It's All Different Now (Closed)

Pricklepaw sat moodily in the medicine cat den, staring blankly at the neat piles of herbs that Mapleleaf had left, contemplating his life. He'd thought he had it bad earlier, but he'd never even considered... never even thought for a second... that everything he had could be snatched away from him so fast. He'd just taken for granted that he'd become a ThunderClan warrior, proud to serve his Clan, respectful to his leader and deputy even though they obviously favored Bearpaw over him. Then, after he'd barely survived getting beaten up in the battle with Lichenmask, StarClan had imposed another heavy burden on him. This wasn't an honor, this was a punishment. Sitting in this stuffy den and trying to keep the names of all the herbs straight, fumes that made his head spin, then walking the same over-trodden, over-long path with apprentice after mouse-brained apprentice and trying not to let his jealousy swallow him up completely... relying on and pretending to honor StarClan, who had literally changed his emotions and made him take the job, after almost destroying the forest with their ideas of purity. Feeling as if his blood was going to burst into a boil, the medicine cat apprentice just sat rigidly still, sage-green eyes on fire as they glared at every single leaf on the floor as if they were what had caused his pain. How dare he feel this way, how dare he feel so much pain? Why... why did they do this to him? Why him, of all cats? His breathing was thin and strained as he stared at the herbs, ignoring the physical pain of his wounds for the emotional agony of his heart. All he'd wanted was to be a warrior. All he'd ever wanted. And StarClan just had to take that away from him too.

The sun gleamed brightly on the colourful leaves of camp. Normally, Ridgepaw would be outside camp, exploring and causing trouble. Right now though, she looked across the camp to the medicine den. Her brother was in there, and not in the same apprentice den that he had shared less than a couple nights ago. With a glance around for their other siblings, she padded through the medicine den entrance and looked at the bundle of yellowed spiky fur. The way his gaze was locked onto the leaves told her all she needed to know, and there was only one way to fix it. With a smirk, she crouched down. Edging closer and closer until she sprang and tackled Pricklepaw, overshooting and falling right over his shoulders. Onto the leaves he had been glaring at just moments before with a bewildered look in her hazel eyes as she stared up at him, then laughed.

"Whoops! Sorry Pricklepaw!" She giggled as she shook the leaves clear of her pelt and leaned forward to butt his shoulder with her head in playful sibling affection. "What're you staring at the leaves for? Did they fall in your fresh-kill this morning?" She asked with a curious tilt of her head as she poked a couple of the scattered leaves. Some looked totally different while others kinda looked the same. It made her head hurt to think about as she pawed a spiky black berry leaf. "What's this do? It's spikey like your fur!"

A miracle of StarClan had come to ThunderClan. Literally. After moons of having to deal with their own wounds, ThunderClan finally had a medicine cat again. To be more precise, they had a medicine cat apprentice. The chosen individual was no one other than Hailpaw's own littermate--Pricklepaw. The news had come as more than a small surprise. When Hailpaw had woken up one morning, Pricklepaw had already been to the Moonstone and back. "Pricklepaw?" She had sputtered, expression stricken with dismay, "Pricklepaw is our medicine cat? We gotta rely on him to heal us? He'll poison the clan!" Needless to say, she had never once imagined her older brother in such a role. He was a warrior just like the rest of his littermates, not some mystical oracle that sat sorting herbs all day. Nevertheless, it was the undeniable truth now.

The medicine den that had been desolate for StarClan-knows-how-long was inhabited yet again. Upon stepping into the cool recesses of what was now Pricklepaw's lair, Hailpaw caught sight of one more littermate than she had expected to see. Ridgepaw had beat her to the punch and was excitedly conversing with the spiky-furred tom. Herbs were scattered all over the ground. Yellow eyes lighting up, Hailpaw bounded right up to the two. Before Pricklepaw could even say anything, she seized him in an awkward cat-hug of sorts. Unfortunately for the young medicine cat, Hailpaw did not miss her tackle like Ridgepaw did. "Good morning!" She chirped, radiating energy as always. "Aww, it's so messy in here. Shouldn't you at least keep your stuff organized, Pricklepaw? You're going to have a tough time distinguishing between the herbs!" Gasping, she pulled away. Mischief glinted within her gaze as her voice rose dramatically. "Are you really intending to poison us?!" She might or might not have noticed the frustration that was simmering within Pricklepaw, but if she did, she chose to overlook it.

Pricklepaw was shook out of his reverie by some she-cat he couldn't see jumping towards him. He ducked instinctively, memories from kithood taking over, but she had overshot so far in her excitement she just leapt right over him and rolled onto the ground, becoming covered in leaves. No! I just spent the last half hour organizing all of those! Annoyance making his pelt prickle, he turned to berate the cat with all of the frustration pent up inside him- but then he saw who it was. Ridgepaw. All of his anger melted away, replaced instead by exasperation. He supposed he was glad to have someone to talk to, at least... "I don't know what that one does yet," he sighed, starting to detach the leaves from his sister's fur. "Mintwhisker hasn't taught me. So I'd appreciate it if you- oof!" Suddenly, he was bowled over onto the ground, completely blindsided as some other cat pinned him down. "What-?!" With effort, he turned his head around to see who it was. Apparently, it was the other sister he got along with- Hailpaw. He had some trouble believing this was a coincidence.  After her full-blown tackle left him winded, he struggled to get up off the ground. "No! It was clean in here, until somecat messed up all the piles I was working with." He shot a glare towards Ridgepaw, really annoyed now, until he saw the innocent look in her eyes. The medicine cat apprentice closed his eyes, and took a few deep breaths. When he opened them again, they were full of resignation. "And I'm not planning on poisoning the whole Clan... just you two. So you'd better watch your fresh-kill." A tiny half-smile showed up on his face. Family always was able to make him feel better... at least for now. But, now he had to clean up this mess. "Um, would you all mind helping me sort these again? Just put like with like."

The news of Pricklepaw's change of roll had shocked most of the clan, but not as much as it had the pricky tom who had dealt with the shift in position. Upon hearing it, Beartooth had been mostly unaffected. However, he could not shake the strange feeling of his adoptive kin being the one to hold such a rank. It was an honorable, one that the warrior intended to respect. And even after the accusations and tension between the pair, mostly on the other end, Beartooth merely found himself intrigued by the idea that Pricklepaw would be a decent medicine cat. He supposed that they would see eventually.

As he padded towards the freshkill pile and quickly distributed a fat squirrel, the newly appointed warrior glanced up just in time to see some fluffy, white tails disappearing into the medicine cat's den. Knowing the tom's tail, he was certain who was on their way for a visit. This would be an opportune time to welcome the new medicine cat, as they had been without one for a while now. Beartooth followed in suit of the pair and squeezed through the entrance. With the lot of them, it was fairly crowded.

His green gaze caught sight of Pricklepaw's futile efforts to clean up the herbs and his whiskers twitched ever so slightly in amusement before he meowed, "Enjoying the new den, Pricklepaw?" It was a genuine question. The den looked a bit disorderly but the space must have been nice. As he spoke, he butted his head affectionately against Ridgepaw's shoulder and flicked Hailpaw with his tail. The sisters had always loved him and he loved them and their company just as fiercely. Even if his adoptive brother held a special disdain for his existence, Beartooth knew that he would die all the same for the younger tom. It did not matter if Pricklepaw knew or reciprocated that.