Pins and needles (O)

(follows this topic where fuzz gets smacked by a porcupine: click me)


With his head hung low, Fuzzface trudged through the camp clearing and over to the medicine cat den. Covered his chunky maw were the quills of a porcupine he'd discovered during a hunt a little while earlier, and great StarClan did it hurt. Blood had begun to seep out from where the thorny daggers were stuck to him and it took everything in him to not begin to tear up from the overwhelming pain. 'Just a little bit longer and they'll be able to help,' he thought to himself silently. "B-batsong... Birchpaw..." the plump warrior called out as he stood at the entrance of the medicine cat den, his wide body blocking practically the entire entryway. His voice didn't hold its usual strength, for with every movement of his muzzle it felt as though the quills continued to dig deeper and deeper into his skin. Why him? He certainly must have had the worst luck of any cat.

Batsong had been back from her hunting patrol led by smallbean earlier than she expected since fuzzface had been unlucky enough to jump on a porcupine instead of his intended target the rabbit. She wondered quietly to herself if maybe the porcupine and rabbit were friends and the porcupine was just protecting his friend… well in either case the glanced upward as fuzzface had gotten back to her den. She had been preparing a little poultice mix of herbs for application after they got all these quills out… right getting all the quills out was not something she looked forward too…

She would have to yank em out of there and each one would hurt her friend and clanmate a lot. But she didn’t really have any other choice.

The big fellow looked on the verge of tears and her heart nearly broke for him. She loved all her clanmates and loved her job of getting to care for them all. She was a very sympathetic med cat. Aww p-poor thing she whispered as she carefully licked at his shoulder to comfort him somewhat. Unfortunately, while those quills were still embedded into his face there wouldn’t be too much comfort at all. She sat down before him flicking her tail back and forth as she hummed a little to herself as she prepped the final bit of goop that would go in his face once all these quills had been yanked


“O-ok… t-then we are gonna h-have to tug these out of you alright? she purred calmly. The blood that ran down his face didn’t bother her in the slightest as she was super used to being around it and had seen injuries far goreier.

Uhm… t-this will really h-hurt and I’m sorry in advance she whispered. She would offer him poppy seeds for the pain… but that made cats sleepy and the last thing she needed was the big floof falling asleep on her… what if he rolled around in his sleep and then she couldn’t get the quills out?? Even worse if he rolled onto the quills pushing them deeper in… ick yeah no poppy seeds sorry fuzzface.

She tried to remain positive though giving him a little grin. It’s v-very important you r-remain still for this k? Y-you have to be s-still as a rock… r-remember when I used you as a s-stepping rock to get our honey? Yeah b-be that still she instructed as she leaned in inspecting all the quills. Wow there was alot.

Ok imma p-pull this big one out first… then when they are all out ill p-put on herbs to make sure it doesn’t get infected she explained as she carefully put her teeth around the big quill she had to be careful not to also get stuck by these things hence the biggest one first strategy.

Ok on three I pull. She felt a little guilty lying to him… it was always on 2. Pull on three and the patient flinched and then it would be even worse.


One… two

YANK

She pulled hard and the big quill came right out… well with some of fuzzface’s face still caught on it’s barbed end… but hey it had come out none the less. She purred happily that she had gotten it and set it carefully to the side inspecting it closer . Oh yeah these barbed ends were gonna be a nightmare and they were gonna take a lot of fuzz with them as they all would be tugged out.


She turned back to her patient aww … y-you are so brave… that’s one down! she purred wanting him to see the good side of things…

And like… 5 more to go she thought to herself a bit more pessimistic

Listening to Batsong, he was truly grateful that WindClan had such a knowledgeable medicine cat. It probably wasn't too often that cats got attacked by porcupines and the fact that she knew what to do in every situation was beyond him. Hopefully though, she knew how to get these things off his face in a quick manner.

Staying as still as he could per her instructions even though the spines began to make his face itch on top of the pain, Fuzface closed his eyes as she approached him. Maybe this would help him not focus on the pain, or maybe it would make it worse; he wasn't sure. What he was sure of though, was that he might lose it if these things weren't gone, and soon.

One... two...

Letting out a yowl of surprise and pain as the first quill was plucked from his muzzle, he jumped up from his crouched position. Shaking his head back and forth as blood spilled from the spot where the needle was removed, he tried to suck back in the tears that had began to well up in his eyes even more so than before. "Ya know what, I... I can live with them," he lied as the fur under his eyes began to grow dark from teardrops as he shuffled backwards; away from Batsong's reach. "I'll get used to them," he sheepishly added, trying to stifle a smile but quickly regretting trying to move his face muscles even a little bit.

In backing up, he bumped into a kit who'd dared to enter the den, and the plump tom jumped a little from suddenly touching a pelt that he hadn't expected to be there. The kit was ever so good at talking, that was for sure. While Fuzzface usually didn't mind and would just ignore the talkative ones, if at all possible, the young tom's rambling of words buzzed around his head like a hive full of bees. This was not the time to try and make conversation, and it didn't help that the warrior was already at his wits end.

"Listen Burrkit. Unless you wanna have your tail ripped off, I suggest you back up," he growled through barred teeth, casting a cold glance at the kit with his small ears pinned back against his head. Yeah he could probably fight a badger if he wanted to or whatever, but now was not the time to be contemplating such ideas.

Batsong winced as Fuzzface stumbled back in pain and as he started bleeding a little.  She was such a caring medicine cat and whenever her patients had so much pain it felt hard to see them have all that.

She wished she could make the pain magically go away but until she had all the quills out poppyseeds would do no good.


"awwe... im so so-sorry f-f..f-fuzzface" she stuttered as she watched him back away from her.  She stepped closer to him again though... he might not like it but uhh these quills were coming out as far as she was concerned.


An excitable voice was heard and she glanced around spotting the kit soon after.  She mostly ignored Fuzzface's comments to the kit knowing that the warrior was in alot of pain right now but she did give him a warning glance... a look that quietly said

'... you get a free one time pass cause you have had a rough day, but never speak to a kit like that again'

The kitten wanted to decorate his nest with the quills??! No way! Not on her watch... She made a mental note to dispose of them far far from camp peferably burried too.

Then however... an idea struck her... He might not get the quills but he could have something even more special... and something that meant alot to her personally.

She grinned at the kit for a little seeing how curious they were.

"I c-cant g-give you t-the q-q-quills sorry kiddo... but I c-can gi-give you something very special that is even b-better" she purred.

She went to her sleeping area of her den and soon came back with a beautiful rock.  It was the rock that Rosepaw (Rosekit at the time) had given her so long ago.  She had kept it all this time.  Rosepaw was Batsong's first apprentice back when she was a warrior.  Rosepaw and Batsong had a very special friendship but sadly the apprentice had gone missing one day never to be seen again, this rock was all Batsong had left of her friend. It felt fitting that another kit should have it now.  It could now become part of Burrkit's collection if he so chose to want it.

"m-maybe later I c-can get you a f-feather too" she meowed quietly as she gave the rock that was special to her to Burrkit.  The med cat was gentle and calm when they plopped the rock down in front of Burrkit for him to inspect.  A part of her never wanted to loose that rock but she knew that it was time to move beyond things in the past now.  Besides, Rosepaw was always with her in her heart, a rock was no longer needed to remind her of what her previous apprentice meant to her.


She turned her attention back to Fuzzface quickly before she could change her mind and more importantly before either of them could see that she was about to start crying just as much as Fuzzface but for a different reason.

She kept her composure though and outwardly she showed no signs of anything of that sort.

"a-alright th-then f-f..f-fuzz where were we? she stuttered again as she went back over to sit before the warrior again.  He had gotten enough of a break when she was looking for entertainment for the kit, now it was back to the needle pulling.

"h-hold s-still"

YANK!! YANK!!

oh good she managed to get two quills in one go that time... just 3 left.

YANK! she carefully added these to the pile and sighed shaking her head as red drops fell to both of their front paws... her poor warriors just kept getting beat up it felt like.

She flicked her tail thinking about the kits question... was being a warrior or med cat more fun??

"hmm w-well I used t-to be a w-warrior too... and I t-think I enjoy b-being a med c-cat more.  I l-like taking c-care of all of you.
T-that being said I c-can st-still fight if I n-need to, I h-havent forgotten any of my training" she purred answering Burrkit.

She inspected the last two quills in Fuzzface while she talked

YANK! she didnt give him any warning on that one or he would have flinched again... Sigh... this part of being a med cat she could do without but oh well.

"burrkit?  Promise m-me that w-when you become a w-warrior

Yank! she got that one out mid sentence when fuzz was least expecting it!  YES finally they were all out!

"you will never f-fight a porcupine she finished her sentence.  

She carefully gathered all the quills and wrapped them in a large leaf to dispose of them soon.


She then carefully applied the herb goo she had gotten ready to fuzz's face to stop the bleeding.

Once the bleeding was all stopped. She went to her shelf and carfully took some poppy seeds from the pile extra careful not to spill the little things. Windclan was low on herbs and so she had to make these count.

She carefully put down the poppy seeds for the warrior to eat. They would relief the pain and allow for him to sleep soon as well they were a very mellowing herb

Well, there was certainly no getting out of this one. Letting out some more howls and yowls as Batsong continued to pull the quills out, ever pull made him wince and his the skin on his muzzle felt as if was on fire. Not to mention the blabbering kit that had joined them made his ears feel as if they were on fire as well...

At first he tried his best to drown out the needless conversation that the two of them were having, but he realized that perhaps it was a good distraction from the overwhelming pain. Now doing his best to focus on their words, he closed his eyes and readied himself for the medicine cat's next tug, but after waiting a few moments it never came. Blinking open his eyes, he looked from Batsong who was now walking over to her herbs and down to the pile of quills. Was it finally over? Thank the stars!

Letting out a deep sigh of relief, the plump tom was able to relax; at least a little more than before. Batsong returned with what looked to be some sort of good and as she began to apply it onto his bleeding maw, a purr erupted from his throat. The sludge had a sort of 'cool' feel to it and it was far better than the burning sensation that he'd been filled with. Leaning down, he gobbled up the poppy seeds with ease. "Thank you, Batsong," he mewed with a weak smile, his face still tender towards any movement. "Yeah, much better. She' sure is a great medicine cat," Fuzzface purred in reply to Burrkit's comment. WindClan was truly blessed to have her as their medicine cat, that was for sure.