you’ve got to act your age, darling [c]

“I heard you are a healer,” meowed Louse, amber eyes settling on the she-cat in front of him “Are you any good?”

-

For the past few moons there had been several rumours circulating about one of the many new rogues that had popped up on the scene; one of them was a healer. At the time Louse hadn’t cared, Alethea had still been around and he had siblings to satiate his burning curiosities and boredom, but now he was all alone. There was no one to tend to his psyche and keep him in check, and so he had taken to hunting down many of the new faces and assessing them. Trying to work out if they were an ally, a threat or not worth his time. They were all older than him, and some didn’t appreciate being interrogated by someone who was barely over ten moons old. Louse didn’t appreciate being dismissed or looked down upon, not when he needed to protect himself and the little territory he had scraped for himself through inheritance. They all misjudged him, and so they would learn he was serious, whether that was through losing an eye or a tail, or perhaps their life… It didn’t particularly bother him, he just needed to stay alive and to keep what was his.

Louse was nearing the end of the list of cats he had to meet, and he was glad to hear ‘Mint’ was a healer. He actually looked forward to meeting her, it would make a nice change from the mange ridden alley cats, and the drifters with shifty eyes. Though, the tom supposed he was both of those stereotypes, but that didn’t matter, especially if he was in control of what happened around him. After following his leads, Louse eventually came to the abandoned barn, a place that held… fond enough memories. He hoped to add meeting Mint to those fond memories too.

After nosying inside, it took a while for his eyes to adjust, and even longer to spot the mottled brown pelt of the cat he was seeking. One thing he hadn’t realised was how young Mint was, she could only be a few moons younger than him, and yet no one had mentioned that. Curious. His tail twitched. He dipped his head in greeting, then sat down across from her. “I’m Louse,” he began.

Louse chewed the inside of his cheek as he waited with mild frustration for Mint to finish wrapping up her herbs, and to finally answer his questions. It was not as if they were going to spoil if she didn’t wrap them up right this instant, and while she was so focused on folding them into perfect little bundles he could have easily had her neck in his jaws. It was arrogant to assume just because he had the decency to introduce himself that Louse wasn’t seeking to harm her. Annoyingly, she had judged correctly and so he remained unmoving as she finally turned her green eyes upon him. He smiled thinly as she began her long winded introduction. Quite honestly, the she-cat’s history before she wound up here was of very little interest to him. He did not care for her title -one that meant nothing to him- or what oath she had sworn. Oaths meant so little, family meant so little. It was almost cute how naive Mint was, because her words seemed so earnest. The rogue wanted to laugh at her, to click his tongue and swiftly correct her, if only to keep her alive for his gain. But he refrained. Louse had misjudged her, he’d assumed the tortoiseshell was at least somewhat similar to Alethea, but it was clear medicinal knowledge was about all that they shared.

He was about to cut in and remind her of his original question, but before he could Mint had finally decided to answer it. An answer that was measured only by what she stood for. The tom exhaled, disappointed. His nose scrunched, was this suppose to offer him reassurance? He didn’t know her, didn’t know her family and so this answer left him guessing. He would have much preferred that she laid off example after example, that, he could quantify and deduce the truth of the matter from. This answer was subjective, and not what he wanted. She then went on to bring up the fact that she was allowed to defend herself, and that she wasn’t going to be pushed around. This time, Louse couldn’t hold back his laugh. That was like an open invitation to anyone depraved to try and test the merit of Mint’s ability. Amber eyes swept over her frame, and he chuckled again. “Word of advice; don’t mention fighting if you’re not looking for a fight.” he mewed “The cats round here will take that as an opportunity to start a fight. Maybe I’m misjudging you, but I’ve met clan cats that seem tougher than you, I’d keep that part of your… oath to yourself. I’ve already lost a healer, don’t want to lose anymore.”

Despite his qualms with Mint’s ability, he wanted to keep her around, and if things went south he wanted to be able to rely on her. The idea of relying on anyone currently was very much not ideal, but Louse knew himself. He’d get bored of herbs, like he got bored of most things, and so this was something he’d rather have someone else take care of. Still he desperately needed to know her qualifications. “Mint,” he said smiling, wanting to appear welcoming “What sort of things have you treated exactly?”

”I came to check out some rumours, i hate surprises.” answered Louse, coiling his tail around his paws. Mint’s tone was sharper than before, his prodding clearly not appreciated. That was probably due to his tactless approach, but he didn’t care to change it. Things were going smooth enough as is. The corners of his mouth twitched just slightly as she decided to not list all her accomplishments. Truth be told, assessing who was and wasn’t a friend to his cause was the best use of his time, and so if the healer had listed everything she’d ever done he would have soaked it up. It would help him, but the list Mint gave the young tom was fine as is. “Not bad.” he mewed, rolling his shoulders. Now it was his turn to divulge information, it’d be a massive shame if some trigger-happy clan cat found her.

”You’ll definitely run into clan cats if you hang around here. They’re all very self righteous, my way or the highway type. Some of them are okay, but most of them were all too eager to sink their teeth and claws into the flesh of anyone who isn’t from their little gang.” said Louse. “They’ve all got fancy names, and claim to own all the wilder places. You can tell what they think is their’s from the smell. I think there’s five clans, i’ve met RiverClan, the mud clan and the one that lives near here - they call themselves WindClan. Every full moon they gather at the large oak trees and gossip, they are less mean when they’re there. Something to do with a ‘vow of peace under the full moon’, which is another of their uppity rules.” He paused thinking for a moment.

“They come by this barn a lot so you’ll probably run into them at some point, but they don’t come anywhere near where I call home. If you’d prefer to not be bothered by them, you can come to the old rogue camp, it is more desolate than it use to be, if you’re the sort that likes the company of other cats.” It would be good to have a healer at least semi present during the colder months, and maybe Maggot would like a friend other than their own brother. She could badger Mint about morbid things, he got the impression that she might not be all that keen on discussing that sort of stuff though.