private i see the reflection in your eyes | cottonsprig

[rimekit]

Each day passes in bittersweet rhythm. She is cuddled and fed at timed intervals, replete to the point of bursting, then Bluefrost takes her leave to rejoin Rimekit's family within the nursery. The infant has become complaisant in her schedule, learning quickly that her vehement cries are pernicious to the figure who cares for her when her mother leaves. The illness that wracks her body leaves little energy in surplus, and stars above any crying Rimekit did do sapped her of that energy.

It's easier to let go of her timorous nature so that she could truly heal.

Unbeknownst to the dappled child, her healing journey has delayed her first milestone. While her siblings crack open their eyes for the first time, hers stay sealed. Whether it be out of physical weakness or an augur delivered to her mothers (adoptive and true), Rimekit falls behind. It is of no consequence to the infant. She doesn't know anything other than the world portrayed to her through touch and scent.

Until today.

The genesis of sight happens as the pale infant rouses from her nap. Limbs stretch and gummy mouth parts in a full body yawn, Rimekit trembling slightly from the exertion of waking from a deep sleep. Slowly, ever so slowly, her eyes blink open as she relaxes into her nest. In the muted light of the medicine den she sees…

Very little.

Blurs of greenery and earthen tones primarily. The kitten lifts her head above the edge of her moss nest, bobbling slightly, and blinks at the newness of everything. Someone nears her and Rimekit's oceanic blue eyes focus on them. A blur of grey and white. Their scent is that of her caregiver and Rimekit shifts within her nest despite the hindrance of the moss to be nearer to them.

To be unknowingly nearer to her trueborn mother.

Rimekit does not make a sound as she stares at Cottonsprig. Her gaze is unsteady and occasionally unfocused, but it belongs to the medicine cat for as long as she stays within the infant's minimal sight range. Perhaps witnessing Rimekit's first moments of sight is a gift to the blue smoke? The will of Starclan even from a severed distance? Or perhaps a curse to bestow upon the medicine cat - that now her own children will gaze upon her and she can do nothing but spare glances enrobed in duty rather than her desire to be a mother.

Regardless of reason, it is a moment no one can take from a mother and daughter. It is a tender moment of connection. Something both have been longing for despite the uneven odds.

// @cottonsprig
​

[ penned by kerms ]​

 

[cottonsprig]

It's as if something has been torn from her. The adrenaline upon being severed from StarClan's soft caress had shielded her from the pain - the determination to be something despite their insistence that with her folly, she is nothing held her back from feeling the full brunt of the damage. And yet as she crests the hills nearest to camp, she feels it. It weeps from her heart, the disappointment, the shame. they may as well have told her that she must bleed every last drop she has in order to repent... Alas, she will not.

She skirts past the camp's guard, a swift nod in their direction. Her gait does not stammer as she meanders towards her own den, and at first, she does not look at Rimekit. The kitten was in Celandinepaw's care in the time of her absence. She trusts the older apprentice to care for a child - or at least, watch over one that cannot move far quite yet. Pink gums smack with a sudden yawn and it's only then that Cottonsprig finally turns her gaze towards the kitten.

She sees misted baby blue eyes looking back towards her. Open for the first time, taking in the world with uncertainty but perhaps the same curiosity her mother forged through life with. Everything feels wrong and right all the same. Her sister experienced her sons' open their eyes for the first time, perhaps it is StarClan's only gift that she may have this moment with her daughter? She'll allow them that, she thinks. She tries to not see them as defiant or petulant, even in her sourest of moments.

"Good morning, Rimekit," she purrs, but her distance is held. Oh, how she wants to curl around the kitten. To press her nose into milk scented fur and clutch her close. Her gaze falls to her apprentice, how wading deeper into the den to play with some herbs, and she looks back towards her child. Healing, healed.

"You will be returned to Bluefrost tomorrow," she says. Cottonsprig feels the same morose sadness in her chest, but deep within, there is a hope. A spark that spurs her to keep going, even whilst all crumbles around her. "You're hers, darling. But maybe when you're older... maybe when I know what to say. Then you may know. You and your brothers," she swallows the lump in her throat, forbidding herself to sob when she's already exhausted from emotion. "Until then, be a good she-kit for her, alright? She - your mother -" it's wrong, but it's correct, "has done a lot for me. Please be sure that you don't make her regret it," I've already done that...

At some point she's wandered closer. At some point, her muzzle touches the top of Rimekit's head, the briefest grace of affection, before she pulls away again. "One day," she whispers, finally. One day.

𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 ˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖ 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠

• ooc //

• ❥ MEDICINAL KNOWLEDGE
  ♥♥♡ WOUNDS ; can confidently stop bleeding and mend lacerations. will often request that you keep your injury clean and wait it out first.
  ♥♥♡ INFECTION ; as a side effect of likely her own doing, very dutiful with technique and treatment shortly thereafter.
  ♥♡♡ ACHES & PAINS ; will defer to a dark tunnel and rest. if pain persists, maybe she will offer something.
  ♥♡♡ BROKEN BONES ; has never dealt with a broken bone. likely will ask that you never move. ever again.
  ♥♥♥ TRAVELING HERBS ; learned well from her previous mentor. will pile even too many remedies to tough the wilderness with.
  ♥♥♥ KITTING ; having kittens of her own and helped several others with their litters, she is very well versed with calming techniques and quelling pain.
  ♥♡♡ POISONS ; she knows what they are... but that isn't enough, isn't it?
  ♥♥♡ ILLNESS ; having worked through two yellowcough bouts, she is confident in her remedies. much else... she's operating on trial and error.
  ⸻ cottonsprig is a dutiful and excitable medicine cat. she enjoys company and loves conversation. she'd rather not have too many curious noses snooping around her den... but who is she to quell curiosity?

• 

  ⸻❥ cottonsprig is the primary medicine cat of windclan. a former princess to the moors, she harbors many guilts for her actions throughout her short life. she has no consistent partner, unwilling to commit and settle, and she is training celandinepaw in medicine.

​