TH3 . w o u n d . HEALS . S L O W L Y

[target]

Two almost colorless eyes twitched from side to side, glinting slightly in the break of day. A short she cat let them drift up into the sky and then her ears perked up. Both ears, taller then most, and shell like, Her left ear that was entirely black with almost literally no other coloring to it, pointed forward and her right ear, a wonderful assortment of oranges, browns, blacks, and whites, pointed back for maximum range of sounds. Being blind wasn’t bad at all… She always knew this.

But for once, as her blind eyes hit the sky, she wished she could see it. Having super hearing was great some times… but not all the time. One night, she had woken up… She hadn’t been able to sleep for a while, and she heard two cats talking with each other…. They were breaking the ice between them, isn’t the sky beautiful? And isn’t the grass so full? They soon became friends and she couldn’t hear them as the ventured further into the woods.

Sometimes she wished that she could just see the sky, she wished that she could see what the color “blue” looked like. ‘Sometimes,’ she thought silently, ‘I wish I were normal.’ She sat in the clearing until she felt the heat leave the air… the sun had gone down, and the voices of cats churned into a dim murmur of the “night patrols” going out and the warriors saying goodnight to kits in the den.

She shrunk low and then lifted herself up into a standing position. Her leg began to throb with an excruciating pain a pain she’d began to feel used to… a pain that was now normal, and she’d feel incomplete without it’s constant badgering. She quickly fell back to the ground and turned to face the un-seeable pain. Her leg… three moons ago… her leg… gashed down through the muscle scraping against the bone… her leg, a constant reminder of the horror… her leg.

She lifted herself once again and began dragging herself back to the direction of Devilsoul’s den… What would happen if he found out that she’d been out! Again! She shook her head… if he knew she didn’t know what she’d do. She had a sinking feeling that she was supposed to stay in the medicine cats den at all times! But she just couldn’t, it wasn’t her nature to be taken down quietly by an illness she couldn’t see.

She sniffed the air as she heard him on the high branch. ‘Oh dear.’ She thought. Not that she was saying Oh dear to the toxic waste and not about the “liquid Mercury” but about the fact that she was dragging herself limp across the clearing with no way to conceal herself. Quickly she noted that she didn’t care what he’d say to her. The kit quickly limped faster across the clearing until she met the scent of a thousand and one herbs.

She couldn’t sleep in the den again… her nose… no way! She could smell things better then most cats because of her being blind… and she just wouldn’t put herself through the gut wrenching smell of all around herbs through the night. Instead she lay right outside of the den, flopping to the ground. Soon she felt the cool air spread across her leg… the first time she’d felt the cool air rush over her leg in quite a while.

“Devilsoul?” she called out.
She silently wondered what the tom looked like before she sniffed her wound.
“I can feel air on my leg… It’s come unwrapped.” She mewed flicking her tail on the cobwebs. She felt how the wound felt like puss, it was still bubbling with a bit of blood too, but around the edges it had began to dry. She hoped so after two and a half moons, it ought to have began to heal by now… even if she was constantly moving.
“I also want poppy seeds.” She mumbled.
“My leg hurts, and I have a head ache.” She mumbled.

She doubted that he knew about her being blind… her mother hadn’t told any one… but if no one else figured it out, he would eventually.
She kept a semi-fixed position on him with her eyes… not exactly sure where he was in the den, or if he was just near her, but she knew he was, for he and Nightfeather had been heard talking about the “Liquid Mercury.”

“I’d also like to know… a bit about this… Liquid stuff.”

[suki]

Devilsoul came up behind her and smiled. How long are you going to wait to tell me your blind? He asked then grabbed some cobwebs with his muzzle. He then applied some pressure to the would and shook his head. The rambuntious little kit would be a great medicine cat, already knowing what half the herbs do, just because she's used half of them already. But, Devilsoul continued to apply pressure onto her wounds, then more cobwebs. Once her bleeding ceased he walked over to his over flowing stock of poppyseeds and gave her two. Yes madam. He said as he held the poppyseeds in front of her face with a paw. His red pelt was dull in the den, but his eyes were bright, yet they stared into the clouded dullness of the kits eyes.

His mind went to the liquid mercury, and then her question came abraud. This liquid stuff. He began, Is called liquid mercury. It really horrible. Its metal, something that the two legs make, but its liquid. Thicker than water, and a lot stickier. Its awful. If you injest it, then it sticks to your stomach walls, if it gets that far. But it usually sticks to your esaphagus, and it suffocates you. Its horrible, not to mention messy. His voice was calm, and rather amusing, as though he was making a joke, but no laughter came from his voice. He looked at the small kit and smiled, knowing she couldnt see it, so he spoke. You would make a great medicine cat someday, but you must understand, that its a lonely life. Most cats ignore you or treat you as an apprentice untill they really need you, then respect comes from it. But I assume you know that way of life from being blind. My mother was blind. And she says that being blind isnt a burden, its a gift. Because most times she never wanted to see what type of hell she really was living in. He started laughing just at the memory of his mother, then her death. His laughter then died down and he focused on the kit that was infront of him.

[mudmask]

Hardsoul entered the camp carrying two mice in his jaws. The prey seemed so scrawny and useless in the leaf bare, but these were the only tiny scraps of a morsel he could find out there in the frozen territory. His fur was doing a helpless job of protecting him from the bitter icy chill in the air. His amber eyes drooped and were dull, tired from hunting all day. He expected a groan or a complaint from another Shadowcat, but all he heard were the faint, Night! Come on kits, time for bed. Hardsoul saw Tactickit and Devilsoul going into the medicine cat den. He decided to give them the prey, then grab something off the lowering prey-pile. He heard Devilsoul say something about blindness, but he was to far away to hear the precise words of the medecine cat. Padded across the what seemed like deserted camp, Hardsoul finally felt the effect on his paws for hunting all day, they hurt, and one was cracken and bleeding. He might as well drop in and get something for this awful pain. He walked in through the entrance slowly, so not to drag his paw along the ground, and said, "Devilsoul, Tactickit, I brought you some prey. The cold has driven most mice into their holes, so this was all I could find." Lowering his eyes in embaressment he didn't mention his paw. Being out all day, only catching two mice and then complaining about a sore bleeding paw!?!? Warriors needed to tough it out and live up to expectations! Hardsoul gave Tactickit a smile, and stood, there, waiting, waiting for anything at all...

[target]

She chewed on her lip irritably as the cobwebs made her leg itch, and she felt the pressure that was applied to it easily. She breathed in through her nose at a bit of pain but quickly grabbed up the poppy seeds quickly and almost immediately felt a bit of relief. She blinked cautiously before she let her nose move her head over to a pile of Dock leaves.

“When was I planning on it?” She mewed noticing the warriors presence she was sure not to say any thing about being blind. “I wasn’t.” she moaned. Her groan sounded more like a low growl in the pit of her stomach. “Your mother?” She curled her tail around herself, but as the tom began to laugh she only stared out almost emotionless. “Sounds a lot like what I started out feeling… but then I wondered about flowers…” She paused. “I’ve heard cats named after different types of flowers, I just thought it would be nice… you know?” She mewed. “But I guess I’m not missing much.” She snorted and turned around letting her eyes shift to the side of the den.

“Hello Hardsoul.” She mewed with a half sigh. Her ears lowered and she licked her paw. “It’s okay, I get leaf bare.” She mewed. “StarClan tortures cats by giving them tons of food here and no food there…” she chuckled a bit. “and yet you guys never get tired of hunting for it.” She sniffed the air and shifted uneasily on her seat.

She could smell more blood, a metallic smell… but not much of it. She knew it wasn’t her own now, as what little dripped before being wrapped back up would have dried, but what she smelled now was raw flesh and blood. She wrinkled her nose. “You know Hardsoul.” She mewed at first as she motioned her tail at his paw indecisively. But when she opened her mouth again something stopped her. ‘You idiot!’ she mewed inside her head. ‘Shut up and let him be a tom.’ She then grunted slightly and lay down. “Never mind.” She could smell how little blood their was and as toms go he probably thought it wasn’t much, and he was probably right.

[short post but I’m at a lack of muse… a great great lack of muse! And I’ll try to reply with Tealtide in a moment! Grasias!]

[suki]

Devilsoul snorted when she avoided saying she was blind in the presence of a warrior. He knew they were all going to find out one day. He watched the kit bite at her lip and knew the cobwebs were itchy, he hated them as well, and he switched the old ones for new ones. He wrapped her leg in some large leaves and puffed.

Turning his attention to Hardsoul he smirked. So.. You going to tell me about your paw, or let it get infected. Your choice. He smirked and turned around, making a nest comfortable for Hardsoul so he could treat him. Devilsoul was one caniving little brute. He made a lot of cats laugh, and a lot more nervous. He almost always had a question to ask, whether it was a true question or sarcasm.

Oh, thanks for the flesh. He said, directing his thanks to the mouse. He didnt care if it was scrawny or anything, that was still meat. He looked at Hardsoul and waited for his answer, but then he turned back on the kit. Your staying here so you dont rip open that bandage again. And if you do then Im going to let it get infected. He snapped, in a kind way. Devilsoul would never let any cat's wound get infected, but hey, it was good to scare them into doing what he wanted. Besides, he knew more about medicine than any other cat out there.

Devilsoul walked over to Hardsoul, picked up both mice, went behind Hardsoul, and shoved him inside. Devilsoul then padded back into the den and dropped both mice by Tactickit and then picked one back up and ate it. For the three mouthfulls that it gave him, it sure was good. He looked at Hardsoul in a thankfull look, he really needed that, then he sat down, almost expecting Hardsoul to come in and lay in the nest that he prepared for him. Devilsouls yellow eyes were demeaning, but still had no emotion in them.

[mudmask]

Hardsoul gave a halfway grunt and let Devilsoul push him inside the medicine cat den. Strange, tangy scents filled his nostrils, and he blinked, taking in his surroundings. Looking at the ever so comfortable nest, he almost snorted out loud. I'm a tom, not a queen! he thought. He sat down, beside the nest, then realizing he looked quite stupid that way, he got up and layed halfway in it; showing he was not exactly happy about laying there, but didn't express it in words. Hardsoul was surprised at how easily his body collapsed, and he gave way to the exhaustion. "Just to much cold has cracked it or whatever Devilsoul." Turning to Tactickit he was about to say something to her about her leg, but swallowed the words. Hardsoul lowered his eyes, staring at the ground. He wondered what Nightfeather was doing. The last time he had seen her was at the clan meeting, where she had mysteriously vanished with Dawnwind and Miragesoul. They seemed to have disliked Reefpelt greatly, in fact, Hardsoul wasn't to hot about Reefpelt either, but he just couldn't get the name Reefstar out of his head. It left a nasty tang in his mouth.