Damsel in distress (closed)

Sapphire’s white-tipped paws pounded against the earth as she ran, dodging past rocks and trees that all blurred together. Her vision was dimming, her heart was pounding in her tall ears. The tabby’s heavy breathing was the only other sound she could hear. She wouldn’t be able to keep running like this; her chest burned like fire and so did the deep gash along her shoulder. Sapphire’s pretty white chest was stained crimson and her powerful gait was uneven as she limped on her injured leg. ’I can’t stop… I can’t stop! Not yet!’ Her desperate thoughts echoed through her mind.

Around a pine tree, under a fallen log, through a clump of ferns—Sapphire gasped as she burst through the undergrowth, finding a slight ravine on the other side that she hadn’t seen. She tumbled into the gouge in the earth, rolled into the dip wet with rainwater, and came to a stop with a sharp twist in her paw. ”No… no! Furballs! This flea-ridden forest and its rocks and… random holes!” The unfamiliar land she’d found herself on was unwelcoming. Perhaps her odds of being followed were low, but how was she ever going to get out of here? Sapphire hissed and spat and grunted as she fought to pull herself out of the ravine, but she was too weak. Her shoulder was bleeding too much and her forepaw on the other leg was going numb. She slid back down, sinking into the dip and ignoring the puddle that lapped at her thick fur.

”I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” Sapphire whispered—not to herself, but to her swollen belly and the unborn kits inside. She’d left to protect them, but she’d just doomed them.

Beechface padded around the territory, carefully harvesting herbs as she went. With Skyclan the way it was, she was always running out of something or other, and with recent events, the medicine cat wanted to be prepared for whatever might happen. She'd found a fresh batch of marigold, a bit of goldenrod... Oak leaves. All useful, all herbs that she tended to be running low on at any given moment.

The morning was warm, but much as she'd like to go back to her nest, Beechface forced herself to keep moving. The day wouldn't get any cooler, and the herbs wouldn't collect themselves. Carefully pulling some cobwebs from between some rocks, Beechface paused as the winds shifted slightly, bringing an unfamiliar scent to her. Not Skyclan... Rogue, she thought, and that gave the medicine cat pause. Normally, if a rogue was on their territory, the clan wanted them off of their territory as soon as possible. Rogues were trouble.

Yet there was also the smell of blood and fear interwoven with the rogue's scent. No sign of a predator, which made it all the more unusual. Warily, Beechface padded forward, pricked ears twitching and jaws slightly parted to take in the scents around her. She could scent only the one, and no others, but Beechface knew better than to let down her guard.

A brown and white tabby laying in the mud in one of the many ravines that criss-crossed Skyclan territory was just about the last thing Beechface had expected to see. Beechface approached warily, every sense on alert for whatever might have caused the state the she-cat was in. No sign of predators, no sign of other cats, but that meant little. Her gaze lifted to the trees, scanning for threats from above.

Nothing.

As wary as Beechface was, the rogue was on Skyclan territory, and didn't look like she'd be moving on her own and without help anytime soon. She could see a bloody gash across one shoulder, whatever other injuries she had were obscured by her fluffy body blocking her line of sight.

Couldn't just leave her, could she? No. An injured cat would attract attention, and not the good kind of attention. With a sigh, Beechface padded closer.

"I have herbs that can stop that bleeding, looks like you could use the help." She was trespassing technically, but with this rogue's injuries that didn't seem like the important thing right now. Maybe Sagelight had drilled some of that compassion Aspenheart had lamented about into her after all.

The queen flinched, startled by the sudden voice. She shrank down into the ground as if it would swallow her whole. Her dark fur fluffed and her lips pulled back in a frightened yet quite vicious snarl before realizing that the voice belonged to another she-cat peering down at her from above. Even more startling, this strange she-cat was offering help—and with an odd expression of annoyance rather than defensiveness. Sapphire’s fur flattened but she remained tense as she looked up at the gray cat. “Help? You want to help me?” She meowed, suspicion descending over her like a blanket of snow. Caution had helped her countless times before; usually if another cat offered help, it came with an expectation of returning the favor. “I don’t have anything to give you.” She held off on mentioning just how hurt she was and concealed her pregnancy as best as possible. It was dangerous to reveal one’s cards right off the bat.

Beechface flicked an ear as the she-cat looked up at her, hissing. Defensive, though were the situation reversed, Beech would be wary too. "You're on Skyclan territory, at the bottom of a ravine. Injured cats attract attention, as much as we try to keep predators at bay." She replied, tone even. They took care of predators on the territory whenever they were found, foxes were a nuisance, but a dangerous nuisance.

She continued, briskly, "I'm a medicine cat, healing the sick or injured is what I do." She might have been a reluctant medicine cat, but she had no other choice so she did it anyways. The clan needed her, and so did this rogue, like it or not. She had little patience or tolerance for nonsense. "Name's Beechface, are you going to let me help you out of that ravine or not?" If the rogue refused, Beechface supposed she could leave her... But there was a strange prickle of guilt that nagged at the thought of doing so.

Her reasoning made sense. Although Sapphire wasn’t sure what predators lurked in these woods, she understood the danger of having a weak animal drawing unwanted attention. Other things didn’t make nearly as much sense; for one SkyClan was an unfamiliar word. Was it a name? But she had introduced herself as Beechface, a similarity strange name. And of course Sapphire had never heard of a cat doing anything with sick and injured cats besides killing them or chasing them away.

Beechface gave her a choice, and as wary as she was, she had no interest in staying where she was. She’d never given up before and she certainly wouldn’t now, at the very least for the sake of something more than herself. “Yes, please help me. I landed on my paw. I don’t think I can use it to pull myself up.” She stood slowly, shifting her weight around to try and find the least painful way to stand. Her shoulder was stiff but not unusable. Her paw, however, was slowly regaining feeling and it was quite unpleasant. The tabby realized she hadn’t shared the courtesy of giving her name like Beechface had. “I’m Sapphire. I’m… not from around here.”

The rogue introduced herself as Sapphire, and Beechface simply nodded, making a note of her name. She'd said she wasn't from around here, and Beechface had figured as much. Skyclan territory was filled with ravines and gullies, the rocky terrain broken up by trees and streams, and even Primroselight managed to get around the territory without injuring herself. Perhaps the thought was an unfair one, and Beechface kept it to herself. Sapphire wasn't one of her clanmates, and as such Beechface would refrain from scolding her like she would one of the more foolish warriors of the clan.

"Okay, lean on me." She mewed. The unfamiliar tabby had made it to her paws, but the ravine was definitely too steep of a climb with an injured paw and shoulder. Beechface made the jump down easily enough, heedless of the mud that got on her paws as a result. She crouched slightly, allowing the rogue to use her as a sort of crutch for support on the way out of the ravine. She was careful to keep her pace to something that Sapphire could manage with her injuries. Once they'd managed to get out of the ravine, she could look over the injuries properly. The wound on her shoulder didn't seem to be infected at a glance, but it would need to be bound properly. She wanted to ask what had caused her wounds, but the more important thing for now was getting her out of this ditch.

The dark tabby obeyed with little hesitation. There was no point in Beechface playing the gallant heroine role for this long unless it was part of some sick pleasure. But Sapphire strongly doubted it at this point. After all, the so-called medicine cat had already said she was a healer, though the rogue wasn’t sure how a cat could make another’s injury heal. She did her best to keep a swift pace and appreciated Beechface adjusting her own speed to aid her. “You mentioned SkyClan. What is SkyClan?” She asked, wondering whose territory she’d unwittingly stumbled upon (or rather fallen into).

Her question only served to further confirm that Sapphire wasn't from around here. Most rogues that lived around the forest knew well what the clans were, and most knew better than to trespass. There was no hint of deceit in Sapphire's voice, but rather genuine curiosity.

"We're one of the five clans that live in the forest. The warriors hunt and defend our territory, and provide for our queens and elders while training kits once they're old enough to leave camp." She began, "As a medicine cat, the clan is stuck with me trying to knock sense into them, and they're stuck with me tending to their injuries when they don't listen. I help queens that are kitting, and take care of the sick. I also advise, or butt heads with, my grandfather, who leads us." As Beechface talked, she turned away, finding the bundles of herbs she'd gathered earlier. "Sit, I'll look at your shoulder first."

"These'll prevent infection from setting in and stop the bleeding." She explained as she began to chew the oak leaves and marigold into a poultice, carefully applied to Sapphire's shoulder and then covered with cobwebs.

“Five Clans? That’s a lot of cats for one forest. You must fight often.” She was familiar with factions that occupied one main area. Some groups moved, others fought and died by their territory. Her own group didn’t tolerate trespassers, either, and Sapphire was beginning to understand the mess she’d gotten herself into. ‘Better than the mess I left behind. Maybe.’ Her tall ears swiveled when Beechface mentioned providing for elders and the training of kits, but her real interest was in how this medicine cat helped kitting queens. It sounded so strange. The concept of cats providing for one another was totally alien to the she-cat.

She sat dutifully and observed the process of applying the sour-smelling plants to her shoulder. Sapphire flinched when the unexpected stinging pain from the juices first struck her, and then she braced herself against the pain and remained still. “I’ve never seen plants used like this. I’m not even sure I’ve seen plants like this at all.” She knew what flowers were but they were rarely seen around her home territory. And leaves that large were simply unreal. If this was a method of poisoning someone, Sapphire thought it was odd and far too much effort.

“I have a secret.” She sucked in her breath. She hadn’t meant to blurt it out, but Beechface’s explanation of her SkyClan and unquestioning care of a trespasser made Sapphire’s heart beat faster. Could there truly be hope after all? “I’m running from someone who wants to hurt me. And I’m pregnant.”

"Less often than you'd think, though my clanmates can injure themselves breathing. They're a talented bunch like that." She commented dryly, whiskers twitching as she continued to work on Sapphire's shoulder.

The rogue spoke up again, and Beechface closed her eyes. Strange how she didn't have to pry the information out of her... But if the rogue was running from something and had stumbled into Skyclan territory, whatever was chasing her could also make it into Skyclan territory. She didn't think Sapphire alone was a threat... But whatever or whoever was after her, for her to be in this state, certainly was. If Skyclan might be in danger, Beechface felt it fair that her clan know.

"Who are you running from?" She asked, "If someone tries causing trouble on our territory, our warriors will deal with it." Not that Sapphire was in any real shape to cause trouble, as far as Beechface could tell, but she was clearly hurting and on the run from someone, and if that someone showed up on Skyclan territory, they would encounter Skyclan's warriors.

A rustle from behind, and Beechface turned her head, keeping Sapphire in her view more out of instinct than anything else. The only scent she found was that of Skyclan, and some of the tension seemed to leave her shoulders upon recognizing her grandfather's wiry shape approaching the pair.

"Wolfstar," Beechface had no doubt that Skyclan's leader could deal with this sort of situation better than she was handling it. Hopefully he'd heard the last bits of their conversation.

((I figured we could get Wolfstar in and speedrun her joining ^^))

With the war brewing beneath their paws, and every minute that passed bringing them closer to potential death, Wolfstar was on edge. So when Beechface hadn't come back when he thought she should have, he'd set out to find her. The medicine cat's trail wasn't hard to find, and eventually, her voice in the trees called out to him like a beacon in the darkness. Who was she talking to, though? Increasing his pace, he slipped through the trees, until he came across the pair of them, and an unspoken query passed between Wolfstar and Beechface as he glanced at her, then at the other she-cat.

Her gaze dropped to her white-tipped paws. Sapphire had no interested in remembering the faces of her predators or speaking their names; she was gone, free, and they were banished from her life for good. She would not let them live in her mind, either. “Just a pack of filthy dogs.” She hissed, fur standing on edge. Although she appeared confident in her response, her fear-scent was beginning to return.

The sound of movement startled her and she jumped a few hare-hops into the air despite her injured legs. Spinning, her icy eyes landed on the approaching tom’s frame and she snarled in shock and fear. Sapphire crouched low and lashed her tail as she gave another warning hiss. Beechface didn’t react nearly as much, rather she spoke as if she knew the tom. Sapphire was backing away one slow step at a time. “Stay back! Don’t you dare come near me!” Scared and injured as she was, Sapphire was clearly well-built and desperate enough to take another cat down if she had to. She had no idea who she was facing; only that every moment was a desperate fight to survive, and she didn’t have much room for second guessing.

"My grandfather won't hurt you." Beechface saaid as Sapphire jumped and hissed, fur fluffing. She smelled of fear more than anything, however, and whatever had caused her reaction to be so strong almost reminded Beechface of someone else. It was that that kept Beechface's tone surprisingly steady, though she had never been a cat known for her patience or sympathy with difficult, stubborn patients.

"Found her in the ravine-" She gestured with her tail, She didn't think she needed to add that the tabby and white she-cat was injured and scared, that much was obvious. "Her name's Sapphire." She added,

At the stranger's reaction, Wolfstar froze, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly. He flicked one ear, nostrils flaring to bring in her scent. True to what he assumed, she held the scent of no other clan... and she didn't look familiar, at all. The leader studied her for several long moments, and then relaxed his stance to appear more nonthreatening.

I don't have time for this, he let out a sigh, observing her, his eyes lingering on her bloodsoaked coat, and then moving to her swollen belly, that she was attempting to hide. His gaze softened in sympathy, and despite everything else that should have been taking precedence, Wolfstar nodded. "If she needs shelter, temporarily..." he trailed off, shifting his weight from one paw to the other impatiently. "We can discuss anything long-term when we return, tomorrow." He met Beechface's eyes knowingly, and then nodded.

Her eyes flicked between the two cats several times. Alright, they were family; they likely trusted each other, and since she trusted Beechface enough, she could extend some trust to the male. If it gave her a place to stay long enough to make sure her trail died… in her mind, Sapphire decided the benefit outweighed the risk. She couldn’t go back, not now. There was no doubt she’d made her last mistake in the eyes of her hunter. Sapphire slowly relaxed and shifted into an uneven stand, still hanging close to Beechface. “Thank you. I won’t outstay my welcome.” She meowed cordially, dipping her head almost to her paws and keeping her gaze steady on the ground; a customary greeting from her homeland when one was facing another cat who was not to be trifled with.