private like i'm capable of // scorchstreak

[cottonsprig]

Cottonsprig found herself thrust into work. Wolfsong took good care of his stores prior to falling ill - to be frank, she expected nothing less - but some things seem to be getting low and with Celandinepaw not well trained... It's a new headache that she should've anticipated in her days of mourning. The she-cat is tempted to ask for a patrol to head out with her, but something in her aches. She knows what it is. She doesn't want to leave camp, not with her children in the nursery. What if something goes wrong, and she's not around? She's the only properly trained medicine cat now. Do all parents feel this, or is she alone in her forced separation?

She presses her paws against the sandy ground, eyebrows furrowed to try and feign determination. Cottonsprig forces herself to recognize that she cannot be stagnant, not now and not ever. Yet as she approaches the deputy, courage billowing in her chest - it all deflates. The other has rarely held love for her (at least, outwardly,) and she figures that if her secret ever got out, Scorchstreak would be among the first to turn her loose or make a mockery of her. Another reason to hide, she supposes. (It's not as if she's planning to expose herself, of course. But the tremors of fear and worry still itch her calloused paws.)

Regardless, Cottonsprig notices that she's idled by the orange-spun she-cat for a moment too long without saying anything. She opens her maw and runs through her mind, just ask for a patrol, she demands of herself. Instead, the visual of a pointed cat and smaller kittens pops into her mind. A new but now familiar sorrow fills her chest.

"Scorchstreak," she addresses the other after a long moment. "I... I'd like to tell you something," she says.

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

• ooc // @SCORCHSTREAK

• ❥ 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.

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[SCORCHSTREAK]

༄༄ Cottonsprig’s return had come at the perfect time for WindClan. With Wolfsong sick, Celandinepaw hardly trained more than a regular warrior, and Bluefrost giving birth to five kits along with bringing back her secret lover… the clan had been facing some of its worst circumstances in a while. But Sootstar’s other daughter had swept in soon after, bringing with her a sense of hope and relief—enough to silence Scorchstreak’s pointed questions, her suspicions of where the medicine cat had disappeared to. Still, it is a futile thing to attempt to look at Cottonsprig and see anything but Bluefrost’s face. The lead warrior had chosen a DuskClanner over her own clan, and then had returned with him at her side, as though his presence would be readily accepted. She had once felt the beginnings of true kinship with Bluefrost, embers settling at last after the wildfire of conflict that had flickered between them. Now, the other tunneler’s betrayal eclipses all good things that Scorchstreak had once thought of her.

Though it is not Cottonsprig’s fault, the calico still feels her hackles bristle when the healer approaches. It is not a novel feeling, being uncertain where to place her footsteps to avoid awkwardness with her once-apprentice. The other she-cat seems to be interested in her, however, for whatever reason that may be… and Scorchstreak is determined to ignore her for as long as it is possible. When the other speaks at last, it is to bring news—I have something to tell you, spoken hesitantly. "Cottonsprig," she says in return, softening her vehement tone with a tight smile as she shifts to look the healer in the eye. "What is it?" Bad news, most likely. Another tragedy, another death of another friend, loved one, clanmate. Her poor expectation does not exhibit itself on her face, and instead the deputy’s anxiety makes itself known through the metronome of her scarlet-streaked tail.

YOU KNOW I DESERVE IT ☽♰☾ WELL, TAKE IT OUT ON ME

• ooc: —
• 
• SCORCHSTREAK ❯❯ she/they, deputy (tunneler) of windclan
  ༄ small, slim flame-streaked calico with fiery golden eyes. cold and closed-off, ferociously protective of her clanmates. rarely seen aboveground.
  ༄ mate to bluepool ; sibling to rattleheart & rabbitclaw
  ༄ mentor to bilberrypaw & brackenpaw ; previously mentored pinkshine
  ༄ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted, but may react aggressively
  ༄ penned by foxlore

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