Girl with One-Eye [OPEN WIDE]

His fur was covered in blood and he could feel how the she-cat was getting weaker with every step he made. But Jaystream couldn't stop. Fighting against his own tired body, the deputy entered the camp with the wounded she-cat. The blood scent was probably being smelled by all the clan but Adderpaw didn't have time to deal with all the question of their clanmates. That was why he immediately rushed to the medicine cat den.

"Goldeneye!" He shouted. It was not like he didn't trust Cloudstone but currently, the she-cat was the one who always came first during emergencies like that. He put down carefully the apprentice over a comfy nest as he waited for the golden-furred she-cat to arrive.

Each passing second felt like a lifetime. Nothing seemed to properly register within Adderpaw's mind, even as they finally managed to stumble into the safety of the camp. All that seemed to echo within her shock-slowed conscious was Reedheart's venomous, hate-filled words and cruel claws, the entire scenario seemingly on repeat every time she closed her...eye. What even happened to her other eye? Was it still there? The haphazard little thought sent a fresh spike of panic fluttering through her. Each staggering step sent a shock-wave of pain tearing through both her raging skull and burning throat, but she desperately clung to the pain- it was the only thing that was currently fending off the rapidly strengthening tide of unconsciousness. The thought of giving into the awaiting clutches of restless sleep was almost as frightening as Reedheart himself. Who knew what would happen if she passed out? Wheezing slightly and resting her weight more heavily against Jaystream, it almost felt she could cry with relief as the Medicine Cat's den finally came into her somewhat limited line of sight.

Collapsing into the nest, Adderpaw hardly even felt the spark of pain that arose within her already pounding skull as her chin roughly collided with the solid floor of the den. "M-Mother," She managed to croak out, "I want her.."

Goldeneye was up and alert from her nap in a matter of moments when the stench of blood rolled into her den, it didn't take long to see what the source of the blood stench was. It was Adderpaw, her face coated with blood and with a lack of an eye, it sent ice water rushing into Goldeneye's veins. It took the medicine cat moments to realize what needed to done, horrified by the extent of the apprentice's injuries. A gust of wind prompted the she-cat to get moving, to take action and save the she-cats life. And that's what she did.

First of all, she had to prevent infection, secondly, she needed to stop the bleeding. So, she grabbed the moss and goldenrod that rested on her herb storage shelves and chewed the goldenrod into a polituce pressing the mix into her eye, packing it tightly. She wanted to put a much more elaborate mix but with the risk of blood loss she didn't have the time, so she packed in the moss and sealed it all off with a cobweb wrap.

As much as the process sounded simple, it wasn't. She was working hard, wrapping, unwrapping, changing out the moss for fresh clean moss. Oh how she wished there was still snow on the ground, she could have had this bleeding controlled and stopping by now. Goldeneye did not relieve pressure, her paw pressing against the wound, her brows furrowed. She refused to lose an apprentice with so much potential in her future.

"Jaystream. Go get Splashwillow." Goldeneye had not said anything to the deputy in her haste, all of her attention on the young she-cat. Goldeneye worried greatly on what to say to Splashwillow, she wasn't certain the apprentice would make the night and that was always devastating news to give to a mother. Goldeneye pressed her maw together, almost staring into space. The scent of blood was still strong and rich in her den, a dozen balls of moss soaked in blood. But. At least the bleeding was finally stopping.

The entrance rustled noisily as Jaystream charged into the RiverClan camp. Alarmed by the heavy, metallic smell of blood that filled the air, Scorchclaw's head shot up from his grooming session. Ice filled his veins as he took in the sight before him. The first thing that he noticed was the blood. The RiverClan deputy was holding Adderpaw up; at least half of the fluffy gray apprentice's face was completely soaked in the crimson liquid, and it soaked Jaystream's pelt as well. Even from a distance, Scorchclaw could see the deep wounds that cut into Adderpaw's flesh. The brown warrior started to his paws, green eyes wide, but before he could say anything, the pair had stumbled across the camp and vanished into the Medicine Cat's Den.

As if his body were moving on automatic, he followed them in. How? Why? What had happened? Scorchclaw could have fired any one of those questions, but he held himself back at the last moment. Goldeneye was treating Adderpaw's wounds, trying to staunch the blood that flowed like an endless fountain. As if it had become disconnected from him, his logical side whispered that now was not a good time to interfere. He could only watch stock-still from a corner of the den as RiverClan's medicine cat began to pile up mossball after mossball of red. The blood just wouldn't stop flowing, and he couldn't understand why. Goldeneye was a medicine cat, so why couldn't she fix this? The sight of the bloody gray apprentice lying unmoving within the nest of moss was frightening. It was just too different a picture from the usually lively she-cat who had sneaked out of camp with him just a couple of days ago. Adderpaw would be alright, wouldn't she? What if she died? A fear that he had never felt before and had never imagined he would feel suddenly gripped his heart. Incomprehensible panic flooded through him. No, that couldn't happen. He couldn't lose Adderpaw, he just couldn't. Time seemed to slow as everything outside the Medicine Cat's Den rapidly grew distant and insignificant.

OOC: It might be a bit weird, but this is the best I could do in the limited time I have. EDIT: I changed it up to be a little better.

The deputy stepped back to let Goldeneye do her job. From the back, he just watched the medicine cat working as fast as she could to stop the bleeding that came out of the place where her eye was supposed to be. He lowered his ears, concerned. It wasn't the first time he saw an apprentice in pain and in the border to die... The memories of Tigerpaw flooded his mind and he could still felt the guilt over his shoulders, telling him that he could have been faster and better... then, the young tom would be alive.

Jaystream nodded at Goldeneye's instruction quietly but with a troubled mind. Once again, he had to inform Splashwillow that one of her kits was barely alive... So focused on the idea of the she-cat hating him for not being able to protect her kits when she helped raise his own, he didn't notice Scorchclaw's presence and he just rushed to the nursery. Soon, his green eyes met Splashwillow silhouette in the darkness of the den. "S-Splashwillow... s-something b-bad happened... y-you must come to the medicine cat den with me..." He mewed trembling, with his fur soaked in the blood of the young apprentice. The Queen probably knew what this was about because of the scent of that red liquid covering his back.

The tom didn't wait for a straight answer. There was no time for words. He just guided the calico she-cat to the den where Adderpaw was trying to fight for her life.

Jaw going slack, an unpleasant mixture of saliva and blood pooled atop both Adderpaw's teeth and tongue, her belly lurching tightly as a result. Had she always found the taste of blood to be so repulsive? Had she ever been been around this much blood before? Probably not. Even without two eyes, she could still tell it was a profuse amount. Fervently inhaling and exhaling through her nose in hopes of trying to ward off the rapidly strengthening wave of nausea, her remaining eye hardly seemed to recognize to hushed whispers and worried faces of her Clanmates. Lacking the strength to fully support her own weight, Adderpaw merely allowed Goldeneye to tilt or twist her head in the direction needed, only occasionally offering a pained hiss or whimper as the moss irritated the exposed flesh.

Simply remaining conscious was taking a great amount of energy, energy that she no longer possessed. Completely going limp in Goldeneye's hold, the young she-cat let out a garbled, hardly discernible noise of exhaustion, her right eye growing bleary. All she wanted to do now was sleep. Sleep until the gnawing agony relented or until she died- whichever came first, preferably. Trying to blink away the filmy mixture of weariness and blood, Adderpaw felt a faint flicker of surprise bubble up within her as she caught sight of Scorchclaw, particularly the stricken look upon his face. Was it really that bad?

---

Blinking away the tendrils of drowsiness that stubbornly clung to her, Splashwillow's nose twitched briefly as a new scent filled the warm, milk heavy Nursery. Fear. Resisting the urge to bristle at the sudden sense of urgency that seemed to fester within the dim space, the calico's gaze easily picked out the crouched form of Jaystream. Ears folding cautiously, an icy torrent held her veins captive as she listened to the tom's shaky words- her heart nearly tearing its way out of her chest in a blind panic. Unable to speak, her paws seemed to be made of stone as she reluctantly followed Jaystream to the Medicine Cat's den, faintly recalling the last time she had been summoned to the den. Was something wrong with Snowblossom's kits? What could've possibly happened?

The foul stench of blood and terror greeted Splashwillow as she ducked into the shelter of the den, only heightening the overwhelming sense of dread that seemed to be frothing within the pit of her belly. Blinking rapidly in hopes of forcing her eyes to adjust to the limited light of the spacious den, it took everything within her not to wail at the scene before her. Dread and despair coiled deep within her chest, practically halting both her heart and lungs. Mouth opening and closing several times as she gazed down at the ruined half of Adderpaw's face, she was hardly able to recognize the faces of her Clanmates around her. Wheezing out a pitiful, strangled noise of grief, the Queen's tail tucked itself between her legs as her gaze wavered with a flood of unshed tears.

"My precious kit," Splashwillow's voice broke on the tail-end of the low moan, trailing off into a keening whimper, "W-what happened?!" A note of hysteria crept into the final words, the frightened words coming off much too loudly in the rather quiet space.

"Splashwillow I-" Goldeneye sputtered, struggling to push aside her feelings, she was their medicine cat and she had to work past her feelings to give them the best work that she was capable of giving. Clearing her throat, Goldeneye turned to look at Splashwillow for a moment, her paws still and strong as they pressed against her daughter's eye. "Splashwillow, I'm not certain Adderpaw will make the night. She's lost a lot of blood. I've done all I can but it's up to her now. Save your grief until then. She needs you now." Goldeneye then turned to Jaystream, her paws starting to ache.

"Jaystream, grab some lavender from my storage, it's big and purple. Give it to Splashwillow." She ordered. Gold eyes looked sadly down at Adderpaw who quivered and groaned under her paws, knowing that if she gave her anything to dull the pain it could possibly end her life. She needed the pain to know that everything was working, that Adderpaw was fighting for her life. "May Starclan watch over young Adderpaw, may they aide her while she fights against the cruelty inflicted upon her which now threatens her life. Adderpaw is not ready to join your ranks and to take her away from a family that loves her so soon is the very being of cruelty that put her here. I pray that you, our ancestors, do not let her hunt your fields tonight." Goldeneye prayed, her eyes closed as she did so.

"You may set up a nest in here Splashwillow, I won't separate you from her." Goldeneye pulled her paw away from Adderpaws eye finally, giving a big sigh of relief when no blood welled from it. "Do not move young Adderpaw." She soothed, packing her nest to tuck against her head so it would limit her movement.

The warrior looked at the worried mother with sad, guilty green eyes and his ears flattened. He couldn't look at her eyes so he glanced away, seeing how Goldeneye tried to stop the bleeding that came out of the place where her eye was supposed to be. "T-Thunderclan happened... I-I w-was patrolling when I-I heard a scream. I found her in the Sunningrocks... with a T-Thunderclan w-warrior c-called R-Reedheart about to k-kill her. I tried to help and f-fight against him b-but her wounds w-were already this bad... I-I'm sorry Splashwillow..." He stuttered with a broken and defeated voice.

He said no word when the medicine cat ordered to find lavender. He just stood up and searched for it among the different types of herbs inside her den. Once he found them, the deputy grabbed them with his mouth and brought it back to Goldeneye. His paws trembled nervously as the she-cat put her paw away from her wound but he saw, relieved, that the bleeding stopped... at least for now. With one paw, he touched the she-cat's flank to catch her attention. "G-Goldeneye... I-Is there anything e-else y-you need f-from me to help her?"

Continuing to sluggishly blink up at the cats above her, Adderpaw hardly even realized how heavily shadowed with worry their features had become. Goldeneye's soft prayers sent a new wave of convulsions rocketing through her fatigued body, yet it was hardly any match for the sheer exhaustion that weighed down the limited amount of consciousness she still retained. The fear kindling within her chest was still undoubtedly present, but it hardly held the same strength it did during her initial attacking. Perhaps that was due to blood loss? Or maybe she was actually dying this time. She was still desperately craving the sweet release of sleep, so much so that the bloodied apprentice was hardly able to keep her head lifted for long enough for Goldeneye to carefully situate the moss beneath her. Although her wounds still pulsed and ached unmercifully, it was thankfully much less aggravating without any cat pressing or pushing on her face.

Exhaling a weak, muted sigh of relief, Adderpaw's cheek rested heavily upon the cushion of moss beneath her head as she finally drifted free of the waking world.

---

The rank scent of blood and fear was making Splashwillow more and more queasy with each agonizingly slow heartbeat. It was quite the intense struggle to swallow down the flood of acidic bile that stubbornly clung to her tongue and teeth, but it was a struggle that eventually ceased. Desperately trying to force her lungs to start functioning once more, Goldeneye and Jaystream's words rang sharply within her shocked mind. Could the stars truly be as cruel as this? First her littermates and now her kits! Where would it end? Amber eyes practically glowing with unshed tears, the Queen finally eked out a lifeless nod in response to Goldeneye's words. The memories of her final moments spent with Tigerpaw within the Medicine Cat's den clamored at the edges of her mind, but she forcibly banished the agonizing recollections. Although her limbs felt like they were made of stone, the little calico eventually forced herself to close the remaining distance between herself and her grievously injured daughter. Hardly even bothering with the pointless task of actually conjoining a nest beside Adderpaw's, she instead opted to simply settle herself around the long-furred apprentice's twitching form.

Her belly practically screamed at the action of forcing down the lavender leaves, but she swallowed them nonetheless. Gently resting her head upon Adderpaw's shoulder, Splashwillow's hazy gaze settled upon the drawn features of Jaystream. "And what of Reedheart?" Despite the soft tone of voice, her brief words were tight with vehement fury, "Did he escape unscathed?" The thought of, on top of the possibility of her daughter dying of needless wounds, the ThunderClanner going home to his kin and loved ones after committing such atrocities was almost too much to bear.