Unpleasant Surprise [c]

Hollypaw slowly limped her way in the medicine den while raising her right hind leg. The aching that came along with the pain of the splinter near her paw pad seemed to have made her frustrated enough to have to visit the medicine den, although she felt it was rather unnecessary at first. Her blue-green eyes scanned around the medicine den for a sight of Cloverheart, then once finally spotting her, she silently padded over and sat down beside her. Nearly forgetting about the splinter for a second or so, the moment Hollypaw set her hind paw down, she immediately coiled it up, curling her lips up to form a hiss from the sharp pain. "Cloverheart, do you have a moment?" She asked, lowering her tone down to not be seen as rude.
"A splinter got me while I was padding around the camp earlier." With that being said, she stood up again and turned her hind leg at one angle, just clear enough for the medicine cat to see what was going on. Fortunately, it wasn't too awfully deep in her paw, but it was deep enough to make it a struggle for her to walk around camp like the usual.

Cloverheart had had her back turned towards the mouth of her den, idly pawing at herbs. Not really counting, not really sorting, just... busying herself. She'd been so engrossed in her busy work that she hadn't heard the approach of pawsteps, and would have stayed blissfully unaware of the other cat in her den if they hadn't spoken up.

With a little huff of surprise, the medicine cat turned around, blinking as the apprentice spoke. Eventually, she grinned, waving her tail towards an empty nest. "Easy fix, Hollypaw! Just... don't fall over, balancing like that," she purred, closing the distance between them to get a better look at it. Just a little sliver of bark, but it was certainly in there. "This might hurt." She warned, adding quickly, "Please don't kick me in the head." With a snorting laugh, she stretched her neck down, gingerly taking the sliver in her teeth and tugging it out in one quick motion.

Ducking back, she spat the splinter out towards her nest, and gave a nod towards the empty one closest to Hollypaw. "Come on, sit down. I'll get something together so it doesn't hurt so bad, yeah? Or... bleed much. Sit! You're fine." And Cloverheart was drifting back towards her herb stores, nosing at a pile of golden leaves. "So, all scratched up from patrolling the camp? No out-there warrior shenanigans?"

Hollypaw nodded, then flinched as the splinter quickly got removed from her paw. Her instincts told her to snap back and forcibly pull away her hind leg, but fortunately, she restrained herself from doing so with much will. Her paw still ached, though not quite as badly as when the splinter was still in it. "Luckily-" She mewed. "And somehow, I managed to keep myself from kicking you in the head." Hollypaw grinned.

Noticing Cloverheart's nod towards an empty nest from just a few pawsteps away, she nodded back, padding over to it, then sat down. Her tail wrapped elegantly beside her sore paw, seemingly to shelter it away from the chilling winds. As she turned her head to the medicine cat still busily sorting out the necessary herbs, her eyes then seemed to gaze over at the golden leaves for a brief while, wondering what all of them could be used for. Hearing Cloverheart's voice speaking up again, she giggled. "Mhm, I passed by an unnecessarily leafy area, and found the splinter up in my paw." Hollypaw spoke with a small frown. "And gladly, no. There were no out-there warrior shenanigans." She chuckled lightly with a smile.

"That's a shame," the medicine cat replied warmly, turning over her shoulder to offer her charge a soft smile. "It's always a little more fun when there's a story behind it." At that, she glanced down at her own scars, blinking slowly. Cloverheart seemed frozen in thought for her moment, giving her legs a long stare before she shook herself out and took the marigold leaves in her mouth, chewing rigorously.

Shuffling back over to Hollypaw, she parted her jaw, raising a paw to swipe her tongue over it. It came away covered in half-chewed leaves and juice, and she extended her leg towards Hollypaw, brushing her tail aside quickly so she could smear the marigold over the wounded pad. "That should help some. It isn't too bad anyway, right? If it really hurts I have more that I can give you... oh!" Smiling again, Cloverheart tipped her head towards her gathered herbs, still hovering by Hollypaw's side. "I'm sure you're more interested in, you know, fighting, hunting, but... Want to know about any of these? Have any other questions for me? Might as well chat while you're here." She seemed especially chatty today... the den was pretty lonely without Dennis, she figured with a shrug. And getting to know her younger Clanmates wasn't bad, so she would keep running her jaw as long as Hollypaw lingered here.

Hollypaw nodded again. Being a new apprentice meant she couldn't just fight battles like how warriors did. She'd have to wait until she's experienced enough for it, otherwise it'd be way too risky. As Cloverheart treated her wounded paw pad, she smiled, giving the medicine cat a small dip of the head as a thanks. "Well... If you insist me on asking, how did you get those scars? If it's not too rude to ask, of course." She quickly added. "And if it is," She paused briefly. "Then would you mind teaching me a few of the most simplest things about herbs?" The apprentice continued.

Not having much on her mind, Hollypaw asked the simplest question she could think of right then and there. Despite not having any intentions of becoming a medicine cat soon, she simply asked that as a precaution, in case any mild injuries ever happened to her or other cats when Cloverheart can't be close by. Surely enough, it would be useful for her to at least know a bit about herbs. Rather some, than none at all. She planned to linger in the medicine den a bit longer. After all, she wanted to know more about Cloverheart and how she was like, since she never really had the chance to ever do so before. Perhaps I could even get to know her better. Hollypaw's paw pads didn't ache so much as badly as before anymore after a while, and she felt glad for it.

Suppose that was the question to ask. Suppose she had offered to answer anything, so she couldn't really deny, but... taking a step back to sit, Cloverheart curled her thin tail protectively around her legs. It hardly did anything to hide the scars, especially the worst of them, but it made her feel better regardless.

"Oh, these? Well, honestly, I–" Words falling short, the medicine cat let out a tight hum. It was right there, right at the edge of her mind; she could see it, she could feel it, but she couldn't explain it. How had she gotten them? SkyClan, SkyClan, SkyClan...

Sighing, Cloverheart turned on another smile before continuing. "I was... attacked... by SkyClan. When I was– when I was still young." Every word was slow and careful, the thought behind them apparent in every syllable. Attacked by SkyClan... by who? By, by, by... "By Wolfstar!" She hadn't meant to shout it, but the realization had come to mind like a bolt of lightning, making her eyes widen. "Yes, I was attacked by, right, right... by Wolfstar. I promise I'm not lying."

Despite appearances, she kept a cheery tone. "They hurt most days. I can't always walk so far, or even walk at all sometimes. I take lots of breaks when I'm out. They've gotten, uhm... better, though. I can manage on my own." Cloverheart's tail-tip twitched, curling towards her chest as she spoke. "Herbs then, hm? Let's start with marigold! That's what I just put on your paw. We have plenty of that here in RiverClan, it loves water almost as much as we do." She let out a gentle purr, happy to talk about what she knew– or happy to have been given an out from trying her memory. "It'll keep that little poke from bleeding, or getting infected and gross. You'd hate if that happened, I'd have to keep you here a lot longer. You probably know about cobwebs and poppy seeds and such already, right? They're important, even for a future warrior!"

Hollypaw's eyes widened the moment Cloverheart mentioned Wolfstar. Wolfstar? Isn't that the current leader of SkyClan...? But why? The thought absolutely baffled her. "But why? What happened that led to him attacking you?" She asked. Curiosity overflowed herself, her head slowly drowning in to a bunch of other questions that could not be resolved just yet. "Just why a leader would attack a young cat? It really puzzles me." She muttered, furrowing her brows. Just from this, Hollypaw felt like she knew a lot that had not been told yet before. Her eyes softened down in sympathy hearing how bad the wounds were. Though she quickly shook that gaze off, thinking about how strong Cloverheart was in order to survive that attack instead. Those scars were definitely not light, hearing how it still affected her until now. Despite her cheery attitude, Hollypaw felt like she needed to say more, but didn't as she felt like she had pushed the medicine cat enough already.

"Marigold... That sounds interesting." She smiled. "And yes, of course. They must be really important." The young molly nodded slowly, taking in every word that Cloverheart spoke with a soft grin. She still had a lot on her mind. How could any cat not have after hearing what happened? But, she just figured this wouldn't be the best time to ask further on. Maybe next time they meet again... Yeah!  Definitely next time, whenever I can.

Hollypaw seemed interested enough in the herbs, and for that Cloverheart smiled, thin tail swishing. But as much as the young cat was willing to indulge her about it, it didn't hide her far-more apparent curiosity over how the medicine cat had earned her scars.

Pulling in a deep breath, Cloverheart started by echoing, "What lead to Wolfstar attacking me?" That was... a good question. Probably a better question than Hollypaw realized. Turning her gaze away, the little cat worked the ground underneath her paws, humming to herself as she thought on an answer. "Wolfstar was... well, he–" There was the moor, but why there? and the Gathering, with lightning, right? but that wasn't right either, and– "I wish I could tell you why, Hollypaw. SkyClan just... SkyClan is a vicious lot of cats. No morals between any of them." She paused to think, then with a strained laugh, added, "I'll spare you the worst details. I don't want to scare you away from your life as a future warrior!" Cloverheart smiled, tight-lipped and forced, before bowing her head and turning away.

"SkyClan will face justice for it. Someday," she muttered, a dark frown clouding her expression before she schooled herself back into a warm, passive grin. "Don't let me get you down though, Hollypaw. That paw of yours should be alright, if you don't think it hurts too much. Or you can stay, and I can keep talking– as long as your mentor won't have my tail for keeping you!"

Hollypaw frowned, though she quickly masked it with a smile afterwards. Cloverheart didn't seem to want the atmosphere to get heavy soon, and neither did she want it to, either. The medicine cat's answer wasn't the most satisfying one to her curiosity, but it helped her understand the situation more, although briefly. "SkyClan will face justice for it. Someday," The sentence rang in her head. Maybe, just maybe as a warrior, she'd be able to avenge for Cloverheart. She didn't plan it as an evil way. Just enough to make them realize that attacking the medicine cat would bring them guilt, and that they never should try to do it again.

Yeah, somewhat heroic like that. Just by herself, the apprentice wasn't completely sure if she could make them face justice for what they did, but she didn't mind if she had to get injured for that, anyway. As long as it wasn't too severe, she felt confident that she would be able to help protect her clan all that she could without fail. "I don't think Creamfrost would mind. Though sadly, I've got apprentice duties to do, too.. I wish I could've stayed more, though. It was nice talking to you." She smiled brightly.