pafp ARIGATO || gratitude

[Frostbite]

Frostbite once again finds himself on the brink of despair. Sitting outside the nursery, he thinks of his daughter sick in the medicine den. He thinks of the other patients, like Halfshade, who he considers a friend. The possibility of losing them, all of them, was very real.

He's not sure his heart can take it if that came to pass.

He knows the medicine cats are doing their best with what they have, and he knows it isn't much. He sees Starlingheart working tirelessly to take care of everyone and he wonders just how close she is from fainting due to stress and exhaustion.

A heavy weight is on her shoulders, one that he worries might crush her. A weight that threatens to crush them all. The whole forest, even.

He spots her out of the medicine den, and decides to approach her. She deserves some comfort just as much as the sick do. He's not sure he's seen anyone do so, yet. To be fair, he's been keeping busy with the kits.

"Starlingheart," he speaks up, not too loud, but not too quiet. His voice is calm, he's sure she must dread the sound of her name by now.

"I know you're likely busy, so I won't try to keep you." He says. He looks at her with small smile.

"I just wanted to thank you for all you've done and continue to do. You're very strong, to be able to carry on as you are." He says. "I hope you're still taking care of yourself, though. You need rest, too." He adds. He speaks genuinely, stars know she needs a nap...And a hug... And a vacation.

She's come far from the kit he remembers in the early days of the clan. He's watched her grow and become the cat she is today, and he hopes her family is proud. He hopes Shadowclan is proud, too.​

 

[Starlingheart]

Starlingheart tries hard not to allow just how stressed she is show to the rest of the clan. Every day, she goes out into the territory or she sends Magpiepaw out into the territory to find as much honey chickweed and feverfew that they can without destroying the source. Without anymore of the precious cure in her stores it is all she can do. She can treat the symptoms but she cannot save them entirely.

Her attention piques when she hears her name being called. For a moment, she feels despair. Was another cat sick? Was someone injured? Sometimes it felt as if she could never rest. But when she looks at Frostbite he seems fine and he is alone. Still feeling wary, she comes to the entrance of her den so that the white-furred queen would not have to come inside. She knows he probably wanted to see his kit but she could not risk anyone else getting sick.

His words come as a surprise to her. Her ears flatten against the back of her head and for a second she feels her vision go blurry. It wasn't often that her clan expressed gratitude to her. It was a thankless job sometimes, being a medicine cat. "Th-thank you Frostbite, your words mean- they mean a great deal to me" and genuinely, she means it.

​

 

[pinekit]

tags. ↟↟↟ Pinekit has curiously trailed Frostbite from the nursery over to the medicine den. He followed a distance back but when he heard the conversation, he scampered closer. Frostbite was cheering Starlingheart up and thanking her. Their medicine cat and her apprentice were always rushing about camp as if moonrise came too early. Being a med cat appeared to be hard work. A plague of sickened cats made things worse. Pinekit was wary of the mysterious illness. Some of the other kits in ShadowClan had gotten ill. Kits weren’t immune.

Pinekit watched how the white warrior’s words almost made Starlingheart’s eyes water. A frown of worry tugged his lips for half a second before he offered his own thanks. ”You’re the best medicine cat in all the clans.” He spoke softly and in a stubborn matter-of-fact tone. He had never met another med cat or even another cat from outside of ShadowClan, however he couldn’t imagine them being a better medicine cat than Starling. That is why they’d all be okay.

​