Feeling More Dead Than Alive (Open wide)

Curlyfeather woke up to the sight of the ferns and boulders that made the medicine den. She had just spent her third night in there, hardly being able to muster up the strength to move into the warrior's den. And besides, it wouldn't help the clan to give everyone her fever. But still, she felt useless just laying around in the den with literally nothing useful to do. The ringing had stopped after the first night, but her ear still felt like it was burning, despite Sycamorepaw's best efforts. And of course, she hadn't heard a thing since. The fear she had since she was a kit had come true. She was officially deaf. It almost made it worse that she could still understand some things. Like warriors way younger than her receiving apprentices while fever racked her body. Or seeing her friends and family leaving on patrols like everything was alright, while she was lying in the medicine den, too weak to move. Her head ached constantly, and whenever she moved even slightly, one of the scratches on her side stung and burned like the Dark Forest. She ended up sneaking some poppy seeds even when she wasn't supposed to so the pain would dull. The frequent fits of chilling cold that was sent down her body always made her shiver, causing being completely still to be impossible for too long. And though she still didn't feel hungry after not eating for over a day, her mouth felt dry as a rock left in the sun. Anger swept through her whenever she thought about it, and ended up snapping at anyone who tried to talk to her, just because it rubbed in that she couldn't hear them. But she was done being useless. She would drag herself out of the den and get something to eat, even if it made her throw up. And hopefully she could find some snow to drink.
Grunting with effort, she stumbled out of the den, ever single muscle in her body aching with protest. She let herself fall into a pile of snow, the cold numbing her burning wounds, and took some in her mouth, letting it melt before swallow the much needed water. But soon the cold started to sting, so she forced herself to get to her feet and drag herself into a more snow free spot. The prey pile was only two tail-lengths away, she could get there. Pain blazed like fire in every single infected scratch, the cobwebs being loosened from the melting snow in her fur. Ignoring the feeling, she managed to get to the prey pile, letting out pants and groans that she couldn't hear. The smell of food didn't make her hungry, if anything the overwhelming scent just made her head ache and her stomach churn more. She couldn't bring herself to eat. All she could do was try not to fall over. If there was anything worse than what she was already going through, it was seeming weak.

"Curlyfeather?" Tansypaw spotted the injured warrior by the fresh-kill pile swaying as if she was about to collapse. "Curlyfeather? Are you alright?" she asked. Then she cringed, remembering the grey warrior's new disability. She made her way over to her and brushed Curlyfeather's shoulder with her tail tip. Plastering a worried expression on her face, Tansypaw gestured towards the medicine den. "You should probably get back in there," she mewed softly, flicking her tail. Tansypaw could only imagine how Curlyfeather felt right now- barely able to stand and completely unable to hear. If Tansypaw were in that position, she would probably never come out of the medicine den again, if not for her injuries, for the sake of her pride. But she realized that she didn't think anything less of Curlyfeather- in fact, she regarded her with more respect than before. Curlyfeather is brave, she thought. I'd probably be dead if I was her.



ooc/ this is good character development Tansypaw currently has no personality :D

Foxpaw stalked out of the apprentices den. She was hungry. She went to the fresh-kill pile to get a mouse. She normally picked it up with her jaws and sat down. As she was about to eat, she saw a warrior struggling terribly. Curlyfeather! She stood up, carrying the mouse and went to her.

'She must be hungry...' Foxpaw thought. She offered the mouse to the warrior. "Here have this mouse, you must be hungry." she mewed softly. She saw Tansypaw. "Hey, what's happening with Curlyfeather?"

Cedarstorm had been worried since what happened to her sister in the Thunderpath. The tabby she-cat stayed outside of the medicine cat den, waiting for her to come out and explain. But to her surprise, it was the medicine cat who revealed the harsh truth: Curlyfeather was deaf. For the next nights, the warrior was barely able to sleep, too worried for her only sister... until today.

When the she-cat left her warrior den, her blue-green eyes spotted the grey fur of her sibling walking weakened to the fresh-kill pile. Cedarstorm walked to her after the other two apprentices and hissed angrily at the young apprentice asking about what was happening to her. It was already too bad that she was deaf and Curlyfeather didn't need an apprentice talking behind her back about her disability when she wasn't able to hear her words. Then, she glanced back at the other she-cat smiling. Even if she couldn't hear her anymore, she was still her sister and for Cedarstorm, she would always be a capable warrior just like her. The Shadowclan cat nudged her gently and let her lean on her body so she wouldn't make any big efforts. After all, she was still recovering. "Thank you for the meal, Foxpaw, but I will have to ask you to be more respectful to my sis after what happened. Tansypaw... thanks for your concerns. Would you help me to be with her?" She softened her tone with the other apprentice before looking back at the grey tabby warrior right by her side. With one paw, she pointed the mouse that Foxpaw brought and looked at her with a smile like she was saying that she should eat and enjoy at least a bite of fresh-kill.

Sycamorepaw had snoozed for one second when he heard noise outside his den. Cracking open his eyes, he found Curlyfeather gone. With a sigh, he stoof up and walked out, finding her by the pile. He had tried to feed her, but she had refused to eat. Though, this was a good sign. He padded over to the group. "Leave her alone." he snapped at the apprentices, protective of his first patient. "We need a way to communicate with her, Cedarstorm..." he murmured low, almost to himself.

Foxkit jumped and hissed back when a cat hissed at her. She noticed it was Cedarstorm and went quiet. "I'm sorry. I didn't know she was deaf..." she said, bowing her head in apology, "Okay, I'll help you."

The scent of apprentice's hit her nose, and Curlyfeather saw Tansypaw come into view. Seeing a cat's mouth move and no sound come out was something she knew that she would never get used to. Maybe if she somehow managed to survive this fever then after a while her hearing would come back, and she wouldn't have to get used to it. But at least this apprentice had the sense to use more than just words to get her point across. Her gaze follow the direction of her tail, which lead straight back to the medicine den. It would probably be for the best if she did go back. She stared at Foxpaw blankly when she offered her a mouse. She was about to not-so-politely decline, when all her thoughts where thrown off by Cedarstorm. She sighed gratefully when her sister provided a shoulder to lean on. Her sister was basically the only cat she currently trusted with helping her. Well, Sycamorepaw too, but he was the medicine cat apprentice, so that didn't count. Then she made the gesture towards the mouse with the warmest smile. The gray warrior's stomach turned. If it was literally any other cat, she would have gone with her initial reaction, but with her sister she didn't want to be rude. Preparing herself, she picked up the mouse in her jaws. It wasn't really disgusting, just overwhelming. Her head hurt too much to process everything, and her stomach felt icky at the prospect of more food. Guilt forming in her stomach, she set the mouse down again, looking apologeticly at the other cat's. Now that the medicine cat apprentice had joined, she felt like quite the crowd was surrounding her.
"I'm not hungry. I-I'll go back now," she rasped out, using most of her remaining energy. Though she was near the point of collapsing, that wasn't what bothered her most. Though she hated not hearing other cats, not hearing herself was the most disturbing of all. She new what she was saying, and still couldn't hear it. It just didn't seem right. If she ever found Sharpwhatever, she was going to pay big time.

Tansypaw glared at Sycamorepaw, trying to contain her temper. She smiled at Curlyfeather and nodded respectfully to her mentor before turning to the medicine cat apprentice "Sorry for bothering you," she mewed, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'll just leave now." She didn't acknowledge Foxpaw- the young apprentice was trying to be helpful, but Sycamorepaw was probably about to blow up at her, so Tansypaw decided it was best to leave her alone. I wish I was a warrior! she thought. Then Sycamorepaw might have a little more respect for me. She stalked off to sit nearby and watch what happened.

Sycamorepaw rolled his eyes at the hauty apprentice... She wouldn't be so rude when she came to him with a thorn in her pad. Never the less, Curlyfeather had started to walk back and he strode by herside. She wasn't blind, and didn't need to be lead.

OoC; Let's not forget Jay.

The brown tabby she-cat didn't pay much attention to the two apprentices and kept her focus on her sister and the medicine cat apprentice. The warrior nodded at his words. Sycamorepaw is right... we must find a way to communicate with her but... how? She can't hear anything at all and reading lips must be too hard... However... there must be a way! And I will find it no matter what... for my sister. She thought as he looked at the mouse a little worried about that she wasn't eating anything but Cedarstorm didn't say a word about it. Instead, she nodded at Curlyfeather and she walked by her side, being sure that she wasn't going to collapse.

Her blue-green eyes looked at the young tom that was helping her sister since the day of the battle. "When is she going to recover enough to walk alone, Sycamorepaw? She needs to eat too, right?" He asked before nuzzling her sibling's fur with her muzzle, sisterly. "I promise you, Curlyfeather, that we will overcome this. I won't stop fighting until me and Sycamorepaw find a solution for your communication. And one day... I will make pay the cat who did this to you..." Cedarstorm turned her sight back to the apprentice, with a tired and worried look. "Do you have any ideas? Since she can't hear us maybe we can try with tail signs or... I don't know... any other method of communication that doesn't include sounds."

"Tail language perhaps?" Scorchfang suggested, padding over to Curlyfeather and offering her a gentle smile. "Cats use tails to silently communicate to each other during battle, so we could use that same method to communicate with Curlyfeather, or with any deaf cat."

Curlyfeather kept walking, grateful for being able to lean on Cedarstorm. She was sure that if it wasn't for that fact, she would have collapsed in the middle of camp, becoming the prime example of a weak cat everybody should laugh at. Anger replaced her despair at that thought, giving her a little more energy to use to walk better. She didn't feel to strongly about Tansypaw walking away, best case scenario she forgot about this whole thing, worst case scenario she started telling everybody how weak she was. If she had her hearing and enough energy to think of and say something, she would definitely have just told the apprentice not to do that. The simple nuzzle from her sister added a little bit of hope. At least somebody still had faith in her, and her sister was usually right. She just hoped emotions didn't cloud her straight thinking. And though she couldn't hear the she-cat's words, she could feel the small rumble every time she leaned against her for support, and saw her mouth moving. She just imagined encouraging words, starting to feel slightly more confident with her sister by her side. She wan't sure how she felt when Scorchfang walked up to them. She hadn't liked him much at all as a kit and apprentice, and though she knew he was a bit nicer, didn't have much time to know him as a warrior yet. All she knew was that even though she was moons older than her, he had an apprentice and she didn't because of her lack of hearing. That was just another way that ThunderClan she-cat had ruined her life. She tried to return his smile, but it ended up looking like a grimace, and she didn't feel like (let alone have the energy to) clarifying. Either way, that was just another cat to possibly laugh at her. She hated being seen when she was this weak. It was a horrible idea to have come out here in the first place. Her blue eyes looked longingly at the safe prison she had come to describe the medicine den as. Just a few more steps and she would be there. Now more cats to watch her fail to simply walk, and maybe she wouldn't have to watch cats discuss her future when she couldn't hear their words.