temp priv. tw for descriptions of a dead cat body and wounds/injuries!
☆ Rowanpaw asks the first two warriors she sees to come with her, pleading with them for silence and urgency– she does not say why. Especially not to Magnoliapeak, whose sharp amber eyes see more than Rowanpaw likes. She does not want her to see the split between her and her mother. Does not know what she'd do with it, if she knew. So Magnoliapeak and Seafoambelly get the half truth, that they have to bury the body to avoid attracting predators.
The walk to the body is quiet, though Rowanpaw is hardly present enough to hear anything said if something was. If either of them attempt to speak to her, she does not hear it. The forest looms over her oppressively, not at all like the forest she's come to know.
They follow the scent of blood to the source and find a cat laying in the grass, bloodied, wounded. Rowanpaw stares at it from the edge of the small clearing for a moment, and another– she could turn around. She could tell the warriors to pick her up and she'd never have to touch her, would never have to learn the truth, and wouldn't it be a mercy not to know? She swallows. No, she is… she is a medicine cat. A servant of the stars, not… not a servant of her mother.
She moves towards body and says, "stay back for a moment, please," to the warriors accompanying her. "I have to make sure it's safe."
Ironic, really. Warriors are more use for living things. The dead belong to Medicine cats. Standing over the body, she carefully sniffs the wounds– no poison. No rot. And still warm. Oh, mother, she thinks, what have you done now?
But the body doesn't smell like Serpentberry. If the wounds were left by her claws, surely it would've left a scent of herbs, of something? So what then? Perhaps the mother was wounded by some other creature, and Serpentberry stumbled on the family and just… she suppresses a shudder as the realization hits. Serpentberry had left this cat to die. To slowly bleed out. She'd taken her kits and left her to die. She nearly throws up again, but swallows roughly, forcing it back down her throat. She gives herself five seconds to steady her expression before turning back to the warriors who'd come with her.
"She was attacked by something, maybe a fox or a rogue– we should let Juniperstar know to have patrols keep an eye out," she says. She says nothing about Serpentberry, her lie, her negligence. It's... it's not important. Not right now. "Let's… let's bring the body back. She deserves a proper burial, and the kits– the kits should know that we honoured their mother."
The walk to the body is quiet, though Rowanpaw is hardly present enough to hear anything said if something was. If either of them attempt to speak to her, she does not hear it. The forest looms over her oppressively, not at all like the forest she's come to know.
They follow the scent of blood to the source and find a cat laying in the grass, bloodied, wounded. Rowanpaw stares at it from the edge of the small clearing for a moment, and another– she could turn around. She could tell the warriors to pick her up and she'd never have to touch her, would never have to learn the truth, and wouldn't it be a mercy not to know? She swallows. No, she is… she is a medicine cat. A servant of the stars, not… not a servant of her mother.
She moves towards body and says, "stay back for a moment, please," to the warriors accompanying her. "I have to make sure it's safe."
Ironic, really. Warriors are more use for living things. The dead belong to Medicine cats. Standing over the body, she carefully sniffs the wounds– no poison. No rot. And still warm. Oh, mother, she thinks, what have you done now?
But the body doesn't smell like Serpentberry. If the wounds were left by her claws, surely it would've left a scent of herbs, of something? So what then? Perhaps the mother was wounded by some other creature, and Serpentberry stumbled on the family and just… she suppresses a shudder as the realization hits. Serpentberry had left this cat to die. To slowly bleed out. She'd taken her kits and left her to die. She nearly throws up again, but swallows roughly, forcing it back down her throat. She gives herself five seconds to steady her expression before turning back to the warriors who'd come with her.
"She was attacked by something, maybe a fox or a rogue– we should let Juniperstar know to have patrols keep an eye out," she says. She says nothing about Serpentberry, her lie, her negligence. It's... it's not important. Not right now. "Let's… let's bring the body back. She deserves a proper burial, and the kits– the kits should know that we honoured their mother."
☆ ROWANPAW. 14 moons
mentored by serpentberry,
adopted daughter of serpentberry and thornstar
peaceful powerplay allowed
ooc -
mentored by serpentberry,
adopted daughter of serpentberry and thornstar
peaceful powerplay allowed
ooc -
