A Lesson To Learn [Closed]

A tiny tail lashed from side to side as a little pink tongue licked the long whiskers that grew on the muzzle of one of the youngest members of the clan. Narrowed orange eyes completely focused on their next objective.

Lionkit kept shuffling her paws as she tensed, trying her best to mimic what she had done the older kits and some apprentices do as she stood at the bottom of the rocks they used to practice their climbing skills or to play clans whenever one of them took the -star suffix for the evening and decided to call to meetings much like Lilacstar used to do on top of the Tallrock. Now, for most grown-ups these rocks would not be exactly intimidating, but for someone as young as her, they imposed a challenge.

Earlier that day, the queens watching her and the other kits had made clear that she wasn’t allowed to get close to these rocks, even less attempt to climb them, in their own words ‘You are not going anywhere close to those dangerous rocks, not under my watch’

Well, she was not under their watch anymore, so this was definitely fair game now, right?

Without thinking it much more she jumped as high as her tiny, stumpy legs allowed her, tiny hooked claws making a soft high-pitched sound as they scratched the rocks, trying to find and latch on to any imperfections they had…however, the fact that these rocks were used often had clearly made them almost completely smooth over time.

“Come on, come on…you can do it!” Her meows came out barely above a whisper as she forced a paw higher up on the rock even when her hind paws were flailing lightly, claws still trying to find something to secure themselves to “Only…only a couple whisker-lengths more…”

Although the weather was warming up and becoming nicer with each passing day, Smallbean still had a tendency to stay stuffed up inside of the medicine den. Today was one of those days. So far he had spent the day chatting with Softbreeze and healing small wounds, taking time in between to sort some herbs that didn't really need to be sorted. It was quite peaceful. But as the day stretched on, he began to grow a bit restless, longing to go outside. Finally deciding to exit the den, he stretched out his back legs before padding through the exit, looking away from the sky for a moment to adjust to the sunlight. He sat down just outside of the den entrance, sweeping his mismatched gaze over the camp. To think that he used to take part in the hustle and bustle, coming back to camp from a patrol only to leave on another later. It seemed so foreign to him now, he'd long since gotten used to being in the medicine den.

It didn't take long for the small tom to notice a something moving out of the corner of his eye. Looking over, he saw Lionkit attempting to climb the rocks that the apprentices used. If Lionkit were older, or even under supervision, he wouldn't mind her climbing the rocks as much, but he knew that the she-kit was still quite young. It wouldn't be too good if she fell. "You shouldn't be climbing that, you could get hurt!" He called out, standing up.

One of Lionkit’s ears moved as soon as Smallbean spoke, letting the medicine cat know that she had indeed heard him, but instead of getting off the rock back to safety, Lionkit attempted to reach the top of the rock she was climbing as soon as she felt that her other paw’s claws had finally found something to latch themselves to, teeth clenched “A-Almost…th-”.

A sharp, high pitched scratching sound could be heard as the claws of the single paw supporting Lionkit’s whole weight lost their grip and slid off the rock. Given her second front paw was still lifted and her back paws were simply resting against it after failing to find support of their own, no amount of flailing or scratching at the rock would have helped her at that point.

With a yowl, the small kit fell of the rock she has so stubbornly tried to climb up regardless of the warning given to her. With the great speed and reaction time of any WindClan cat, she tried to fix her position to fall on her paws instinctively, however, a sharp pain surged from her front right paw as soon as it hit the ground, a pain that quickly traveled through her whole body like an electrical current, causing her yowl of fear to turn into one of pain and causing her legs to lose their strength and her whole body to hit the ground with a muffled thud.

Almost immediately after she realized she could not put any weight on her front paw without another electric-like wave of pain going across her whole body. Small tears of pain forming on her eyes.

Smallbean called out once more when he saw that Lionkit had completely disregarded his warning. His eyes widened when the kit lost her grip on the rock, the sound of her claws scraping against the stone just barely reaching his ears. The fall wasn't anything fatal, but it was certainly tall enough to result in the kit having an injury. He rushed over to her, arriving just after she landed and collapsed. His prediction of her ending up with an injury was confirmed by the way she held her front paw. He could already tell that it was a sprain. "Oh, dear." He sighed, seeing how her paw had already begun to swell. "I told you to be careful! You have a sprained paw, lets get you over to the medicine den so i can take care of it." He helped her up and began walk back to the medicine den, making sure to stay next to the she-kit in case she needed to lean on him.

Once they had arrived, he busied himself by grabbing some bindweed and a stick, making sure to grab one that was smaller so it fit Lionkit's leg. He decided that it would be a good idea to give her something to help her pain, so he took some poppy seeds as well. Turning back to the kit, he began to fasten the stick to her leg. "This might hurt a little, but i promise it will help." He explained before applying pressure to the stick, carefully wrapping bindweed around it to keep it in place. He was quiet for a while, only speaking once he was about halfway done binding the kit's leg. "Y'know, you should think before you do stupid stuff like that." He said, keeping his attention on binding the stick. "You're lucky that it was just the rocks in camp. Imagine if you tried climbing a tree and fell from a much greater height." Although he tried to keep his voice steady, he couldn't hide the concern in his voice. It may have just been a sprain this time, but what if it was worse next time? Kits were often rambunctious and had little regards to safety, but this still worried him. It wasn't often that he had to deal with sprains.

Lionpaw sniffled lightly as she headed towards the medicine den, leaning lightly on Smallbean, as she wasn’t used to walk on three legs, and the waves of pain that came with each attempt to even put the smallest amount of pressure on it, the tiniest weight…yeah, she wasn’t about to put down that paw anytime soon, which forced her to give small hops instead of steps.

When they arrived, she immediately allowed her rump to drop, trying to relax a bit as she kept her paw up. She kept looking down, ashamed. She knew that what she had done was completely her fault and she ignored Smallbean’s advice, so she was fully expecting to be scolded for it.

She took the poppy seeds, distracted by them when Smallbean grabbed her paw and started to fasten the stick. As soon as he started applying and a jolt of pain immediately assaulted her, she reacted through instinct alone due to the surprise and shock, yowling and attempting to pull her paw back. However, as soon as the outburst started it ended, the surprise wearing off and her rational side taking over again, forcing her to stay still even if tiny tears ran down her cheeks due to the pain. This was the first time she hurt herself badly enough to react like this and she was still very young, after all.

Only quiet sniffles came from her until Smallbean started talking again, looking up at him as he expressed his concerns, her tiny tail curling up tightly around her body and her head dropping lightly “Sorry, Smallbean…” Her voice was barely a squeak when it left her throat.

She wasn’t planning to fall, she wasn’t planning to injure herself, and she definitely wasn’t planning to worry the medicine cat. That day had truly been a disaster.

Smallbean kept his eyes on the splint as he continued to wrap it, averting his gaze from Lionkit's face. He could tell that she was crying by her sniffles and the tiny droplets he saw falling from the corner of his eyes. Even though this was his job, he couldn't stand making a cat cry, even if it was to help. With guilt nagging at the pit of his stomach, he listened Lionkit's apology, making sure to quickly respond. "It's okay, i'm just glad you're not hurt too badly. If anything you should be apologizing to yourself." The last bit was muttered under his breath, although he was unsure as to whether or not Lionkit had heard him.

He soon finished binding the splint, standing back to get a better look at his work. It seemed to be fastened in well, but he padded back over and re-checked some of the just in case. Moving across the den to sit across from his patient, he began to explain to her what restrictions she had. "Of course, you won't be able to run around like you normally would. Take it easy on your leg, try to refrain from running or putting pressure on it for a few days. No rough play, and absolutely no more climbing those rocks until you're an apprentice." He gave her a quick nod before speaking again. "If there's nothing more you need, you're good to return to the nursery." A smile formed on his maw after he finished. He waited a heartbeat before standing up again, beginning to pick up any herbs he had left on the den floor, placing them back in their piles.