A cliche backstory

Batpaw returned into camp from a training session. It was freezing outside and she was looking forward to getting to curl up in her nest and take a nap. Her tired paws actually took her to the nursery. She wanted to visit her mother and talk with her. The shy apprenice hardly had any social interaction aside from her parents so it was always nice to see them.

Upon entering the nursery however she looked around eyes adjusting to the dim light... hmm where was she? Another queen (npc ackakk idk) told her with a frown that her parents had been taken to the med den after developing a sickness.


Batpaw stood their completly stunned... The rest of the queens words fell on deaff ears as she stared blankly ahead... her parents? sick? huh? but-but... but they had seemed fine that morning... She felt a jolt of shock and adreniline as she snapped out of the blank frozen stare. With newfound energy and worry she raced over to the med den.


Upon getting closer the smell of sickness hung in the air heavily. Her heart dropped as she entered and saw both her parents lying there cuddled up... Her father was not moving at all... no... no... as she got closer she could see he was not breathing at all. Tears flooded her eyes. she felt like she had been headbutted in the gut multiple times as she felt sick to her stomach... this wasnt fair! this couldnt be happening she denied this reality... and yet there was no reality to deny seeing her father slumped over his body cold to the touch as she touched her nose to his now cold pelt.

Tears ran down her face and dripped onto his dead body...

Her mother cracked her eyes open Batpaw?? she whispered in a barley audible voice.

Batpaw got closer ... Mommm she said teary eyed her bottom lip quivering.

Know that we always loved you my dear she coughed heavily with the words and she gave her daughter one final weak hug before she fell into a peaceful eternal sleep in her daughters paws.

Batpaw felt pain like she had never experienced ever before as her mother went limp below her... no she whimpered.

no mom dont leave me... she shook her but nothing happened... she pawed at her trying to wake her back up but nothing could change that now.

mom wake up please! she shook her harder ... she couldnt be... no this was not happeining right now... perhaps Batpaw was in a dream and any second she would wake up from this.

Noise near the unusually quiet medicine den made Swiftspirit lift her head from where she'd been curled, ears pricked. Dayspring was still sick, and so was Berrypaw. Dovefrost, though he was an outsider, had been doing his best, but he was away with Ashfall and Timbersun and the other medicine cats. And sickness wasn't waiting for them to get back. Swiftspirit had learned a little from when she'd gone herb gathering with the Thunderclan medicine cat and Batkit, but it was nowhere near enough to truly be helpful. Hentooth and Smallbean had returned, but the two needed to recover, too.

Her ear twitched at the faint sound of a voice. Batpaw, who sounded distressed. She'd been shy, but Swiftspirit had liked the little scrap of fur. Best see what was up, though Swiftspirit didn't think it was anything good, not with how her tone sounded. Standing, Swiftspirit made her way toward the den, ducking inside.

Batpaw was trying to shake a queen awake, without luck. Her body was far too still, as was that of the tom in a nest beside her. Swiftspirit didn't need to be a medicine cat to know they were both gone.

"Batpaw..." Poor thing... They had been her parents, hadn't they? "Batpaw... I'm sorry kiddo." She mewed softly, gently resting her tail on the apprentice's shoulder. Nothing she could say would possibly make that loss easier

She continued shaking her mom crying harder. No... no no no! she repeated not at all acepting what her eyes were telling her.

She shook harder wake up! she whimpered

she burried her nose into her mothers shoulder fur the last of the warmth fading quickly. She felt like she had been punched in the gut and her throat closed up like it does when you have something like this happen. She slumped down utterly sick to her stomach... She wished she could just vanish out of reality to just be able to disappear.

Swiftspirits pressence barely even registered with Batpaw as tears filled her eyes and clouded everything. The warrior had spoken saying something but Batpaw was too lost in pain to know exactly what... she knew it was meant as something kind but everything seemed like the world was ending right now. swiftspirt was one of the few cats Batpaw actually knew. When she was a kit she had gone herb hunting with her having gotten special permission to do so from her mother if she would listen to Swiftspirts orders and directions... her mom now was gone not a taillength away from her and she had not been able to do anything to save her or her father. It hurt so much... this morning they were sick byt they seemed to be alright enough... to have it happen so suddenly made Batpaw so angry none of this was fair at all why did she have to be the one left? With no siblings and no parents and with only a couple of cats she knew...

she felt alone and isolated, the 2 cats who were supposed to protect and guide her were gone forever and nothing could change that now... Batpaw hoped that no one would ever have to feel how she did right now

It would do Batpaw no good to force her into unwanted conversation, and Swiftspirit didn't have the heart to pull her away from her parents when she was grieving like this. All she could do was sit with her, tail resting gently across the apprentice's shoulders in some small gesture of comfort. She wouldn't push, and if Batpaw told her to leave her be, Swiftspirit would. She knew what it was like to lose parents and loved ones. The pain never truly faded, just became easier to tolerate.

"I'm here." Was all she stated after a moment, returning to her silence once the words were spoken. The two cats would need to be arranged for a proper burial, but it didn't need to be done at this exact moment.

Mistysky heard wailing come from the medicine den, and of course she assumed the worst. And if it was what she believed it to be, she didn't even have the heart to be annoyed at the noise. Numbly, her paws carried her to the source of the sound. It had seemed as though Swiftspirit had already gotten to it, and was comforting a crying Batpaw. She didn't even need to look inside the den to know what she would probably find. It was nothing she had wanted to see, anyway.

The molly simply sat down, listening as Swiftspirit gave comfort to the apprentice, something she was not sure she herself could do. It was not as if Mistysky was known for her soft, kind words. So instead, she went for something a bit more, er, forward.

"Come on, Batpaw. My brother can give you come thyme to help you calm down a bit, if you'd like. Might help with the shock." Not the most gentle, but at least it was semi-nice. She was really trying here.

Batpaw's eyes were clouded with tears and she couldt see well but the comforting tail of Swiftspirit and her words letting her know she was there were a blessing. It was a lifeline in an otherwise sinking world shattered by what had just happened.

The shy apprentice gave a little nod to her but her voice was all choked up. She had a hard time talking under normal circumstances... this was even harder right now.
T...tha... tha she stuttered over the words

why cant I be normal she cursed at herself

... tha--- th-- thanks she finally managed to spit out her stutter had gotten even worse and more pronounced.

Batpaw heard Mistysky outside and shakily she got to her paws standing up. She looked back to her motionless parents one last time before walking out of the med den You two were not supposed to leave me here alone like this... its not fair she thought. She couldnt stay in there any longer though...

Walking over to Mistysky she nodded ... her voice refused to work so it was the only thing she could do. She gave her a very gently head bonk (idk my cat always does this) thyme sounded good right now... and if she could have the whole stores worth of poppy seeds she wouldnt complain either ... those made you numb right? that was what dovefrost told her on the herb gathering she got to go on. Yup that would be nice she didnt want to feel or care anymore so a large dose of those would be comforting.

Swiftspirit didn't need to be thanked, she was just doing what any clanmate should. At Mistysky's voice, Batpaw turned toward the den entrance, and Swiftspirit quietly followed her outside. She offered the newly-named warrior a small, tired smile, but said nothing else. Batpaw, she thought, needed space, not cats chattering at her. Swiftspirit could give her that much at least.

Mistysky made to rest her tail over Batpaw's back, and stopped short as she remembered that her tail was gone. She never would get used to that, would she? It honestly felt like it was still there. With an awkward look at Swiftspirit, Mistysky led Batpaw to her nest, her pelt brushing against the apprentice's.

"Did you want me to see what is in the store? Or would you rather I stay with you? I, uh, honestly wouldn't know what I would be looking for, and Berrypaw is probably asleep, but I could try to find the stuff?" Berrypaw had used some of it on her to calm her down before, right? Maybe she could find it again?

Batpaw nodded thinking for a minute. Honestly... she began

I just want to eat a bunch of poppy seeds and p-p-...p-p... she stuttered and was forced to slow down as she talked

pass out...I dont want to feel anything anymore and they are supposed to just make you numb she answered looking up at the two warriors that had been helping her.

Dovefrost showed me what they looked like

OOC this is true Batpaw went on a herb hunt with him and she was even the one to find the poppy seeds

she walked with Mistysky towards the med den.  Spotting the large stash of Poppy seeds she flicked her tail towards them.  She took one in her paw and looked briefly at the two warriors that had taken her as their hmm what exactly was she to them what word could describe that... ward? responsibility? burden?. hmm probably the last word she figured.

she licked up the seed she held and then took one more for a total of 2.  Dovefrost had told her 1 for drowsiness, 2 for sleep.

She then went back over to Mistysky and swiftspirit
Looking at Mistysky she nodded
and yeah... I-I...I do want you to stay with me... both of you she answered her. sitting next to them and resting her head on the older warriors shoulder

------

after some time passed the poppy seeds had done their magic and she was able to pass out peacefully asleep able to temporarily escape this.

"I'm not sure you should..." Swiftspirit began, but Batpaw was already heading for the poppy seeds. While Dovefrost had showed both of them a little, it still filled Swiftspirit with unease. Berrypaw wasn't around and was hardly trained, and Swiftspirit sure as foxdung didn't know what she was doing with herbs if something were to go wrong.

"We'll be here, I promise." She sighed, sitting next to the young apprentice. It wasn't long before Batpaw was leaning against her shoulder, and Swiftspirit glanced up at Mistysky. "Sleeping it off won't make the grief fade." Swiftspirit spoke quietly. "We need to keep an eye on her."

"Yeah, I know. At least she is getting some rest after that shock. Poor scrap." Letting out a sigh, Mistysky laid down beside the apprentice. Poor thing, she couldn't imagine losing Downtuft or Sagewillow. And Batpaw had just lost both of her parents on the same day.

She looked up at Swiftspirit, her eyes tired. "What do we do for the poor scrap? I don't know how to deal with all of this touchy, feely stuff. It's not like I am the most comforting source for her." A chuckle escaped her, although it was mainly forced. Mistysky wasn't built for this type of stuff. But she couldn't just back out. Batpaw needed her. Both her and Swiftspirit. Whatever they did from this point on, they were in it together.