Backwritten TC SkC gilded lily // swallowbreeze

[rowanpaw]

☆ Rowanpaw feels as if she's trapped several birds behind her ribs, each of them flapping their wings furiously and trying to claw their way out. The things that have happened in the past few days have sent her spiraling worse than ever, and worst of all, she's alone. She can't tell her brother– he'd do something drastic to try and protect her, she's sure, and neither of them could live with that.

She lingers at the edge of Fourtrees, shaking her fur out in an attempt to soothe herself. It helps, if only a little, but there's a terrible weight in her chest. Then, a rustle on the far end of the clearing, and a vision of fawn coloured fur and softness. She approaches, forcing a smile onto her face.

"Swallowbreeze," she says, greeting her friend. "It's good to see you again. I… I'm so sorry," she takes a steadying breath. "About everything. I... I didn't know." she shakes her head. "I'm sorry, you probably don't want to talk about that... I... How– how are you doing…?"

☆ ROWANPAW. 14 moons
mentored by serpentberry,
adopted daughter of serpentberry and thornstar
peaceful powerplay allowed
ooc - @SWALLOWBREEZE

 

[SWALLOWBREEZE]

no one batted an eye when swallowbreeze slipped from camp, weaving through patrols so she could travel to fourtrees alone. her chest twists uncomfortably, and only settles when she notices the looming trees in the distance.

she arrives after her friend, and her body relaxes at the sight of her. "rowanpaw. i'm glad to see you, too." she greets back, padding closer so they weren't speaking tail-lengths apart.

"n–no need to apologize, really— what happened wasn't your fault. it won't come between us. n–nothing that happens between our clans will... it's uh, like you said, our jobs are separate from what our clanmates do." her smile turns bashful, and she waves a paw dismissively. the mere concept of expending energy to be pissed off any someone, let alone a whole clan... stars, that'd be exhausting. that's just another reason why she's better off a medicine cat.

rowanpaw's nervous attitude is difficult to ignore, but swallowbreeze can only chalk it up to the events of the gathering. they haven't seen each other, or talked since. "i'm fine, doing the usual preparations for the cold weather." it's busy, busy work. this outing has been her first real break in days. "how about you?"

 

[rowanpaw]

☆ As Swallowbreeze speaks, muscles that Rowanpaw didn't even know she'd been tensing begin to relax, her shoulders falling as she takes a deep breath, then another. Right. Swallowbreeze is her friend, and whatever the warriors of their respective clans do, it won't affect them. The affirmation is welcome, soothing unspoken worries she'd held in her heart.

"I… I'm a bit stressed, to be honest," Rowanpaw says shakily. "We just recently came across three kits. Their mother had just… she passed due to injuries from a fight. One of them is sick."

She doesn't mention her mother, or how her inaction had led to the death. Her mother… Serpentberry… She thinks back to one of their lessons, flickering thoughts in the back of her head, the words of a certain starry-clad Skyclan leader, and looks over at Swallowbreeze.

"At first I thought she might've eaten something she shouldn't have, but I don't think that's it… it did make me think, though– we have some plants in Thunderclan that are poisonous, but what about the other clans…?" Her tail sways behind her uncertainly. "Does Skyclan have any poisonous plants? Does Riverclan have any, maybe some that are only found in water? I thought it'd be good for us to know, just in case."

☆ ROWANPAW. 14 moons
mentored by serpentberry,
adopted daughter of serpentberry and thornstar
peaceful powerplay allowed
ooc -

 

[SWALLOWBREEZE]

'poison' is a word that should only be uttered in the privacy of the moon. she's never witnessed the sharp, oozing fangs of an adder and the writhing death that comes after, but she's heard enough cautious stories from elders and caretakers. it's one of the few things a medicine cat is unable to heal.

swallowbreeze's knowledge on dangerous plants is simple; they exist in skyclan's territory, but she couldn't point them out. she avoids anything that isn't recognizable and prays she doesn't end up in a dangerous situation.

"i'm sorry. that's difficult to deal with." her nonexistent brows furrow sympathetically, "she could be malnourished and struggling to ward off a simple cold. we had a kitten like that a few moons ago." she's learned that loner kittens are fragile things, they don't have the same luxuries as a clan cat would with an always full belly and a warm nest.

she sits, and curls her tail around her paws. swallowbreeze knows how important it is for a healer to know about these things, her shoulders slump a bit when she responds, "i can't answer that question for you, i'm sorry. i'm certain there are poisons in skyclan, but the knowledge was never passed down. i can ask jinglemoon next time i see him."