Burs and Blooms [closed]

It had been a little over a quarter of a moon since Summer had arrived in this strange new territory, and already she was feeling justified and satisfied with her decision to follow the mention of the river and seek the truth of the tales of the cats that lived near it. So far, it had been a fruitful venture, and the cream-furred loner with ginger points was enthralled by the wonder of this different new world she had discovered for herself. She had learned a little something about the “Clans” and the code to which they held themselves - for the most part. Some cats didn’t seem to hold to it quite so much, and, truthfully, some of the rules that had been mentioned in passing had already slipped from the loner’s mind. She knew there were five Clans and that they each had their own territory with boundaries that they checked. Could she say where any of them were? No!

… Well, actually, she did know where WindClan was now thanks to the help of Morningpaw.

Pretty dream of a tabby, she was. Anyways.

Summer had meandered around the moors for a few days and eventually crossed back through the great oaks she’d found earlier, knowing now that they occasionally held all the Clans at once for a special meeting. She wasn't certain when it was, so she'd have to be sure to ask if she ended up circling back to Morningpaw (and she had a feeling she would eventually). She'd hate to accidentally show up in the middle of one and create the ultimate test of just how devoted they were to their code and the idea of not killing except in self-defense. In the meantime, the loner had crossed through without incident, and now she found herself in what was undoubtedly the territory of another Clan.

A thick, dense forest sprawled on all sides of Summer; to one side she could hear the river in the distance which she'd crossed on her way into the territories, and to the other she knew that the large upwalker road was stretched alongside her as well even though she was too far to sense it at all. Behind her lay WindClan and the clearing of great oaks. But before her? Well, before her lay opportunity. Adventure. This was different from the fields and moors of Morningpaw's territory, and she was grateful for the cover that the canopy of trees provided. She was used to being exposed due to her vagrant lifestyle; however, it was nice to be a little less exposed sometimes. The underbrush was lush, and Summer found it to be an exhilarating challenge to maneuver through either by brute force or by finding the tidiest path.

She could hear birds all about and could scent mouse and vole, and the temptation to stop and hunt itched at her paws. She scented the air, getting mostly musty earth and leaves and undergrowth and the spread of the nearby prey. No cats, though, as far as she could tell, but there was an ever lingering sensation in the air like cats had been through within the last few days. Knowing that five Clans lived here, she wondered briefly which one's territory she was traversing. What did they feel about their warrior code? If they caught Summer wandering through, would they attack her? Chase her out? Perhaps they'd just make a pleasant conversation like Morningpaw had. The pale she-cat continued pressing through the foliage despite the possible looming threat. She didn't feel threatened here.

But then her paw confidently stepped through a veil of moss that had sprawled deceptively over a sudden hill cliff, and instantly she was stumbling sideways into a flimsy wall of brambles that were glad to collapse under her weight. She screamed with surprise as she was sent toppling through bushels and bushes of thorns and bracken and burs. Spikes scratched at her ears and stung her face, and she struggled to stop her tumble as she was assaulted with more and more painful plants. She yowled as her slender form was halted sharply by a briar hooking her shoulder and scruff. Gritting her teeth, she opened her eyes and immediately tried to assess the damage.

Well, the good news is that it was a small hill, and Summer would have come to a stop with or without the thorns anyways.

The bad news was that her fur was absolutely riddled with burs, nettles, and thorns, not to mention the briar trying to scruff her like a livid queen.

But the worst news? The worst news was the stunning calico she-cat Summer had gracelessly tumbled through thorns in front of. The blue-eyed loner sucked in a breath as she stared in shock at both the other cat and her situation, and then, stinging with pain, humiliation, and mild trepidation, Summer grumbled, "Oh, foxfeathers…" This wasn't the way to make a good first impression.

It was such a beautiful day. The sunlight filtering from the trees above warmed the calico's pelt as she meandered through the forest, taking a small break to just get some fresh air. She thought about gathering some fresh herbs on her way back to camp, but for the time being she was simply enjoying the territory. Daisybloom was taking care of things at camp, and she purred at the thought of her apprentice. She had paused for a break near a little cliff from a hill, it's side covered in thorns and bushes. Her eyes closed as she reveled in the sounds of the forest around her, breathing deeply contently. Not for the first time in the moon she thought to when Falconwing had found her and brought her to ThunderClan. She was so happy she had, ThunderClan had truly been where she was supposed to be.

An unusual sound came from behind her, and at first Mossbloom's ears only swiveled in the direction. It almost sounds like pawsteps.... What patrol would be near here? Eyes opening as she rose and turned to look up to the top of the small cliff, she scented the air. The wind was blowing to her side, carrying any scent with it, but as the figure crested the edge she realized she didn't recognize that pelt. Any warning she may have had was lost as the strange cat screamed in surprise, and Mossbloom watched helplessly as she tumbled through the thorns, wincing as she finally came to a stop just a tail length from being clear of them. She stared for a moment, enthralled by the pretty loner that was before her, when the she-cat spoke. Foxfeathers? Mossbloom's head tilted slightly, green eyes blinking as they met blue. ".... Foxes don't have feathers...." She murmured before seeming to start as she took in the extent of the damage the she-cat had obtained. "Oh stars, I'm so sorry, let's get you out of there! Just a moment!"

There was another thorn bush before Mossbloom could reach this new cat, and she looked at it a moment before taking a deep breath and charging through it to get to her. She growled as a thorn found it's way into her paw before she reached the pretty cat's side. Close now, trying to avoid the burs surrounding them (it simply wouldn't do for them both to get stuck after all!) she mewed from the she-cat's shoulder. "This will probably sting a little bit, but I'll let you know when you're fairly free. Follow the path I took when I tell you you're good, the thorns won't be so bad there. I'll follow behind, and we'll take a look at those scratches, okay? You won't leave here without being taken care of." She mewed pointedly as she set to work untangling the worst of the thorn tendrils and burs from around the she-cat's paws and legs, trying not to pull anything out of her pelt quite yet. Working tirelessly, she made her way around the she-cat carefully until she was sure that she could get out without too much further injury. "You should be able to go now, and we'll get you all cleaned up once we're both out, alright?" The thorn in her paw still stung as she let the stranger go first.

Their eyes were locked on each other's for several long moments as Summer tried to recover her fall-frazzled nerves, both startled she-cats just staring as they tried to process what had happened to both of them - both the falling and the witnessing of the fall. Summer didn't think she had ever seen a cat be so startled and beautiful. When the pretty, leafy-smelling calico tilted her head and murmured about foxes not having feathers, Summer scrunched her face with confusion. "What?" Summer mewed absently, trying to understand what the she-cat had meant. Oh. She misunderstood me, she realized. The calico was suddenly startled into action, having finally been able to get a grip on the peculiarity of the situation. She exclaimed about giving her a paw, and Summer's face immediately relaxed, eyes shining with relief and gratitude; she would have time to nurse her wounded pride later. "Oh, yes, darling, if you would be so gracious," Summer replied thankfully.

The ginger-cream drifter watched with awe and amazement as the pretty calico assessed the foliage between her and Summer and then charged through like a badger. Summer heard the she-cat growl softly and wondered if her poor sweet savior had been wounded in the process. If she had, she wasn't slowed, storming on the rest of the way through the thorn until she had come to hover over Summer's shoulder. The drifter tried to strain her head to look, but the briar dug into her, and she sucked in a breath of discomfort and looked ahead again. The leafy-smelling she-cat instructed Summer of her plan and warned her that it may sting. "Duly noted. I'll keep my claws in," Summer promised with a pained yet playful mrrow. The calico cat to work as she assured Summer wouldn't leave without being "taken care of", and the drifter wondered briefly if she should be concerned about a phrasing like that.

Summer did her best to cooperate and assist the strange she-cat in freeing herself whenever she had any ability to do so by shifting her weight, angling her head, or adjusting her legs as directed. Whenever the leaf-scented she-cat came to Summer's front side to try to detangle her legs from a vine or a clump of thorns, the loner's pale blue eyes would steal admiring and searching glances of her face and figure. This forest cat was stunningly beautiful, a glinting coat with patches of dusky black, sunrise orange, and snow white. Summer marveled at how such a delicate-looking cat could be so comfortable in the thorns and so deft at maneuvering them; already Summer felt snags on her coat loosening, and the promise of freedom was nearing her grasp. When the calico had circled her completely, she instructed Summer to make her escape.

"Sounds like a date, darling," Summer answered with a husky, pained chuckle, and the ginger-cream she-cat began trying to find her feet in the cramped space. She had scraped her pads while trying to catch herself, and one step assured her she'd lost a claw at least; her body ached from the collisions and the tension. The slender drifter began to creep out from the thorny brush, ducking beneath boughs until at last she emerged into the dappled sunlight again. Summer cleared the way to the entrance and then turned around to watch for the forest cat to join her. As soon as her tri-colored face appeared, spring green eyes glimmering, Summer leaned forward to offer a paw and a balance to assist her exit. "You're a lifesaver. I can't even begin to thank you enough for that, darling. My name is Summer," the drifter introduced herself, taking a step back and dipping her thorn-scraped head in greeting. "Who do I have the pleasure of being rescued by?"

The pretty she-cat smelled like sunshine and grass, with just a hint of sweet flowers. As Mossbloom carefully untangled her, their eyes would occasionally meet before her attention was pulled elsewhere, whether due to a trick bramble or her embarrassment as she repeatedly found herself falling into the she-cat's eyes. The pain in her mew twisted Mossbloom's heart, but still the loner had followed her instruction and crept under the bush, ducking the thorns that threatened her ears and leaving Mossbloom to wait and watch as her tail disappeared. It wasn't long before the medicine cat saw her on the far side of the bush, and she chirped as she realized that the lovely cat had made it. Now it was her turn, and she carefully followed the same path as before, being more careful about where she placed her paws until she was greeted on the other side by the creamy ginger she-cat. She blinked once in awe as they looked at each other before gratefully accepting her aid, and before she knew it both were on the safe side of the brambles, a little scraped up and with burrs in their fur, but much better than they had been.

She purred as the she-cat thanked her and introduced herself as Summer. "Of course, I could never leave a cat in need. My name is Mossbloom, it's a pleasure to meet you! Although, I do wish it could have been in a slightly better circumstance... Your paw is bleeding, did you hurt a claw or lose one?" She asked, her eyes searching over the she-cat's pelt as she took note of the worst scrapes and the missing spot on her paw. "I'm ThunderClan's medicine cat, I can help take care of your wounds, if you're alright with that?" Lifting her own paw, she looked at the thorn sticking out of her pad before pulling it out with a small wince of pain, spitting it back into the thorn bushes of the cliff side. She then licked the blood from the small wound in her paw until it had mostly stopped before setting it down firmly on a nearby leaf and putting pressure on it, her green eyes raising back to Summer's blue. It was a pretty name, but what did 'summer' mean? and what were 'foxfeathers'? She'd have to ask later.

Every time their eyes met was electrifying, and Summer couldn't tell if it was admiration or embarrassment causing her pelt to prickle that way. It was hard to tell through all of the prickling in her pelt. She saw a few little specks of blood and a scrape here and there on the helpful calico's face and ears and other thinly-furred places, and her blue eyes shone with a glimmering gratitude and concern - an understanding of the small sacrifices the kind stranger had made while choosing to lend her a paw. The sound of the she-cat's warm purr was like a melody to Summer's ears; her voice, no longer stifled by the thick surrounding of thorn bushes, was sweeter than the sound of a running stream after a long dry spell. "The pleasure is mine, darling Mossbloom; thorns or no," Summer answered genuinely, still half caught up in the she-cat's face while the calico searched her over with a concerned expression.

Mossbloom commented on Summer's hurt claw, and the drifted tore her gaze away from her savior's to look down at her scarlet-tipped forepaw. She had felt it throbbing earlier as she'd clambered out of the bushes, but for a moment it had faded in the glamour of Mossbloom's selfless rescue. Now it was pulsing with her heartbeat, and she looked back up at the she-cat and nodded, "It seems I have, darling; I hardly noticed." She tilted her head slightly when the calico spoke the name "ThunderClan" - something familiar - and a "medicine cat" and how she could help care for Summer's wounds. Summer blinked her sky blue eyes with surprise, then dipped her head gratefully. "I wouldn't dream of saying no to you, Mossbloom, especially not such a thoughtful request," she answered, and she watched with awe as Mossbloom bent down to grasp a thorn and skillfully tug it from her pad.

Summer's eyes were a swarm of admiration and gratitude and amazement as she watched the display. "You really do know what you're doing, don't you?" she murmured in awe, looking up from Mossbloom's white-tipped paws to those captivating, searching green eyes again. Summer's thick tail waved, and she felt a thorn pinch at her fur so twitched it quickly back the other direction. She winced slightly and then smiled sheepishly, mrrowing, "Let me know how to help you help me, darling; I've never met a medicine cat before." She had met a cat or two who knew a bit about herbs, but Summer had never witnessed such certainty... selflessness... confidence from a healer. There was more to this Mossbloom than thorns and leaves, and Summer was captivated and determined to find out.

The torn claw certainly wouldn't have been painless, but the spaced look in the loner's eyes made it seem as though the pain had left her mind. Mossbloom's concern grew, had the pretty she-cat started to go into shock? That would be a much more difficult malady to care for, although not entirely a surprising one, she mused. Many cats would be shocked to have stepped unsuspectingly off of a cliff into thorns. However, the she-cat surprised her again with her response, it seemed she hadn't gone into shock after all, and had just somehow managed to block the pain. Admiration for this strong rogue filled her as she set to work on Summer's paw, delicately cleaning around the wounded area and inspecting it closer.

"I've been ThunderClan's medicine cat for many moons now, and training for even more before that, I've seen so many broken claws.... The apprentices never learn to be careful to check the bark of the tree they claw before trying to sharpen their claws." She purred until she noticed Summer flinch as her tail moved, and swiftly turned her attention to that. Had her tail gotten yanked in the fall, or was it just... Ah, there it was, a thorn. Relief that was all it was, she kept an eye on it while she mewed to the loner. "You've got a thorn in your fur back here, I'm going to count to three and then pull, okay? In the meantime, I'll have you work on cleaning your paw some more, that way I can wrap it properly once I find some herbs to help. Once we get your pelt cleaned up, I'll go look for some cob nuts to help ease the stinging in your scratches, luckily they're all "pretty shallow, so you shouldn't get an infection unless it's your claw, which I'll make sure to try to prevent as much as possible. I'll show you had to dress it and what to look out for in terms of infection as well, if you can't find me should the worst happen, okay?" She mewed, meeting the she-cat's blue gaze again with a small smile.

There was a warm look in the calico's eyes that Summer liked - a verdant gaze with a warmth like the season for which Summer was named - as Mossbloom replied about her work and how long she'd been doing it. The drifter nodded, her eyes sparkling with fascination to have found such a dedicated healer. She chuckled melodically at the she-cat's comment about "apprentices" not learning, thinking back to the kits she had kitsat many moons ago. They sounded like the same thing. "No, they wouldn't, would they?" Summer replied with an amused purr. At that time her tail was pinched, and the healer was swift to notice her discomfort - not that she'd tried much to hide it. Mossbloom leaned in intently to examine her tail, a look of concern changing swiftly to relief. So attentive, Summer thought warmly. The healer spoke while gazing at the thorn that she intended to pull it out on a count. The more Mossbloom said, the more Summer smiled despite the scratches and stinging prickles on her pelt.

"That all sounds like a lovely plan, darling," Summer declared once the calico's gaze flickered up to meet hers again briefly. Her tail threatened to wave with contentment, and the tip twitched before she remembered to hold it still for her own sake as well as the medicine cat's. "I can't thank you enough for your help, darling - I feel a little silly, actually. I'm not usually quite so... careless," she admitted. Summer turned her blue gaze to her paw and meowed as she began to wash it clean, "I can't be too unhappy if I can exchange a few scratches for a meeting with a pleasant, pretty, talented healer." The drifter tried to focus on her paw so as not to flinch when Mossbloom tried for the thorn in her tail. The idea of learning a little of the herb life in the area was a rather enticing offer - it would do her well in future travels!