camp pages turned || fox attack recovery

[ashpaw!]

Ashpaw is so tired.

It has been — a long day. A very long day. And she's glad to be tucked into thjs makeshift medicine den, where she can rest, wounds in her side and shoulder throbbing — but this is not like times before, when she'd cowered and curled up in the moss, newly terrified of the world.

Instead Ashpaw feels pride. And — and a lot of shock to be honest. She didn't know that she could do that.

Maybe, thinks a part of her, I'll really get to be a warrior someday. Because somewhere in all the loss and chaos she'd lost that... no more stomping tiny feet and yelling with a tiny voice that she'd be Ashtornado, deputy of RiverClan! — no, she'd lost that. And she won't get it back again. (It's not the sort of thing that's gotten back.)

But what will she have?

A life again, maybe. Something more than meandering like this, soft-spoken, somewhat listless. She loves the kits and the elders and she loves her chores but she's missed the territory. She's missed the river, the rush of training. Ashpaw flexes her claws against the moss and thinks about a future where she rises: where she tears through the forest like a blaze, like a fire, warrior in her own right. Where she is bright red color blooming out of gray.

The gash along her side stings. It's going to sting for awhile, she knows. But she's alive to feel the stinging — she did that, she saved herself. When her clanmates had found her, helped her to her feet, they'd been... well, they'd been impressed. She'd gotten some scolding for being out of camp, yeah — not that she had control over that this time, but, well, she does have a reputation — and there'd been worry, confusion, surprise. And more worry, and a little more scolding. It was a whole thing.

But impressed.

She's never gotten a look quite like that before.

Ashpaw lets her head drop, snuggling deeper into the moss... her flank throbs, and she cringes and stops moving. She hopes she isn't in here for too long. Although Beesong and Gloompaw are wonderful company, so it could be worse. They could have — like — a WindClanner or a ShadowClanner medicine cat. Yeah, Ashpaw bets those medicine cats are mean and nasty. They've gotta be. Wait — wait. They do have the (former) ShadowClan medicine cat. Literally in their camp. And Boneripple is perfectly nice. And the WindClan medicine cat is a prisoner... and a child. Right. Okay. Anyway. Example didn't hold upon further scrutiny. Still, it could totally be worse.

Hearing a sound, Ashpaw glances toward the entrance of the den — a visitor, maybe?
​

—— " i found gold in the wreckage "

✦ ooc ✦ character information ✦ recent events

• ooc text goes here
  
  
• - 7 month old orange tabby with green eyes
  - apprenticed to lead warrior willowroot
  - crushing hard on iciclepaw
  - happy-go-lucky, mischievous, hardworking
  - very friendly, but defensive of riverclan!
  - "speech"
• - disclosed being abused by spiderfall, who was exiled & who then killed her best friend pumpkinpaw
  
  - temporarily apprenticed to npc pebbleskip due to willowroot moving into the nursery
  
  - benched for a few weeks at smokethroat's request after a training incident; mainly stays in camp and helps with the kits or does chores
  

​

 

[frogpaw]

A visitor indeed. But not anyone super interesting or cool– just Frogpaw, with his lanky frame and low-kept head. He feels awkward coming in here, both physically for the shape of him and...mentally, he guesses that's all that's left. RiverClan's temporary camp isn't a place that he's really enjoyed, and neither is the medicine den. Even this fake one isn't right. It's a place of illness and injury as well as recovery. One day he would like to have that softer side of things, but for now all he smells is herbs and blood. Maybe the latter is just because he's holding a freshly caught vole in his mouth. It surely couldn't be left from Ashpaw's injury still, could it? They would have washed it. (His eyes still flicker over the apprentice in silent search.)

"Hi Ashpaw," he mumbles, mouth still full of his offering until he remembers to set it at her paws. "I brought you something to eat. I'm sure Beesong's feeding you, but...still. How are you feeling? Does it hurt real bad?" Frogpaw hadn't been there for the moment itself, or any of its aftermath but this, but news spread through RiverClan's camp like wildfire. He's pretty sure even the newborn kittens must know by now.

˗ˏˋ〚  OOC NOTES REFERENCE INFORMATION 〛´ˎ˗

• ooc: —
• 
• FROGPAW. APPRENTICE OF RIVERCLAN. EIGHT MONTHS OLD
  —— npc x npc, has several npc siblings. mentored by snakeblink.
  —— loyal to riverclan, but somewhat uncertain of his place there.
  —— unknown sexuality. single, not actively looking or interested.
  
  a lanky, slender black smoke with low white and soft blue eyes. his ears are gently curled, and each paw has at least one extra toe, making them seem broader and larger than a typical cat's.
• "speech"

​

 

[CLAYFUR]

Behind Frogpaw, in shuffles the lean brown-furred tabby. He isn’t the greatest fan of the healers’ den, especially given how often those he cares about seem to end up staying in the ugly little den, but he likes to check on those who are in here anyway. Today it’s Ashpaw, recovering from her most recent traumatic experience. The last time Clayfur came to visit her in here, he was bringing her a leaf full of ants and trying to figure out which one was Rock, but now he comes with empty paws and an emptier mouth.

Words have never come slowly to the long-legged warrior, but they do now. He feels out of place here, now, and his hazel eyes flick around restlessly. After a moment, though, Clay offers the ginger apprentice a smile soft as chick-down. "I just wanted to check on you, too," he says, not bothering to repeat the same questions that Frog has already asked. It’s probably best for Ashpaw to rest, anyway, instead of spending her time answering the same question more than once.
​

[ WHAT'S MY AGE AGAIN? ]​

​

 

[ashpaw!]

Visitors!!!

Ashpaw grins when she sees Frogpaw — he's a nice kid and oh. He's brought her something to eat. Ashpaw could cry that's so sweet. She shifts in her nest, ignoring the way it pulls at her slow-forming scabs, so she can talk to Frogpaw properly.

"Hi," she says, cheerful despite her physical condition. "Thank you so much — it looks really yummy. Um ... stay and share with me?"

It's hesitant, hopeful ... she'd like the extra company. He asks after her, and Clayfur shows up, too, to check in — Ashpaw purrs an affectionate greeting, before pausing to think about it. How is she feeling?

She thinks about how terrifying it had been, at first. But then how the sunrise had looked afterward, and how the aftermath of terror had settled into something almost calm. This new emotion, this pride in herself for something she'd done.

She feels — peaceful, maybe?

Ashpaw isn't great at putting words to things but that feels right.

"I feel... great," she finally says. Quiet, but confident. "Like — I did something? I did something. I fought it off all by myself because if I didn't then I would have died — and I've never done that before, y'know? It's always been — "

Someone else saving me, she doesn't finish. She thinks of ThunderClanners dragging her out of the mud and guiding her home, Cicadastar banishing the monster, Willowroot's endless gentleness — Smokethroat halting training last month with just one word. "Enough."

She can't bring herself to regret the way they've protected her. "This time I saved myself," is what she does say, because all she's ever wanted is to be a warrior, capable and strong, just like them. And now she's gonna be one. She really feels like she will be, for the first time in months and months.

She cracks a smile at Frogpaw's second question. "Naw, it doesn't hurt that bad. Beesong says it's not as deep as it looks. So don't worry." ​

—— " i found gold in the wreckage "

✦ ooc ✦ character information ✦ recent events

• ooc text goes here
  
  
• - 7 month old orange tabby with green eyes
  - apprenticed to lead warrior willowroot
  - crushing hard on iciclepaw
  - happy-go-lucky, mischievous, hardworking
  - very friendly, but defensive of riverclan!
  - "speech"
• - disclosed being abused by spiderfall, who was exiled & who then killed her best friend pumpkinpaw
  
  - temporarily apprenticed to npc pebbleskip due to willowroot moving into the nursery
  
  - benched for a few weeks at smokethroat's request after a training incident; mainly stays in camp and helps with the kits or does chores
  

​

 

[BEESONG]

beesong returns from herb gathering to find a couple of visitors in his makeshift den; frogpaw and clayfur. seeing the latter immediately makes beesong think that clayfur's eaten something else that he shouldn't have, already preparing himself to scold clayfur for what seems like the thousandth time once his herbs are put away... but as his ear pulls forward to listen in on the conversation, he finds that the other tom has just come to visit.

breathing a sigh around the plants, beesong would shuffle to ashpaw's side after storing away the small amount of herbs they managed to find. sniffing at the cobwebs along her side and collarbone, seeking out any hint of infection setting in- the scare with smokethroat still lingering in the back of their mind- but there's nothing off about the wounds. satisfied for now, the healer leans back and looks to the new faces in the den. it looks like frogpaw's brought prey for ashpaw, which they're grateful for; there's so much on their mind, it's a relief to know they have one less thing to worry about with the clan making sure ashpaw eats.

ashpaw confirms that she feels fine, great even, and beesong's reminded of how much she's grown in the past moons. fighting off a fox, all by herself... it's hard to believe, really. but the pride he feels for her is overweighed by the worry; she shouldn't have gone out by herself, in the first place. with the world starving as it is, every creature is desperate... and a desperate animal is a dangerous one.

she's already been scolded plenty by him, though. still, he levels her with a small frown as she says that she saved herself. "you shouldn't have been without a warrior, though." what would he have done if they'd lost her?

beesong's ear flicks, when the subject changes. she's reassuring the others that the wounds aren't that deep. all they give is an affirmative hum, circling around the trio to return to their storage, where they begin sorting herbs into place. and thank the stars for that... it shouldn't take long for ashpaw to recover. he can only hope she's learned to not leave the camp alone.​

 

[Snakeblink]

A single apprentice lost is one too many, but Riverclan has seen the untimely death of more than their fair share of adolescents lately. Pumpkinpaw, then Peachpaw… And just recently, with the apprentice den collapsing on top of them, although none died. It’s no wonder everyone is on edge at the mere thought of one of their younger clanmates being hurt.

Why, then, why was Ashpaw able to sleepwalk her way out of camp and into a fox’s maws?

Snakeblink has been mulling that problem over, mostly as a distraction from the gnawing stress of having come that close to losing yet another apprentice. He has gotten, if anything, even more overprotective since being assigned as Frogpaw’s mentor. Some days, he wishes he could bundle these overgrown kits in feather down and keep them safe in their dens until the end of times. It might not solve anything — Iciclepaw would probably tear him limb from limb as a result — but he’d definitely feel better about his ability to protect them from threats.

As he can do no such thing, he’ll have to content himself with fretting himself into an early grave instead.

He ducks after a returning Beesong into the healer’s temporary den, though he remains near the entrance. He’s gratified to see Frogpaw already at Ashpaw’s side, along with the ever big-hearted Clayfur. It’s good to see his apprentice socialize — and to witness his care for his clanmates’ well-being, as is evident by the freshkill he brought along.

Snakeblink nods a greeting at the three cats, aiming an approving quirk of a smile at Frogpaw before he turns to Ashpaw.

”I see you have your fair share of visitors already, but I wanted to extend my well wishes for your quick recovery nonetheless.”

He regrets not having brought something along — a bauble that might keep her entertained during the boring process of healing, and which would have justified his presence.
​

ooc. information.

• 
  
• — Snakeblink • he / him. 37 ☾, riverclan warrior
  — a sleek, skinny tabby with long ears and a scar over his right eye.
  — gay, not actually evil, penned by @Kangoo
  
  
  

​

​

 

[CLAYFUR]

Ashpaw seems in a good enough mood despite being holed up in the den, and Clay offers a flick of his tail when she greets those who have come to see her. As she explains herself, he tilts his head in acknowledgement, not wholly understanding what she means. It makes sense, in a way, but no one can truly understand the ginger apprentice’s line of thinking besides herself. "It’s good to hear that you’re doing good. And I’m glad you were able to fight it off." Stars know he wouldn’t know what to do with himself if she’d been killed.

When the clan’s healer speaks, Clay’s smile fades. His mouth twists, teeth chewing lightly at the inside of his cheek. "Oh, Beesong, can’t the scolding wait ‘til she’s out apprentice-ing again?" It’s a question asked lightly, not intended to harm, and he hopes it isn’t received poorly. Ashpaw has finally had a victory; they should all let her have this, even if only for the extent of her stay in the healers’ den. The real talk, the reminders about safety and responsibility, can wait for a better time. And maybe his request for more yarrow from the healer can wait, as well.
​

[ WHAT'S MY AGE AGAIN? ]​

​

 

[SMOKESTAR]

The dark tom's head dipped into the already too crowded den, tempted to greet them with a firm 'what are you slackers doing' but as funny as he would find the excuses and sputtering replies he didn't think they would be as entertained by it so he refrained. The fox attack had been on the back of his mind since hearing about it, thankful it had all worked out and also mildly irritated he had missed it entirely; a patrol would need to ensure it did not come back because despite the ferocity at the defense of her own life Ashpaw was still an apprentice and a hungry fox might not be entirely turned away from the idea of coming back a second time if it didn't recieve a proper thrashing.

"She feels fine enough to brag about her well-earned victory then she can handle a scolding." A light purr of good humor rose up in his throat, watching Beesong stress and bother over the apprentice who seemed no worse for the wear all things considered. Foxes were a deadly foe, most cats were not so lucky as to walk away from them.

"Leave camp again without a warrior and you get to train with me, fireball, and we both know I'm not as fun as Willowroot." Despite his sharp tone that lone orange eye had a glint of amusement in it. Fun was relative anyways, Iciclepaw thrived in their training but Ashpaw probably wouldn't be as fond of being pummeled around as the tortie was-she'd always been far softer but maybe now that was changing. Maybe now she could get back on the proper track her life had been before being pushed off it by the cruelty of the world around them.
"...proud of you. I'll be requesting to observe your assessment when we finally get you there." He glanced to the side, decided the den was a bit too crowded for a prolong stay and smiled lightly, "Iciclepaw is done with her duties today, expect her at some point.."

​