Flurry was carrying the songbird - a sorry, scrawny morsel that would barely feed anybody - with her head held low. Maybe that was why she didn't scent the strange tortoiseshell before she practically ran into her.
Flurry blinked in surprise as Furzetuft approached. For just a second, her claws sank into the hard show beneath her paws. Then, the bouncing curls and smiling face came into focus; no longer was the dark and lean shape a stranger, but... a friend? Furzetuft certainly acted like a friend in the way she smiled at Flurry as she loped towards her. She almost reminded Flurry of-
No. Don't think about it. Don't think about her.Willow snarled at Furzetuft in Flurry's hesitation. "Why should I care?" The healer snapped, plumed tail lashing. "You think you can just demand our herbs?"
"Wait." Flurry dropped the songbird to speak. "Wait, Willow." She rested her tail on Willow's back, making the molly stiffen slightly. She paused, then looked towards Flurry. Her face wasn't exactly soft, but the open hostility she offered Furzetuft has melted into guarded confusion. The way her tail twitched behind her hinted to just barely concealed ire. Flurry decided to speak quickly.
"Furzetuft is the cat Frost and I told you about. She warned us about the wolf." Flurry put a special emphasis on Frost's name in the hopes Willow would understand. She did: the molly's muscles relaxed and she turned back to Furzetuft with wide eyes.
"I-I'm so sorry." Willow stammered. Flurry could smell the faintest whiff of fear coming off her. She didn't blame the healer. All cats who were raised in the forest heard of spirits and the fae; Frost wasn't quite sure where Furzetuft and some of the other rogues that visited the territory fell on that spectrum, but they could tell well enough that said rogues weren't normal. Frankly, the fact that Frost didn't know what they were only made Flurry feel more justified of being wary of them. Furzetuft hadn't seemed hostile though, instead appearing to be the typical 'asks for favors and grants favors in return' sort of entity. She seemed pleasant enough too: despite how Willow had greeted her, the curly furred tortie smiled pleasantly at her.
"No need to worry. I understand - herbs are scarce during Leafbare. I hate to ask you again, but I can't seem to find anything." Furzetuft smiled apologetically. "If you have none to spare, then I-"
"No!" Willow interrupted Furzetuft with a shout. Furzetuft stopped, giving the healer a curious look. Willow shrank under her gaze but met her eye. "We have some lungwort we can spare. Will that be enough?"
"That would be perfect." Furzetuft purred. "Thank you, really." There was none of the cruel amusement in the molly's voice that Flurry had been told to expect of the fae. No needle-like fangs or roots for claws like spirits may have. She truly seemed like a normal cat except... she smelled wrong. Flurry wasn't sure what it was, only that sometimes Frost came back with whisps of the same smell on her fur whenever she went to the Skytree. Strange.
Willow dipped her head to the molly. "Of course. I'll go back to my camp to fetch it for you." When she raised her head, she collected the feverfew from Feya and the songbird from Flurry. She shot the warrior a wide-eyed glance before she left, leaving Flurry and Feya alone with Furzetuft.
With her mentor gone, Feya approached Furzetuft curiously. Flurry watched, relaxing ever so slightly. She trusted Furzetuft not to hurt Feya.
"You're beautiful." The purple apprentice breathed.
Furzetuft laughed lightly, the sound like chiming bells. Her curls shone in the early morning sun. "Thank you, little one. I don't believe we've met before?"
Feya shook her head. "We haven't, but Damir told me you met Flurry. My name's Feya."
"It's good to meet you, Feya." Furzetuft purred. "Are you a medicine cat apprentice? I saw you were carrying herbs for your friend."
"My friend?" Feya echoed. "Oh, you mean Willow! I'm her apprentice - we're both healers. What's a medicine cat?"
Furzetuft flushed. "Healers! I'm sorry, I forget that's what you're called here." She dipped her head to the apprentice.
Feya tipped her head curiously at the molly. Flurry narrowed her eyes.
"What do you mean?" Flurry spoke. Not angrily, though her voice always sounded flat these days.
Furzetuft glanced to the side. "You don't-? Ah, well, um-"
The sound of crunching snow rapidly drawing nearer made Furzetuft pause. She looked towards the sound, brows furroed slightly, and smiled when Willow emerged from the underbrush. She had a bundle of dried stems and leaves held between her jaws. Tiny purple flowers dotted the tops of the stems in small clusters.
Willow approached the traveler, not seeming to notice the conversation taking place. She placed the herbs at Furzetuft's paws. "Will this be enough?"
Furzetuft beamed. "Yes, this is perfect! Thank you so much." She purred. "I'll be resuming my travels now, but first-" the molly produced a small bundle of leaves carefully bound with dried plant fibers. Willow blinked in surprise and shied away from it, but Feya stepped forward and took the parcel from Furzetuft's grasp.
"A gift for your help." The molly smiled. "It was good to see you again Flurry." She turned to the stoic warrior and dipped her head slightly. Flurry found herself returning the motion.
"You too."
Furzetuft smiled at her, then dipped her head to Feya and Willow. "Thank you again for your help! I won't forget your kindness." Her amber gaze focused on Willow for a moment, twinkling with mirth. "Be safe this Leafbare. It's going to be a cruel one." Her voice became a touch graver. A chill ran up Flurry's spine. Was that a warning? Did Furzetuft know something?
If the others noticed, they didn't react. Feya beamed up at the strange molly. "You be safe too! Come back to visit!!"
~
The patrol continued after Furzetuft left. Feya was talking incessantly about Furzetuft, and while Willow didn't seem to want to talk about the molly, Flurry found herself answering Feya. At first, it was only because she felt bad about the excited apprentice's questions going unanswered, but then Flurry began enjoying the conversation. All of the other cats in camp treated her differently after the wolf. For many, that was the first time they realized just how... damaged Flurry was, Flurry suspected.
But Feya didn't seem to mind. She was chattering at Flurry like she did before, and for once, Flurry found herself responding.
Despite their chatter, the small group managed to get more work done. Flurry caught a hare, and Willow and Feya found some lovage and deadly nightshade between them. Flurry wasn't sure why the healers would want to collect such a terrible poison, but Willow explained with the dark berries between her paws.
"Some of the merchants and traders outside of the territory will trade for these." She nudged the berries with her paw. "A skilled cat can make a cure for the illness caused by the berries with their juice."
Or they could poison somebody, Flurry thought, eyes narrowed at the berries. "Are you going to go trade?"
Willow nodded. "I am. We need more herbs, and maybe I'll be able to get some prey for these too." She explained. "You two go back to camp. I'll catch up."
Flurry's eyes widened. "Are you sure? I can come with you to-"
"I can protect myself." Willow cut Flurry off with a thin smile. "I used to be a kittypet, not useless. Feya can't carry everything by herself anyways." She gestured to the apprentice with her paw. Flurry looked over and saw it was true. Though she would only be carrying the hare, a small bundle of herbs, and the strange parcel, the hare was large - almost as big as the apprentice, really. It was a good catch, one that made Flurry feel better about herself. Maybe instead of tracking down each of her clanmates and trying to apologize or explain, she could apologize by providing for them. She would have to triple her hunting efforts. She wouldn't make it back in time to join the sunhigh patrol, but maybe she could go out on her own?
Willow stepped in front of her, pulling Flurry out of her thoughts. She leaned back, but the shaggy molly was only going to touch her nose to Feya's forehead. "Tell Lev I'll be back soon, okay?"
"Okay." Feya looked her up and down with furrowed brows. "Promise to be safe?"
"Of course." Willow smiled. With that, she stepped away and picked up her herbs. She nodded to Flurry and Feya before heading off to the border. Flurry watched her go for a moment before Feya broke the silence.
"She's worried about my mom." Feya's voice was small. "We have plenty of herbs, but she wants more. She never lets me go with her."
Flurry blinked down at Feya. "Does she go trade often?"
"Not really," Feya shrugged, "but she's been doing it more." She frowned. "I'm worried about my mom too."
Flurry frowned. She could remember being so worried when her mother was pregnant with her younger siblings. She couldn't have been much older than Feya. How had she forgotten?
"I know." What else could she say?
"I'm worried about you, too." Feya looked up to meet Flurry's gaze. "We all are."
"I know." She looked down, tail tip twitching. "I'm not-" Flurry huffed, then sighed. "I'll be fine." Feya was silent. She didn't move, and for some reason Flurry couldn't bring herself to meet her eye. She could feel the purple apprentice just... staring at her. Waiting.
Well, whatever Feya was waiting for, she wouldn't get it. Flurry had more hunting to do, and couldn't waste time being stared down by an apprentice.
"Come on." Flurry spoke briskly, but tried to keep her voice from being too harsh as she turned to grab the hare. Feya hummed in response, and picked up her bundle of herbs and the parcel. After sparing a glance to make sure Feya was following, Flurry began to lead them on the silent journey back to camp, keeping an eye out for more prey and herbs along the way.
~
Willow trudged through the thick snow. It was looser here, and had no layer of ice that she could walk on top of. She was up to her knees in snow, and there was more snow underneath her. The snow underneath was packed, however, and provided a stable surface for the healer to walk on. Even still, Willow tried not to think about how deep it truly was.
The trek to the border didn't take too much longer. She, Feya, and Flurry had already gone quite far as they searched for herbs, so it took Willow just under fifteen minutes to reach the edge of the forest. As the trees grew sparser, the lake came into view.
Damir named LakeClan for the lake in their territory, and for good reason. The lake was massive, so large that it seemed to fill the horizon. She could just barely make out trees on the other side; Willow knew just by looking that it would take more than a day of travel to reach the other shore. The lake was a rich cerulean blue that grew darker where the water was deeper. Willow had never braved the lake - even when it was covered in a thick layer of ice, like it was now - but some of her clanmates had told her it was dark as the night sky at its deepest. Strange creatures lived in the lake: fish larger than cats, spiky red bug-like creatures as big as her paw, and something the others called seals.
Seals were terrifying, if harmless creatures. She had seen a colony of them once, laying on the rocks and sunning themselves like cats. Willow had decided that she never wanted to see them again. They weren't aggressive, but just the sight of them made her head spin. They were almost as long as a deer, but had none of the sharp angles and muscles of one. In fact, seals appeared to be almost entirely made out of fat and squishiness. They had no legs to speak of, only strange appendages like a fish's fins where their front legs should be and a fish-like tail where their back legs should be. Yet despite all of their fish-like qualities, seals could laze about in the sun for hours it seemed. They certainly didn't belong out of the water - the strange things could hardly do more than flop and roll around with their odd limbs - but they had fur. Fur! Willow was certain she'd seen it on the drier ones, a thin layer of fur puffed out by the wind. Their face was more like a dog's than that of a fish too, complete with massive, dark eyes that sent chills up Willow's spine.
Feya had called them cute.
Cute!! Willow couldn't understand. Just the sight of them sent her mind reeling and made her stomach churn. They were a conglomeration of mismatched parts and very, very wrong.
A chorus of strange barks rang out over the frozen lake, making Willow shudder. It wasn't a pack of dogs - though she almost wished it was - but the damned seals. On top of having a dog's face, they had a dog's voice. Willow didn't
want to understand.
Luckily, the seal colony was far away from where most merchants set up their shop. Willow kept her gaze turned deliberately away from the lake as she padded along its banks. She was now officially out of LakeClan territory, but very few cats occupied the forest. Only the merchants visited, and even then they often traveled around the forest and into the Twolegplace in search of good and trades. Most cats found the area too harsh. Willow hoped at least one of the would be at the trading post, her paws were starting to go numb.
It took Willow another ten or so minutes of walking to find the rock that was the trading post. This area had been deemed neutral ground long before LakeClan took up residence in the forest, or so Willow had been told. Cats from all walks of life could come here to trade and talk in peace, from rogues to kittypets and even cats from the Old Clan. Willow herself had never gone prior to joining LakeClan, but Rye and Lev had apparently been out here once or twice as kittypets.
The rock itself was another strange thing about the forest; the lakeshore was rocky more than it was sandy, but the trading post rock was far larger than any of the stones that could be found along the lakeside. It was large enough to comfortably hold at least twenty cats! If Willow had to guess, it probably slid from the nearby mountains years ago. To further support that theory, there were many large shards of stone strewn about the area and the path leading to the trading post itself. Many of these rocks had hollows dug underneath them that cats would sleep in or store their goods while waiting to trade.
Luckily, Willow didn't have to wait. As she stepped onto the snow-covered stone, a grey tabby called out to her.
"Willow! Is that you?" The cat called out. Willow squinted, trying to make out his shape.
"Wahoo?" Willow cringed inwardly as she called out the tom's name. He just had to be a former kittypet. What kind of name was Wahoo? Willow always worried she sounded sarcastic when she said his name.
Wahoo.He was certainly energetic enough to fit the name, however. He was grinning ear to ear as Willow approached.
"I was hoping to see you!" He beamed. "One of my friends is sick and needs some herbs. Are you here to trade those?" He nodded towards the herbs Willow as she placed them at her paws.
The molly glanced at the basket of fish by Wahoo's side. Some of those fish were as long as her tail! Her clan could definitely use one, but...
"I don't think think these herbs will help your friend." Willow frowned slightly as she gestured to the dark berries.
Wahoo was quick to talk, stopping whatever Willow was going to say next. "Oh, no, these are exactly one of the herbs they told me to look for! Black berries in the center of a star," he reached forward to point to the berries with a claw, "and smooth, pointy leaves." He beamed at Willow. "Would you be willing to trade? I have something quite special for anyone who can help my friend!"
Willow's brow furrowed. She glanced down at the berries, then looked back to Wahoo's smiling face. Her stomach felt uneasy. For the first time, Willow noticed another scent underneath the usual smell of fish and water that clung to Wahoo's fur. He smelled like...
Furzetuft.
Willow's heart skipped a beat. She edged away from the tom, eyeing him warily. "Wahoo... these are poisonous." Her voice was low, soft. The tom's smile faltered. Did he seem surprised? Tentatively, Willow continued: "Just how sick is your friend?"
Wahoo looked down. It was a long time before he spoke, almost as if he didn't want to admit it. "He... he's been sick for a very long time. He's not going to get better."
Willow understood at once. Her Twoleg had been a vet, after all. Her heart ached for the grey tom. She'd never seen him so... defeated.
"I'm so sorry." Willow reached one of her paws out to Wahoo. She hesitated for just a moment, then laid it over his. He looked up, surprised. His features softened into a sad smile.
"Don't worry about it, miss." Wahoo was quieter than Willow had ever heard him. "I caught some fish for us today!" Willow could practically see the effort Wahoo put into sounding chipper. "We were going to eat them with some honey I've been saving." His eyes took on a wistful look. He was silent for a moment, staring at something Willow couldn't see, before his gaze refocused on her.
"I can't- I won't be trading my fish today. But I have something else to offer you, if you would still be willing to trade."
Willow tried to put on a reassuring face. What would that even be? She stopped trying, instead just... witnessing the strange tabby. Letting the moment sit with them.
"Of course." Willow's voice was soft. She nudging the nightshade into Wahoo's paws with her own. "Anything you can spare will do." Her clan needed more, but... it didn't have to be from him. She could find more herbs, more prey once she left. And she would be leaving, and soon as was socially acceptable. Best to let Wahoo spend time with his friend rather than keep him here.
[ 3,168 words ]
Note: I believe I finished all off the monthly tasks for July! I'm not sure if Willow's lettuce counts as nature-themed though, so I may not have completed task #2 ^^;
━ cats on patrolFlurry | she/her | HP 100% | HUP 10% | Sick: N
Willow | she/her | HP 100% | HUP 10% | Sick: N
Feya | she/her | HP 100% | HUP 10% | Sick: N
━ custom predators / preyCustom list here!
━ level 6
experience: 213/600
xxfalling stars!
100% 
0% 
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