camp CHECKING THE SUNSET FOR THE RIGHT TIME —⟢ SICK

Feb 23, 2024
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Being an apprentice is hard, Bilberrypaw decides. It's much harder than being a kit—he aches in his paws. He aches behind his eyes. This morning he wakes early, while the sky is still star-covered and the stripe of the horizon is white. Normally he wakes rested, but this morning even blinking doesn't clear the sleep-crust from his mismatched eyes and each flicker of his eyelids feels heavier than the last. Would it be so bad to bring his weighted face back down to his nest? Would anyone mind?

Bilberrypaw's chin has already returned to his crossed paws by the time he speaks in a voice raspier than he is used to hearing from himself, "I don't want to be an apprentice today."

He hasn't been an apprentice for very long. Maybe if he asked nicely, he could go back to the nursery for a day or so. Even such a small amount of words makes the pain in his chest intensify, "It's that my chest hurts and my eyes hurt and..." If he had been standing, perhaps Bilberrypaw would have gestured towards the whole of himself. Instead his tail shifts in a failed attempt to sweep over his body: an effort to show that everything hurts.​
windclan apprentice | black and white harlequin | six moons | tags
 
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The chimera is used to awaking before dawn; punctuality is what's expected of them. It's what is expected of every one of them, really, unless their mentor was lazy themselves. Rowanpaw was the least bit indolent, perhaps one of the more disciplined apprentices that WindClan boasted. Therefore, they stir in their nest and spend their waking moments gently rasping their tongue over their foreleg. They have always been a bit meticulous about their appearance, even if it was ultimately all for naught given their status as a tunneler.

Rowanpaw did not expect to hear any voices at this hour, at least not until the sun began peaking over the horizon, but much to their surprise a weak-sounding Bilberrypaw groaned from his nest. At first it had sounded like a typical complaint from a new apprentice, like being too tired to get up or too hungry to train, but then the black-splotched trainee mentioned pain in various parts of his body.

Sweeping a gaze of ice and fire over toward the younger tom, irises slightly narrowing, they state in a tone that is matter of fact though not unkind, "Complaining won't do anything for you." It was true. Bilberrypaw would not perform his best if he was not feeling well.

They perk an ear before meowing, "I'd suggest seeing Wolfsong or Cot—" Stars. She wasn't here anymore... wherever she was. Whatever happened to her. Rowanpaw grows troubled when thinking about her for too long, so they don't dwell on it. "Wolfsong." They correct themselves. And, if Bilberrypaw was lying just to avoid his duties, then surely the medicine cat would be able to tell.

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    a tunneler apprentice of windclan, rowanpaw is eight moons and is mentored by swiftshade they are the child of snakehiss and berrysnap. split directly down the middle, their right half is solid black and their left half is tortoiseshell patterned. they also have amber and blue heterochromia.
 
──ᨒ↟↟ᨒ↟ᨒ↟↟ᨒ── It has beset them, then. Wolfsong is glad that he has chosen Celandinepaw to assist, though he knows the decision does not sit well with Bluefrost. It does not quite sit comfortably with Wolfsong, either, but what else is he to do? He cannot watch WindClan wither away; every moment he is too slow to apply treatment is another moment that the sickness coils another root around delicate lungs. He needs Celandinepaw— WindClan needs her, if apprentices like Sheeppaw and Bilberrypaw are to survive.

It is a good sign that he is still upright and lucid, one Wolfsong is grateful for. "Keep your distance, Rowanpaw," he directs. "In fact, find Celandinepaw for me while I inspect Bilberrypaw." In truth, he already knows what he will find as he steps closer to the pained apprentice. His eyes are slightly unfocused and exhausted, crusted, and he mentioned that his chest aches. The poor creature has barely earned his new name. "Can you walk, Bilberrypaw? I need to take you to the badger set, and I will treat you there. Can you make it that far for me?"
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WOLFSONG of WINDCLAN FORMER ROGUE TURNED MEDICINE CAT. 46 MOONS, HE/HIM, NPC X NPC. MATES WITH SUNSTAR (07/05/2023). BIOGRAPHY, PINTEREST, & PLAYLIST.
  • ★★★☆☆ WOUNDS: You're (mostly) in safe paws. You'll know if he's less experienced if he asks for your permission to try a treatment. No wound can scare him away from knowledge.

    ★★★☆☆ INFECTION: He can prevent most infections. If you feel feverish, let him know; he'll hum thoughtfully over herbs and sniff your wound before saying, "With your blessing..."
  • ★☆☆☆☆ ACHES & PAINS: If you complain to him of pain, he'll ask where. If it's a headache, you'll likely feel a bit better. For anything else, "Try this, if you'd like, and tell me how you feel."

    ★☆☆☆☆ BROKEN BONES: At best. he can ask you to remain lying down in the den. He may try to distract you with conversation while he considers what herb to feed you.
  • ★★★★★ TRAVELING HERBS: Going somewhere? No worries; Wolfsong knows just what you need to stay hale and healthy during your journey. The rest is up to you.

    ★★★☆☆ KITTING: Thanks to Starlingheart and his own pregnancy, he's better prepared for the arrival of kits, but any complications will need a little faith and a lot of luck.
  • ★☆☆☆☆ POISONS: It's best if you avoid eating anything unfamiliar to you— it's probably just as unfamiliar to Wolfsong. The best he can do is offer you yarrow and sit with you.

    ★★★☆☆ ILLNESS: If it's white or greencough, you'll likely recover. Otherwise, prepare for odd concoctions and the usual request that you consent to a little trial-and-error.
 
Rowanpaw's voice comes to Bilberrypaw in the periphery of his mind. Not quite watery, not quite distant, but still muddled in a way indescribable to Bilberrypaw. Something about complaints, something about Bilberrypaw himself. He never means to complain, but sometimes the world doesn't go Bilberrypaw's way and the notion of staying silent on such matters doesn't occur to Bilberrypaw until the after. Although the details of Rowanpaw's words are lost to Bilberrypaw, he knows when he is being chided.

One of his eyes opens into a narrowed, yellow slit. A strange worry finds him, that if he opens his eye fully the pressure will be so great that the whole thing will come out of his head.

"Wolfsong's for when you're sick," Is that what this is? It occurs to Bilberrypaw that he has never been sick before—not even when the fire was near and not even when the smoke stung the back of his nose.

Bilberrypaw doesn't have time to offer up more articulate protests—Wolfsong is abruptly here, standing over Bilberrypaw and speaking of treatments. He's alarmed by the question—could he be so sick that he forgets how to walk?—and in answer Bilberrypaw shifts his feet beneath himself and then, far more slowly than he is used to moving, pushes himself into standing.

"I remember the badger sett but—" But it's so far; Bilberrypaw breaks to draw in another breath, "—your den is over there."

It doesn't seem particularly fair that Bilberrypaw needs to go to the badger sett when Wolfsong's den is right there, right in eye view, and Bilberrypaw knows that's where sick cats normally go. It hadn't felt fair that Bilberrypaw had to move all the way to a space just outside of RiverClan's camp, either. Was he supposed to sleep somewhere away from the whole of WindClan every few moons? A part of Bilberrypaw wants to sit down and refuse; a petulent frown cuts across his face in an unsuiting expression.

Instead of refusal Bilberrypaw shakes himself. He feels humid beneath his pelt, "Will it be for a long time? Or... or can I come back soon?"​
windclan apprentice | black and white harlequin | six moons | tags
 
✧₊⁺ ️️️ ️️╱ ️️️ ️️ ️️️ It strikes something within him he did not know would ring — will it be for a long time. The leader spent what time not within his den or out on the moors lingering near Wolfsong's den now. What little expression he allows upon his face is troubled. When these sicknesses last swept their camp, it came from another's home. He had blamed Blazestar and his kittypets; now there is nothing he could fault but his own foolishness, or Cottonspring's. And as much as it may help to shift the blame to the cat that is not within their camp, such deception does not come easily to Sunstar. Regardless of easy, he knows, bone-deep: this is his fault.

The Gathering approaches quickly. Soon, he would stand upon that rock and share the news that Cottonsprig had brought death back to this clan before she fell to it herself. He would tell them that StarClan once more seemed intent on wiping them from the forest — how many of them would look upon the news with satisfaction? Would the rage that he felt knowing SkyClan brought this to the rest of them return to him as he gives it back? They do what they can to withstand it.

To survive.

Can I come back soon? He clears his throat, jaw still clenched and expression dark with worry. "Once your strength returns you will be back in camp," he promises, even as the words feel hollow upon his tongue. "I will walk with you. It will be an easy enough journey between all three of us."
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    ✧₊⁺ ️️️ ️️╱ ️️️ ️️ ️️️ OOC.
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    ᯓ✧ ️️️ ️️ ️️️ 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑. SUNSTRIDE. SUNNVAR.
    ᯓ✧ ️️️ ️️ ️️️ MASC ️️️ & ️️️ AMAB, ️️️ HE – HIM – HIS.
    ᯓ✧ ️️️ ️️ ️️️ SECOND LEADER OF ️️️ WINDCLAN.
    ᯓ✧ ️️️ ️️ ️️️ NINE LIVES: ️️️ ️️️ ️️️ ️️️ ️️️ ️️️ ️️️ ⋆̴͖̻̌͛⋆̵̼͈̐̿̓̏͝ ⋆̶̬́̀
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    a large chocolate and white rosette tom with seaglass eyes. the first thing many see when looking at sunstar now is not his proud posture or boxy build, but the scarred stump that remains of his front left leg. a wound that would have killed most other cats took one of his lives; not even starclan could repair it.

    a rogue brought to windclan in a search for greatness, one of sootstar's most loyal warriors turned into her downfall. with a mate and kits to worry about, and now nine lives from starclan with a missing limb, windclan's leader has much to prove.
 
𓆝 . ° ✦ Grasspaw blinked his eyes open shortly after Bilberrypaw did, his croaking voice pulling the last of the sleep from his mind. Unfortunately his cousin's words did nothing except strike fear into him. Chest pain? Eye pain? StarClan... he thought. Wolfsong's name was uttered, not helping. Wolfsong's abrupt appearance, also not helping. "It's not so far, plus you'll be super comfy over there," he assured. It wasn't for his cousin, no, selfishly Grasspaw wanted Bilberrypaw away from him. He shuffled back as far as he could without disturbing anyone else.
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  • ooc:
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    GRASSPAW — HE/HIM ・ 7 MOONS ・ TUNNELER APPRENTICE & WINDCLAN ・ PENNED BY TWITCHTAIL
    Small fawn tabby with pale green eyes.
    "speak" thoughts action
    — peaceful, healing, and minor injury powerplay allowed