The serpent's den (OPEN)

"I'm here, too." Dawngaze's quiet yet firm voice rang from the medicine den's entrance. Word had spread quickly through camp, and almost all sleeping cats were now wide awake with the news of Oakstar's death and the offending snake that had been dispatched of. She'd caught the tail-end of Mossbloom's commands to the cats that had idled around the camp and decided to follow Dacedream in her duties. Houndheart probably couldn't be counted on to do much. "He can rest. I will help you look."

She got to work quickly, examining cracks and crevices for hidden dangers and softly nosing through carefully sorted piles of leaves and bark. The bitter scent of the herbs covered any traces of snakes, so she made sure to check thoroughly yet briskly. Though focused, her thoughts were scattered. Oakstar, dead? Whether it was permanent or not was hardly at the front of her mind. She didn't think he'd died before. The mere acknowlegdement that her father-figure had died left an odd feeling in her gut. It was strange to think that her immediate reaction was not distress, but apprehension.

"Clear over here."

Pain.

It flashed through his muscles. Left them seized and stiffened. His eyes felt too hard to open. His throat felt impossible to breathe through as heat engulfed his foreleg. Where his claws had ended the snake, and where it’s fangs had sunk into his own paw. Underneath all of this, he could hear the voices.

Mossbloom’s voice… Nettlefire’s voice… Dustcloud’s… He opened his eyes. The darkness of his den surrounded him with the voices of cats near him. He didn’t see as many cats there as he thought he’d heard, and blinked in confusion. Moonlight shone against the vines that covered his den’s entrance. His ear twitched and he grimaced at the movement. The venom. It had to be the venom that coursed through him.

He was alive though. He had lost one life, but now he knew he’d have to fight for another one as he looked at where he could vaguely make out green in the blur his vision was slowly becoming.
"Mossbloom..." He croaked, fear washed over him, his pelt prickled with it. What if the snake wasn’t the only one? Was winter so cold it was driving snakes into the cat’s own dens? "The clan… the snake… the clan..." He forced the words past his choked up throat. He had to. He had to make sure his concern was conveyed to Mossbloom. He couldn’t smell Nettlefire there, perhaps she had been sent away. The den would be cramped with more than two.

Oakstar's eyes flickered open, and Mossbloom's heart leapt into her chest. He was stirring! There was still a chance. As she scrambled to continue working through his wounds, his strained voice reached her ears. Placing the white tip of her tail to his nose and mouth, she shushed him gently. "Don't fret, Oakstar, I've already got that. The apprentices and kits are being kept safe while warriors travel in groups to look to see if there's any more. So far, there has been none. Concentrate on yourself - tell me, if you can, where does it hurt the most? Can you feel any venom?"

If the venom had coursed through his blood too far, she may already be too late... But maybe, just maybe, the loss of the first life would have given them just enough time to prevent the loss of another. "I know it's difficult, Oakstar, but I need you to stay with me. You can do this - we can do this. Talk to me. Tell me a story, or pretend you're talking to someone else. Anything to keep you focused in the present, Oakstar."

The sound of pawsteps and a familiar, authoritative, and quiet voice from the entrance of the den caused Dacedream to whirl around from her search spot, green-hazel eyes flooding immediately with admiration and relief as they took in the sight of a burly patched she-cat with one ear. "Dawngaze!" Dacedream greeted her former mentor with unmistakable warmth in her voice. The elder warrior excused Houndheart to rest, assuring that she would search at Dacedream's side. Houndheart seemed just as prickly about being told not to help as he was about being asked to help, but the sounds of the Clan continuing their search and their fear outside kept him from doing much more than letting out a soft hiss and turning his head with a look of disdain. Dacedream's head swiveled to her love and she meowed, gesturing with her tail to the nest that she'd checked for snakes, "Here, Houndheart. This one's okay now. I think Mossbloom must have just replaced it, too; it feels extra plush."

The tortoiseshell she-cat helped him ever so delicately move to the other nest. Meanwhile, Dawngaze had disappeared into the deeper part of the medicine den where the herbs were stored. Dacedream felt apprehension at the thought of her mentor back there alone with Silverpelt knows how many snakes around, but the awe she felt for the powerful ThunderClan warrior and the prowess she'd always displayed kept the former apprentice from fussing. Once Houndheart was settled, Dacedream moved away to search the nest he'd been in. It was warm and smelled like him, with now hint of snake. She pawed around nearby to continue her search, and she glanced into the back occasionally as she heard rustles, her muscles twitching and ready to throw herself to Dawngaze's defense at any moment if necessary. After a time, Dawngaze's voice rumbled from the back again, and Dacedream felt her shoulders droop. She hadn't even realized she'd been hunched up until she perked up at the announcement.

"Me, too," Dacedream answered her mentor, yet she was unable to be relieved yet. Outside cats were still moving around. As her green-hazel eyes turned to the entrance, they darkened with worry. Oakstar was supposed to wake up... wasn't he? Had he woken up? Mossbloom was with him - that meant he had to be okay, right? Dacedream looked to Dawngaze with her expression of concern, asking softly, "Dawngaze... Have... Have you ever seen a leader die?"

Strom nodded as he glanced back at Oakstar's form, a tight smile briefly touching his maw at Batbite's chastising of the unconscious leader before fading away again. She was right, they were the only family she had left. He knew what it felt like to have that... and even less, though he hadn't exactly appreciated all that he did have, not until they, too, went. Memories of Jaystar's death flashed through his mind yet again with a pain still fresh.

But whatever he used to have, she was the only family he had now, too - to his knowledge - and if Oakstar was family to her, then he was to Strom, too. He has to be alright. He focused on the tom's pelt, silently watching Mossbloom work. Even StarClan, whatever they're doing now, can't be callous enough to let him die. His Clan needs him.

And then... movement. His ears stiffened, and he stilled, watching for that hint, that brief stir. It came again, with a suddenness that almost startled him. A breath, sucked in with a painful hiss, followed by groggy amber eyes flickering. "He's back!" The announcement broke free of his maw, though he managed to keep it to a murmur just in time.

Almost immediately, a mutter he could barely understand croaked from the leader's maw, and Mossbloom set about soothing him, her skilled paws briskly working. But despite the leader being awake - sort of, anyway - something didn't seem right, the tom almost looking like he was going to lose another life. Is its venom still in him? He glanced at Bat, keeping his maw shut despite the question begging to come out, a trickle of apprehension working down his spine.

Oakstar couldn't lose two lives at once, could he?

Throughout the panic and the mayhem, Rainstrike lay curled in her nest. Cats rushed to Oakstar's side, fear in their voices, but the pointed tabby she-cat remained calm. The moment she heard that the adder was dead, she knew it was safe. There was only one.

There was no need to overreact.

Of course, the other cats didn't know that. To them, perhaps it seemed as if the entire camp was overrun with adders. They were scared, and they searched. But Rainstrike merely stood, stretching and yawning, and made a halfhearted effort to scrape through her own nest, appearing for all intents and purposes to comply but with none of the urgency the others showed. Eventually, she wandered out into the clearing, pale eyes rising to take in the scene near the leader's den.

Had it worked?

It was hard to focus. Oakstar’s vision blurred even as he felt Mossbloom beside him, trying her best to fight the venom in his body. His muscles tensed in agony as he tried to think about something, anything. Mossbloom’s request for him to keep talking rang in his ears.
"... I saw… Starclan again." he rasped. His voice trembled, weakened from the loss of his life earlier. "I… I don’t think… Starclan has forsaken us… but..." he hissed at the pressure on his bite wound. "I only lost the one life… that has to mean something." His amber gaze flickered you to Mossbloom’s as he felt pain sear over him once more.

Thoughts of Dustcloud drifted in his mind. She was safe, surely, or the other cats around would have been more panicked. He blinked slowly as he tried to process who was around, but failed. His voice trembled as he lowered his head.
"I can’t fail Frostpaw… I promised to take her… hunting..." he murmured. His head heavy as his eyelids closed.

(Ooc: oak has lost 1 life this topic. He’s just passed out)