Bleeding Feathers

He had seen the medicine den only a few times before. Mostly, Featherheart had simply watched as sick and injured cats went in and became healthy. He hadn't anticipated that he might need it so soon as he staggered in beside Wisteriapool. Almost immediately, he felt the weight of his body become too much, too painful, and he buckled onto the ground in the middle of it. A distant memory of him visiting Dappledkit and Flickerpaw in the medicine den came to mind.

How long ago was that? He barely remembered anymore. The open holes in his shoulders and back still hurt too much to think deeply about anything as he glanced around for his nephew Rainpaw. How was he doing in his apprenticeship? Featherheart felt a pain of regret as he realised he hadn't quite been paying attention to his own nephew. Wisteriapool, Wildfire and Dappledpaw were easy enough to check on.

He blinked wearily as his tail flicked.
"Thank you, Wisteriapool." He meowed softly as his head rested onto his forepaws. His hindlegs awkwardly lay to the side where he could avoid putting dirt into the wounds.

OOC: What are his wounds?

IC: Mapleleaf rushed to Featherheart's side. "What happened to you?" she asked the tom-cat as she began to inspect the him all over. She prodded and sniffed his body, making sure there wasn't a life-threatening wound. "Thank you for bringing him Wisteriapool." she thanked sweetly. Her attention then returned back to Featherheart. She began to note all his wounds so she could grab the necessary herbs. She waited for his explanation.

The medicine den didn't necessarily bring back positive memories to Wisteriapool. The last time she had been in here was when she was an apprentice. She and her brothers had been injured trying to fight off adders at Snakerocks. Now, one of her brothers was once again injured. It had been so soon since Featherheart had been viciously attacked by a fox. Something was happening to him. Wisteriapool wasn't sure what, but it wasn't anything good. A high-pitched gasp of shock escaped the she-cat's jaws as Featherheart's paws buckled beneath him and he fell to the ground. She instantly attempted to help him, but Mapleleaf was there first, sniffing and prodding at his herbs with the swiftness and observational skills that only a medicine cat possessed.
"Y-you're we-welcome." She said, sincerely, to both Featherheart and Mapleleaf.

Fear and concern was the only thing that kept her in that den as she watched with wide, yellow eyes. She could've explained to Mapleleaf what she noticed about Featherheart, but she figured that her brother would be able to tell the medicine cat the full truth. With an air of expectance, she looked at the ginger tabby, waiting for him to explain.

"We were... hunting when an owl attacked." Featherheart explained as he suppressed a groan of pain as his injuries were prodded by Mapleleaf's paw. He was lucky he hadn't been grabbed in a worse spot, but the ache near his stomach had gotten worse. He glanced at Wisteriapool, then looked down uneasily. He didn't want to dissappoint her.

His tail flicked as he thought hard about mentioning his pain. He didn't want to, he didn't want Wisteriapool to worry about him, but hiding it might only make her worry more. He chanced another glance, then took a deep breath with a wince of pain.
"My stomach's been hurting too." He finally mewed, as he made a brief gesture towards it with his tail. "At least... I think it's my stomach." He amended as he scuffed the ground with a forepaw before he rested his head on them wearily.

Mapleleaf nodded as she looked at his shoulders and the area around them. "You're very lucky Featherheart. Owls are large and silent creatures. It could've carried you away and that would've been the last of you. Whatever you did earned you more time to live." She walked to the back where her storage was and searched for the needed materials. "Ah-ha!" she announced to herself. She took what she needed an walked back. She placed them down. She had gotten goldenrod, marigold, juniper berries, and cobwebs. The medicine cat then chewed the marigold and goldenrod into a poultice and applied them to the open wounds on and around his shoulders. She them pressed cobwebs on the wounds so they wouldn't get anything in them. Finally the she-cat rolled 3 juniper berries to Featherheart. "Eat these. If you really have a bellyache, these would soothe that. I'll check also." she said as she made the tom lay on his side. "Okay. I want you to tell me where it hurts the most as I begin to push." she mewed in concentration. She soon began to press down with a good amount of force. She began to near the area of the kidneys. Mapleleaf needed to know if this was really just a bellyache.

Featherheart looked meaningfully at Wisteriapool.
"It was my sister..." He murmured, then winced as Mapleleaf returned with herbs. Reluctantly, he chewed up the berries. A wave of naseua struck him as he attempted to swallow them, which made him wince, then spit them out under his paws where he hoped she wouldn't see them.

That effort was quickly wasted as she pushed him to his side, then pushed. The moment her paws reached near his kidneys, he yowled sharply. Without thinking, he immediately pulled himself up to a stand, his pelt bristled in pain as he waited for the throbbing of being poked there to stop. It hadn't taken much pressure, but with how badly they were already hurting, it made it much worse. Suddenly he looked up at Wisteriapool, worried about how she would take his reaction as blood seeped from his newly patched wounds.

Mapleleaf stood up, a bit shocked from his reaction. She then pushed him down and began to rub his belly in an attempt to calm and soothe him. "I'm sorry. I had to know if it was really your belly hurting. It may not be true. When i pushed down and you jumped, it had been on a spot close to but not the belly. How long has it been hurting?" she asked as she put her supplies away.

His legs trembled as Mapleleaf pushed him down. He swallowed back another bite of pain as his wounds bad touch against the floor of the den but he didn't yowl again. His green eyes lowered to the den floor as he looked at the ground. It was the safest thing to look at. He was worried about Wisteriapool's reaction. Mapleleaf's didn't bring much comfort either as he swallowed nervously, his tail twitched in discomfort even as his belly was rubbed.
"I just... I wasn't expecting that." He said softly, half-hoping the explination would work. "I... I don't really know. I thought it was just something I ate." He paused. His body had been hurting for quite awhile, but it was frightening to tell how often.

Nights spent in his nest with pain lancing his side like a thorn permanently wedged in his pelt. Sleep eluding him yet beckoning him closer. His sunning sessions had become lately more naps of nessecity than actual naps of laziness. He swallowed nervously, then hunched himself up a bit.
"So, what herb do I take to make it stop?" Featherheart looked up at Mapleleaf with a confident smirk. His pain shoved to the back of his mind as he focused on the cure. The memory of a body that didn't hurt, or trip over itself. "Please don't tell me it's something from the travelling herbs. "

Mapleleaf frowned and let out a small sigh. She walked up to him and began to whisper in his ear. "I-I'm sorry but there is no way to cure what ever it is you have. I can give you poppy seeds or juniper berries to numb the pain but nothing can really cure it. This isn't something i'm familiar with." She glanced over at Wisteriapool then continued to speak, "Would you like me to give you poppy seeds?" she asked him softly. Her green eyes held visable worry and concern for the tom. This wasn't somthing she could identify. It was entirely new to her. She was determined to help him but where could she start?

Featherheart looked at Mapleleaf with alarm. His green eyes widened at her words... no way to cure...
"Mapleleaf... t-there has to be something!" He protested, his body tensed to stand while his injuries reminded him that he needed to stay down. His ears flattened in discomfort and he felt an odd feeling drifting through his mind. What was he supposed to do?

The pain was bad enough to affect him on a mere hunt, what did that mean for his future? What did it mean for his siblings... Robinsong... he looked down at his paws unhappily. For once not as happy or go-lucky as he usually was as he laid his head on his paws in exhaustion. It had been a long day, a longer night, and now, amidst it all he could finally just admit it. Let himself be cared for after hiding it for so long, what good had hiding it done?

"Please. Anything to make it stop." He finally requested, his eyes watched Mapleleaf the whole time as he thought carefully about what he could say. "Do you... do you think any of the other medicine cats would know?" He asked, his tail brushed Wisteriapool's pelt for comfort.

Wisteriapool stayed silent and calm throughout the entire exchange until she heard a sickening sentence escape Mapleleaf's jaws.
"I-I'm sorry but there is no way to cure whatever it is you have."
What?!
Fear coursed throughout the ginger-and-white she-cat's veins as she rose to her paws and padded closer to Featherheart. There had to be some sort of cure, right? If something as terrible as Greencough and Whitecough had a cure, then whatever her brother had was curable, right? Refraining from pacing back and forth across the floor of the den, the warrior unsheathed her claws and quietly bad touch them against the ground. Was it deadly? Would her brother die? She had no idea what she'd do if Featherheart died. Their family had already lost so much... so many. They couldn't afford to lose anyone else.
"Ma-Mapleleaf, ple-please," The she-cat started, the first words she had said in a while, "Th-there has to b-be some so-sort of w-way to cu-cure my br-brother. Fea-Featherheart is r-right. Ma-Maybe one of th-the other me-medicine c-cats will know."

All the while, she felt the tip of her tail begin to twitch. Even her muscles were straining with effort. This was worse than she thought. Maybe, if she would've brought him back to the medicine den earlier, none of this would've been so bad.

Mapleleaf passed Featherheart a few poppy seeds and then turned back to them. She had an obvious frown. Oh Starclan give her strength. She walked up to them and pressed herself against Wisteriapool then placed her tail on Featherheart's back. "This illness is something nobody may have a cure for but for you, I will do everything in my power with Starclan's and hopefully someone else's guidance. I will ask my fellow medicine cats to see if they have a cure. For now, rest." she said with a motherly tone of voice.