:.Returning;[Sanc & Open]

[c e d a r *]

Lithe bodice slid through the entrance to the camp. She stopped and took in a deep breath, inhaling all of the scents of the ThunderClan cats. She smiled, and wondered where Mudpaw was. Blinking, she shook herself, and padded onward, allowing the scents of the nursery, warriors den, and finally her den, all mix in with the herbs she had collected earlier.

Cedarclaw sighed, and turned, facing her den. She was eager to go back in, and return to work, but it was always nice to have a break from her work, and collecting herbs this time, just seemed to fly by. She swallowed back saying something to herself, and looked to the sky, just as a cloud that was overhanging above her shifted, and it finally gave way to muted sunlight. Paws thrummed lazily as she made her way into her cool, sunlit den, and placed the herbs in their allotted places in the den.

"Such a beautiful day," noted the she-cat, with a wide smile. The sun made her happy, thinking about the never ending changes of weather. One day it could be bright and sunny, the snow melting, and the next, the white flakes would be uninviting compared to the sunny day they had the day before. She sat down, and curled her tail over her paws, waiting for Stormheart to enter. Maybe the tom was enjoying the beautiful day as much as she had. The small enjoyment time, anyways.

She got up, and stretched, closing her blue eyes, finally in an air of peacefulness. Her back arched gracefully, and her neck was stretched out elegantly. Her claws worked their way into the ground underfoot, and pulled up, only to be plunged back into the ground again. Doing this relaxed her, and she soon stopped, opening her eyes, although they were narrowed with the sunlight streaming in. As another cloud passed by, she finally opened them fully, sighing in complete contentment.

Out of Character;
Word Count; 330
Muse; It's bubbling over, but right now I'm rushed
Inspiration; <3 -- Coldplay - Beautiful World

[sanctuary]

Tiny irredescent blue pools flickered in the shadows as he entered the den and stood in the shadows. She seems, relaxed. No wonder, he thought, his eyes drifting towards the skies, it's a beautiful day. A drop of snowmelt plunked down the leaves and landed short of his nose on the ground before him. Good sign, I suppose. Stepping forward he examined his pelt in the light. Now that the days were starting to lengthen, the dull thick winter coat that had done its best to protect him from the harsh leafbare was beginning to fall out in clumps, making him appear rather mangy and ungroomed. "Ugh." he grumbled below his breath and setting the herbs down in a pile near the rest of them. He rasped his tongue over his chest and shoulders a few quick times to try and tidy them up. "Beautiful day isn't it?" He commented looking back up at her. "How is Mudpaw's training coming along?" He asked gazing around to see if the young apprentice lurked somewhere within the depth of the den. A glimmer of hope sparkled in his eye as he anticipated the day that he would be granted an apprentice.

[c e d a r *]

Her hues shone, and her head turned to see Stormheart. He had also mentioned the comment she had said to herself earlier. It was a beautiful day outside, and she was glad that the tom had noticed it as well. She smiled, and let out a purr, as she heard her apprentices name.

"She's doing well, it's coming along well. I really only have to teach her a few more things about herbs. Then we'll be done with that aspect. Then comes the fun part, the fighting training. She'll need to know how to defend herself," meowed Cedarclaw. The she-cat blushed, realizing she was babbling, and she closed her mouth.

"So, anything new on the warriors side of the camp?" asked the she-cat, gently nosing the remainder of the herbs toward their allotted placed in the den. She was so happy she had a warrior to help her, and when she had finished, the she-cat stopped, and looked to Stormheart.

Her blue hues were apologetic, for she just realized she had led a warrior back to camp carrying herbs, and no fresh-kill. He wouldn't get punished, would he? Certainly he would have enough time to head back to the area in which he had caught his prey, and he was capable of bringing it back, right?

"You know what," started the medicine cat. "You can talk to me later, I'm sorry I brought you back here with me," she meowed, her eyes wide. "You should go back and continue what I managed to interrupt," she meowed. Sighing, she sat down, curling her feathered tail over her oval paws, and she looked over the warrior.

"It's your job to keep the clan stocked up with prey, and here I am messing it up. I should stay in my den," chuckled the she-cat, her whiskers twitching. "And look at me, I continue to babble on about irrelevant doings, when you should be out of here by now," she purred, her hues shining boldly. "Now, you should get going," she meowed. "For real," she finished, nudging the warrior. "I apologize," she meowed.

[sanctuary]

Stormheart blinked, his eyes surprised but full of understanding. "Yes, well, of course." He admitted flushing slightly that he had let this small moment of newleaf bliis come over him and prevent him from carrying out his duties. Rising to his paws he gave his chest a quick lick to smooth his ruffled fur and then looked back up at the she-cat. Clearing his throat he carried on, "Perhaps we could carry on this conversation at a better time. Excuse me." Turning to leave he spotted a small pair of eyes gleaming from the shadows. "Mudpaw?" He asked curiously titling his head.

"Rawr!" Shadekit yowled and pounced on top of the warriors back. He dug his small razorlike claws into his back and flexed them in and out before taking a nice firm hold of his neck with his kitten sized teeth. If this wasn't causing unnecessary trouble, then he would be very disappointed. After all he spent all morning plotting an ambush in the nursery.

"Gah!" Stormheart grunted. He tried to shake the young kit from his back but he had taken a firm grip on his pelt and refused to let go. "Shadekit, you let go of me this instant!" Stormheart growled trying to roll over on the kit without crushing him.

Shadekit struggled under the pressure but managed to rake his back with his hind claws a couple times before jumping off and landing on the ground with a thud. Satisfaction glimmered in his eyes as he smirked at the warrior, "Some warrior you are. You couldn't even get me off your back!" There was a certain tone of amusement in his voice but it was masked by the large amount of pride. Smugness radiated from every fur on his body as he ran under the large tom and ran around underneath his legs to try and set him off balance.

"Ugh." Stormheart grumbled his eyes filled with annoyance. "You're worse than any cat I'd see on the battlefield." He groaned and then took a step back and lifted the kit off the ground by his scruff gently. Stormheart rolled his eyes and placed the tiny kit back on his paws. "How do you expect to become an apprentice with behavior like yours?" Stormheart questioned with a scolding tone.

Shadekit ruffled his fur and hissed at the warrior with a sharp know-it-all edge to his voice, "I don't want to be a warrior!" Then he turned and darted into the shadows with a final glance back towards them both, "But, they can't keep me a kit forever!" Then he disappeared and headed back towards the nursery.

"He's gonna be a handful when he's a warrior. If he becomes a warrior." Stormheart commented turning his head to inspect the scratches on his back. "He'll make a good fighter thats for sure." Stormheart commented smoothing over his fur with his tongue and cringing as the taste of blood overwhelmed him. "Ugh. You'd better take a look at those. I didn't think a kit could do but so much, but it looks like he did as much as a warrior could." Stormheart laid down on the cool ground of the den and tried not to concentrate the bloody mess his fur had become. For a tomcat he was very prissy, not to mention proud. Just imagining what he must look like to Cedarclaw now was driving him insane on the inside.

[c e d a r *]

Shadekit. One could always rely on that kit to make your whiskers twitch, and that he did. She was chuckling, listening to the kit;s conversation with the warrior. She scented blood, and listened as Stormheart asked to take a look at the scratched. The medicine cat couldn't help but let her mouth open in shock. That kit had some sharp claws.

"Wow," meowed Cedarclaw, taking in a sharp breath. "Shadekit, you should be renamed Sharpkit!" she exclaimed with a small smile, padding calmly over to her stock of herbs. She would need dock, marigold, and cobwebs. Hopefully it wouldn't get infected, but there was always that small chance, and she didn't want to risk it, even if they were a few deep claw-marks from a kit.

She padded back to the tom, the herbs wrapped into the cobwebs. She dropped them at her side, and placed the cobweb onto the warriors 'wound'. Cedarclaw looked carefully at the small amount of blood that seeped into the thick wad of cobwebs. She then bent down to chew on the marigold, putting it on the wound first.

"Hopefully, this won't hurt too much," meowed the medicine cat, expecting the tom to cringe as the juices seeped onto the wound. She topped it off with the juices of a dock leaf, which hopefully would reduce swelling. Hopefully. It was a lot different than definitely.

"Now, I suggest you don't put too much weight on that shoulder, we don't want that wound to re-open," she advised to the warrior. "And Shadekit, I'd watch your claws from now on, keep them until you're a warrior, they'll be of more use then," she chuckled, nudging the kit with her maw, a smile plastering her face. "Feel better," she meowed to Stormheart, nudging the tom back to his paws.

Looking to Shadekit, she meowed, "Hopefully I won't see either of you back in my den for a while, okay?" she finished off, laughing, and smiling, a sort of smirk, her blue hues shining happily. She loved what she did, even if it did involve a little bit of blood. And sickness. And death. But she was one with her clan. She loved her clan, and she loved what she did, and there was nothing better than that.

Out of Character;
Word Count; 400
Muse; Lovely
Inspiration; Fix You -- Coldplay

[sanctuary]

Stormheart dipped his head with gratitude and rose to his feet. A soft wind ruffled is fur and he could at least feel grateful for Shadekit having scraped most of the loose itchy fur from those hard to reach places on his back. "Cedarclaw." He pardoned himself for the last time and turned without another word to the kindly medicine cat. "I might have to have a word with that kit's mother. Oh, who am I kidding nothing controls that kit. It's a good thing he doesn't have preferences to sneak out or we'd be in ig trouble. Of course, who would he bother if he left the camp. The jays?[i/i] A little mrrow of amusement rumbled from his chest as he recalled the kits wide eyes as he retold the story in the nursery that night. Sighing he took a deep breath of the clean newleaf air and headed for the opening in the camp's defense. Now, I just need to make it back out of the camp and get my kill without getting ambushed by that him again... Quickly Stormheart pressed his belly against the ground and made for the exit. Letting out a small sigh of relief as the familiar fronds brushed his pelt on his way out of the camp.

[Silvercloud]

Icepaw trudged into the den, cold eyes blazing with fury. He didn't want to be in here, he just wanted to be left alone. His great scheme had failed him and he was now here. The space surrounding was sort of small but cavernous.

The smell of various herbs struck him as he walked closer to Cedarclaw's nest in the back of den. The white tom could scent another cat in the den besides the she-cat and her apprentice. It was tom and a kit. The om was the warrior Stormheart and Shadekit. His shoulders sagged.

Great just what he needed, an audience. Icepaw stopped where he was and listened, waiting for the pow-pow to end. In a smooth and fluid motion he let his claws slid out and worked at the soft ground beneath him.

Icepaw stepped to the side as he heard Stormheart's hurried approached. The tom whisked passed and out into the clearing toward the tunnel. The snowy tom took a deep breath and sniffed the air. Nothing out of the ordinary, though the smell of herbs was overpowering.

Icepaw took a few slow steps closer to the medicine cat and loudly cleared his dry throat. Icepaw had his eyes fixed on the ground and he knew he wouldn't have to wait long.

[c e d a r *]

Ah, just who she wanted to see! She looked to her left and spotted the tom. Icepaw. She had asked to see him, and she was, quite frankly, surprised that the tom had actually followed her orders. She looked down to see that his claws were working away at the ground under his paws/ Something she did a lot as well.

"Ah, Icepaw!" meowed the she-cat, smiling. She knew the tom didn't want to admit he was sick, but the she-cat took a step forward to examine the tom apprentice. She took a few heartbeats to look at the tom, noting his skinny appearance. Tilting her head, the she-cat frowned. She smelt of something, but she wasn't quiet sure.

As quickly and softly as she could she stepped forward to take a small whiff of the toms pelt. Ah. A cold. A simple cold. Easy enough to cure, yes. That was if they tom was willing to accept the fact that he did, in fact, have a cold. And he would have to take herbs. Colds weren't that severe, but she wanted to keep the tom in the camp for the next day to see how he was progressing. She also didn't want him to infect the other cats.

"You do have a cold," meowed the she-cat softly and quietly, her blue hues searching the toms face for any kind of expression. She then surged on and continued, hoping the tom wouldn't reject her decision. "And I would like you to stay in my den for the next day, three days at most, that is unless it gets worse, which I'm assuming it won't," she meowed. "You'll get out quicker if you actually eat the herbs I give you," she meowed with a tight smile.

She just wanted to be safe. She just needed to ask this one question. "You haven't been coughing, have you?" If the tom had been coughing he could have some sort of cough that she definitely didn't want spreading throughout her own clan. Hopefully he would tell the truth, because if he was and he didn't notify her at that time, her clan mates could soon enough get infected and she would have started something horrible. But she was sure the tom wasn't. Was he?

[Silvercloud]

Icepaw felt the hairs along his spine and neck began to rise as his fur fluffed out. He was getting agitated with the she-cat's close proximity and he was feeling some what claustrophobic. The thought of staying in this small den irritated him. The smells where to over powering and some even stung his nose with their sharp odors. There was nothing to do here.

On the other hand, he would be excused from training. Icepaw couldn't but help feeling annoyed with this she-cat. He could sense the surprise coming from her as he had acutely appeared. He wasn't completely hopeless.

The arctic white tom couldn't help but feel defeated as the diagnosis was only a cold. Surely she had made a mistake? After all he had been feeling worse than fox dung smelled. He only suffered from the common cold and mild at that.

Icepaw lifted his eyes and fixed them on the she-cat's general area. His blue gaze was a blazing torrent of storms with mixed emotions swirling in the cloudy depths. At once he felt a sinking feeling and he realized that this was probably a mistake. He should have just kept staring at his paws clawing at the ground.

Cedarclaw's stare made him feel uncomfortable and he began to fidget. Had he been coughing? Who cared? He didn't really want to eat any more terrible herbs or at all for that matter; but he did want to feel better. "Yes." As he spoke the solemn word he knew his voice sounded scratchy and a little rough, would she notice? Then again what hadn't she noticed? His eyes, well for now at the moment.

[c e d a r *]

Ah, so he was. This definitely wasn't good. "Oh dear," murmured the medicine cat. She sighed, and nudged the tom softly toward a nest near the back of the den. "I suppose you can sleep anywhere. All the nests are fresh, and seeing as I haven't had many patients.." she chuckled.

She became serious, though, frowning as she padded over to her stock of herbs. She was almost out of catmint, although she thought she just got some. She sighed, and growled. There were a few leaves left, and hopefully Icepaw would get rid of that cough quickly.

Looking at her stock up and down for a few moments, she finally settled on thyme, honey, and some catmint. She sighed, and took them in her mouth. She began to pad over to the apprentice, closing her eyes as she let her nose follow her to the scent of the sick tom. "How long have you been feeling this way?" asked Cedarclaw as she let her paws carry her toward the back of the den.

Her whiskers twitched, and her ears were flicked forward, as she began to near the tom. She smiled softly and began to slow her pace. She opened her eyes and blinked excessively as the light in the den caught her by surprise. The she-cat felt so at peace and she really intended to keep it that way.

Her hues were shining with comfort as she neared the tom, each step a quiet thud on the hard ground beneath her. She hoped his nest was comfortable, for who knew how long he would actually be staying with her. Cedarclaw smiled as placed the herbs in front of the tom.

"Thyme to help your anxiety and honey for your throat. The catmint is for your cough. Hopefully you only have a small cough, because I'm running low. I'll get some poppyseeds for you as well," purred the she-cat. She really did love herbs. She loved being around them and the delicate aroma that settled in her nose and on her pelt. She didn't like to stray away from her herbs all that often. It was her love and her joy.

It was like her own secret drug. She had to be near herbs. She could dream of herself as a warrior, but all she wanted now was to be near her stocks of herbs and sort out the old ones from the fresh ones. "I'll be right back," purred the she-cat, trotting over to her store of herbs. She picked out two seeds of poppyseeds. Those should be good enough for the apprentice, and if not, the herbs were just a few pawsteps away.

"If you need me, I'll just be over by my herbs," smiled the she-cat, wandering over to her store. All of the colors. The purples and the greens, the yellows and golds. So beautiful. It reminded her like a sunset on a warm greenleaf day. The colors did, as did the scents. She smiled, closed her eyes, and allowed a large rumbling purr to rip through her chest. She was happy and at peace. Just lovely.

[Silvercloud]

How long had he been feeling this way? What kind of stupid and idiotic question was that? Did it matter? Why did he have to stay here again? Why couldn't he just eat the herbs and be on his way? It was short, sweet, simple, and to the point.

Irritation pricked at him like thorns and he took it out on his nest by shredding it into smaller chunks and scrapes. It'd make a mess of his fur and it would take for ever to clean out. Who cared and who'd see him if he was just going to be stuck down here for who knows how long?

He could sense the she-cat's happiness and it only annoyed him more. He could any cat stand the smell in here? It reeked of herbs and the strong odors hurt his sensitive nose. Perhaps it was just him who it bothered.

Poppy seeds? Didn't those make you sleepy? He didn't want to sleep and he didn't hurt! Well his head did. Still there was a whole day left to live and he sure wasn't going to spend it in here. How was Thyme going to help his anxiety? It was a stupid plant for StarClan's sake! Medicine cat's were bonkers. Who even came up with such a stupid idea?

Honey. Well at least it smelled nice. Tantalizingly good actually. He bend his head and gave it a curious sniff once more and began to lap it up. This stuff was great! It felt cool in his mouth and it did help to soothe his throat. It was sticky and messy though.

Yeah if he needed her. He wouldn't call her anyway. She could go play and fuss over her herbs all she wanted. He justed wanted out of this place and into the fresh air.

He should eat the rest of them. He glared at them and hissed at them. There was no way he was going to eat plants. He was not a vegetarian. He didn't plan on starting now.