Business as Usual[CLOSED for Hits]

Dennis sighed wearily as he placed the last stem of horsetail into the herb pile. His paws were sore from sorting, but he didn't mind much. It helped to take his mind off of things. Plus it gave him an excuse to stay away from the rest of RiverClan, where they would judge him and make him feel guilty that he wasn't the Spiderquill they knew. Thornpaw was usually here, of course, but she was tactful and either didn't expect him to be the same or didn't let him notice that she did. Herbs all done, he sat down and began reciting the RiverClanners' names in his head. Some came more naturally to him than others, and some he remembered without prompting(like Softbreeze, though he was told that she didn't live in RiverClan), but nevertheless he felt it necessary to remember everyone's' names. If he could learn them before, he could learn them again.

He went down the names in the order he'd been told them: leader first, then deputy, then medicine cats, warriors, apprentices, kits, queens, elders. He didn't get very far down the list, however, before he got stuck. Something with an N. Newtwolf? Nightstriker? He tried to remember the cat himself: black, with white patches. What was his name... "Ah! Nightwolf!" He got it right, possibly startled into remembering by Nightwolf himself standing outside of his den with an injury of some kind. "Oh, come in! What happened?"

Nightwolf shouldn't have chased that squrriel. Why? Cause then, he wouldn't have tripped, and fell in a hole, hurting his front paw. Was he going to chase a squrriel again? Oh absoultly. But maybe next time, he'd be more careful.

As he thanked the Asylum cat that chased after, and helped him get home, he padded into Spiderquill- no Dennis' den. He limped in, holding out his injured paw. "I was chasing a squirel and fell into a hole." He said, glancing down at his paw.

Dennis guided Night wolf to a nest, tutting a little. "Hopefully it's not too bad. You really should be careful, this forest is full of death traps." He didn't get how the Clan cats could just casually hunt in the territory, the amount of safety hazards in there. Unbelievable. He gently prodded at the paw, trying to discern what was wrong. It was slightly swollen, though less so than Elsa's leg had been, and judging by the warrior's twitches when he touched it it was quite painful. "Hm. Looks like a sprain, albeit a minor one. Did the paw twist when you fell?" As he spoke, he turned to grab some marigold, elder leaves and catchweed. Last time he treated a sprain he'd only had nettles to work with, but this time he had the luxury of a wide variety of herbs. If there were any positives to his current situation, this was one.

"Yeah I know." Nightwolf said, as he laid down in the nest, looking shamefully. His fur pricked up, when he accidently put weight on his injured paw. He looked up at Dennis, wrapping his tail around his body. Maybe he should spark up a conversation. It would be best to get to know how Dennis had changed from Spiderquill.

He jumped back to reality when Dennis asked him a question. "Oh, uh, I think so. It did go in a weird direction." He said. "Also, uh Dennis, is weird name. Who named you that?" He added, tilting his head slightly. If he wanted to start up a conversation, now would be the best time.

The little tom nodded at Nightwolf's reply. "Makes sense. You're lucky it didn't twist more, otherwise you'd have a permanent limp." He stopped talking for a bit as he popped the marigold and elder into his mouth, chewing it into a poultice. He spat the herbs back out, immune to the grossness of it at this point. He rubbed it onto his paws and began to gently dab it onto Nightwolf's paw.

"Oh! Uh, my name? It's- a Twoleg named me that. I didn't have anything else to go by, so..." He shrugged. He'd been hoping the conversation wouldn't go here, but at the same time it was a good opportunity to learn more without making anyone cry. "D-did you know me? As Spiderquill?" He finished dabbing on the poultice and began to apply the catchweed. "What was I like?"

Nightwolf nodded. "Ah okay." He said. A twoleg huh? Well if a twoleg took care of Dennis, then maybe it was a good twoleg. Like how there were good Asylum cats. He perked up his ears at Dennis's question. What his life was like as Spiderquill? "Oh well, you were a nice medicine cat. You cared for the clan, and Lilypaw, and your apprentice Thornpaw.... Oh, and I think you were good friends with Softbreeze! You also loved your moms tons! Fun fact, one of your moms, Ivystar, trained me and my sister! Well my sister's dead now, so it might be a while before meet her! Oh, maybe when we're in Starclan, I can introduce you too here! She was super nice!" Nightwolf then stopped himself, as he realized he had been rambling. "Oh sorry, did I talk too much? Sorry, sometimes I get super excited about some things, and I get way too worked up."

Dennis was glad that Nightwolf didn't seem put off by the whole twoleg thing. In fact, he took it quite well. He appreciated that. As he gently placed burrs onto the poultice, he listened with his radar-dish ears to Nightwolf's answer. Maybe this could help him remember something, anything.

He felt little twinges of recognition at each name. He knew Thornpaw, of course, but the other names belonging to cats he hadn't met resonated with him as well. The name Lilypaw made him want to throw up, or dig himself a hole and never climb out. It was like his brain wanted him to acknowledge it, but he forced the thought aside. As much as he wanted to remember, who's to say that he wouldn't have a panic attack or something and embarrass himself? No, he kept listening. Softbreeze was another name he remembered, though this one he was quite willing to try remember; it didn't make him feel sick like some others. Alas, remember he could not. He sighed a little.

He finished with the burrs and sat up straight. "I'm sorry to hear about your sister." He wasn't too sure about this StarClan, but clearly it helped Nightwolf to believe that they would be reunited one day. That was nice. "Oh, it's okay! I tend to ramble too. When I'm anxious, or excited." He smiled a little at the other tom. "Well, you're all patched up! Don't walk on the paw until the swelling is completely gone, and don't run until it doesn't hurt anymore. And watch out for holes this time."

Nightwolf let out a sigh of relief. He was glad he didn't annoy Dennis with his rambling. He smiled at the medicine cat, before standing up, his injured, now herbed, paw lifted. "Ok I will! Thanks!" He thanked Dennis, before limping out of the medicine cats den. Dennis was really nice. Why did some cats feel like he was a completly different cat? Cats change all the time. Dennis just changed quicker.