private bird in a cage |➹| fireflypaw

[sparrowsong!]

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The air smelled of herbs, sickness, and death.

Heat writhed under their skin. Their breaths stuck in their throat, choking them and occasionally making them sputter. They were sick, they had realized at some point, yet they were unsure of when the revelation had been made. For that matter, they were unsure of just how long they had been laying in the hastily-constructed nest they now found themself in.

The air smelled of herbs, sickness, death, and fear.

I fear this sickness will kill every cat it touches. The words spoken by Blazestar at the Gathering were suddenly bouncing through their hazy mind, yet the fear in their chest was little more than a spark, smothered by the weight of their exhaustion.

My nest is softer than this, they thought sadly, eyes slipping shut. It was only a familiar scent washing over them, warm and comforting, that brought them to open them and look up from where they lay.

A purr started in their chest, strained and rough but powerful enough to make their body quiver from the effort. Whether it was out of joy or self-comfort was unknown. It was thick in their throat, and it faded into silence. Sparrowsong suddenly found that they wanted nothing more than for him to tell them it would be okay, just as he had all those moons ago.

"I got sick," came their soft, hoarse voice. No, he knew that. Of course he did. The tabby lapsed into silence, but when they spoke again, their voice was watery. "I don't want to die too." Sparrowsong didn't want to leave everyone behind. They wanted to stay with their friends.

The tabby reached for him then, a creamy paw stretching across the den floor in an attempt to make contact, hungering for the comfort he so easily gave. "M'still hot," they whimpered quietly.​

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[Fireflyglow]

Pawsteps soft and delicate, walking around limp and wheezing bodies as if touching them meant they would perish. His tail taps against the ground idly in fours, nose sniffing through herbs delicately to find the right one. Feverfew for fevers. Marigold for wounds. He lifts a stem of feverfew in his jaws, hooking some wet moss beneath a fang as well. Trudging through the crowd of sick cats, he settles close to Sparrowsong's nest and lays down beside them, just outside their nest.

"You need to drink." Fireflypaw whispers softly to his friend, thinking idly of the herb that his uncle had suggested to him for harsh breathing. Juniper berries.. Perhaps he needed to go hunting soon for it. Berries grew on bushes, didn't they? Perhaps he could look near the twoleg gardens. His tail twitches momentarily, the medicine cat laying his head down on the corner of his friend's nest worriedly.

..Until they speak, and the soft rumbling purr in their chest begins. His ears perk momentarily, lifting the wet moss up to gently settle it against their face to try and cool them down, or to make them drink. He wished they hadn't caught this plague, this illness.. Would they die, like the others had? He trembles at the thought. Aside from Greeneyes, Fireflypaw had found that Sparrowsong was his best friend as well. If he lost them, he would have to bury them himself. He didn't want to see lavender on their bodies unless it was to decorate their pretty fur.

I don't want to die too. They say so softly, paw reaching out for comfort- Fireflypaw takes it instantly, paws tapping on the ground uselessly for a moment before they curl around Sparrowsong's own. "You won't. I won't let you die, songbird." He hiccups softly, tears welling up in his eyes as he scoots so impossibly closer to their nest. Dawnglare would scold him for getting so close to a patient, but this.. Sparrowsong needed this, didn't they? He needed this, too. "Everything will be okay. We will find a cure, Sparrowsong. I promise you." He blinks, surprised by his own words- to promise a cat something he wasn't sure he could get his paws on. His head presses against their own momentarily, nuzzling into their cheek fur. Comfort. "Just hold on for me." The feverfew is abandoned for now, pushed to the side as he kneads his friend's nest worriedly. ​

SKYCLAN MEDICINE CAT APPRENTICE ✦ 13 MOONS ✦ CHUNKY, BIG-FOOTED SEAL POINT ✦ TAGS​

 

[sparrowsong!]

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Their scent, too, was of herbs as it weaved around the pitiful tabby, but it was so fundamentally different that they couldn't dislike it. It was more familiar. Warm. Fireflypaw settled down beside them, and their gaze was fixated on their scarred, pointed face. They couldn't help the frown that tugged theirs.

They needed to drink, he insisted, but the thought of it made their stomach twist. But my throat hurts, they wanted to argue, but the words didn't make it past their lips. Instead, they let out a hum when the moss was momentarily pressed to their head. It was by no means cool like the RiverClan river, but it was a relief all the same.

With little hesitation he takes their paw, large and dark and completely enclosing their own. At another time they might have wondered how unpleasant it was, their paws hot and sweating, but they didn't care. The tabby shrugged off the moss obscuring their vision. Fireflypaw spoke and left them processing his words as he continued, their eyes unfocused but fixated upon him intently.

"Okay," they said at last, and they believed them. For a moment their eyes closed, flanks shuddering with a drawn-in breath. In the apprentice's grip, their paw curled. It was then they pressed their head against theirs, and if only slightly, they lifted their own to meet it.

It was the comfort they had been so desperately seeking. Sparrowsong wanted to purr, to be happy, but they didn't have the energy, silence once more oozing through the den and broken only by the coughs and wheezes of the sick, their own included. He was close. Close enough to be comforting, perhaps far enough to keep him safe, although a small voice in their mind spoke doubt. They wanted to curl up with him, with the others, but they were too hot, too tired to move.

A hiccup reached their ears then, one twitching and pale eyes opening to look up at him. Fireflypaw's expression was twisted and sad, a stark contrast from the easy smile he so frequently wore. It made their heart clench. "No," they stated softly. Their paw pressed further into his, either a distraction or a comfort. "Don't be sad. S'okay." They would all be okay. He promised.

There was a significant pause then, their sluggish mind moving in an attempt to form a solution. Just by their head the moss still lay, water still dampening their head and slowly oozing into their nest. The medicine cat apprentice had urged them to drink and, while still unappetizing as ever to even consider swallowing, their lips briefly pursed.

Sparrowsong's paw retreated from Fireflypaw's own, then, and they gathered their legs beneath them to slowly shift onto their belly and raise their head, pausing once for their body to shake with a cough. There was hesitance before they pressed their muzzle into the moss, squeezing out a mouthful of water and grimacing as they swallowed it down. Just one.

Wordlessly they shifted back onto their side, head reaching out and dampened nose pressing into his paw as if to prove their deed. "See?" they murmured into dark fur.​

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[Fireflyglow]

Relief painted his face as Sparrowsong finally drank a sip of water, listening to their soft cough then gulp- swallowing it down with little complaint. At least they would stay hydrated in this plague, able to swallow around the inflammation of their throat just a bit easier. His tail drapes over their body, Fireflypaw protectively laying so close to them they almost touched flanks. He was fine with being close to the sick; he couldn't die, after all. He wasn't worried about catching this illness when StarClan and Mother both favored him. But that didn't mean others were so immune to disease, and that fact terrified Firefly.

His sniffling is halted as a small paw curls tighter around his own, then let go- something damp pressing to his pawpad. Proof that they'd done as he'd asked of them, and for that he was thankful. A low, deep purr rumbles in his chest as he settles his head back down onto their nest, paws kneading the material as if it would comfort him further to do so. He supposed it would. "Thank you," He whispers so softly to them, pressing his nose into their cheekfur once again to reassure them that everything would be okay. They wouldn't die, not on his watch. Sheepcurl, Mountainheart, Tallulahwing, the others.. He wouldn't let Sparrowsong die such a cruel death like the others did- he'd do better, think harder. His jaw sets evenly, determination in his eyes as they flick around the den sightlessly.

"You.. You know, I think your family would be very proud of you, for coming so far in life. You're a Warrior now. Strong, dependable, courageous." Fireflypaw speaks softly in tone, a gentle smile on his lips as he preaches. "I'm happy we met."​

SKYCLAN MEDICINE CAT APPRENTICE ✦ 13 MOONS ✦ CHUNKY, BIG-FOOTED SEAL POINT ✦ TAGS​

 

[sparrowsong!]

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A feathery tail draped itself over them then, and Sparrowsong seemed to shiver under its touch. They were torn, stuck between wanting to wriggle into his embrace and will away the sickness that gripped their aching chest, stuck between wanting to escape him and his dense coat and shrug out of their own and press into the earth, praying for the grass and dirt to combat the heat that squirmed within. They did neither.

With their energy dwindling they laid there in silence, eyes closed and nose still gently pressed into his paw. Just above them, a pale chest rumbled with a purr. Fireflypaw thanks them, softly, their fur ruffled with the touch of a nose. They wanted to. So badly, they wanted to purr, to tangle with him, to comfort him and themself both. They didn't.

Instead the medicine cat gets only the softest hum, the only thing to muster to speak their acknowledgment. Somewhere in the back of their mind, they wondered if sleeping, protected under the point's watch, would make them feel better. It didn't seem to come. They didn't.

Fireflypaw once again broke the silence. Their voice is close to their ear, breath tickling their fur and making one twitch. Their family, they're saying. They would all be proud of them. For how far they'd come. Impossibly, their throat tightened.

"Mm?" they managed, voice cracked. Sparrowsong slowly pulled their head away from his paw so that they could look at his face. Several heartbeats of silence followed. Their eyes closed again. "I think they'd like t'meet you." There wasn't much thought behind the statement.

For the briefest moment, they thought of the trip to Twolegplace, winding through twoleg nests and bringing Fireflypaw home, greeting their family with purrs and welcomes. The thought that they would fit right in with them all, that they would love to have them visit more often.

It's gone, quickly as it came. They weren't here anymore. Sparrowsong lived in SkyClan now. Wordlessly, they shifted their head to press into his paw again, shoulders shaking with a half-suppressed cough.​

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