it was nice to see that there was an excuse for coming over here. It was with a growing excitement that he followed the medicine cat to the fence, stopping just short of hopping over. Instead, he chose to watch her closely through the cracks in it, his heart settling as he found out that she was going for catmint. 

However, suddenly everything changed as he heard something slam before hearing and feeling the movement of the Twoleg that lived within the nest. With a sharp gasp, he backed away quickly before something caught him off guard. Within heartbeats, there was a loud yowl and a cry for help. "W-Wait..." Running back up to the fence, the apprentice could only see bits and pieces of Honeydrop in the Twoleg's grip. "No, wait!" He cried as a whole new energy surged within him. Immediately leaping over the fence, the apprentice tried to get his bearings before he charged at the twoleg with a loud yowl."I got you Honeydrop!" he cried as he latched onto the Twoleg furiously, scratching and biting anywhere he could reach, mainly the paw that was wrapped around the medicine cat. "Let go of her!" He snarled.

When Swiftpaw rushed almost immediately from the shadows, clawing at the Twoleg, it released its grip immediately, giving a loud cry of pain. Shaken, Honeydrop got her bearings as she fell to the ground with a loud smack. How was the apprentice there? Had he followed her? Why? No- no, there was no time right now. The golden dappled she-cat started to move forwards, but let out a hiss of pain. One of her front paws was badly hurt from the Twoleg's crushing grip. No matter. Come on, Honeydrop, be strong- you're a medicine cat, for StarClan's sakes! Oh, just if you had cobweb!

"Come on, Swiftpaw!" she called out hoarsely, hoping he knew she had been freed! But they weren't out of the woods yet- they had to get out of Twolegplace! The ShadowClan she-cat grabbed a mouthful of catmint in her jaws and quickly limped through a hole in the fence, barely wincing as a splinter scraped her side. She went a little further, then turned back to see if Swiftpaw was following. Where was he?

The yell of the twoleg nearly scared the aprentice out of his fur. Jumping back, he started for the bushes but stopped suddenly as he heard Honeydrop hit the ground. Turning back, the tom watched as the medicine cat grabbed her loose herbs before trying desperately to get to cover through the fence with a limp. Good, she was getting out. However, more sounds came from the twoleg which made Swiftpaw jump again, his head whirling around to face the giant who started to lumber toward him. With a sharp gasp followed by a short hiss, he took off after Honeydrop through the hole in the fence, almost safely away from the twoleg who tried to grab them. It didn't take long for the apprentice to catch up with the medicine cat and when he did, he slowed down while gasping for breath. "Honeydrop, what... what happened?" he asked, his head practically on a swivel to make sure that they weren't being followed. "Why did that thing grab you?" The concern in his voice thankfully drowned out the fear of the situation buried inside of him. He couldn't believe that he just did that, and no matter how hard he tried to come to terms with it, he couldn't bring himself to believe that all of that had just occurred.

Honeydrop continued limping along when she saw Swiftpaw following her, bearing the pain from her front paw and the gash on her side as best she could. Drops of water slowly began to fall from the gray, cloudy sky, building to an almost deafening crescendo as a storm hit Twolegplace. She rushed forwards blindly in the driving rain until she found cover under a large plank of wood down a Twoleg path. After a quick glance around to make sure no Twolegs were around, she darted under the wood, Swiftpaw behind her. Settling her battered self down with a wince, the medicine cat spat the catmint out of her mouth and to the side so she could answer the apprentice's questions. They were both still trembling from adrenaline and fear, soaked to the bone by the rainstorm outside.

"W-well," she started quietly, voice slightly strained instead of melodic as usual, "I came here to Twolegplace to get c-catmint, because half of ShadowClan is so sick. I d-don't know what went wrong, I had the catmint and I was going when the T-T-Twoleg sowed up. Maybe I could have go-gotten out if I'd dropped the catmint, but I've already f-failed so much as a medicine cat I couldn't l-leave it. I can't heal half the c-cats I treat, and D-D-Darkpaw died because I'm so incompetent. I t-try so hard, but-" The golden dappled she-cat broke off with a sharp exhale of breath as she tried to get up, but her twisted front paw bent painfully under her weight, slipping on the tiny puddle of blood dripping from the gash on her side. "D-don't worry about me," she got out unconvincingly, attempting a smile, but her amber eyes were full of pain. "I-I'm completely f-f-fine! It's ju-just a little scratch."

As soon as they were under the cover of the wood from the rain and from the twoleg, Swiftpaw found himself tucked tightly underneath breathing heavily as his eyes searched the area around them, his ears flat on his head. "You did that for catmint?" he asked, slightly bewildered at the reason behind all of this going down. As he sat down and listened quietly, he went from amazed to shocked that she would say such a thing. Honeydrop being incompetent? No way! "I don't know what you're talking about! You're the best medicine cat there is! You've helped so many cats in the clan! Without you, there wouldn't even be a clan! Honeydrop, you are the coolest!" he mewed, his voice suddenly getting more excited about telling her how awesome she is. It was so strange seeing someone older than him being so doubtful in her abilities, but he was glad to be of help. "You healed me! I have a lot to be thankful for from you, you know!"

However, suddenly, all of his enthusiasm disappeared as he looked at her side and saw the blood that stained her fur and dripped to the ground. "Whoa... What happened there? Can... Can I help somehow?" he asked intently.

Honeydrop turned her head to the side, embarrassed. Swiftpaw obviously doesn't know what he's talking about. Wait, why was she blushing? She shook her head, trying to straighten it, but her heart was still beating much faster than usual. "W-well, I don't have my h-herbs, and I'm not in much of a state to w-w-walk- but, um...." The battered golden dappled medicine cat looked around, at a loss for words till her amber eyes spotted a wet clump of moss outside on the rainy road. "S-Swiftpaw, we could try and staunch the bleeding with that m-moss out there. Don't have any cobweb, but it'll h-have to do. I w-wish I had herbs to make a poultice for my paw- it's twisted, sprained and b-b-bruised, but not broken- but I don't. You could go back for some h-herbs, and maybe Puddlepaw, when the rain l-lets up, but there's no way I can w-walk any farther injured like th-this."

Against her will, her eyes began to fill up with tears. It had just been a simple trip to Twolegplace to get catmint, and somehow she'd managed to mess even that up, seriously injuring herself and endangering the ShadowClan apprentice, and now here she was, making a fool out of herself in front of her crush only friend. She missed Alderheart. She missed Ferretshine. She wished her father would notice her. StarClan, she was the worst medicine cat ever. She blinked the tears almost angrily out of her eyes. She couldn't be weak! Not in front of Swiftpaw. "I-I'm sorry," she stuttered out miserably.

He listened every word that rolled off of the she-cat's tongue. He wanted to try to help as much as possible at this point since she was already so injured. As she continued speaking, he quickly grabbed the moss nearby, making sure that it was at least a little washed off in the rain before gently pressing it on the wound to stop the bleeding. He wasn't the smartest, but that was certainly something that he could do. As he did so, however, he was caught off guard by Honeydrop suddenly crying before becoming embarrassed about the ordeal. Blinking, he tried to figure out what he id wrong.

"W-Wait, why are you crying?" he asked before she apologized. "Oh... no, you have nothing to be sorry for! You just... went through a lot is all! You were almost captured by a twoleg! You don't have to be sorry," Swiftpaw told her, panicking slightly. What was he supposed to do with an upset medicine cat? Quickly, he looked around for anything to possibly cheer up the she-cat but he had no idea what to find around Twolegplace. There was so much stuff he had never seen before. "Um... Uh... Cheer up, Honeydrop! Don't cry! There's still... There's still some good things about this!" He was trying really hard. "You got the catmint! We got to go on an adventure! I mean, look at this place! This is cool!" he told her bashfully.

Honeydrop shook out her golden fur, then winced as her side reminded her it was still in pain. He's right... I don't have the time to be sorry for myself. The apprentice's attempts to cheer her up brought a small smile to her face. He was a good tom. The damp moss brought relief to her side and she let out a small sigh of relief. Her muscles relaxed almost against her will, the adrenaline wearing off. The medicine cat suddenly felt weary. "Yes, I got the catmint. I suppose that's all well and good. I can treat Shimmerheart again when I... when get back." Her speech slowed down, and a large yawn opened her jaws wide, showing off perfectly white pointed teeth. The golden dappled she-cat stretched out her tired limbs, excluding the twisted front paw, and curled up into a restful position by Swiftpaw without being quite aware of what she was doing. "I'm not so sure about... the adventure part though. I've always felt... more comfortable... at-" she yawned again, "at home." Her body's need for rest finally taking over, Honeydrop drifted into sleep, a tiny relaxed smile on her muzzle, unconsciously curled up close to the warmth of the apprentice's body

On the plus side, the medicine cat had cheered up a little. She was no longer crying after he mentioned the catmint and the adventure. It was funny how it all worked out, and he felt good about himself for being able to help her so easily. As she yawned, Swiftpaw couldn't help but following suit, giving out a rather big yawn himself as Honeydrop curled up next to him. It wasn't something he had expected, but it didn't bother him by any means. She was just attacked by a twoleg and he fought it off somehow. They were both tired and needed sleep. Then, after they would wake up, they could continue to go back to Shadowclan. With a contented sigh, Swiftpaw followed the she-cat's example, lying down on the ground, curling up net to her. "We can go home soon," he said. "Let's sleep now." Without much time, the apprentice quickly fell asleep beside her.