Busy, Busy, Busy!

[Ki]

Morning already?

Amber eyes opened reluctantly as the sun's first golden rays spilled into her den. Part of her wanted to go close her eyes again and let sleep overtake her. But no. Feathercloud could not do that. She wouldn't allow herself to. No matter how much she felt like flopping right back down in her nest and going back to sleep, she wouldn't.

Feathercloud's eyes drifted closed. Maybe a few more moments... Her eyes snapped open again. No, no! The small medicine cat hauled herself out of her nest. The past night or so had been spent watching after the kits and Fireshadow. Brindlepelt was healing up nicely, at least. She had been given permission to move around camp if she so desired it. Poppyfrost's kits seemed healthy, yet she checked up on them as often as she could just in case. When she wasn't looking after her patients, she was either partaking in a lesson in fighting or gathering herbs. All of the tasks were beginning to take a toll on her, despite Twistedclaw's welcome assistance. It didn't help that Dusk-kit kept waking up throughout the night, yowling with terror.

Feathercloud glanced at the kits. Both were curled up asleep in one of the nests. She'd given Dusk-kit some more poppy seeds to calm her down not too long ago, it seemed. But who knew? It could have been ages ago. Stretching a bit, the she-cat peered out of her den. The patrols seemed to be gathering, which was good. What would she be doing today? Her herbs were stocked for the most part. She could always store up more for the coming war, yes. Or she could stay and monitor her patients until her 'mentor' came back and could help her with her fighting.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

Paleflower opened her eyes as sunlight started to pour into the den. It was another morning of sleeping in Feathercloud's den, and another night of getting little sleep, constantly woken by Dusk-kit's yowling. And she herself had generally been unable to relax. Her kits were back home safe, and things should be perfect again. But things were far from okay, in fact it only seemed to be getting worse.

Her eyes trailed over both of her kits curled up near her, following the lines of scratches and cuts on their flanks that she hoped were healing well. Her gaze flooded with sadness and concern, which she didn't have to hide because they were sleeping and unable to see her. What had happened to them... if only she had been paying more attention and not been so angry... but just seeing Tawnykit and Dusk-kit with him had been enough to set her off into yowls of fury. What had they been thinking, wandering out of camp and getting found by him. And what kind of nerve did he have bringing them back here when he knew he would see her? Paleflower felt her claws extend into the moss on the floor of the den, searching for something to tear into.

All of that anger had gone away in time; she wasn't angry at her kits. They hadn't known any better. She couldn't blame them for making the same mistake she had made, trusting him. All of her anger was reserved for the tom she once thought she loved. None of that mattered, however, now that he was gone. And if she ever saw him again she'd be sure to give him a piece of her mind.

Not wishing to think about this any more, she looked around the den, still packed with several cats. She saw Feathercloud was awake as well and felt some relief. Maybe she could check on her kits again and tell her if they were recovering at all. "Good morning, Feathercloud," Paleflower meowed quietly, hoping not to wake anyone else in the den. Injured cats needed all the rest they could get.

[Sydney]

As the sun stretched across the sky and sent rays of light into ShadowClan dens many cats found themselves awaking as the sun brightened. In the medicine cat den however, there was one little kit who was already awake. In fact, this little kit had been awake since the sun had set the night before. She just couldn't force herself to sleep, not when she knew what she would dream of so, instead, this little kit forced herself to stay awake. She had watched her mother, sister, Feathercloud, and all the other cats in the den fall asleep the night before and, had feigned sleep as well as she could when her littermate awoke screeching in the night.

If Feathercloud found out she wasn't sleeping, Tawnykit was certain the older she-cat would end up forcing her to sleep.

And, this was something Tawnykit didn't want to happen at all.

Pulling her ears back against the base of her skull, the delicate little calico kit stared off at Feathercloud's back, her ears shifting ever so slightly when she heard her mother's voice. She wouldn't get in trouble if she was awake right now, this is when cats were suppose to be awake.

Holding back a yawn, the little kit turned to nudge her sister gently. She was still asleep but, Tawnykit knew she would most likely be angry if she overslept.

"Dusk-kit," This time she couldn't hold back the yawn that slipped from her lips. "Are you awake?"

Sleeping did look nice, didn't it?

But no, she couldn't sleep.

No matter how much she wanted.

She didn't want to dream about that again.

It was best to stay awake then dream, anyway.

[hedgie]

Reedpaw, finished with talking to his mentor and tired of waiting for his brother, nudged Flintpaw deeper into Feathercloud's den, narrowly avoiding the cats spread throughout. He hated to be a burden like this, handing off another cat for the already stressed Medicine cat to take care of, but Flintpaw needed help and the Shadowclan medicine cat was probably used to caring for the gray-furred apprentice's ailments.

Reedpaw couldn't count the many times Flintpaw had been in this den throughout all seven moons of his friend's life, and he wasn't about to start tallying them out for fun. His friend coughed louder, the macking increasing in volume and length and if any cat had still been sleeping in here, they sure wouldn't be for long.


This had to be one of the most horrible day of his life so far, and all he wanted was to be left alone to sleep. He knew, however, that this time his persistent cough wouldn't go away with just sleep as a medication. He huddled against Reedpaw's side, angry for being roused, but grateful just the same.

He felt sorry for being so loud and for causing such a fuss, but some things had to be done. Ready to curl up in a soft, warm nest, he ut even more of his weight onto his friend, watching through the hazy exhaustion as Reedpaw glanced around.


They'd already asked for help once, but Feathercloud must not have heard them. Reedpaw called out again for her, and hoped that his urgent mews and Flintpaw's hacking would alert the ever-busy she-cat to their presence.

[Mousy]

Fireshadow woke up with a start. She had had the most horrible dream. She had been chasing a lizard, as she often did when she was well (but not when Darkpaw was hurt. Then all of her time had been spent between the Medicine Cat's den and warriors' den, but that was a while ago) but not when she was injured. She had been chasing this lizard through ShadowClan's marshy territory, when a huge crag had opened up beneath her. She fell... She fell for what felt like an eternity, until she had landed in a river. Then, she had woken up. As she lifted her head, a brown head poked in to the den. Toadpelt.

"Hey," she mewed softly. Toadpelt simply deposited what he was carrying at her paws and left; no hello, nothing. But he lingered at the entrance to the den. Then, he turned tail and padded off. Fireshadow watched with interest, then looked at what he had deposited at her paws. It was... A lizard.

How ironic.

She couldn't bear to think about her dream, but she was glad of the distraction. She ate the lizard, and pushed the incessant feeling of sickness that had been following her about since she had been attacked by the dog...

No. More like when she had...

No.

She wasn't going to think about that.

She pushed all of her thoughts to hthe back of her mind, and closed her eyes. It wasn't like she was going to get any sleep, though.

[Ki]

Feathercloud nodded to Paleflower. Poor dear. How painful must this be for her? To see both of her kits hurt and still terribly afraid? The small medicine cat didn't want to make too much noise. But it seemed that her patients were slowly waking. Tawnykit began trying to rouse her sister, who stayed firmly asleep. Good. Perhaps the poppy seeds were helping? Fireshadow was awakened by Toadpelt entering the den. Irritation flashed through Feathercloud. She appreciated the fact that he Clanmates were help keeping her patients fed, but she didn't want any more cats in this den than required. Or perhaps she was just cranky because she was tired. Feathercloud was about to shoo Toadpelt out when she heard her name being called. Reedpaw pulled Flintpaw in. Flintpaw was one of her regular visitors; the poor tom was often sick.

She moved forward, nimbly skirting around the nests filled with injured cats. "That cough sounds nasty." she mewed with concern. She tried to help Reedpaw pull Flintpaw into one of the nests. It was a well-known fact that she was not the strongest she-cat in the Clan, but she was trying. Smokeheart, Fireshadow, Dusk-kit, Tawnykit, Brindlepelt, and now Flintpaw...at this rate she'd need a bigger den!



Dusk-kit was in a river as black as night. She kept getting pulled under the cold waves and tossed around. Large mutilated fish swam by, unnoticing and uncaring. Fear pounded through her. But she seemed to be in a haze that she was unable to pull herself out of. She was slightly aware of her sister's voice. Tawnykit? Where was Tawnykit? Was she in trouble? Suddenly Dusk-kit was pulled down again, but this time she felt the white-hot pain of claws digging into her flesh and dragging her down. She turned her head and saw Alfa. Her father. White teeth flashed and he grinned cruelly at her. She tried to yowl but black water rushed into her mouth, choking her. Suddenly she was coughing, coughing..

...wait, no she wasn't.

Her mind processed this and it seemed to break her from the haze. It was a dream. The river and Alfa's mocking grin disappeared. Her eyes opened to the crowded medicine cat den. It was then she realized her breathing was shallow and irregular, like it always was after a nightmare. She gradually became aware of what was going on. Her mother was awake, which was also a relief. Feathercloud was helping Reedpaw ease Flintpaw in. The sick tom seemed to be the culprit of the coughing, not herself. Fireshadow was awake and Toadpelt was there as well. Outside Dusk-kit could hear the quiet voices of her Clanmates conversing as they prepared for the day's duties.

She was home.

She was safe. It was something she had to remind herself of again and again.

Dusk-kit looked at her sister and licked her cheek tenderly. "Yes, I'm awake." Her voice was somehow calm. The last thing she wanted to do was worry her poor sister; the poor creature was probably very worried about her eye still.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

A sudden hacking cough filled the den and Paleflower tucked her ears back as if she could block out the sound. Poor Flintpaw, she thought. He sounded really sick. When was the last time he'd been fully healthy? She couldn't remember; she didn't pay much attention to the goings-on of the apprentices. The coughing, however, did make her look down and notice that both of her kits were awake. Paleflower gently licked the tops of both of their heads, smoothing the fur down where it had been ruffled over the night. "Good morning," she said softly. "Did both of you sleep well?"

A distant sadness fell over her eyes. She tried to hide it as best as she could. She knew things were far from all right, her kits were acting much differently and Dusk-kit's nightmares were making her more and more concerned. But she could just pretend that everything was fine, right?

[Ki]

Paleflower's prescence calmed Dusk-kit greatly. She let out a low purr brought on by her mother's careful groomings. Dusk-kit allowed herself a few moments of silence. Over the coughing from Flintpaw and the stirrings of other cats in the den, she could hear frogs croaking in the marshes surrounding them. Today was the day ShadowClan was getting four new kits. Dusk-kit wondered if Sandkit and Spottedkit would come; she'd already identified them as Foxfur's kits. Sandkit looked a lot like him, so it wasn't too hard to tell. Not that Dusk-kit would get to play with them very much. Feathercloud wanted her to stay off her hurt paw as much as possible. Her ribs were broken as well, and Feathercloud said that all they could do was not put too much strain on them and let them heal on their own.

"I slept good." Dusk-kit lied. Everyone that had been in the medicine cat den for the past night knew that Dusk-kit had been waking up screaming multiple times, despite the poppy seeds that Feathercloud kept giving to her. She licked her mother's cheek and smiled half-heartedly. The bright, warm smiles her mother was probably accustomed to had been missing ever since Dusk-kit and her sister had been returned home. The endless stream of questions had also been silenced. Perhaps, in time, when the wounds healed, Dusk-kit would return to her old self. Maybe she would be back to bouncing around camp and asking questions and smiling at everyone and everything within the next couple of moons.

Or, maybe, this was a permanent change. Perhaps the daughter and kit that Paleflower had once known was gone for good.

[Sydney]

Tawnykit gave her mother a gentle smile as she licked the fur on her head down. It felt so much better to be near the warmth of her mother and sister then alone and, sometimes she felt it wasn't nearly as frightening at night with them by her sides. But, even then, she didn't want either of the two to worry about her. "Morning," licking her lips, the little she-cat stifled a yawn, nodding to her mother's question.

"I slept fine." This of course, wasn't true, because the little kit hadn't slept a wink. She was running on pure adrenaline now, which, was trickling out bit by bit.

If she could remember correctly (not sleeping made the days all blend together, this was something Tawnykit learned over the nights) today was the day new kits would be coming to ShadowClan. Personally, Tawnykit didn't mind this, she just hoped they were quiet kits that didn't bother her. Ever since she was returned to ShadowClan, the little kit had found herself growing more and more tired of the company of most cats. She didn't talk to many cats now and, Feathercloud was the only cat she went out of her way to talk to, her family excluded.

Blinking sleepily, the little she-cat turned her attention to the other occupants of the medicine cat den. Flintpaw had just walked in and, was coughing up a storm. a tiny part of her, not smothered by the extreme need for sleep yet, reminded the little kit that Feathercloud had once said juniper leaves were good for a cough. So, turning her attention back to Dusk-kit, Tawnykit made a note to tell her sister this, just because you never knew when information like that would help. When she opened her mouth however, all that came out was a loud yawn and, before she knew it, the sleep that had stung at the corner of the kit's eyes had taken over her.

She had finally nodded off.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

Paleflower tried not to let herself get overly concerned. Her kits were probably still scared over being lost all day long and being found by another strange Clan. And every kit had nightmares at sometime or another. Their injuries were still serious- who knew what in the world could have caused them- and that was probably dampening their moods as well. Once they were recovered and back in the nursery, things would be just the way they were before. One day couldn't have changed them so much.

Paleflower smiled softly as Tawnykit nodded off to sleep again. She hoped Flintpaw's coughing wouldn't bother her too much as she tried to sleep. The injuries would take time to heal and rest was what they needed most, that was what Feathercloud had said.

She stayed quiet for a while, letting Feathercloud work in peace and giving her kits more time to rest. Her stomach started to growl, and she remembered she hadn't eaten much the past few days. "Are you hungry, Dusk-kit?" Paleflower asked.