Better [Closed]

After the three Tom's had put their pieces of prey into the pile, Batglow waved his leader and denmate off with a wave of his tail and a smile. Despite the bleeding on his back being slow and the sting not being as harsh he still needed to get it looked at by Rookpaw.

Carefully the tom made his way to the medicine den, memories flooding his mind of growing up in the den, spending his free days of his apprenticeship there with Mothglow. He picked up a few things here and there but he wasn't any medicine cat that was for sure. "Rookpaw? Can you help me take a look at the wound on my back?" The last thing they needed during leafbare was an infection.

Rookpaw was residing in the medicine den, sorting the herbs. It was definitely strange without Iniko there with him. The calico tom was a true friend, and the black tuxedo couldn't help but miss the Asylum Captain. I'm sure that the only cat here who feels the same way about him as I do is Tavora... and there's no way in StarClan that I'm talking to her about Iniko's death. Knowing the she-cat, it would just make her even more mad, and Rookpaw didn't want something like her outburst to happen again. It's not like I can't deal with it, his brain spoke. It's that I'd rather not deal with it.

When Batglow entered, the black-and-white tom rose up, his fur neatly groomed as always. "Yeah, I can do that," he said, walking over to the tom. "Honestly, it ain't that bad. Lemme just patch it up and I can send ya on your way." The medicine cat apprentice grabbed the oak leaves and chewed them into a poultice. "Now hold still while I put the poultice on your wound." The black tuxedo placed the oak leaf poultice on the warrior's back, sticking some catchweed onto the poultice to hold it in. "It feels like you've been in this den before, like it seems familiar to you. Could you tell me 'bout it?"

Rookpaw used Minor Heal on Batglow, healing 3 health and costing 10 stamina.

The tall warrior settled down on the floor of the den as he let the apprentice work on his wounds. Closing his eyes and letting the scent of herbs drift over him, bringing Batglow a sense of calm he could only get in this den. It had been so long since he spent a regular amount of time in here. Maybe if the apprentice would let him, he would start making regular visits again.

He blinked his eyes open as soon as Rookpaw asked him about the den and how it seemed familiar to him. "Oh, well. I was raised in this den actually. Mothglow, the medicine cat before you, found me in the marshes and brought me into Shadowclan. I was too sick to stay in the nursery with the others. When I became an apprentice all my free time was spent in here with her, helping her, learning whatever I could. I don't have a talent for it like you medicine cats do, but I remember some things." Batglow had a small smile on his face as he recalled the memories fondly. Oh how he missed her, but he knew for a fact that she was well in Starclan, and one day he would see her again.

Rookpaw nodded. So he grew up in here, he thought. That makes a lot of sense. Even if Batglow didn't tell him directly, the black tuxedo could guess that Mothglow meant a lot to Batglow. Maybe he even chose the suffix -glow to honor her. "I guess that Mothglow was like a mom to you, right?" he said. "She must have been a really compassionate cat to help ya when you were alone in the marshes." The black tuxedo stared at his clanmate. "I got a question. Do you have any advice for me as a meddie? Like, did you know Mothglow enough to know what she'd say to me?"

The medicine cat apprentice knew most of his herbs well, especially the ones that helped with treating wounds. Perhaps kitting herbs weren't memorized properly, but he at least knew of chervil, and the other related herbs were located near it. Well, it's better than not knowing any of them. Perhaps the mundane herbs, the ones used for regular everyday problems, were stuff that he needed to memorize. For example, the name of the plant that helped soothe bee stings didn't exactly pop into Rookpaw's mind. Something that starts with B... burdock root? No, that treats rat bites, I'm pretty sure. Borage? Maybe it's borage. Wait, no, that doesn't seem right. Blackberry leaves! That's it. That's the herb that helps with bee stings. Maybe he was getting off topic. For now, he had to listen to Batglow.

"Yeah she was certainly like a mom to me." The lanky tom said to the younger, before letting out a hum in thought about his next words. What would she say? The things she said to Batglow at the time could have been different to what she would have said to her apprentices.. "She was always patient and considerate and aware that I wasn't perfect at getting things right."

The tom shifted in his spot slightly trying to get comfy as he continued his chat with Rookpaw. "So I think she would be the same with you. She would tell you to take your time, get things right now in cases like mine so when it came time for urgency you would know what to do." The tom's voice rumbled out, hoping he was explaining his mother's wishes just right.

Rookpaw listened to Batglow speak. His tail curled as he listened to the warrior speak. It's interesting, at least. With Batglow explaining what he thought Mothglow would say, Rookpaw nodded. "Hmm," he said, nodding his head. "That's some good advice. I'll take it to heart." Whether Mothglow would have actually said that to Rookpaw, the black-and-white tom didn't know. But it was still very wise words to hear, and Rookpaw did plan on living that out personally. It helps that I'm trying to get every little thing right, just out of habit. The black tuxedo "How did you get the wound on your back in the first place? Just curious." It was probably some sort of fight, but he was curious as to what happened.

"I was out hunting with Flintstar and Mistyfalcon, when I must have distrubed an owl or something. It didn't even hesitate to come after me giving me the wound on my back." The lanky tom said. "They actually helped me pin and kill it so its sitting in the fresh kill pile now, but the damage had been done." If he had been able to reach the wound he would have tried to take care of the wound himself out in the territory so they could have hunted more.

"How are things treating you Rookpaw?" The tom asked realizing that he never asked. How selfish of him. His clanmates were important too. He knew that the apprentice was going through a tough time because of Iniko's death. "Are you doing okay?"

Rookpaw listened to Batglow speak about how he got his injury. "Got it, that makes sense," he said. "It's a good thing you didn't get even more hurt than you did." Noticing a hair sticking out of his pelt, the black tuxedo groomed his right shoulder, matting the hair down. He still wanted himself to be presentable to his clanmates, after all.

Batglow asking about how he was doing caught him off guard. Really, Iniko's death made the medicine cat apprentice lose confidence in himself for a split second before he repaired it by helping Freckleface. "I'm doing alright. Good enough." That was, in fact, the truth, even if the black tuxedo didn't reveal all of what was going on inside his head. "How 'bout you? Are you doing well?" He wanted to return the question, as he wanted to help his clanmates in any way he could.

Batglow didn't really know the answer to the question. He haven't really considered it before but now that he had the chance he took a moment. There was so much to consider, to take in. "I'm better than I was." Which was true. He was better than he was when Mothglow first died. Flintstar had really helped with that in his own strange way.

"Though.. I don't know how to feel about this Asylum situation." The tom commented. "I don't exactly like being watched every time I want to go out for a hunt, but I can't exactly complain since the agreement Flintstar made. I just wish I knew more about them and what they wanted but they don't seem to keen on talking to me." The black tom let out a weak chuckle. It didn't help that his appearance was kind of intimidating.

Rookpaw nodded. "Yeah, I kinda feel that the Asylum just watches and contributes almost nothing to us. It's not a good feeling, but I can respect those in the Asylum who actually do go out of their way to help us." He was specifically thinking of Ivory and Iniko, the latter bringing bittersweet memories of their times together. The herb hunts they used to do together... they weren't the same without him. I miss him. Turning back to Batglow, the black tuxedo smiled at the warrior. Although Batglow looked fearsome, he was a nice cat to be around. "I guess when the Asylum helps out, I'm fine with their presence. It's their inaction that bothers me." And also the repressing of our culture, but that's obvious.