Something's Missing [open]

It was midday when Dawngaze made it back to ThunderClan camp. She didn't know how she found her way, head swirling and thoughts as blank at the empty stare on her face. Blood coated the gap where her tall left ear once sat, and it dripped profusely down the side of her head. It stuck to the fur on her chest and foreleg and left delicate crimson paw prints behind her. Her cheeks were coated with tears but her eyes had long since dried. Blind to the horrifed stares of her clanmates, Dawngaze made her winding way to the medicine cat den. It would be a lie to say she didn't feel it anymore; it was all she felt, moving solely on instinct and failing to fight off the rapidly growing sensation of faintness. Cats and dens alike tilted at odd angles around her. Patches of blood on her back and flank revealed where the rough surface of the Thunderpath had broken skin, and the powerful stench of monsters and dog coated her like kitten fluff. Her voice was just as hollow as her expression. "Mossbloom?"

Mossbloom had been reorganizing the herbs over and over since Pricklebush's death, and yet it still didn't feel right. The hauntingly empty and stagnant place that had once held her mentor's prickly, lively personality was ever present, looming over her like the darkest shadows. Today, however, the rustling of the ferns made her ears swivel back, and instinctively she sniffed the air, trying to figure out who was visiting her. The strong scent of blood and tears almost overwhelming the scent of the cat caught her completely off guard however, and she spun around, green eyes wide in panic. She could barely recognize Dawngaze, the she-cat was covered in blood and wounds and.... Oh stars. Mossbloom's stomach turned as she took in the gap where an ear should have been, had been just the day before.

"Great StarClan, Dawngaze, what in the Dark Forest happened?" Mossbloom breathed, still taking in the extent of the she-cat's wounds. Shaking herself, she stood and quickly padded to the side of the warrior, offering her a shoulder. "Never mind that, I apologize, you can explain once I've patched you all up. Here, let's get you over to one of these nests, and you'll be settled in no time." Ignoring the sticky sensation of blood seeping into the fur at her shoulder as she helped the she-cat towards one of the nests lined against the wall of the den, she got her settled before calling to a nearby warrior to fetch some water-soaked moss.

"And lots of it!" She called after the retreating form before turning to focus on the first, most urgent matter..... Her ear. Or rather lack thereof. Fetching some of the clean moss she stored in the back of the den along with a couple poppy seeds, she placed the poppy seeds carefully in front of the she-cat. "Here, eat these, I'll get to work. This is going to sting a little bit, but I have to stop the bleeding, okay?" Pressing the moss firmly to the gap on the top of her head, Mossbloom grimaced silently as she took in the extent of the wounds. ""Oh Dawngaze...." she breathed sympathetically.

Dawngaze followed Mossbloom's lead in a daze, still not certain which way was up. How could she even begin to explain what had happened? It had all passed so quickly, everything but the blood and the pain. She sank into the nest, exhausted limbs giving way beneath her, and the tabby released a deep sigh that was cut off by a sob. Obediently lapping up the seeds placed before her, Dawngaze gnashed her teeth at the fresh wave of stinging pain that burned where her ear once was. She understood what the medicine cat was doing and didn't protest, merely shutting her eyes tightly and begging silently for all of it to end quickly.

"Dog," she managed to gasp out between racking sobs and retches. "big, ugly dog... just one. It's... dead now. On the thunderpath." 'With my ear.' Dawngaze cut off a deep snarl as Mossbloom prodded an especially tender spot on her head, but forced her fur to lie flat and muscles to relax. She was doing her job, she was helping Dawngaze, she knew what she was doing... this was Dawngaze's own fault entirely. Somehow. And she'd been so convinced of her death on the path that it was hard to believe that she was really here, now, in the medicine den, with her heart still pumping and her eyes still seeing. Maybe she would bleed out and die soon. Her vision wasn't cooperating with her and her heart might soon follow.

Her hearing didn't seem compromised, Mossbloom noted with a hint of relief. An exterior wound, nothing internal - yet at least. Oh stars... As the warrior sobbed, she wrapped her tail around one of the she-cat's paws tightly, trying to be reassuring. She listened silently to the explanation of a dog, which now lay dead on the Thunderpath. Lightening her pressure at the snarl that came from the warrior, she turned her attention to other wounds as the moss soaked in the blood coming from what was left of her ear. The poppy seeds shouldn't take long to kick in, but before she slept Mossbloom wanted to be sure that the bleeding had been mostly cleaned up.

"You can close your eyes, Dawngaze, but try to stay awake for just a little bit longer. I want to make sure all the bleeding has been taken care of. I'll keep treating you while you sleep, and when you wake up I'll have you all patched up, okay? Until then, does anyone know about your injury? Tell me a story or something, whatever you need to stay awake and with me for just a little longer." Setting to work wrapping cobwebs around the lesser wounds and placing moss over the deeper wounds, she listened to the she-cat's breathing.