The blue molly hadn't even truly begun rehabilitation: the searing remnants of pain burning her shoulders, paws, and legs. Exerting herself wasn't wise but she
had to attend this meeting. Worry gripped her heart: was the family she'd left behind in the marshes okay?
She needed to find them, needed to ensure they were okay. The medicine cat prayed to the stars that forsook her.
Let them be okay.
There was another reason she had to find Ribbit. Her hypothetical question hadn't been answered. It was unlikely they'd find him. At least, that's what her nephew thought. But then Leaping Toad's murderer arrived in ThunderClan.
And Emberstar let him stay.
The ThunderClan leader, it seemed, enjoyed taunting and annoying her. She could have easily turned the child murderer away.
She should have. But she liked seeing her medicine cat writhe around in torture more: liked forcing her to see the maw of her nephew's killer every single day. She
wanted the molly to break, to commit another deadly act so that StarClan and ThunderClan could expel her while holding Emberstar up on a pedestal.
She should have left the leader to burn beneath that branch.
As she searched the gathered cats, shrugging off their looks and whispers, she stumbled upon
@Flycatcher. He looked uncomfortable beneath the gazes of the gathered cats. She paused for a moment. She had a mission but.. she liked Flycatcher well enough. He treated her like an actual feline.
Her tail
attempted to flick his chin before awkwardly trying to rest on his shoulder.
"Keep your chin up, chest puffed out, and head held high." she rasped, her voice still hoarse from the excessive smoke inhalation.
"Do not bend to anyone. They may gossip and stare but that doesn't mean you have any reason to be ashamed. You mustn't let their words bother you. They matter little. What matters is how you respond and act underneath their pressure."