NO GRAVE CAN HOLD MY BODY DOWN — lucid & awake

[ROEFLAME .]

ROEFLAME — break the air to feel the fall.
The soft breeze that sneaks its way into the medicine den is light, but enough to make the resting warrior stir.
Her awakening is not pretty, not when there is still sickness that clings to her fur, but for the first time in what felt like moons, she is able to raise her head and look around.
She parts her maw slightly, though it feels as though her bottom jaw has fastened itself to her top by now, only ever opened to choke down whatever herbs Berryheart and Lichenpaw had been experimenting with then.
Roeflame finds herself almost ashamed to admit the last half-moon had been almost a blur, a horrific whirlwind in her mind. She tries to recall the last time the tortoiseshell healer had stirred her awake, what they had given her… but she cannot.
Roeflame blinks once, twice- almost expecting sudden fatigue to consume her and send her face-first back into worn moss, but it never does.
The memory of Frostglare is like a slap in the face, and the tabby warrior tenses for a moment before her visit with Snowpath trickles in soon after, and she gives herself a soft shake, clinging desperately to the hope that her good-bye to the tom was not a bittersweet fever dream.
She waits a few more moments to gather her thoughts before Roeflame would be able to register the stirring patients around her.
How much time had passed?
"speech"

tags​

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[RACCOONSTRIPE]

“Berryheart, thought you could use this—” The tabby’s voice is muffled by rabbit fur. He drops the fat bit of fresh-kill a respectful distance from the den’s entrance, just daring to poke his head inside. As his eyes adjust to the gloom, he sees a she-cat sitting upright in her nest, and his expression registers surprise. “Roeflame? How… are you feeling?” The tabby tilts his head to the side. He’d nearly been prepared to bury the pale warrior alongside Foxpoppy and Frostglare, but her eyes seem to be looking at him, not through him.

Is this the result of the lungwort alone? He peers into the rest of the den, feeling a subdued respect for his littermate yet again. He’d discovered a cure for something monstrously deadly, and he singlehandedly has saved Roeflame’s life. He imagines the rest of those sick will soon be just as alert.

✧ INFO.

• came to bring @BERRYHEART a rabbit
• 
  — raccoon . raccoonstripe
  — he/him ; lead warrior of thunderclan
  — heteroflexible ; single
  — long-haired black tabby with white and dark brown eyes
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — penned by Marquette
  — chibi by Rai

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[HOWLINGSTAR]

Despite being filled with newfound hope after the cure had been discovered, Howlingstar hasn’t been able to shake the feeling of anxiety for her clanmates still in the medicine den. What if there isn’t enough lungwort? Would every cat pull through? She spends much time pacing, when she isn’t hunting or patrolling to make up for those who cannot do so.

She sits nearby when Raccoonstripe pokes his head into Berryheart’s den to deposit his catch. Nibbling on a bone that remains from her own meal, her ears prick up to catch the words her son speaks. He’s talking to Roeflame, one of the warriors that had been downed by Yellowcough. Immediately, the older woman pushes herself to her paws. On short legs, she strides as quickly as she can to the mouth of the cave, striped skull peeking in nearly a head shorter than her son.

Sure enough, the silvery warrior is sitting up, eyes clearer than they had been in a quarter-moon. Relief washes over the tabby leader as she dares to take a step inside. “You look better,” Howlingstar mews, a comforted smile on her muzzle.​

 

[TOADHOP]

What time he has outside of training and any attempts to keep himself busy has been spent near the medicine den, as of late. A proximity far enough to - hopefully - not receive the sickness that travels through camp, but close enough to hear word on one of the patients who'd been unfortunate enough to receive it.

Roeflame, his adoptive sister, struck with fever and delirium practically out of nowhere. The only family Toadpaw really has in ThunderClan still, the thought of losing her too - a thought with a high probability of coming true, with how fast Frostglare had fallen - sent chills through the apprentice. He had begun to wonder if he should start counting the days, if he should send prayers to Ragwortpaw and the stars to keep her safe, to watch over her and make sure her journey to join them is an easy one.

But hope for Roeflame to stay in the oak forest with him comes in the form of a cure. An herb - lungwort, he remembers it being called. He doesn't know for sure, but assumes Berryheart had rationed out the cure to his patients by now, to Roeflame too.

A form enters the medicine den, and another soon after. Raccoonstripe and Howlingstar, their presence near the medicine den brings worry to the apprentice, ears twitching as he catches his adoptive sister's name in the wind. He rises then, concern twisting too tightly on his stomach to not move closer.

Peeking his head into the medicine den beside the ThunderClan leader, his eyes widen at the image before him. Roeflame is upright, sitting in her nest, eyes brighter than what they were the last time he'd been able to see her.

"Roeflame!" Toadpaw moves forward, stepping foot into the den to greet the warrior with the call of her name - one probably too loud for the patients around her. "You're awake!"
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[BERRYHEART]

It seemed almost as if it should be a miracle. Sent from StarClan above, knowledge given to him in his delirium. Though he supposed, if it was a miracle, this herb would be common. From what he had seen it did not grow in ThunderClan’s forest, at least not in these hotter seasons, and concern was beginning to take root in his heart. The forces of nature offered temporary reprieve, though; seeing Fawny awake, lucid and fully conscious, pulled a sigh of relief from his crooked maw.

Slow blinks overtook his uneven gaze, jostled for a moment by the entrance of his brother, as he sat watchful over his patient. Interest sprawled then, beckoning other bodies- his mother, and Fawny’s own kin. Dull eyes lifted to Stripes, and he dipped his head thankfully for the offering, pride flickering from him like kindling on his pelt. No words fled from him, but a smile found comfortable place upon his face. For now, all was well.
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PENNED BY PIN ☾​

 

[ROEFLAME .]

ROEFLAME — break the air to feel the fall.
Roeflame? How… are you feeling?
While Raccoonstripes face wasn’t the first one she expected to see, she returns the lead warriors question with a half-smile. "F-fine… I think? " She hums, her voice still rasped from the sickness.
Howlingstars comment is met with a soft nod, a quip on her tongue about how she’s felt better-
Roeflame!
Her little brothers cry is jarring, catching the tabby off-guard until she is able to process Toadpaw stepping forward, and it is then that the mollys eyes truly light up in rejoice.
"Of course I am, kid. I missed you too much." Roeflame purrs, wishing she could reach out and embrace the young tom.
The silent brindled form keeping a watchful eye over her is not lost, and Roeflame turns to give Berryheart a prideful smile, gratitude dancing in hazy optics.
The healer had saved her life, yet again- was it time to get him a bouquet of flowers or something?


"speech"

tags​

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[HOWLINGSTAR]

Howlingstar purrs in delight as the found family reunites in joyful, teary words. She smiles, once more feeling pride in her son that he has found such a cure, one that brought Roeflame back to them. She looks cheerfully to Raccoonstripe before her attention shifts to Berryheart. "When can she return to the warrior's den?" She trills hopefully, tail swishing at her heels. As much as she loves the tortoiseshell medicine cat, she is positive Roeflame misses her nest terribly. But more than anything, she does need the warrior to continue resting. She has no idea what lies ahead for ThunderClan in these times, but she'll need every cat strong and prepared for anything.​