S t i l l [Open]

On a tightly woven reed nest, deep within the recesses of the medicine cat's den, lay a disheveled tom. The only signs of life were the nearly inaudible, shallow breaths and the faint rise and fall of his dilute calico coat. Massive bite wounds were embedded in the fur along his back and the bleeding staved off with poultices and cobwebs expertly contrived by the paws of the clan's medicine cats. Just underneath his ear, on the side of his head facing the roof of the den, was a mess of matted fur and horrible gash. It was the very would that had rendered him like this. In a similar manner to the various other inflictions, this too had been handled in the most expert manner they could muster. The cold winds of winter did not touch his pelt. And even if they did, he would have been unaware. Even the intense stare of the golden medicine cat did not stir him, as he was lost to the world now. Unmoving, not stirring, stuck in time...

Still.

It had been some time since Icepaw's maiming, but the young apprentice hadn't woken up. Things had not yet return to normal. Lightstep still blamed himself for not staying closer to his nephew or paying closer attention while they were on patrol together. The young warrior's new normal had become visiting his comatose nephew in the medicine cats' den daily, sometimes more than once every day, to bring prey to the healers and do any small favors they might ask of them. After all, he was sure he must be draining on them after all this time. They had said nothing yet, though, and he always stayed out of the way.

On this particular day, Lightstep became aware of how many faces cycled through this den. Sootpaw, Icepaw, Sparkfrost, Minkpaw, he thought sorrowfully. Why do all my Clanmates keep getting hurt? The white tom looked at the new comatose figure which had joined Icepaw: Sparkfrost, a victim of a vicious dog attack. StarClan protect him.

Choking, there was something around him holding him too tight. It clung to his leg, his face, around his paws, everywhere. All he could see was the yellow eyes boring into his soul, reflecting his own stunned face above that snarling maw. Foam and blood mixing with the snow stinging his paws lying everywhere. Another cat leaped in front, the dark form's jaws crunching into her spine as a wail of pain sounded, her own jaws buried in its throat. Blood running over everything, blood soaking into the snow under his paws as she staggered away. Terrified eyes ran past him, but his own were locked on the forms slumped in the snow. Both of them and him, him and them. Another cat being ripped apart in front of his eyes, the webbing around him holding him in place. He couldn't breath, there was nothing but the yellow boring into him.
He tried to thrash, to throw off the webbing surrounding him, pushing him forwards towards the snarling figures lying in mangled mounds on the snow. Where's the surface?! It was holding him too tight! He needed to break free or he'd be strangled.
Minkpaw jerked, wide eyes snapping open as he panted, unseeing for a moment. Then his vision cleared and he could see a tom walking in, gazing sadly around at some other cats lying there in... nests? "Wha- where am I?" He struggled to remember, his head whirling as vague images came in patches. Cold, swirling snow, falling... and yellow eyes. Shoving that last one out of his head, he craned his neck to see what the place looked like.
It was dim, his own nest bundled into a dark corner beside some other forms, two of them so still and covered in bits of leaves and white stuff he almost doubted they were alive. Why are they covered in cobwebs...? He suddenly registered a strange clinging sensation on his leg, and glanced over at it in a panic to see white cobwebs over leaves sticking to his hip. For a moment he tried to reach it with his teeth to tear it off, but a painful twinging in his neck made him stop. Ow... why does every part of me hurt? The whole place smelled like sick cats and strange leaves, an odd scent that reminded him of something.... I'm in... River... Clan?
Trying to move his neck as little as possible, he glanced back at the white tom who seemed vaguely familiar, his voice croaking in his ears as he meowed, "Am I back in RiverClan? Who... who are you?" The last thing he could remember was a single-minded hazy determination to get back to the Clan he'd been raised in, so if he was back that meant he'd succeeded, right?

Lightstep had just entered the den, his pale amber eyes immediately seeking out the limp white frame of his nephew. He took a note of who was in the den, and almost immediately Minkpaw stirred in his nest. His voice slurred heavily as he asked a question that Lightstep couldn't distinguish. The white warrior paused on his path to his nephew's nest, which had been placed near the back of the den to keep him from getting disturbed. He wasn't certain if Fallowlight or Goldeneye were currently in the den, but he wondered if perhaps they needed to be if Minkpaw was waking up. The young ginger tabby tom had disappeared from RiverClan's territory a few days prior and reappeared almost as torn up and battered as Sparkfrost and Berrycloud had - a little better off than the late Silverfang had been, though.

A flash of alarm jolted through Lightstep as he saw Minkpaw, in a daze, struggle in his nest to try to rip off his bandages. "W-Wait," Lightstep stammered, but almost instantly the apprentice made a start of pain and laid back down. The young warrior's shoulder fur bristled slightly to see Minkpaw in such a state. Even so, he couldn't help but think, Mottledspark is going to be so relieved to hear that Minkpaw's awake. Then the ginger tom spoke. Lightstep pricked his ears attentively, straining to hear the poor tom's hoarse, croaking voice. For a moment Lightstep was worried; of course Minkpaw was in RiverClan. Where else would he be? Lightstep replied, keeping his voice gentle and steady, "You are indeed back in RiverClan. You're home, being cared for in the medicine cats' den. My name is Lightstep."

For a moment he wondered if he should be concerned that Minkpaw didn't recognize him, but he brushed it off. It's not like I've gone on any training patrols with him and Mottledspark, he acknowledged, so he'd really have no reason to know me. But does he know his mentor? Is it even my right to ask these questions when everyone else knows so little yet? At that, Lightstep shook his head once to dispel his questions. Minkpaw had been gravely injured and was now awake; Lightstep's first task needed to be to ensure that a medicine cat took a look at him. But... "Do you know your mother's name? Or your mentor's?" he decided to probe curiously. He seems so lost; I hope it's just from waking up. I'll tell the medicine cats what he answers or if he can't remember.

Minkpaw sighed with relief as the tom told him he was back in his Clan, letting his head flop back onto his nest and shifting slightly to face the other cat better. His head spun slightly at the movement and he closed his eyes briefly, listening to the other tom's soothing voice. Lightstep? He frowned for a moment with the effort of dredging up memories around the vague images of his dreams. He's... Mottledspark's friend? Now he could remember where he'd seen the tom, the name he'd been given matching Lightstep's face and helping him to shake further out of his disorientation. A strange feeling still swirled through his mind, a weird kind of panic that made him want to curl up in his nest as sensations from his dream raged at the edges of his thoughts. The tom's voice helped him to concentrate on something else, and he clung to it like it was a branch in the river.
Lightstep's question caught him off guard, though, and he stared up at the other for a moment as panic bloomed inside his chest, shattering the swirling images of his recent memories into a thousand fragments. He struggled to sit up, his hoarse voice croaking a bit louder than it probably should have. "Littlestream? Is she okay? Where's Copperpaw and Lionpaw?"
A lump stuck in his throat as the thought of just how much time he'd been away from them all entered his head, and he let his weak paws slide out from underneath him as he gazed up dazedly at the other tom, his head spinning from the sudden movement. "Mottledspark's going to kill me! H-how long was I gone?"

For just a moment after he introduced himself, Lightstep was relieved to see Minkpaw's features brightening slightly with recognition and awareness. He seemed as though he was recovering from his unconsciousness, at least. At Lightstep's questions, however, the apprentice seemed to hesitate. In that heartbeat of recollection, the young warrior was worried that perhaps Minkpaw had suffered some damage to his memories. The panic that showed when he did remember, however, was not much better, and Lightstep protested, "Please - don't stand, you were badly hurt..." but Minkpaw already already sliding down, looking dizzied and bedraggled. "Mottledspark's going to kill me! H-how long was I gone?"

"Everyone is alright," Lightstep replied reassuringly, going to Minkpaw's side and giving his head gentle licks. "Your mother is well, and your siblings have been getting on well in their training. You haven't even been gone a full moon - where were you?" he asked. Then Lightstep immediately shook his head. "That doesn't matter now, don't expend your energy on it for my sake. Let me find a medicine cat to check on you - you've been asleep since you returned to camp."

Minkpaw let his eyes close in exhausted relief as Lightstep confirmed that his family was alright. But only for a moment. Images still danced behind his closed lids, and he had to open them to keep the memories away.
The other tom's gentle licks felt strangely familiar, almost like his mother's, but more... fatherly. Will I ever get to see Starlord? A pang tore at his heart like a claw at the thought, and he shoved it away, listening to the rest of what Lightstep was saying. Not a whole moon... whew. "Where were you?" He flinched slightly as he tried hard to remember only the bits that weren't horrible, failing as other images crashed in as well. "I-" He swallowed, repressing everything in an effort to keep it out.
Luckily, Lightstep cut himself off before Minkpaw had to actually say anything, and he let himself go limp with relief. Medicine cat... Goldeneye? He couldn't help feeling just a little shiver of nervousness at the thought of the cranky old cat prodding at him. It wasn't like he and Copperpaw had avoided her like greencough whenever they had to take ticks off the elders for nothing. Despite that, he still managed a weak smile. "Probably a good idea." Not a good idea, NOT a good idea.
He frowned as he thought about the last part of the tom's sentence. From the looks of the light he could see shining in from the entrance, it definitely wasn't sunrise. Maybe after sunhigh? "I... got back last... night?" He struggled to remember anything after that last blurred memory of collapsing in almost pitch blackness right outside a gaping hole, which had probably been the medicine cat den - but there was nothing, except for him waking up here and the whole conversation with Lightstep.

Lightstep could sense the relief that Minkpaw felt at being excused from explaining his absence. When he's feeling better, he'll be able to tell Jaystar, the tom thought. For now he really just needs to rest - and to be seen by Fallowlight or Goldeneye. Minkpaw managed a smile and Lightstep purred, already relieved to see that the young tom was feeling well enough to smile a bit. The apprentice relented to being seen, but before Lightstep could leave the den to look for either of the medicine cats Minkpaw asked a question. The white tom turned around and nodded. "Yes, and we're grateful you were able to make it to shelter before you passed out," Lightstep responded. "You certainly couldn't have survived unsheltered in your condition with this weather."

Now Lightstep took a step away from Minkpaw, looking again to the sleeping forms of Icepaw and Sparkfrost. The two toms had been friends, having fought together in the Great Battle with Lichenmask and the Exiles. Hopefully the two would both make full recoveries and continue to grow as warriors. Lightstep dipped his head to Minkpaw and murmured, "You should get some more sleep; wounds like yours are going to need lots of rest to heal. I'll find a medicine cat for you." He turned to exit the den, mewing meaningfully over his shoulder, "I'm really glad you're home. Mottledspark will be, too." Then he padded into camp to search for either of the medicine cats.