and i don't know where to begin [c]

It was with shaky paws that Nightpaw made his way to the WindClan border. He had never left ShadowClan territory except for Moonstone journeys, which hardly counted, or the odd Gathering - and even those had been few in his short time as an apprentice. Never would he have dreamed of visiting another Clan, unless it was for a rare herb or something; even then, someone would have to be really sick. Getting Nightpaw to speak to his Clanmates was one thing - but getting him to speak to cats outside his Clan, cats who might actually be hostile toward him? Unheard of.

But if he wanted this... if he truly wanted this, he'd have to suck it up. Be brave for once in his life. ShadowClan needed him, after all. Even if Rookfire and Fuzzybelly had been medicine cats once, their knowledge was outdated. He needed to consult a current medicine cat. If only Heatherberry were... no, he couldn't think like that. She wasn't here.

So even as he forced himself to make the trip, he dragged his feet. This was all - StarClan, this was all so much. He was only just gaining confidence in ShadowClan's camp. Why was everything so unbelievably hard? If he could just be normal -

The scent of heather and gorse hit him all at once. Was he here already? He'd been sure he'd just get lost, but that scent was unmistakable. He recognized it from Gatherings, and especially from the last quarter-moon meeting. Nightpaw shuddered to think about it. Most of his apprehension was from the idea of meeting that tom again. There had been such disapproval in his eyes and his voice. Oh, did he have to speak to that tom again? Maybe there was another WindClan medicine cat. A nicer one.

But the smell grew stronger and stronger, until he was sure he had to be near the border, if not already across it. Nightpaw stopped short. Should he wait here? Relations with WindClan had seemed strained lately. Maybe it was for the best if he waited here for a patrol and explained himself . . . footsteps were quickly approaching though, he realized. Wow. WindClan must be serious about their borders. He looked up as the patrol neared, practically shaking. But they were surprisingly nice. As he asked for their medicine cat, a fluffy brown tom on the other side of the border smiled and nodded, then left to fetch the tom. He'd been half expecting them to tear his fur off.

Nightpaw seemed to shrink as Hemlockfox made his way toward him. He was at least thankful for the border that separated them. Quietly, the small medicine cat watched as Hemlockfox admonished the WindClan patrol with a sour expression on his face. Great, so he's like that with everyone. Nightpaw's tail twitched almost irritably, but he bit his tongue. At least that meant it wasn't anything personal. Why any cat chose to act like someone had made dirt in their fresh-kill every moment of the day was beyond him, but he supposed ShadowClan had its own share of those cats.

The older tom was huffy, even as he settled in the grass not even a foxlength away. Nightpaw sat, too, almost feeling as though he'd be barked at for doing something so simple. But he dug his paws into the dirt beneath him and tried to breathe. "I, uh - nothing serious, I guess. I'm sorry to call you out here like this. But I was told to seek the guidance of the other Clans' medicine cats, and... you're really the only full-fledged medicine cat right now, aside from Thymelight, who... well." He didn't need to state the obvious. Nobody had seen Thymelight in a while, and Nightpaw had never even met her. She hadn't been at the last two meetings.

"Rookfire and Fuzzybelly are former medicine cats, back in my Clan, but it's been a while since either of them were practicing. They've taught me basic things, but..." Nightpaw trailed off. He didn't have anything explicit to ask. Leopardstar had sent him out here, and now that he was standing face to face with this stranger, he found all of his thoughts had left his brain. He thought back to camp. Nobody was terribly sick - they'd managed to avoid any sicknesses for as long as he'd been apprenticed - but someone in particular did stick out. "What do you know about... mental ailments? It's the only thing I don't have any information about. I know, as medicine cats, we're in charge of physical healing, but we're also expected to deal with the spiritual and emotional sides of things, right? Is there anything I can do for a cat who's, say, disturbed? Or someone who was traumatized, or grieving?" He was careful to bury his real question, and not to point anyone out in particular - Hemlockfox didn't need to know anything that might make ShadowClan seem weak, that was for sure. But he needed guidance. If... if Wolfpaw ever got to a point where he needed medical attention, Nightpaw wanted to be of some help. He couldn't just stand around, useless.