Try Not to Kill Me [Closed]

Sagepaw had probably counted and recounted her herb supplies for the hundredth time. They were short. Some of the thing she needed the most were far from camp as well. An exasperated sigh broke from her throat and echoed through the empty den. Being the only medicine cat had put a lot of pressure on the young apprentice. She was thankful for the fact that Starclan had seemed to have blessed her with a talent for healing. Even if she wasn’t satisfied with the position, at least she did not fail in her profession. Sagepaw’s tail lashed as her mind finally shifted gears to what was about to happen now. Going to gather herbs was inevitable. It was the patrol that less than pleased her. Since her acceptance as a medicine cat, Slatethroat had pretty much ignored her existence. Their path to warriors had been shattered the moment she was called elsewhere. And now Ashstar had assigned him to the patrol to escort her to collect the precious herbs they so desperately needed. Sagepaw had held her tongue, but a feeling of discomfort had wormed its way into her stomach. ‘When did I become so scared of my own brother?’

Her paws dragged against the ground as she left the medicine cat den to go join the patrol in the clearing. The only comfort to her was that Brindlewhisker would be joining them as well. Windclan’s deputy had once been her mentor when she had first begun to train as a warrior apprentice. However, that connection had become strained as Beetlewing had taken over her training. But her feelings towards the impressive warrior had not changed. Brindlewhisker was what Sagepaw so longed to be. Even as a medicine cat, that had not changed. With what little free time she had, the apprentice would sneak off to practice her battle moves alone. Cats would probably scoff at the idea that a medicine cat longed to have sharpened battle skills. That was not her duty. The thought made her miserable every now and then, but she constantly reminded herself that was not where she belonged. Slatethroat helped with that reminder as well. He never missed a chance to jab at her position. Conflict swarmed in her eyes as she reached the other two, but she managed a soft smile, “We should get heading out.”

“Let’s get this over with.” Slatethroat was quick to shoot back. The impatience in his eyes caused her to flinch. But Sagepaw ignored it. She knew underneath it all that her warrior brother carried a lot of internal hurt. Even if he was a jerk about how he handled things, she said nothing. Her green eyes flickered to meet Brindlewhisker’s for a split second before turning to head from the camp. Slatethroat followed. His gaze constantly shifted to shoot Brindlewhisker unhappy glares. He was not subtle about his obvious disdain for the cat that had stolen his father’s position. The only thing that kept his tongue held was his growing loyalty to Ashstar. For now, Slatethroat said nothing. However, a barrage of displeased sentiments built up in his throat. This would be a long day.

Finding out that she was set to go out on a patrol with Sagepaw had been a pleasant surprise to Brindlewhisker as since her former apprentice had begun training under Beetlewing's guidance, they had hardly spent any time together. Finding out that Slatethroat was going to tag along was...a less pleasant surprise. Ever since the younger tom was able to convey facial expressions, all he ever did was scowl at her- although whatever emotions he was trying to display to her often went unheeded due to the fact that he only ever looked at her with one single expression. She'd probably be more concerned if he looked at her in an expression other than the one that most cats used when they found maggots in their food. "Sagepaw!" Brindlewhisker greeted warmly, as she caught sight of the grey and white she-cat, eyes lighting up. However whenever she caught sight of the similarly grey and white tom however, her face became rather neutral as she gave him an unreadable, passive glance. "Slatethroat." She mewed briskly, voice sounding clipped and the cordiality within her words matching the tone one would use when speaking to a cat from another Clan you didn't particularly like. This would be a long day, a long day indeed.

Brindlewhisker set off after the Sagepaw and Slatethroat with a soft 'mrrow' of content- it would be nice to step out of camp for a few heartbeats without having some cat come running to her with questions. Even if it was just to gather herbs, she was still excited at the prospect of a slightly relaxing day. She could constantly see Slatethroat's sulking glares thrown her way every few heartbeats, but she paid little mind to them- once they likely would of made her uncomfortable but now that she had become more acclimated to her newfound position and the subsequent authority that followed it, she knew that all Slatethroat could actually do was glare. If a cat with such low ranking and experience like Slatethroat tried to question Ashstar's decision to put her in charge, it would likely result in a cuffing that he wouldn't forget, so for the most part Brindlewhisker simply tolerated the apparently inherited envy of her position that Slatethroat seemed keen on displaying. 'He's the living embodiment of all of Smokepelt's undesirable traits.' She reflected with a sharp eye roll, although the thought remained silent upon her tongue- the last thing she wanted to do was start another quarrel over something that -in the grand scheme of things- was likely a futile fight.  

Swinging her head to look between the two siblings, Brindlewhisker felt a bit awkward keeping pace between the two siblings when they were obviously bickering over something, her face twisting wryly. A part of her was tempted to question just why they were feuding but she didn't really feel like opening up that can of worms- yet. Letting out an inaudible sigh, she glanced down towards Sagepaw, a slight frown obvious on her face as she noticed the withdrawn look upon her former apprentice's face. "How has being a Medicine Cat treated you so far, Sagepaw?" Brindlewhisker questioned softly, affection evident in her gentle tone; only a creature blind from birth could miss the fact that Sagepaw wasn't completely sated with her newfound duties. 'I wouldn't be happy either if I was forced to treat infected tick bites and look after Warriors every time they get a thorn in their paw.' She thought with a shudder, her lack of knowledge on just what a Medicine Cat did glaringly obvious. Even so, she was proud of her former apprentice for stepping up to a monumental task and taking on all of the stress that accompanied it despite the fact that she was still so young. "I'm sure you've been busy." She continued quietly, the 'ever since Beetlewing left you.' hanging unsaid but obvious in the air.

"It's certainly been keeping my paws full..." Sagepaw muttered as they padded briskly out into the territory. The earth under her paws felt nice. It had felt like so long since she had the time or freedom to simply roam the territory. Even now, it was for healing position. There was no break in her line of work. The rare moments of peace came, but never lasted long at all. Hopefully, this would not be all that bad. She needed the bit of rest. Even if her paws ached by the end of their excursion, it would be a welcome feeling in comparison to the normal busy exhaustion she had begun to feel. If only Slatethroat would be more pleasant. His displeasure with it was almost palpable. She flicked her tail uncomfortably as they walked. At least, Brindlewhisker was here. After a moment's pause, she meowed to the deputy, "How have things been for you? I can imagine as busy as ever. Deputies have so much more to do than medicine cats..."

Slatethroat rolled his eyes as the two she-cats began a conversation. He wanted nothing to do with either one. Of all patrols he was forced to attend, it had to be with the mousebrain that stole Smokepelt's position and his traitor of a sister. No matter how important the clan seemed to think a medicine cat was, the grey and white tom could never shake away the thought it should be some other cat. It had all happened so fast. One moment they were receiving their apprentice names together and beginning warrior training, the next she had left. All of their kithood dreams thrown away for nothing. The usual bitterness crept into the warrior's heart. He had held onto it for so long and couldn't bring himself to shake it all away. Between the disdain for each of the she-cats, Slatethroat found himself seething silently. Normally, he tried not to think about how much both of them had screwed things up for him. But now it was inevitable.

"You know, if we focused on walking instead of talking, this would go so much quicker." Slatethroat growled lowly after a while. He said it just loud enough for Brindlewhisker and Sagepaw to hear. He simply wanted this to be done and over. However, it was supposed to be a long journey. That was why they had been asked to accompany the medicine cat apprentice. She had to go further, just past the edge of their territories, to get the herbs needed. The sun had just begun to sink in the sky. There was still quite a few rays of sunlight, but there was a bit of truth to the warrior's words- they did need to hurry. Slatethroat picked up his pace, hoping they would follow.