► Barktail finds x1 cobwebs and x1 lungwort. He needs x1 cobwebs for his wounds.
He would make them pay, Barktail vowed as he tore another frozen cobweb from the corner of the hollow he sheltered in. He would make Fireclan pay if he had to rip each cat to shreds himself. Timberstar, for banishing him. Barktail pressed the webs into his wounds. Juniperleap, for letting him take the fall. Blood oozed over his paw. He pressed harder. Hollypelt, for everything she had ever done to him. Barktail pressed the webs tighter and tighter to his side, shaking too furiously in anger and cold to notice he had extended his claws and was doing more harm to his wounds than good.
Letting out a his of annoyance Barktail retreated further into the hollow, away from the rising wind and swirling snow. He willed his temper to cool, to forge itself into an icy desire for revenge. He would bring Fireclan to its knees, but not tonight. Tonight he would rest and build his strength; tomorrow Deathclan would begin. And once Deathclan had risen to its full strength? Well those Fireclan cats wouldn't know what hit them.
► Everyone is healing nicely
The medicine den was a mess, flooded with more patients than Hollypelt could hope to deal with on her own. Barkktail may have been a piece of foxdung and betrayed his oath, but the medicine cat couldn't help the rising realization that his paws had been useful for something. But she had forced down the thought, Fireclan didn't need the poison of his words or actions. She would simply have to work twice as hard to make do.
"It's nice to be working with you again," Hollypelt purred to Valleyglow, "For however long it lasts. I know you have a lot to deal with in the nursery."
Valleyglow flinched almost imperceptibly at the word 'nursery', but managed a genuine smile for her old mentor. "You'll have Pinepaw to help you soon enough. How's her training going?"
Pinepaw? Training? Hollypelt let out a sigh of frustration. "With everything that happened I completely forgot about her. What a wonderful mentor am I." First not acting on her suspicions of Barktail, now this. However did Valleyglow turn out so well?
"Hey." Valleyglow rested a fluffy tail across Hollypelt's shoulders. "I've dropped the mossball with Blazepaw during crisis more times than I can count. Apprentices are resilient- so long as we prove we're trying they forgive us."
A small smile bloomed across Hollypelt's muzzle. "You're right. Once everything has settled down I'll work Pinepaw to the bone. She'll long for the days of no training!"
► Blazepaw fails advanced herbal application
"Blazepaw! Blazepaw!" Valleyglow gently nudged her apprentice, who had been rifling through the herbs she had given him and murmuring to himself for a very long while. "You have to actually give your patient the antidote, remember? Time is a smidge bit of the essence in poison control."
Blazepaw let out a hiss of frustration and swiped away the herbs, much to the shock of his mentor. The apprentice buried his muzzle in his paws, letting out an almost-panicked sob. It was then that Valleyglow realized how badly he was shaking.
Oh Hollypelt, now who's the struggling mentor? she couldn't help but cry in her mind. Out loud she hushed her apprentice in a soothing tone, pressing her pelt against his in comfort. "It's okay Blazepaw. Wanna tell me what's up?"
With a loud sniffle Blazepaw lifted his head to face his mentor. "He t-tried it before," the apprentice cried bitterly, "Barktail t-tried to poison cats before. The f-foxglove seed in Snowtrail's herbs. I found it then, but not now! I thought we had been careless but it's w-worse than that. I d-didn't even consider someone could have tried to hurt a queen on purpose. I s-should have. Maybe if I did I would have caught him."
"Oh Blazepaw," Valleyglow whispered. She wrapped herself more tightly around her apprentice, letting him cry into her fur. "Blazepaw you couldn't have known. The future isn't something any living cat can see. All we can do is our best to make the present as good as we can."
► Coalpaw learns combat
► Poppypaw learns combat
► Brightpaw learns combat
► Aspenpaw fails combat
► Smokepaw learns combat instead of climbing
"Strike! Strike! Parry! Strike! Roll! Dodge! Back in position! Strike!" Firestrike barked out the positions in quick succession. As the gathered apprentices stumbled through the motions with various amounts of success, Aspenpaw showing particularly bad form, their mentors watched them with a scrutinizing gaze.
The idea of group training wasn't exactly revolutionary when Stonebark had brought it up, but to work with so many apprentices and mentors at once for an extended period of time was relatively new. It made all involved feel a good bit safer, Barktail's betrayal still keeping many cats up at night, if somewhat cramped. And while some cats were far from thriving in the new group setting- Snaketail in particular was jumpy and it was rubbing off on Aspenpaw- others had found new strength.
Coalpaw couldn't be said to be fluid as he shuffled through the various combat positions, but he was no longer flinching away with every strike. The apprentice jerked through the motions, teeth clenched, strikes inelegant but effective. Stonebark felt his chest swell with pride at his apprentice's success. While he doubted he himself had much to do with it, the deputy couldn't fight back the tears building up in his eyes as he announced to Coalpaw that he had passed his combat training.
► Emberpaw fails advanced hunting
► Blackpaw fails hunting
► Ravenpaw learns hunting
"Keep your tail lower- no lower! Blackpaw keep yours from wriggling around so much will you?" Blackpaw let out a snort in response to Emberpaw's commands. Besides him the mostly-focused Ravenpaw had begun to squirm as well.
"Am I doing it right?" Ravenpaw whined to Willowfern, who nodded in Emberpaw's direction as if to say ask her. Emberpaw felt her pelt crawl as Ravenpaw begrudgingly looked to her for correction. All her knowledge of hunting had fled her mind after she had agreed to Silvertail's suggestion to teach her fellow apprentices, and all her attempts to recapture her skills, and the respect of Blackpaw and Ravenpaw, had caused them to wriggle away like worms in the light.
"Let's take break," Silvertail suggested, and Emberpaw felt her heart drop at her mentor's resigned tone.
► Sandpaw learns swimming
► Lunarpaw learns swimming
► Firpaw learns swimming
Even in the midst of leafbare, swimming still needed to be taught. Though Skypaw's death was no longer fresh in Fireclan's minds his memory cemented swimming as a vital skill for young apprentices. Thankfully tag teaming enabled half the mentors to guide the apprentices through the basics of swimming in the shallows while the other half cleared away building snow and warmed beds of moss for the swimmers' relief.
"Okay that's enough for the day," Greyface announced as the snow began to fall heavier. She counted each apprentice and mentor as they emerged from the river, watching as they shook out their freezing coats and began to lick themselves dry. "Don't forget to check in with Hollypelt and Valleyglow when we get back to camp. I don't want to hear that any of you have caught so much as a cold."
► Galepaw learns fishing
► Oakpaw learns fishing
► Cherrypaw learns fishing but catches the chills. She needs x1 chickweed.
► Stillpaw learns fishing instead of hunting
The cats training in fishing stayed out a while longer than those who were swimming, distracted by swirling currents and opportunities alike. The clan needed more fishers, and all the apprentices were doing so well, it was hard for any of the mentors to justify pulling away early just because the wind had picked up a little. Until Cherrypaw began sneezing that was.
"Dont- Achoo! Worry about me- Achoo!" Cherrypaw cried, waving off her fussing friends with a wet paw. But her argument was less than convincing thanks to her shivering and sneezing, and none of her companions were having it.
"More than we need any fishers, Cherrypaw," lectured Slitear, "we need healthy cats. Soon it'll be too dark to find our way back to camp anyways, so better we turn back now." While his words had the desired effect of soothing Cherrypaw's protests, it was the praise the various mentors heaped on their apprentices for their fishing skills that led her to smile through her snot.
► Nightpaw learns climbing
► Boulderpaw learns climbing
► Paperpaw learns climbing
► Pinepaw learns climbing instead of combat
► Shadowpaw learns climbing but later goes into toxic shock due to scratching himself on a rusty nail He needs x1 yarrow, x1 snakeroot, x1 horsetail & 2 moons rest.
Even though Nightpaw was the surest climber, Shadowpaw had still beat him in the climbing race their mentors had set up. It was likely at least partially to do with Shadowpaw's inexperience climbing that he won. Willful ignorance enabled him to climb riskily, throwing his full weight onto thin branches without testing them first, pressing on despite possibly-wrenched claws and other injuries, daring to defy the 'three points of contact' rule. But it was also this willful ignorance that now had him slung over Forgottennose's shoulder as his mentor and associates bounded towards the medicine den.
It hadn't happened all at once. At first it was just a headache, then an ache in his muscles. Given that the training group had decided to do a patrol after training since sun-up, neither had been particularly surprising at first. But then Shadowpaw had thrown up. And then he had thrown out again. And again and again and again until there was nothing left in his shivering, burning body. Then the apprentice had begun to writhe uncontrollably, needing Forgottennose and Lavenderfoot to hold him down on his side so he didn't choke on his own spit.
They had brought him to Hollypelt as quickly as they could, and according to the medicine cat they hadn't a moment to waste. A poultice had stabilized him but even with his shivering subsided Shadowpaw seemed small and weak- a scrap of fur and bones.
► Rainpelt’s patrol finds x1 mouse, x1 bird
► Leopardeye’s patrol finds x1 vole, x1 bird
"Prey running well for you too?" asked Rainpelt asked the returning Leopardeye, who shrugged through her mouthful of vole.
Burying the rodent under the snow with the rest of the freshkill, the snow-packing technique aimed to preserve prey as well as lessen the chances of predators being attracted by the scent, the warrior finally spoke. "As well as can be expected given the weather."
"At least we're well prepared." Rainpelt inclined her head at the frozen pelts of dozens of furry creatures that the clan had caught in excess over the moons. "I'm more concerned about our herb stock if I'm honest, with everyone getting sick as they are. We're down Barktail now too."
Leapordeye gave a disgusted shudder at the mention of the traitor medicine cat. "We're better off without him," she hissed bitterly, "Fireclan is stronger with its internal threats driven out. This clan will not fall." Not like Hollowclan had.
► Cloudstride’s patrol finds nothing of note
Nearly as soon as Cloudstride's patrol stepped out beyond the camp clearing, the wind and snow had whipped up into a furious storm. The sky was almost utterly white, though night had presumably fallen. Time was difficult to tell with the sun and moon covered by raging clouds and snow.
"It's not worth it!" cried Cloudstride to Ashfur, his words nearly torn away by the wind as soon as he had shouted them.
"What?" came Ashfur's reply. Even though she was only a few strides ahead her response was muffled to Cloudstride's ears.
"I said," he yelled above the swirling storm, "We should go back to camp! We're not going to find anything in this storm!"
"Fine!" Ashfur stumbled through the snow back towards Cloudstride's voice, almost crashing into him as she came. "Sorry!" she shouted in his ear, "You blend in with the snow!"
► The expanded nursery is much more spacious but the new walls are bare brambles and have caused several cases of scratches. x1 ivy leaf is needed to pad the walls.
"Why is it so cold in here?" groused Snowtrail, pulling Ebonykit closer to her stomach where she could be warm. The blizzard's chill had begun to permeate the nursery, piercing thin and thick fur alike.
"Well it's bigger for one thing," Quailcloud mewed matter-a-factly, her own kits practically swaddled beneath her, "and there's fewer of us in here." A moment of silence settled among the queens for their fallen friend Fernheart. Seeming to sense they were being thought of Rosinkit and Saltkit began to mew from beneath Shadowstride's fluff.
"It's the walls. They were erected quickly so they haven't been padded yet. It's why Icekit and Snowkit wind up covered in scratches too sometimes." The other queens nodded sagely at Shadowstride's explanation. The walls must be the cause of the draft- if anyone would know, it would be Shadowstride.
► Bramblestrike is judged
► Two gone, seven to spare- Timberstar must guard his remaining lives wisely
There exists certain rules for Starclan cats, about revealing the future to still-living cats. And there exist even more rules, it seems, about revealing past and present events, especially when knowledge of these events could change the living clans' futures. And so Starclan sends the help it can in cryptic omens and prophecies, hoping their living friends and family will unearth hidden meanings and fend off dangers their dead clanmates cannot fight for them. It is how it has always been, and it is how it will always be.
That does not mean Starclan cats enjoy being cryptic; in fact it is quite the opposite for most starry denizens. But it is their curse to not be able to help their loved ones; their words torn away by icy winds and a midnight stream. Screams ringing through the forever-night are not uncommon, heard only by dead ears, not the clanmates they are meant for. They are not the Dark Forest, but that does not mean they do not sorrow. It does not mean they cannot rage against heavens and earth alike. Bramblestrike knows this too well.
The shunning of the other starry cats he can bear; one, ten, one hundred million moons ago Bramblestrike didn't even believe he would reach Starclan. He had steeled himself to the Dark Forest, penance for his silence. Instead he finds his punishment in the coldness of his old clanmates. Those who tried to speak but were denied, faced with he who could have spoken but instead hid away.
I'll just say they trained in advanced for whatever they doubled on]
))
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