Taking a turn for the worst (Open to friends / fam of Goldeneye)

Every last bit of Goldeneyes energy was sapped out of her from her trip to the moonstone, so much so that her temperature spiked and she could hardly move from her nest, locked in what seemed to be an endless state of slumber. To the less observant cats, it would seem that the medicine cat was dead aside from the faint rise and fall of her chest. The stillness of her form was unsettling, her eyes crusted shut and her body radiating heat like the sunning-rocks on a hot green-leaf day. Her wounds that should have healed by now were still red and pus-filled despite the treatments given, the rat-bites worse off due to the nature of the wound. Had she taken a few days or more to rest she would have been a lot better off.

Goldeneye's breaths came in gasps, her mouth dry and the air she breathed out feeling like dry, hot, and scorching. One thought in the medicine cats heat raddled brain; who lives, who dies, who tells your story?

Slowly, Fallowpaw made her way inside the den. With Goldeneye as feverish as she was, the burden of being RiverClan's main healer was once again hers. No, not the burden. The responsibility. She'd promised herself that she'd stop thinking of it in such a way, but yet she had to keep reminding herself of that promise, which did her little good. Before her small paws even made way inside the den, the smell of sickness and infection was rank, causing her to scrunch her nose. She hated seeing Goldeneye like this- her mentor, one of her only role-models. But do role-models break the code? No! She shook her head, clearing it of the negative. She couldn't think like that. She loved Goldeneye, and she loved Jaystar. She wouldn't let anything get in the way of that.

Finally, she ducked past the reeds and into the small den, her senses filled with the thick scent of sickness and herbs infused into the air. Her eyes drifted from Goldeneye to the herb stock, and back to Goldeneye as she assessed her condition for the first time since that morning. Trouble breathing, festering infected wounds, and a fever that was higher than any she'd ever seen before. She began gathering the herbs that would, hopefully, ease off the symptoms Goldeneye was feeling. As she put the herbs together, chewing, spitting, and the like, she looked to the golden molly in the corner, her heart aching for the way things used to be. "Goldeneye?" Her voice came out soft, yet still shaky despite her best efforts to keep a steady voice. She could tell she wasn't fully asleep, but she didn't want to anger her.

She quietly stepped in front of Goldeneye, stooping down and carefully placing the herbs in front of her. "Willow Bark, Willow Leaves, Coltsfoot, Sweet-Sedge, Feverfew, Juniper Berries, and Lavender. With Honey." Something was missing, she knew it... "Oh! And Poppy Seeds." She dropped a small pile of poppy seeds onto the leaf she'd placed in front of the sickly medicine cat, then turning around to start preparing something for Goldeneye's wounds, which stuck out to her like a sore claw. She began chewing the herbs one by one, putting all of them together on one leaf. When she was done, she lifted it gently between her jaws and carried it to Goldeneye's side, applying it to the larger, worse-off wounds first. "Chervil, Comfrey, Horsetail, and Marigold." She wasn't sure if the older she-cat was listening, but despite that, she listed off the mixture, just in case.

If it had been any longer, Starlord would have likely lost his mind. In Goldeneye's absence, there was next to nothing to tie him to this place. The kits seemed to be adjusting well to the absurdity of clan life. He tried where he could to keep their thoughts normal and sane but it was only a matter of time until they were another one of Jaystar's pawns. That thought had rattled around in his brain at night as he waited for the golden she-cat to come back from wherever she had gone. At first, he considered following her but a bought of rain quickly abolished that idea. It was more of a light mist that just seemed to dust the forest surface of all scents and rendering his sense of smell nearly useless. So, he had held back with an overwhelming discontent.

At first, his chest had been hot with burning sense of anger towards the elder medicine cat. After everything the night prior to her absence, he hoped that she would at least trust him enough to tell him. However, he found himself more racked with worry than anything. Goldeneye had not been in the best shape, looking as ragged and run down as when they had first met. A sense of relief had befallen him as soon as she faced him standing in the camp once more. All that mattered was that she was safe and here. Although between the ruggedness of her breathing and the heat that seemed to emblazon her coat, Fallowpaw quickly determined something was severely wrong.

"Would it bother her if I laid there?" He meowed softly to the medicine cat apprentice. Starlord's eyes shone with an obvious concern. For quite some time his presence had been limited to a silent shadow near the edge of the reed den. But he couldn't just sit there. His paws itched as if ants were crawling over his pads. Not being able to do anything troubled the active loner. As he spoke, his ear flicked towards the nest. Hot as she was, the tom feared to overwhelm her but he also didn't want to be too far away.