A Friendly Encounter

It had been several days since Mosspaw's injury from the raccoon, and two days since Amberdawn's announcement that she had received a sign from StarClan. Her calico pelt moved quietly through a small copse of trees, silently stalking a blackbird she had spotted pecking at some seeds on the ground. She moved slowly, and silently, getting as close to the bird as she could before pouncing on it, ending the squawk that started to escape it's beak before it really even made a sound. She stood up, the wound on her chest still ached with pain, but she could bear it for at least a little while longer. She had finally been allowed to leave the makeshift camp again, and had managed to do so without Flintfang accompanying her. She placed the blackbird in a safe place, and continued on her way, following the scent of a mouse when she suddenly heard something moving around behind her. Stopping her stalk, she stood and turned, not about to let something sneak up on her. After the encounter with the raccoon, she had been overly cautious about anything strange she heard or scented. She moved to hide in a small patch of ferns as the noises drew closer, her pelt melting into the shadows among the ferns as she waited to see just what exactly was coming her way.

Dewpaw stomped through the mud. His pelt was messy and tangled, however he didn’t care. His foot was infected but he refused to let Amberdawn see it. He proudly carried his mouse through the fonds before hearing something. He angled his ears towards the sound and tried to stalk silently but his dragging foot gave away his hiding place. It was a miracle that he managed to catch a mouse.

The noise drew closer and closer, and it wasn't long before she spotted Dewpaw's bedraggled pelt in the undergrowth. Letting out the breath she didn't even realize she had been holding, she stepped out of the fern patch she had hidden herself in. "Hi, Dewpaw." She mewed quietly, waving her tail warmly in greeting. "Nice catch! I'm out hunting too. Is your foot still bothering you?..." She asked, watching him drag it with a wince. "Maybe you should let Amberdawn see it before we leave tomorrow, that looks painful." She shifted her weight from one side to the other, if his paw hurt nearly as bad as her chest had, then the journey would be a difficult one for him to make.

Dewpaw smiled softly and hit face lit up and he smiled like a kit at Mosspaws presence. “H-Hi Mosspaw!” He greeted her. “Oh my foot? Yeah.. it’s hard to get any sleep when it’s caked with mud and always stiff. Anyways how are you feeling?” He asked, more concerned for her health.

Mosspaw smiled back, then moved towards him, concerned. "If you want, maybe I can take a look at it? At least we could try to get it cleaned up and go from there... It being stiff isn't a good thing, especially with the journey we have coming up." She stopped in front of him, the sunlight filtering through the branches above them to shine on her fur. She had meticulously groomed herself in her free time, so her pelt shone as she waited for permission to take a look. At his inquiry of her well-being, she looked down at her chest. "It's healing well enough. I'm finally able to come back out and help, so that's a good sign. I hated being cooped up in camp, I felt like there wasn't anything I could do to help..."

Dewpaw nodded, ignoring her concern for himself and what she said but he didn’t miss the part about her. “I was so worried for you, I was less and so was Flintfang.” He chuckled and looked back at his paw, finally registering what she said. “Sure, I’ve just ignored it because it’s always slowly me down.” He said lifting it a bit and wincing. “It’s gotten harder to ignore.”

She let out a weak chuckle, shrugging her shoulders. "Yeah, it was quite the injury... But I'm alright now, no need to worry. I'll be back to normal here soon!" She gestured to the blackbird she had already caught with her tail and smiled. "I was able to catch that with relative ease, so I think I'm already getting there. I was just following the scent trail of a mouse before I heard you coming up behind me." Concern filled her gaze though as he lifted a paw with a wince, and she stepped forward to take a look. She had no idea what exactly she was looking for, but she could tell just by the awkward way it was twisted that something wasn't quite right. She couldn't get a good look with the mud caked around his paw, so she gently and hesitantly began to methodically clean his paw as best as she could, focused entirely on the task to try not to hurt him more. Once it was relatively cleaned, she took another look at it, but there was no change in what she was able to tell was wrong. Wishing there was more she could do, she offered what she could do. "If you want, I can help you get to Amberdawn so she can take a proper look.... You really shouldn't be trying to walk around on that... I can offer you my shoulder if you'd like, to help take the pressure off of it?"

Dewpaw thanked her with a blink of his eyes as she began to cleanse his wound of the grit built up over the weak days. He clenched his jaw as the pain struck him hard. The fresh air swelled around his now not so dirty wound and he blinked trying to impress Mosspaw. ”T-thanks... I suppose I’ll go to Amberdawn.” He grumbled like and elder and held up his hurt foot.

Mosspaw flashed a smile at him at his response and nodded. "Good. Let's get you back to camp then, I'll help walk you there! I'll just grab my blackbird." She turned and uncovered the bird before carrying it back to where Dewpaw was standing. Motioning with her tail back towards camp, she let out a muffled mew. "Moright! E's goh!" Her eyes gleaming, she walked next to the tom, offering support when he seemed to need it until they returned safely.