I Did Something Bad (Open, Maple/Leo/Bliz needed)

As Swoopnose dragged Smokepaw back into camp, fear and shame burned his pelt until it felt like he was on fire. What in StarClan's name had he done? He was a stupid excuse for a warrior who let a simple practice fight make him into a monster. Maybe this apprentice would never walk again because of his mouse-brained horrific actions. Pulling the gray tom over to the medicine den, he set him down gently, seeing as it was the least he could do. The relief of his jaw didn't even lift his spirits in the slightest. Now came the hardest part. Admitting to what he had done and accepting whatever punishment he got for it. That small voice in his mind still told him to lie about it, pretend that the apprentice had hurt himself. But by now, that was to quiet to pay attention to. A warrior had to be responsible and honorable, so confessing to his crimes right away would make him a better clanmate, no matter how much it hurt. Besides, he would be found out eventually, and it was better for his case if he was the one who told on himself. All his thoughts weighing down heavily on him, he let out a call. "Mapleleaf, Smokepaw is hurt. Blizzardstar, I have to tell you something."

Smokepaw opened his eyes as he was put on ground and looked at swoopnse as he spoke. "I hope he is ok and doesn't get in trouble for making him mad," He said to himself. He groaned and looked at his leg. It was bleeding like the other one but unlike the other one this one was in a weird position.

When the smell of blood hit her nose and she heard someone requesting to talk with her, the white leader nearly dashed out of her den at full speed, a million terrible thoughts crossing through her mind…she had to admit, she felt a wave of relief when she noticed only an injured apprentice.

Don’t take me wrong, as soon as she saw Smokepaw’s injured she grew worried, but she was glad to not see another dead cat…or worse, Ivystar attacking her camp or something between those lines. With a comforting smile, trying to not scare or worsen the situation, she approached Smokepaw and checked the injury. She was no medicine cat, so she didn’t know if it could be fixed…but at least that doubt allowed her some mental rest knowing that maybe it would mean the apprentice would recover soon and this wouldn’t be a permanent injury. She would need to know what Mapleleaf said about it though.

After checking the wound, she turned to face Swoopnose “What happened?”.

"Well, uh," Swoopnose mumbled, suddenly even more terrified. How was he supposed to say what he did? It was one thing to plan to do something, but it was a whole different thing to actually do that. Still, he inhaled deeply and made eyes contact with Blizzardstar. He could do this, it was the right thing to do. "I was assigned to help Smokepaw battle train. It started out well, he is a talented apprentice. But then a made the mistake of deciding to do a practice fight." Here his voice started to quiver, knowing what he was about to say could get him punished horribly, possibly even exiled. Courage and righteousness pushed him to continue. "I told him not to use his claws, of course. Again, it started out well enough. Then I criticized him a bit too harshly, and he started to use his claws and teeth. I was barely hurt at all, just a small scratch on my tail. Then, well, I don't really recall what happened. One moment I was about to gently tell him off, and the next I was savagely attacking him." It took every ounce of willpower not to start crying in shame, guilt, and fear. However, that wouldn't solve anything. So he stayed strong. "I think I kicked him, with my claws. Enough to tear up his legs and knock one out of position. As soon as I realized what I had done, I was horrified at myself." By now he wasn't even trying to contain the shame and grief in his voice. "I'm so sorry! I would do anything if it meant I was the injured one instead of Smokepaw. I don't even know what happened! I'm so, so sorry. I'll accept whatever punishment you give me. I don't know how I'll be able to live with myself knowing I might have permanently crippled a clanmate."

Smokepaw tried to stand up but with his effort he couldn't. "dont blame him I'm the one who bit his tail." he begged at blizzardstar. He was getting really hot, really feverish but he didn't care.

Forestpaw was sitting outside the apprentices den, basking in the sun, when she saw Swoopnose dragging Smokepaw into camp. The smell of blood flooded her nostrils, and her eyes got wide as she stared at Smokepaw. He looked limp, and his leg looked mangled. No. This couldn't be happening. Swoopnose then Draged him into the medicine cats den. She then heard someone call for blizzardstar. She walked around camp trying to find a place where she could view what was going on.  With so many cats in the small den, it was hard to see. She finally found viewpoint, and looked in. She saw Smokepaw trying to stand up and fell. Thank Starclan he wasn't dead.

(OOC: this is an open topic right?)

Mapleleaf quickly stopped what she was doing when she heard Swoopnose's anguished tone. She made her way to where the warrior left Smokepaw and began to examine his legs as they were what caught her eye. They were torn up and one seemed to be loose. She prodded and examined carefully. She got up and let out a small sigh. "Your leg seems dislocated, which can be quick to fix, and you have many scars to heal from. Don't worry Smokepaw. You'll be fine with days of rest and treatment." she reassured the apprentice with warm eyes. The medicine cat began to make her way to Blizzardstar and Swoopnose to inform them of her findings. "Smokepaw has a dislocated leg and many scars to recover from but he'll be fine with some rest in my den and good treatment." she reported gently. The she-cat then returned to her den to gather everything to begin healing young Smokepaw.

Mapleleaf gathered a large stick, bindweed, smaller sticks, cobwebs, cob nuts, dock, goldenrod, oak leaf, and finally comfrey root. She returned to Smokepaw with the herbs. "Okay Smokepaw. I want you to bite this. I'll snap your leg back into place and it will only hurt for the moment. It'll just be sore afterwards." she explained while passing the large stick to the apprentice and taking a good hold on the dislocated leg. She nodded to let the tom know she was going. The she-cat made a swift tugging motion with her head while her jaws softly held the leg. There was a promising snap. She placed down the limb and looked over to the other supplies. She began to chew the dock, goldenrod, oak leaf, and the comfrey root into poultices to apply to the tom's scratches, scars, and tears. She ground the cob nuts into a fine ointment to help soothe the scratches. The medicine cat applied everything until she deemed it good. Then she began to tie up the bindweed after then sticks were in place to make sure the leg healed straight. Finally the cobwebs were pressed to open wounds. "There. All done. Now Smokepaw, keep off that leg you hear? I don't want any bad incidents because you couldn't follow directions." she warned with a playful glint in her forest-green eyes. She placed moss with fresh, cold water in front of the apprentice so he could have a drink. She then returned to sorting and putting away her herbs.

Smokepaw yelled in pain when she put his leg back but stopped when it ended. His leg was a little sore but now at least he didn't have to drag it everywhere. He drank the water that was infront of him and smiled when he saw forestpaw. He motioned her over so he could have one company while blizzardstar talked to swoopnose.

Blizzardstar frowned at the story given by Swoopnose. This was the second time she heard of what should’ve been nothing but a battle training session go downhill for the use of claws even if it was obviously something that shouldn’t be done. It was kind of disheartening to know that the former apprentice of Specklefang had committed the exact same mistake as his mentor, and while unlike his former mentor this time the injury had been unintentional, it was still provoked by a clear lack of self-control thanks to a strong emotion…

She didn’t say anything at first, her eyes leaving the warrior to land on the inured apprentice and the medicine cat that was quickly trying to patch him up. As soon as she got the diagnosis she felt some weight being lifted from her shoulders as she was informed there wouldn’t be permanent consequences because of this.

With a long sigh, her attention once more fell on the warrior responsible of this mess “While I acknowledge the apprentice was the one that landed the first hit, as a warrior I would’ve expected you to keep your composure and react without unnecessary violence, Swoopnose. We were lucky that this didn’t escalate to an injury that would be unfixable, but if this happens again nothing grants us you won’t maul a clanmate instead. You need to learn to control your temper” Her gaze then fell on the injured apprentice “You may had been the victim here, but that doesn’t takes away the fact that you allowed words to drive you to act based on an aggressive impulse, Smokepaw. You can’t let that happen again, or it could bring you and even the clan serious trouble in the future”.

She sighed, thinking carefully, she wasn’t going to let this slip, but in a fortunate turn of the events nothing too serious had come out of this. Had this been actual mauling things would be quite different, and she could even be considering some harsh punishment for Swoopnose “As punishment, you are forbidden to attend the next gathering, and for a full moon you shall not leave camp without another warrior. This should give you time to think on what you did and clanmates to watch and learn from. Feel very lucky you didn’t maul him or caused him any greater wounds, Swoopnose, because otherwise you could be facing demotion to apprentice for several moons, or even exile”.



OOC: Since the “next gathering” should’ve been April’s but I was a doofus and forgot to post before that gathering, this punishment will be active for May’s instead. Also the punishment of not leaving camp without a warrior finishes in May 26, as it is active from this exact moment.

"Yes Blizzardstar. That is a more than fair punishment. Thank you for your kindness and mercy. I promise this won't happen again. I'll do everything in my power to ensure that," Swoopnose replied, dipping his head respectfully. His words were lined with a relief that he failed in hiding. For injuring an apprentice, he had assumed that he would get a much more severe punishment. But the Blizzardstar was being kind, and Smokepaw forgave him. Though guilt would always linger him because of this, part of his heavy conscience was lifted. The punishment wasn't too bad anyways. Already, he never left camp alone to his secret fear, and just making that cat be a warrior wasn't a big adjustment. Missing the next gathering would be a shame, if only because he needed answers from his SkyClan lookalike. Ears flattening, he padded over to the warriors den.