Crooked Tale [Open; Healing Needed]

Chatting with Foxfire along their trek home seemed to dull the throbbing that burned within his tail with every step. As they stepped into the center of camp, he felt his head lower ever so slightly. Other cats would soon know of the mistakes he made: his brush with an enemy warrior and the foolishness of squaring up with a monster. Wrenpaw followed the warrior into the medicine cat's den. This was the first time he'd ever stepped paw in this part of the camp. Immediately the stench of herbs caused his nose to wrinkle. A comment about it almost escaped his maw before he caught sight of a young cat whose coat was speckled with flecks of leaves. He hardly knew the cats that resided in this den, but based on appearance, he guessed that this was Honeypaw. The sheepish grin crossed his face once again as he addressed her, "Honeypaw, right? I, uh, was attacked my a monster and it bit my tail. Hurts quite a bit. Think you can fix it up?" He glanced at Foxfire, offering the elder tom a grateful smile. What a mess the beginning of his apprenticeship had been so far. Determination helped to push away the thought and he hoped it would drift further away as this became a mere memory.

Foxfire ducked into the den after Wrenpaw, letting the young tom take the lead. He knew he wasn't really needed - he was perfectly fine and he would have to go back and alert their patrol what happened to them but... He remembered how terrifying it was when he had been brought into this den on his first day of apprenticeship. Of how scared he had been but had been relieved with the presence of Spottedstar - back when he was just a warrior thought. The idea that he could provide maybe the same amount of comfort was...Nice. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine," he chimed in as Wrenpaw greeted the medicine cat apprentice, giving her a soft smile as his whiskers twitched. "I'm just here for support. I...Do know how this can feel after all," he added with a slight chuckle. He flexed his leg, the one that had been broken those many moons ago. He was amazed at how well it had healed... He thought he remembered Amberdawn saying something about him being young but he wasn't quite sure what she had meant about it. Well, in any case...Wrenpaw was pretty young so hopefully his tail would be fine given some time.

The strong scent of herbs stuffed Honeypaw's nose, and she had been so concentrated on her task at paw, that she didn't even notice the approach of a cat until their voice spooked her nearly out of her fur. She leaped high into the air and rounded on the intruders, her fur bushed up and her back arched, but once she recognized the cats to be her own Clanmates, she fought with her nerves to lower her fur back down, which was now beginning to grow hot with embarrassment. She really needed to get better with being more aware of her surroundings. "O-Oh, I'm sorry! I, uh, didn't hear you come in." Immediately, she was preparing herself to heal another ailment. Why else would these two be here? She really hoped Sagelight would get better soon. She missed having him over her shoulder, giving gentle advice and helping her whenever she needed help. Now she was all on her own for who knows how long. She took in a trembling breath and expelled it just as shakily before approaching the apprentice, whose face was scrunched up in pain. It was quite clear he was the one in need of medical attention.

Once the medicine cat apprentice got a good look at Wrenpaw's tail, her eyes widened like a pair of turquoise moons. "O-Oh, my goodness, your poor tail!..." she squeaked. This was way beyond a torn claw! But, then again, it wasn't as bad as a potentially venomous snake bite. She gulped nervously, trying not to let her fear show. If she presented herself as unsure of herself as she felt, Wrenpaw would become just as nervous. She closed her eyes and took in a few deep breaths to try and calm her nerves. She had healed on her own before. She had tended to a wrenched claw and a snake bite before, she could surely take care of a broken tail. "O-Okay," she finally meowed, struggling to keep the tremoring out of her voice. She looked up at the warrior by the apprentice's side. "Foxfire, please lead Wrenpaw to that nest over there." She pointed to an unoccupied moss nest at the left side of the den with her tail. "Do whatever you can to distract him from the pain while I find something to tend it with. Wrenpaw," She shifted her gaze to the injured apprentice. "Try to stretch your tail out as straight as possible. I know it’ll be painful, but it’ll hurt much less when I set it if it isn’t stiff in an awkward position."

It was a bit surprising to watch the she-cat jump as they approached, but she quickly soothed her coat and began to assess the patient. He hardly noticed the nerves still wriggling about under her pelt. In his short life, Wrenpaw had never met as cat as nervous as this one. But as she began her work and he was once again reminded of the reason he was here, "Heh, yeah, it's not great." Noting her concern about his injury, the tom met her blue gaze and offered an apologetic smile.

When the she-cat instructed Foxfire to lead him to the nest, the bicolored apprentice knew that whatever came next would surely be unpleasant as the pain fired up again. Wrenpaw doubted it would ever leave as they padded forward. In fact, for a moment he considered just rushing back to his nest and hoping it would heal up after a long rest. But the elder tom had reassured him he understood and presented what could only be a healed previous injury. Even with his own concerns, Wrenpaw knew the only thing he could do as as future warrior was trust the medicine cat.

As he settled down into the moss, the apprentice stretched his tail out behind him. It felt as if a bolt of lightening was being fired up his spine. A suppressed yowl caught in his throat. He looked to Foxfire, seeking out some form of comfort that the warrior seemed to effortlessly provide. Letting it lay there helped it to subside but there was no doubt that Honeypaw would be disturbing whatever mild comfort he had found. In an effort to distract himself, he posed a question to his two clanmates, "So what are gatherings like? I bet Spottedstar looks great standing above the whole forest. And I heard the four trees are greater than any of our trees here. No fighting, right? How do the clans get along? That Shadowclanner sure didn't like me. I can't imagine all the clans in one place." Despite the enthusiastic tone in his voice, there was a nervousness shoved to the back of his throat. Wrenpaw would be a warrior someday. He couldn't worry about one simple injury.

Foxfire perked up as Honeypaw turned to greet the two, nodding as she instructed him to guide Wrenpaw to the nest. He nosed him along, taking a seat nearby as the young apprentice settled down and Honeypaw got to work. Distract him, huh? He paused, thinking back on what he would say - maybe he could tell the tale of how he had ended up in the medicine cat den. At least Wrenpaw was a good bit into his apprenticeship - it had been Foxfire's first day out of camp when he had broken his leg. However, the apprentice instead chose to bring up the Gathering and questioned how peaceful it was.

"Oh! Well...The gatherings can be a lot at first - so many different cats in one place. It can be a bit...Nerve-wracking if you decide to try to talk with somebody cause you never know how they are going to react. At least the medicine cats and the deputies always sit with the same crowd," he noted with a soft chuckle. "But...Yeah, no fighting is allowed. It doesn't stop the Clans from bickering sometimes but.. I mean, we aren't that different on some level. Our daily lives might be different but we all want to protect the same thing - our territory, our family... It just that doing so sometimes put us at odds, I guess." He paused, thinking back to the pawful of Gatherings he had seen. "And...Yeah, Spottedstar does look pretty great up there. It like he belongs - even thought I remember back when he was just a warrior. He was my mentor, you know. I never expected him to be deputy and leader so fast but...He is doing good." Even if he did make a mistake with naming me his first deputy, he added on silently, his ears slicking back slightly.

He tried not to think about his short time as deputy, of how much he felt like a failure when he couldn't handle the burden of it. He knew Spottedstar must have felt like it was his fault - that maybe he should have known better but... He should have been able to learn how to handle it. He hadn't been strong enough to handle the small burden that Wolfcall was handling so...Easily. It hurt, in a way. He felt comfortable as a warrior but... Maybe he would never feel like he could do enough.

He blinked, shaking his head quickly. No it...Wasn't worth thinking about that. At least not now when he had to be distracting Wrenpaw. He forced on a soft smile, looking down at the apprentice. "Hopefully you will be well enough to go to the next Gathering! I remember how heartbroken I was when I missed out on my first one due to a broken leg. Did you know that your mom was actually born at the Gathering I missed? It was quite the surprise when I had limped my way out of the medicine cat den to welcome everybody back and hear what had happened only to be greeted with the sight of them carrying in kits. Basildrop was so tiny back then, the little Bug," he murmured, thinking back on his fond nickname for her. She had come so far from the young kit that wanted his help to overturn every rock in the name of searching for bugs.

The young medicine cat apprentice worked diligently as Foxfire spoke to Wrenpaw, glad that she didn’t need to speak anymore than she needed to. She always worked best with absolutely no distractions. She slid a short, sturdy stick out of the store, then hesitated in thought before pulling out a second one. She would use the straighter of the two sticks as a splint to help Wrenpaw’s broken tail heal properly, while giving the other one to the injured apprentice to bite down on to endure the pain. She also fetched a rush stem to fasten the splint in place; comfrey root, stinging nettle, barley, mallow, oak leaves, and willow bark to create an herbal mixture for pain relief and stiffness relief; and a poppy head to harvest its seeds and induce sleep.

After gathering up the selected herbs in a beech leaf, Honeypaw clutched the bundle gently in her teeth and padded back over to her patient. She pulled out one of the sticks and placed it in front of Wrenpaw’s muzzle. ”Fasten your teeth around this while I work on your tail. You’ll be less likely to damage them.” Once the injured apprentice had done as he was told, she went straight to work, chewing the concoction of herbs together into a poultice. She didn’t even mind the horrific taste this time; she was more concerned about healing Wrenpaw’s poor tail. After applying the poultice to the broken appendage, she positioned the stick just under it and carefully wrapped the rush around it, fastening the splint in place. It had been a good thing she had asked him to straighten out his tail to the best of his ability prior to the treatment.

”Th-There, your bone is set,” Honeypaw meowed once she finally finished. She grasped the poppy head delicately in her mouth and carefully shook out two seeds into her paw. Placing the red plant back down on the beech leaf, the apprentice turned to Wrenpaw and held out her paw to him. ”Y-You can let go of the stick now. Eat these poppy seeds, they’ll h-help you sleep. Y-You should rest here from now on until your t-tail heals.”

Juniperpaw poked his head around the corner of the den just enough to watch the three figures inside. He'd wanted to bug his big sister about uncle Sagelight when Wrenpaw and Foxfire walked in with what looked like a serious injury, so he stayed outside and watched quietly while they set about getting it fixed. His ears stood straight up when Wrenpaw mentioned being attacked by a monster, wondering what the younger apprentice had done to rile one of those nasty creatures up. The black tomcat winced when Honeypaw mentioned Wrenpaw's bone being set, his own springy tail flicking uneasily behind him.

"Honeypaw!" He shouted into the den as she finished her work, then padded in without being invited. Juniperpaw was normally a very quiet cat, but he knew the medicine cat apprentice was jumpier than a cricket on a greenleaf night and he wanted to see if he could cause some mischief before being sent out. "Oh, hi Foxfire and Wrenpaw. I didn't see you there." He purred, grinning. "What happened?" Part of him was tempted to ask Wrenpaw if he'd fallen from a tree, but even he knew better than to heckle the former deputy or Wolfcall would cuff him for it. Instead, he nosed Wrenpaw's shoulder for an answer, oblivious to the effects of the herbs he'd been given by Honeypaw.

The sudden yowl of a voice spooked Honeypaw badly to the point where she leaped up high into the air, almost brushing her bristled back against the ceiling of the medicine den. Landing and staring at the cat who had made the ruckus, she panted in fright before narrowing her previously wide eyes at her brother. "Juniperpaw! Don't scare me like that! I could have been working with Wrenpaw's tail and damaged it even more!" A low, near-inaudible growl rose in her throat, but she quickly stifled it. She didn't like being angry at anyone, especially her family. Her tail still twitching with irritation, though, she decided to humor him. "Wrenpaw said he had his tail run over by a monster paw by accident. Please take that as a lesson for you not to wander too close yourself, Juniperpaw." She sat down and began flattening the fur along her spine with her tongue.