Sweet vs Spicy

It was a quiet morning in SkyClan territory as Honeypaw made her way towards Highpines with Sagelight. The medicine cat apprentice was in need of a couple more herbs that they hadn't been able to collect while Mossbloom had been with them, so Honeypaw had offered to help him search for them near the border dividing her Clan with ShadowClan. Even though her mother had insisted she trained to become a warrior, she still found comfort in herb-gathering. Even if she couldn't become a medicine cat herself, that didn't mean she couldn't still find ways to help her uncle.

Once they neared the border, the musky, marshy stench of ShadowClan gave her pause, and she wrinkled her nose in distaste. She couldn't understand how ShadowClanners tolerated such a nasty smell all the time. She looked over at Sagelight, suddenly feeling a bit uncomfortable, as if something were about to go wrong at any moment. "Um, I guess we should start looking for that herb. I ... don't wanna stay here longer than I have to. I'm kinda scared a scary ShadowClan cat might try to attack us...." After all, the patrol that had been sent to scour this very border had mysteriously never returned yet.

Sagelight was nearing the end of his training, it seemed. Time had really flown by, it was several moons since he became a medicine cat apprentice but it had only felt like yesterday. His little niece Honeypaw was quickly growing into a smart young cat and he spared a glance over to her as they walked. He appreciated her company; it was nice to have family around.

"I'll try to make my search quick," he meowed, peering around for the horsetail he was looking for. The ground was gradually getting more marshy and while his paws were getting uncomfortably soggy, this was a good place to find the herb he needed. The tom's thoughts flashed back to his first battle, a border skirmish not unlike this one...He was with Mintwhisker, searching for herbs when he accidentally crossed the ThunderClan border. The scars on his face he had received from that fight itched momentarily. Would Honeypaw go through the same thing today?

"I...can't guarantee that they won't, so I'll try to be quick as possible. I'm looking for horsetail, it's tall and bristly. I'll go over here," he motioned with his tail, "and you go over there, okay? But don't go too far! Yowl if you need anything." Trying to push his worries aside, Sagelight nudged Honeypaw with his head on her shoulder and separated from her, on the lookout for horsetail.

Cardinalpaw stood at Highpine, staring sightlessly into the ground where Redwing had fallen. She didn't dare stray near Skyclan. Last time hadn't ended so well. She figured it had to be dangerous to be out here alone, because a Skyclan cat might ask where her brothers were. She didn't think she could answer that. Instead, something else shook her back to reality. The screech of an eagle. Her fur stood on end - what if it caught her? Poppyheart and Sans weren't here to save her. A wave of fear sent her running, and she careened into a tree. She shook her head, as if that would make the pain go away, and found a bush to hide in. Wait... She was in Skyclan territory. Clearly, now.

She heard voices- her half brother Sagelight and... someone else. Oh Starclan... a Skyclan patrol. She was not prepared for this could this moon get any worse she just wanted to be safe from the eagle! Well... at least it sounded farther away now. She walked out from the bush nervously and shook off a few leaves, only to see a cream apprentice that looked remarkably similar to her own family. "Oh, um. Hi? I don't think I've met you before." She started, hoping she wasn't aggressive.

With a soft whimper at the gentle nudging, Honeypaw did as she was told with much reluctance. Being all alone was the last thing she wanted.... Well, if she wanted to become a warrior one day -- honestly, she didn't aspire to be one -- she would have to get used to working all alone. While she did appreciate being alone most times, being all by her lonesome out in this great big territory she still wasn't familiar with was terrifying. Still, she knew she needed to power through and find that horsetail for Sagelight. She would do anything for her uncle.

As she neared the ShadowClan border, taking care not to stray over it, she sniffed around in search of the herb the medicine cat apprentice was in search for. A tall and bristly plant.... How on earth was she supposed to find something like that when the ground itself felt bristly with the fallen pines needles of ShadowClan's trees? Did it grow up tall like trees? Did she need to look upward? How tall was horsetail anyway? They were SkyClan, so climbing trees were supposedly their specialty. Would she need to climb a tree to reach horsetail? She couldn't deal with heights....

She became lost in her own worrisome thoughts, so lost that she failed to hear the approach of another cat from behind. It wasn't until a stranger's voice spoke from behind her that she finally realized she wasn't alone. It wasn't Sagelight, though. If there was one thing worse than being alone, it's being alone with a complete stranger.

With a startled squeal, Honeypaw whipped around and stared a battle-scarred orange tabby in the face. The scent of ShadowClan rolled off of her, and it was overpowering. Her fur bushed out in terror. She was being attacked by ShadowClan! "GO AWAY!" she wailed, instinctively lashing out her claws to scratch the intruding molly in the muzzle.

Honeypaw used Front Paw Strike on Cardinalpaw, dealing 6 damage and costing 10 stamina.

Honeypaw
20/20 HP
70/80 SP

Cardinalpaw
14/20 HP
80/80 SP

Cardinalpaw wasn't ready for the claw across the muzzle, and in retaliation lashed out her paw, claws out. "I'M SORRY!" She yelled back. This cat didn't kow her. Oh Starclan... was she freaked out enough to kill Cardinalpaw?

Cardinalpaw used Front Paw Strike on Honeypaw, dealing 6 damage and costing 10 stamina.

Honeypaw
14/20 HP
70/80 SP

Cardinalpaw
14/20 HP
70/80 SP

Pain scorched through Honeypaw’s muzzle that burned like fire. The claw marks weren’t deep enough to draw blood, but great StarClan above, it hurt so bad! She wailed in pain and terror, having never dealt with such excruciating stinging before, and wrapped a paw around the scratch. Tearing up, she shut her eyes closed and swatted another disoriented paw at Cardinalpaw, this time with sheathed claws, batting her on the nose. Curling up, she yowled, ”Sagelight, please help me!”

Honeypaw used Front Paw Blow on Cardinalpaw, dealing 4 damage and costing 5 stamina.

Honeypaw
14/20 HP
65/80 SP

Cardinalpaw
10/20 HP
70/80 SP

Padding away, Sagelight pushed through the brush in search of horsetail. The medicine cat strayed further and further away from his niece, keeping his nose low to the ground to try and smell the bristly herb but making sure to not cross the border; he had already made that mistake once and he had learned his lesson the first time. There was a cry somewhere behind him and he raised his head, frowning. It sounded like a cat, but he wasn't quite sure...Was Honeypaw in trouble? The tom abandoned his search and trotted back in the direction of the noise, worry clouding his features. He shouldn't have left her alone, oh stars, what had he done--

"-'M S---Y," a voice he didn't recognize yowled. He couldn't really make out what was being said, it was all sounding like noise...Breaking into the small clearing where he had left Honeypaw, he found her curled up on the ground with an orange molly cowering in front of her. An apprentice, ShadowClan. Both apprentices had small scratches on them, it seems they had had a small skirmish in his absence. "S-g-l--ht, pl---- he-p m-!" That voice was Honeypaw, but he couldn't understand her. "Honeypaw? What happened? Calm down, I can't understand you--" he replied, moving to her side without sparing the other apprentice much mind. Great StarClan, Spottedleap would skin him if he knew he had let his precious kit get hurt--..."Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Whimpering and whining in fear, grateful that her uncle had come to her rescue, Honeypaw pressed her side up next to the tabby tom, staring at Cardinalpaw in fear, her fur still bushed out. "Th-That ShadowCl-Clanner came out of no-nowhere and we-we fought!... It was scary and-and she hurt my muzzle!"

Cardinalpaw backed away, tail between legs. "I-" She let the other apprentice explain first. Oh Starclan. What if they brought her back to Tinystar? This was the second time she'd trespassed... He wouldn't be happy. And he would figure that she had something to do with her siblings' disappearance(and she did). "I'm sorry for trespassing... I didn't mean to hurt you. I had to hide and... Um... I guess I'll get off your territory now?" She picked up her paw, drawing it in close to her. Hopefully they'd understand.

He looked between the other apprentice and Honeypaw as they explained the situation, their blurry forms shifting in front of him. The more he stared at the orange molly, the more familiar she became. Her scent, although reeking of ShadowClan, had a hint of something he recognized in it. What was it? The medicine cat stood there for a long while without saying anything, staring absently as he thought.

"Firflower!" he cried suddenly, stepping closer to the orange cat with a growing smile. "You smell like Mom! Maple...Maplepaw? That was it, right? Is that you? I'm Sagelight, I think we're half-siblings. And this is Honeypaw, my niece." He grinned at his long-lost sibling, circling her for a moment. "I'm the medicine cat apprentice of SkyClan, it's great to see you again! Now...I guess I should do my job, huh? Let me go find some cobwebs."

He trotted off with a jaunty step in his stride, excited to have found family by chance. He returned momentarily with a few bundles of cobwebs in his mouth and set them down next to Honeypaw. "Hold still," he instructed, gently pressing the cobwebs against her scratches. He talked as he worked, "Maplepaw, you aren't as bad off as Honeypaw here, I think you'll be fine to return back to ShadowClan and Mothpaw can patch you up there. If you would like me to do it now though I can do that too." He finished his work and looked Honeypaw over. "Does that feel better?"

Sagelight used Minor Heal on Honeypaw, healing +3 HP and costing 10 SP.

Honeypaw watched as her uncle circled the ShadowClan apprentice, clearly excited. She didn't understand too much of what he was saying, but what she did manage to catch stuck with her. Half-siblings? So Sagelight and this ... Maplepaw shared a parent?

So that could only mean one thing.

This ShadowClan apprentice was Honeypaw's kin.

Sagelight had left to retrieve something to heal Honeypaw's wounds, and in the brief moment he was gone, she sat down and looked away from the ginger apprentice, completely ashamed. She had just attacked her own kin! Her own half-aunt! What an awful cat she was.... "I-I'm really sorry for attacking you...." she murmured softly, not having the guts to look up at her.

Her uncle returned with a wad of ... spider webs? She forgot the actual term medicine cats used for them. She felt like he had said it out loud before, but she had missed it, having been swamped in her own emotions. She shut her eyes tightly and winced at the sticky feeling of the cobwebs being pressed against the nicks on her muzzle. It felt so weird, and great StarClan above, did it tickle! She had to dig her claws into the earth to keep herself from pawing and scratching at the irritant on her muzzle. At his question, she looked back up at him and nodded meekly. "I'm sorry, Sagelight. I didn't mean to get into a fight."

Cardinalcry half smiled. "Oh! Yes, I'm Firflower's daughter. I suppose it's nice to meet some new kin," She glanced at Honeypaw and folded her ears back. "Oh, nono, you're fine. It says to challenge trespassers in the Code and uh, I'm not a Skyclanner anymore, so Tinystar said I should be treated as an enemy or whatever, I can't remember exactly. Anyway, I'll be going now. It's nice to meet you, sorry for clawing you!" She bounded away, back into her own territory.