Unwelcome Tagalongs [Blood/Spotted/Newt]

Effect Dice Herb List:

The sun was low in the sky as Beechface silently followed the ridge that overlooked twolegplace in the distance, tail tip twitching as she scanned the rocky landscape for signs of life. Juniper berries and paracress were piled neatly atop a small rock, and a small clump of marigold joined the other herbs shortly after. For the moment Beechface was alone, and she was grateful for the relative peace and quiet that seemed more elusive with each passing day.

Stumbling over a crevice she'd failed to realize was closer than expected, Beechface glared down at the offending landscape, a frustrated growl escaping her. She'd been slowly getting better at not tripping over things, though judging distance turned out to be much harder with only one eye. How Juniperlight and Primroselight managed was utterly baffling to the medicine cat, but at least nobody had been around to witness her stumbling about this time.

With a huff and a lash of her tail, the medicine cat continued forward, following the scent of raspberry to its' source. The soft noise of a branch creaking made her head snap upwards, lip curling and fur bristling instinctively before she spotted a familiar pelt in the trees above. Of course it wouldn't be Ravenclaw or Dawnfeather or... someone she actually wanted to interact with.

"Stand down, Beech. Just me." Newtspring's meow was warm as he hopped out of the boughs he'd settled in, landing easily before jogging over to the medicine cat. "How goes? Havin' fun flower pickin'?" He gave her distant little pile of herbs a nod, ears twitching as he looked her over.

She would have bit his head off if he asked if she needed help, and honestly, he couldn't blame her. Unfortunately, getting struck by lighting wasn't usually something a cat could just get over. With a well exaggerated yawn, he sauntered off, wandering seemingly aimlessly.

Newtspring didn't know what he was looking for– not in the slightest. But there seemed to be a trend in useful herbs, and as he spotted tall stalks bearig bright yellow flowers, he gripped a few in his teeth and pulled. "I'unno what these are, but they're real colorful, so I'm sure ya can do somethin' with 'em." He hummed around the stalks as he returned to Beechface's side, holding them up appraisingly. The rustling of undergrowth made his whiskers twitch, but he shook it off. Probably just another patrol– or more company to bother his half-sister.

The member 'downfive' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Effect Dice' : 6

Bloodstrike happened to be close enough by that he caught sight of Newtspring's pelt entering the clearing... as well as Beechface's. Curious to see how his daughter was faring, he veered off course and headed in their direction. He hoped she'd be less snappy with him around, but that was always up in the air. He noted that Newtspring seemed to be doing his best to be helpful, grabbing a mouthful of some sort of plants.

"Be careful, Newtspring." Bloodstrike called softly and not at all in a punishing tone. "Some herbs can only be harvested a certain way... and you should probably make sure it's safe to pick up with your medicine cat before you touch them." He gave Beechface a soft look, though it didn't linger. Pain twisted his gut at the sight of her and it was followed with a flash of white hot rage towards Starclan. How dare they attack their medicine cat? Did they want him to pee all over Highstones? One more paw out of line from them and he just might.

A strong plant scent caught his attention from a bundle in the grass. He walked over to it, curious, and gave it another whiff. It definitely stood out from the other plants around it. He nodded once at the strange vegetation.

"I'm not sure what this is... but it seems different." He spoke to Beechface, hoping that she wouldn't mind the help.

The member 'Tara' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Effect Dice' : 4

Spottedfrog had been out with Newtspring, not really hunting, not really patrolling, just sort of enjoying the quiet away from the camp. Eventually, Newt got distracted by something in the trees, and had scaled them to do whatever it was that he was wanting to do. Uninterested, Spottedfrog had wandered off... until she heard voices, and slowly made her way in the direction of them. She spotted Bloodstrike, and she spotted Newtspring, and a devilish grin fixed itself on her face as she hatched a plan. She scaled the nearest tree, making her way up to where the limbs were heavy enough not to shake as she traversed them, but high up enough that she would be mostly concealed.

For a SkyClan cat, even half-blood as she was, it was easy for her to move silently through the boughs. Juniperlight was an excellent mentor, and had taught her how SkyClan hunted in the trees the best out of any clan... and she was no exception. When she was finally above her brother, who had now, for some reason, become interested in a herb near the bottom, Spottedfrog plotted her course, shifted into the perfect position, and... dropped from the limb, and... landed squarely on Newtspring's back, her claws gripping but not hard enough to draw blood. She laughed, almost a cackle, at how clever and sneaky she'd been, that was, until, her eyes landed on Beechface, who she hadn't seen until now.

Immediately, her demeanor shifted, and - still perched on top of her flattened brother - she frowned, ears slicking back.

Newtspring dropped from the branch, sauntering over to Beechface with his usual lack of care, and the medicine cat bit back a reflexive snarl of irritation. Newtspring wasn't... As bad... as most of her half-siblings, and he... Reminded her of Lichenblaze, truthfully.

"No." She responded, tone drier than the forest had been during last greenleaf's fire as she answered Newspring. Having fun? While flower picking? Impossible.

Bloodstrike's voice split the air, gently admonishing Newtspring for his lack of care. He wasn't wrong, though a petty, immature part of Beechface refused to acknowledge his words. By some miracle, Newtspring had managed to keep from inflicting much harm onto the stems with yellow flowers he'd brought her.

"Coltsfoot. Eases breathing." She begrudgingly offered, giving Newtspring a tiny nod. Hidden behind the gruffness was a hint of appreciation. He didn't ask if she was okay, he didn't go out of his way to act differently around her.

Bloodstrike met her eye, and she glared back, baleful resentment bubbling in her chest. Don't pretend you care about me, now, foxheart. The thought was bitter, and Beechface only just managed to keep it just a thought. Bloodstrike turned away... Then called her over to look at a herb he'd found. A quiet growl escaped her. Couldn't he see that she didn't want to interact with him at all?

"Marigold." She told him stiffly. The flowers were harvested... Perhaps a bit more roughly than her usual careful efforts. The marigold and coltsfoot were quickly deposited with the rest of the herbs she'd collected.

Spottedfrog landing on Newtspring from above had the medicine cat's claws digging into the earth, tail whipping back and forth. Spottedfrog's carefree cakling made her bristle, but for the moment Beechface said nothing, turning and stalking off to find her own herbs. Newtspring had at least had the decency to be helpful, but otherwise she didn't want to acknowledge the presence of the other two at all. She was sure that this outing of peace and quiet was over.

Before he had time to revel in Beechface's half-appreciation– or think of something to quip back at Bloodstrike –weight dropped down from above and claws pricked his shoulders, flattening Newtspring to the ground and holding him firmly in place. He was about to start thrashing, to try kicking out at his sudden assailant before he heard his sister's laugh. Snorting, he let his chin rest against the hard earth with a huff.

"Get off!" He cried, half-heartedly trying to leverage himself against the ground and shove her off with little success. "I'm tryin' t'be helpful. 'N' my nice said I'm good at it." Newtspring gave himself another shove, firmer this time, rocking Spottedfrog off his back. ...and promptly throwing himself against her, bowling her over to perch atop her flank. He gave her ear a gentle cuff and dropped his voice to mutter, "Botherin' dad 'n' Beech is more fun than tryin' to kill me, isn't it?" His signature grin, and he hopped off Spottedfrog to trot after his half-sister.

"Come on, you better find somethin' quick! Even dad's bein' helpful." Newtspring turned his grin towards Bloodstrike, jerking his head to beckon the massive tom along. Then he focused back on the medicine cat, easily falling into step at her side.

"Well, Beech, now all your favorites are here– what're we lookin' for?" With a snicker, he leaned forward to catch her good eye before adding, "If I'm good 'nough at this, maybe I'll switch t'bein' a medicine cat. You'd love that, wouldn't ya?"

The coldness and downright venom from Beechface was unexpected. He had a feeling it wasn't just because she was upset with how she now looked. Bloodstrike paused and looked at her very seriously, searching for something inside her eye, but Spottedfrog jumping on Newtspring distracted him. He watched them tumble off of each other and shook his head, but they were merely being young siblings. He wasn't about to give out punishments.

"Settle down..." His words were not harsh, but even hinted at amusement. It was Newtspring's words and Spottedfrog's reaction to Beechface that had him pause again. It didn't make it hard to put two and two together. Beechface had been just as unhappy with them as she was at him. His ears rotated back slightly and what was left of his tail twitched. He and his oldest daughter would be having a talk in private later on.

"Help with herb hunting. The more we can carry back, the better." Wait... what did he mean "even dad is being helpful"? Was he not helpful always? He might ask Newtspring about that later. Or maybe he was just being paranoid.

He shook his head and set his nose to work again, sniffing out whatever leafy thing he could find. Once he found something that smelled pretty pungent, he sat beside it and indicated at Beechface that he'd found something else. He wasn't about to speak to her again, as someone had clearly put a thorn in her nest this morning.

The member 'Tara' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Effect Dice' : 3

Her ire at Beechface distracted Spottedfrog enough that it allowed Newtspring to escape, and as he bowled her over, she snickered, batting him with sheathed paws. Rolling to her feet once he'd moved off her, Spottedfrog waved her tail at Bloodstrike, but completely ignored Beechface's presence, other than to sneer at her as she turned away.

The young warrior had every intention of just leaving and finding something better to do, but Bloodstrike's request didn't seem like it was up for debate, so Spottedfrog huffed, turning away and moving away from the others, nostrils flared, searching for anything interesting.

The member 'JJ' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Effect Dice' : 3

"And let me retire early? Please." She scoffed in response to Newtspring,

Beechface curled her lip at Spottedfrog's sneering, but said nothing further, silently stalking away to find what was still needed. She had the misfortune of catching Bloodstrike's eye again and her tail lashed indignantly. She didn't know what he was searching her expression for, but she wasn't about to take the blame for his mistakes. Spottedfrog was a brat and always had been. Wasn't her fault that Bloodstrike and that Shadowclanner were utterly incapable parents who couldn't raise respectable warriors.

Turning away, Beechface padded over to a raspberry bush, silently stripping the leaves from a few stems. Bloodstrike seemed to have found something, and the annoyed medicine cat stalked over, silently harvesting what he'd found while doing her best to ignore his presence. If Spottedfrog was somehow able to find anything, he could deal with her, Beechface had no interest in interacting with the half-clanner more than she'd already been forced to.

Newtspring snickered at Beechface's remark, watching her wander off to a berry bush. Seeing as she was occupied glaring at their father and pretending Spottedfrog wasn't there, he took that as his chance to trot away on his own again. It was clearly tense, now that the three of them had showed up, but the young tom was determined not to let the heavy atmosphere last. If he was nothing, he was witty and funny and determined to keep his family from ripping each other's pelts off.

When it wasn't deserved, at least.

"Beech? Found another.. somethin'!" The mottled tabby called, waving his feathered tail toward the plant he'd found. Newtspring tried to catch Spottedfrog's eye, but she was too focused on glowering, and Bloodstrike looked too focused on trying to figure something out about Beechface. Ears briefly flattening, he looked between the other gathered cats, frowning. He'd have to put a lot more work into keeping things light than he thought... Newtspring had considered listening to Bloodstrike's earlier suggestion of letting the medicine cat handle any harvesting, but with a sigh he sank his teeth into the plant and gave a hearty tug, hoping he didn't ruin it by doing that. "C'mon, guys, lighten up. 'S a nice day, nothin's happenin'! Stop lookin' like ya' all hate each other." Even though his tone was bright, his expression was serious as he rejoined Beechface and Bloodstrike's sides.

He was well aware of Beechface's feelings towards them, but... still. Newtspring's tail twitched uncomfortably. He refused to let them fight in the middle of herb hunting, of all things.