Medicine Cat's Den Something wrong, something right 𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧 Meadowpaw

[Yewkit]

YEWKIT

Something wrong, something right

.

There must be something wrong with her. Yew is not very old and she does not know very much, but this she is sure of. She has watched her denmates, the other kittens, being playful and affectionate with their caretakers or friends. She has watched them share, laugh and play, yet when she looks at mother, she feels not the need to do any of that. She feels something, but what that something is, she is not able to identify yet. She hasn't had the chance to learn much, but one thing is certain - the way she is now is not normal. Therefore, she must be sick.

Yew is not sure where the medicine cats reside, but she can probably deduce it. And sure enough, soon she notices ragged breathing and a mixture of various smells from a tunnel nearby. That must be where the medicine den is. Surprisingly, there is almost no one around, definitely not anyone giving a small kitten much attention, so Yew manages to make it to the tunnel, without being noticed, and peeks inside. When her eyes adjust to the darkness, Yew notices a few cats sleeping on moss bedding and a calico doing something with the herbs on the wall. That must be the medicine cat, she thinks.

Slowly, as not to wake the cat's patients, Yew approaches the medicine cat and nudges her with her paw, to get her attention. "Umm..." she starts, suddenly unsure if this was a good idea after all. "I think there is something...wrong with me. I must be sick." When the cat looks at her quizically, Yew adds, "I don't seem to want to play with mother, like the others do with theirs..."

There is something in the other cat's expression, but Yew is not sure what it is. Frankly, she is embarassed enough as is and she considers turning around and running away. I hope the medicine cat isn't upset with me....

 

[Meadowpaw]

MEADOWPAW

x

There's a peace that hangs over the medicine den, like the quiet after a storm has passed… or maybe before one begins. The latter feels more likely, with how many injured cats she's treated lately. It's a terrible thing having so many wounded, but shamefully, Meadowpaw finds she enjoys all the company. The den doesn't feel so empty anymore, not like it did after Gladebloom vanished.

Dimmingsun was the first to fill the space her old mentor left. Or rather Bengt was, before he became their medicine cat. Either way, her days feel more meaningful now, even if the weight of her responsibilities can sometimes be crushing.

She moves from one corner of the den to the next, sniffing the herbs to check their freshness. A few have already lost their potency. Some sticks have gone missing entirely. A silly thing—fretting over the loss of a few sticks. However, to her, they weren't just sticks. They could carry moss, align broken limbs, distract from the pain of kitting… What was useless to most held value in their work.

A soft voice and a faint touch distract Meadowpaw from her thoughts. She finds Yewkit hovering around her paws. Since Gladebloom's disappearance, Owlbear and the kits had become her responsibility. Their well-being was something she took seriously. She made sure to visit them every day, and she knew all the kits by name, even the newest ones. Meadowpaw smiles and waits patiently as Yewkit explains her reason for being there.

"O-oh, is that so?" Sick? Whatever she expected, it wasn't that exactly. If not for how seriously Yewkit seemed to take it, Meadowpaw might have thought it was funny. She'd always noticed Yewkit was a little standoffish, but that wasn't unusual. Some kits were just shy. One of her friends was the same. Ashenpaw was always more reserved and more likely to ask for her help getting a feather than playing games. If he ever played with his mama, Meadowpaw never saw it. Really, his mother always seemed more worried about his health than anything else…

Still, she didn't want to wave Yewkit's concerns. Asking for help was important, especially when it came to staying healthy. If she brushed this off, Yewkit might not feel comfortable coming to her again.

So, she treats it as she would an actual illness. "Hmmm… alright. Come have a seat and I'll take a look, okay?" With a gentle sweep of her tail, Meadowpaw guides Yewkit toward a separate part of the den so as not to disturb those resting. Once settled, she sits down and beckons for Yewkit to do the same. "Do you ever want to play with your siblings or any of the other kits?" Meadowpaw probes gently for more information. Figuring out how deep and from where her insecurities stemmed seemed like a good enough place to start.

x

I BELIEVE THAT THERES COURAGE

BUT ITS BURNIN' LIKE ASH IN THE WIND

x

WINDCLAN

MEDICINE CAT APPRENTICE

11 MOONS

SHE/HER

Meadowpaw values kindness and remembrance. As a kit, she internalized her mother's lessons, but questioned whether her way is the only way. She has broken free from the heavy burden of her mother's expectations due to their estrangement after the fire. She remains kind and soft-spoken through all she's endured, but is not afraid to speak out for what she believes is right.

Meadow works tirelessly at any task she undertakes, desperate to prove herself capable and worthy despite her disability. Without her mother's guidance, she finds new ways to express herself.

In conversations, she is gentle, thoughtful, and withdrawn, often hiding her struggles, fearing others seeing her as incapable. She continues to have a strong bond not only with her sister, but with her adopted family as well. Meadow uses her new freedom to support and deepen the bonds with her clanmates. Additionally, she has started to explore the more spiritual side of herself…

Her worldview is a complicated mix of hope and frustration. She wants to believe that there's hope at the end of all the suffering, but feels trapped by her limitations. With enough time and support, she may find a way to overcome her limitations and accept herself.

 

[Yewkit]

YEWKIT

.

"Do you ever want to play with your siblings or any of the other kits?" What a seeimingly simple question, yet Yew seems to struggle with the answer. She loves her siblings, Phantomkit and Drearykit, and she does engage in sharing tongues with them. Sometimes she nibbles their ears for fun - does that count? She thinks of that one time she chased after Dreary's tail, pretending it was prey, but stopped when she noticed mother watching her with narrow, cold eyes. Now that she thinks about it, the only times she's being kind of playful is when mother isn't around, and even then she worries about making too much noise or scattering bedding everywhere. When things aren't neat, it stresses her out. Or it stresses mother out? Ah, what is the difference, really?

"Sometimes.." she finally decides on answering. "But I usually only watch and then clean up afterwards, making sure the bedding is neat and there's no loose stones or twigs around." She instinctively lowers her gaze and twitches her tail, not wanting to get in trouble. She refuses to look into the eyes of the medicine cat, afraid of the coldness she might find in there - had she come here to help, maybe the coldness would melt, but all she came in to do was complain and whine. She should be better than this.

Yew flattens her ears, ready to be scolded. She knows this is what happens - when she misbehaves, the adults are cold and unloving, letting her know she's been bad. So she tries to be neat and quiet, listening to mother's instructions, being helpful and obedient. Why did she decide to come here, just because she's sick? This is the opposite of being quiet and obedient... She needs to fix this.

"Actually... I wanted to ask about the herbs also." she starts. "Can I help you sort them out and clean up? You seem to have a lot of patients, so I imagine it gets busy in here..."

Yes, this was the way to fix this. Yew just needs to be helpful and then, hopefully, she can look into the medicine cat's eyes without the fear of coldness staring back at her.

 

[DIMMINGSUN]

Once Dimmingsun enters the tunnel that opens into the medicine cat den, he is flooded with gratitude for the shade it offers. An easy but needed respite from the sun's heat—he loves his fur for how it flows in the wind and gives him an even bigger, more intimidating look, but he sure detests it a little during the warmest of moons. Even a simple trek near the camp makes him feel overheated; perhaps he should have chosen a different time to go out... oh well.

At least the wet moss in his grasp cools him off. It drips onto his chest and the floor below, soaking him and his trail, but he would be amiss to complain about that. He had decided to gather some so that him and Meadowpaw's patients can have something to drink, but also to try and revive some of the drier herbs in their stock. It's worth a try, anyway, before they throw out the old bits.

He doesn't expect to see a new inhabitant of the den when he returns.

"We have a new patient?"

His voice comes muffled, right up until he deposits the moss. A quick glance tells him that Yewkit mustn't be too sick, but he knows illness has its way of creeping up on you from the inside. The sooner they find out what's wrong, the better.

When he catches the end of Yewkit's words, Dimmingsun thinks he has it all wrong. Perhaps Yewkit isn't actually here for sickness?

"I haven't yet heard of a patient who wants to tidy up for us,"

he points out, amused, though he is not unkind about it.

"Maybe I haven't been here long enough. Or maybe you're just feeling super helpful?"