as if i'm displaced in this space [open]

Since Whisperear had been returned to camp and been mostly confined to the medicine den, Brackenwing fretted in silence. She had never seen them in this poor of a state, and as the days wore on there seemed to be little improvement. There was no enemy to fight to make the problem go away, and it made Brackenwing antsy. It made her claws itch. All she could do was watch as Batsong and Birchgaze did what medicine cats did. She tried her best to stay out of their way while checking in on Whisperear.

And that was where she headed now. Whisperear had tried to get out of their nest, and she was almost certain that the medicine cats had already scolded the pale warrior for it. Brackenwing wasn't going to be the one to, although it was sure tempting to do so. If only whatever was plaguing Whisperear could be scolded into leaving them be.

"Hey, Whisperear," She mewed softly, sitting next to the nest the warrior was in, "How are you feeling?" A question they would be annoyed at, maybe, but Brackenwing was just glad to see them awake.

The day that Whisperear had been taken back to camp by Adder had sent Batsong into a very protective state. After the initial shock had died down and they were situated in the med den she had been keeping a close eye on them and doing her best to get them medicine, food and whatever else they needed.

She sat nearby them checking up on them very often. Whisperear had pushed too hard on patrol and their body in protest had shut down for a bit... the thing that worried batsong the most was it was not getting better.

She had to force herself to calm down a little, any other patient and she would just allow for more time, it was just harder when the patient was the kit you helped to raise.


Batsong hadnt spoken alot. There was not alot of time whisper was awake and when they were, Batsong was more trying to get them to eat to keep what strength they had up. It wasnt like she knew what to say anyways, words had never been her strong point.

She was sitting stuck in her own thoughts not fully aware of anything else.

The sudden breaking of the silence caused by her sister caused her to jump up startled

"B-Bracken!!" she meowed startled and with a bit of annoyance from the scare.


She huffed a sigh forcing her raised fur to slowly lower again. She had been on edge ever since and hadnt exactly slept well for quite awhile. Bracken was just here to help though, and a visitor would do Whisperear some good maybe. "s-sorry" she flicked her tail at her sister though in a kit-ish retaliation for the jump-scare.

None of this felt real, it wasn't really sinking in. That she had tried all sorts of medicine and nothing had gotten them going again... they must have really overdone something to cause this.


She went back to looking at the herbs before her and at her paws. She felt like sometimes she herbs were easier to talk to than other cats... she just wished the herbs would talk back, share secrets of which ones could heal whisper.

She blinked rapidly her eyes un-focusing again from the drifting they had started. She really was losing it huh? Or maybe it was just the lack of sleep since this had happened.

come on you... focus can we?

Flutterpetal was having difficulty standing still. Every time he stopped moving, his paws would itch, urging him forward again. He found himself pacing the length of camp as he thought. Just as he had begun to get comfortable with the status quo again, disaster struck. The day Adderdawn had returned with a sickly-looking Whisperear leaning on his shoulder hadn't left his mind since it happened. He'd been in to see his mentor every day--every few hours, even--but most of the time, they were asleep. Whisperear had always been low on stamina. Flutterpetal remembered several patrols where the warrior had become out of breath after a short sprint. However, this level of exhaustion was abnormal, even for them. Dark circles under their eyes, lanky form growing only thinner, a dragging undertone to their voice the few times they were awake enough to say anything....

Flutterpetal gnawed at the inside of his mouth, trying to calm his thoughts. Batsong had been almost constantly hovering at Whisperear's side, too. He could recall when he had enjoyed spending time with the medicine cat, learning herbs from her and relaxing in her company. He'd been upset when Daisybreeze had been unkind to her, just as Whisperear had been. However.... after she'd admitted that Daisybreeze died to save her, and after she'd been unable to do anything either for his friend or for Hazelpatch.... Well, it was difficult to admit, but he had simply been avoiding her. It was obviously not her fault, but that didn't stop the strange twist to his stomach whenever he spoke to the medicine cat. So he'd been pacing around camp instead of going into the medicine den again. But he wouldn't let her stop him this time. He needed to see Whisperear again. Maybe they were finally awake. He needed his mentor to know how much he appreciated them in case... in case....

Stop it. Whisper's not going to die. Stop thinking that.

Blinking hard to wish the thoughts away, Flutterpetal finally steeled himself and stepped closer to the medicine den, set apart from the rest of the camp by the well-kept nests and piles of herbs.

Batsong was there, of course, but thankfully she seemed preoccupied with something else. Brackenwing was sitting next to a nest, looking attentively at Whisperear--whose eyes were open. Flutterpetal breathed an inaudible sigh of relief. Maybe it would be best for him to just walk away and not disturb their rest. However, his paws itched again, and he ended up sitting near Brackenwing, offering a shaky smile to his mentor. "Hey. Need anything? A rabbit, or... some flowers? The field looked really nice today." His attempted offering was meagre--even pathetic. But it was all he could do right now. It was all he could do to keep smiling and not think about the fact that so many cats he loved had already gone to sleep with the stars. It was all he could do to remember that there was nothing he could do.

Brackenwing let out a soft snort as Batsong practically jumped out of her fur. "You ought to get some rest, I'd never be able to sneak up on you like this." She mewed, though not unkindly. She knew Batsong worked her tail off for her clanmates' health, and that work was appreciated, but the medicine cat needed rest too. She had retreated to her herbs, leaving her and Whisperear in relative silence until Flutterpetal and Adderdawn made their way into the den. She could see the worry she felt mirrored on their expressions.

Brackenwing nodded at the brothers in greeting, offering them a soft smile, as Whisperear murmured a soft reply. Her whiskers twitched, though Brackenwing found it difficult to keep up humor when seeing Whisperear in such a state. "The weather's still got a bit of a temper even without the snow... Delaying it won't be such a bad thing." She tried, albeit weakly. Disappointment over not going for that walk was vastly outweighed by her disappointment in seeing Whisperear in the condition they were in. Anything else could wait, as long as they got better.

"Friends looking after you is the least you deserve." Brackenwing shook her head at the thanks. Adderdawn and Flutterpetal cared... She cared too. Whisperear's visits to the medicine den and elder's den when she had been recovering from her own injury were remembered fondly.