[open] Soothe the Sick and Tired

The Gathering had ended not long ago, and shortly after there was a commotion of grief-filled reunions as some of those cats who fell to the flood were brought back to their families. Amberdawn, SkyClan's medicine cat, had grieved with her best friend, Leafpaw, who had undergone the traumatizing experience of being unable to help a tom who died in her paws. Amberdawn hadn't even experienced that yet; she had held lives in her paws before, but she had kept them all safe so far. Even Sparrowpaw's execution, which was traumatizing in its own right, had been so completely out of her paws that it was hard to blame herself for the she-cat's death. For her happy-go-lucky friend to have suffered that experience... I wish I could have been in her place, the golden tabby thought sadly, though she couldn't truly have understood the weight of her wish. But time had already passed, and comforts had been given.

The later afternoon sun was shining on the twoleg nest that Scorchstar had scoured to check for stability and safety. Once he had declared that it was safe - and once Amberdawn had made her own rounds to check for spots with bad ventilation, wet places on the ground, or the risk of fleas in the bedding - the sick and injured were welcome and gently helped inside to find places to rest. Now Amberdawn stood at the entrance, looking sadly at her pitiful pile of herbs she'd brought with her. "This won't even help one cat," she murmured. She called to the gathered cats, "I must go find herbs - whoever wishes to help me may come, but we must go now." Amberdawn looked around, then mewed to whoever was close, "We need to make sure our injured Clanmates are fed first, and their wounds must be cleaned."

Then, Amberdawn took a deep breath. I must lead; there's no one to follow, she told herself as she raised her tail, signaling for any willing to join her. Then she and her patrol left, leaving the twoleg nest of cats who needed healing and care under Scorchstar's watch. I'll be back to help you all soon.

Sunpaw slowly crawled away from Stormstrike and dragged herself over to Scorchstar. Her hips down had gotten crushed under a large rock so her bottom half was completely mangled. She closed her eyes as bunched together some leaves before turning around and gripping her tail in her mouth as she sat and then pulled her tail causing her back legs to come closer. Then she gripped her back legs and pulled them closer so she could suscessdully curl up into a ball.

Scorchstar watched as the injured cats began assembling themselves into the Twoleg nest he had just tested for safety and security. He frowned sympathetically as he watched the young molly drag her limp hind legs and tail behind her. Great StarClan, what had happened to the poor sweetie? Padding up to Sunpaw, he helped nuzzle her legs and tail a bit closer to her body and nudged some bedding underneath them so they wouldn't fall out of place. "Amberdawn and her patrol will return shortly, and whatever fresh-kill the hunting parties come back with, you can have first pick. I'm certain the others will understand." Especially considering Sunpaw was a badly injured apprentice, and she wasn't even from his own Clan. Rasping his tongue over her forehead once, he stood up and began assisting any other cats who needed help getting inside or settling down.

Graybriar limped across the clearing, determined to get in the sane area as the other... injured cats... to make things easier for the medicine cat. While she was worried sick for Briarpaw and hoping for his safety, this SkyClan she-cat was here now, and could hopefully help her. And she didn't want to be a constant drag on Barleytuft. This place was probably dangerous... Who knew how many predators had wasged up here, as well? The last thing she needed was to get her loved ones into another battle with a raccoon, or fox, or whatever. But she was definitely a long way from recovery. Just the short trek from the impromptu nest Barleytuft had built her to the gathering of cats had her panting and sweating, muscles straining at the lack of using her fourth leg. It dragged behind her, unbound and injured, but thankfully no longer bleeding openly. If that wound reopened... she'd be in trouble, fast. The silver tabby finally made it, collapsing in a heap next to a poor young apprentice who was in even worse shape than she, with more recent injuries. It made her wonder if her son was okay... if any of her other Clanmates were. She shuddered at the thought, and tried to slow her breathing so she wouldn't seem completely out of it. That apprentice would need treating first, and she needed to be strong in the meantime. For Barleytuft.

Lightstep still felt strange as he finally entered the abandoned twoleg nest which would serve as a shelter for the sick and injured. A few minutes before, the body of his father, Stormstrike, had been dragged into the clearing of the makeshift gathering they had all called by StarClan's decree. The SkyClan apprentice who had borne his body looked racked with guilt and grief, her face darkened. She had fled to her friend, Amberdawn, seeking comfort, and Lightstep had almost immediately been distracted from the dead tom by Sunpaw's shriek of despair next to him. He didn't know why she seemed so struck by Stormstrike's death; after all, it didn't seem that the two of them had been close. Perhaps Lightstep was projecting.

Truthfully, underneath the current numbness that befell him, Lightstep felt guilty, and angry. He felt confused by the fact that some strange SkyClan cat who probably didn't even know Stormstrike's name seemed more saddened by his death than his own son. Part of him even felt angry at that she-cat and Mosspaw for being more sad than he was. You didn't know him! some strange part of Lightstep howled in his head. How can you possibly care more about his death than me? Mostly, there was guilt. Why do they care more about his death than me?

It didn't really matter - there was nothing he could do. The feeling would have frightened him if he had enough energy to feel anything. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light of the shelter, he realized that he had been too wrapped up in his thoughts to notice when Sunpaw had departed. Lightstep saw her being attended to by Scorchstar. The white tom felt guilt at that, too - he should have helped her inside, been the one to help her settle in. The ShadowClan leader gave Sunpaw's head a gentle lick and then padded away. More guilt and anger - You don't care about her more than me! I can take care of her! Right? Have I already failed her? - bubbled underneath the numbness he felt. Lightstep simply stood near the entrance of the den, a distant stare in his tired yellow eyes.

Sunpaw let out a broken purr as the Shadowclan leader helped her she kept trying to pull her tail closer but eventually gave up as it could not curl around herself tightly. She let out another purr as Scorchstar helped her with her bedding and she wedged more moss underneath herself with her front paws and smiled when he licked her in the head. Then she went to work grooming her tail and legs.