Beat around the Bush [c]

Wisteriabloom limped back into camp, Asylum companion on her tail, who had refused to leave her be even after being hissed at. It turned out that fighting a snake alone wasn't the easiest of things, especially when they had a strong bite on them. She had a small suspicion that it had been pretty venomous, as even after her walk back to camp, the gash on her leg still stung. 

Slightly nervously, she approached the medicine den, hoping Spiderquill (or whatever he called himself now) would be in. She thought that everyone in the clan could agree that he had been acting strangely since he had returned, but Wisteriabloom wanted to take the chance to ask about Lilypaw as well. Her first apprentice had been adopted by the tom, and he had been with her when she had perished.

"Hey, Spiderquill? Could you check this out please?" She asked when she spotted his hairless face at the back of the den.

Dennis scrambled to his feet at Wisteriabloom's arrival, trying to get his three crooked legs to align below him. He'd been napping, having pretty much passed out after about 2 days of no sleep. He wasn't being overworked, rather he felt uncomfortable sleeping here. Out in the forest, surrounded by predators and scary enemy cats that were pretty much holding them all hostage? Hard to sleep through. He held back a wince at the use of his name. He didn't blame her for not knowing, plus he had to get used to 'Spiderquill' one way or another, but he still got a gross feeling when he was addressed by that name.

He hobbled over to the larger she-cat, giving her a quick once-over. He stopped at her leg, groaning inwardly at what he saw there. "Go sit down in a nest, right there. How long ago were you bitten?" He didn't let his anxiety show in his voice, though his eyes betrayed his nerves. This was definitely a venomous snake bite- two small puncture wounds, inflamed skin, bruising. He waited for her to answer while he hastily grabbed tormentil from his herb stores. He was almost sad to see it go: it was one of the few herbs he'd brought with him from Twolegplace, and he'd since been informed that while the pelted cats were here there would be no leaving the territory. He ripped the root from the stem, putting the stem back in its place, and chewed the bitter herb into a poultice.

Wisteriabloom obediently lay down in the nest nearby, even if she didn't believe it was worth that much fuss. But at the end of the day, Spiderquill was the expert, even if he seemed to have forgotten that. "Dennis? Is that what you go by now?" Normally she wouldn't have cared that much, but she could tell he didn't like being called his normal clan name, and after all he was helping her. "Uhm... how much do you remember about Lilypaw?" She asked cautiously. She had never found any real closure on her apprentice's death, even though she thought burying the young she-cat would've been enough. It was only because she hated that she wasn't there to defend her. Or, even better still, if she had been a decent mentor she would've been able to properly defend herself.

OOC: Oh no his memories have been Awakened^TM
Dennis began to spread the poultice onto the wound and almost froze in place at the mention of Lilypaw. Had the bite not been venomous he would have stopped, but time was of the essence. He jerkily finished spreading the poultice onto the wound and sat back. It would take a few minutes to draw out the poison. All the more time to tackle this mess of a question. He took a raggedy breath. Lilypaw. Lilypaw.

He remembered Lilypaw.

Shocked at the revelation that he was even capable of remembering anything, he thought back to Lilypaw. And wished he hadn't. Images of the blood-splattered she-cat filled his mind. She didn't run. Why didn't she run?

He blinked and looked up at Wisteriabloom. His eyelids just about managed to hold back tears. "Um. Uh. Lilypaw. I-" He looked away, paws fidgeting anxiously. "I remember her. She was- she was young. Barely an apprentice, really. She- there was a dog. I told her to run, b-but-" There was a lump in his throat now. Why, of all things, did this have to be his first memory? He didn't want to remember this. How he failed to protect her, to heal her. How it was all his fault.

He looked up once again, realising there was something he never found out.

"Did... d-did she..." He sighed, shaking his head. "Sorry. I- I don't know where this is coming from. Just... Yeah. I don't know." Trying desperately to salvage the situation. he pointed at her leg. "H-how is it? Does it sting less?"

Whoops. Wisteriabloom had no idea what response she had been expecting from the medicine cat, but it certainly wasn't this. Maybe he really doesn't remember that much. It was almost as if she had awakened the memory in his head. How could he have forgotten that if it was how he lost his leg? At least that was how the tabby warrior had suspected it to happen. Dogs could do some pretty serious damage, and if they killed an apprentice, they would have no difficulty ripping the leg of a cat who had little to no fighting skills.

Shaking her head, which was hung low as she listened to him have a few memories flood back to him, she said quietly. "Me, Ivystar and Snowflight went out searching for you after you had been gone a while. All we found was the scent of Twolegs and dogs and-and Lilypaw's body. We had no idea what happened to you, but just had to hope you had been saved." It obviously wasn't what Dennis wanted to hear, but it needed to be said. She could tell that tears were welling in both their eyes now, and so she was almost glad when he changed the subject. "Oh, yeah that's a bit better I guess." She was a lot more focussed on the conversation instead of her wound now, so she didn't give it much attention.

Lilypaw went down like a warrior. She could've ran, and arguably she should have, but had instead stayed to protect her friend. Sounds like Lilypaw to me, Wisteriabloom thought sadly. Never trying to save her won skin when she needed to.