WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN | cottonsprig

[SOOTSPOT]

Bluefrost had been a barrier between himself and Cottonsprig, one promise kept so the smoke would fulfill another. Everyday he had looked towards the medicine cat's den, hoping that the other would catch him staring, would know that when it came to camp affairs, he had one thousand eyes. That gaze had seen a whole lot of nothing this past moon, not even an ounce of remorse for all the lives she'd ruined bringing Lungwortkit into the clan. In that way, he'd rationalised that confronting her was for the good of his home, a chance for her to show some sort of guilt for her very existence. He prowled closer and closer to the medicine den as the clan shared tongues, giving a look over his shoulder to see if anyone was paying attention. If Bluefrost saw, it would be evident he'd shattered his promise.

But she wasn't useful anymore. She wasn't even important. His other sister was. The way he saw it, that meant the terms of their deal could be changed.

He slipped inside the den, nostrils greeted with a myriad of mystery sights and smells. His head swiveled like an owl's as he assessed the small space, free of any except for a familiar grey cat sorting herbs in the back. Sootspot brushed his body against the gorse, letting the little snaps of broken twigs announce his presence. While greeting Cottonsprig, his tail coiled like a snake's, his nodding head full of intent. There was venom in his smile only reserved for the worst type of animal, the one who sat upon a pedestal they had not earned.

Wordlessly, he moved closer and closer before settling upon an empty nest, breathing softly as he took in the acoustics of the room. A half-moon ago, it had been Celandinepaw in such a position, convinced of damnation by the clan that would take her in if she uttered a word of her heresy. Useful, he'd called her, useful he'd call Cottonsprig too, yet when he spoke, his message was personal. "I thought you were perhaps scared of appearing ill or embarrassed about a stray furball." His tufted ears twitched, scanning the other's features with an eagle's eye. "I never would have expected what it actually was. You should not be keeping secrets from your family, Cottonsprig. Bluefrost understood that, it was why she told me about your... ailment."

Not directly, not intentionally, but body language and expression were often far more important than words. He found the words of others to be sickly things, hardly weighty, always malleable. It was an oversight from StarClan to make them into weapons, but he'd learned in order to survive, one needed to use any exploit they could find. Be it words or one's own family, especially when one's family had exploited him for far too long. "Such an awful secret that, though, I am glad to see you are feeling better. I do wonder if Sunstar knows about one of his medicine cats having experienced such a sickness.... it seems important, no?"
​

 

[cottonsprig]

She had been avoiding Sootspot with all that she could. Her dearest brother, with acid eyes and a viper tongue, could split all of her lies in two and spread the truth just as fast. He's too cunning, too cynical... He's the best parts of their mother, and better still - for in the end, where her blood spilled, his did not. He managed to continue to thrive beneath scrutiny and criticism and uphold new Clan values despite detesting all they created.

A part of her wished that Sunstar would've had him chased out before she came back. That would've made any part of her situation easier. Yet any time the want crosses her mind, Cottonsprig grits her teeth and damns her thoughts - her connection to family is worn so terribly thin, after all. As much as she wishes to never see him again, she depends on him as a sort of anchor. A reminder, even if that courtesy is given with ill intentions and swift lashings of pain.

He's too quick beneath the shadows of her den, slipping close to her and giving her no chance to greet him. He speaks methodically, as if his mantra was practiced for days and not simply slick off of his tongue. Cottonsprig cannot obscure her minor jump, blue eyes wide as she turns to see him. Nothing of her softens when she pulls in recognition, but her shoulders do relax as she stubbornly carries on with her duties.

A single claw scores the earth beneath her paws as he speaks their sister's name. Cottonsprig had, at some point, come to accept that her brother was not stupid. That he knew full well all that she was going through, that she earned him a favor in his quickness to hide her upset stomach. It's only then, however, as he draws on carelessly that she realizes that one day, he'll want to cash it in. She does not blame Bluefrost for this simple mistake - she has no one to blame but herself.

"No one had anything to gain from it," she says simply, trying to skirt around his want for information. Has she already told you? She cannot ask. Bluefrost and Sootspot now share a den, a rank - both must mind kittens regardless of their designated nest. Has Bluefrost shared the origin of more than half of her litter? Did she need to? She nudges away a pile of leaves as he continues, and after a drawn out moment, she takes her turn.

"He knows, Sootspot." A pause, and she looks back towards him. She cannot hide the sorrow in her gaze, not as her sadness parts with tears upon her cheeks. She knows he must gain strength through this, somehow. How he must be eager to watch his starlit sister fall. Oh, how little he truly knows. "StarClan knows, too. The Clan -" Cottonsprig turns her attention to the mouth of her den, her lips remaining parted as she gauges her own feelings, all before she shakes her head. "- doesn't need to know. I'm home, tending to my duties. That is enough." But is it?

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.

​

 

[SOOTSPOT]

He stared as she admitted that Sunstar knew why Cottonsprig had left, tilting his head like a hound that could not quite comprehend what it was hearing. The tom could believe it, he could believe that between a sickly Wolfsong and a faithless Celandinepaw, Cottonsprig served as the perfect pawn to get the clan healthy before a deserved demotion. It went against what he wanted though, and so he rejected the notion with a laugh. "Sister, you know that deception does not work on me," he mewed as if sharing a tale with an old friend, the mirth within his tone almost drunken as he tried to keep a friendly face going. It was enough for him to know that the ones who would give her the hardest time for it were still non-the-wiser, enough to make even the most forced of his smiles that slightest bit sincere.

"But if, within the very marrow of your bones, you believe that Sunstar does know and chose to let you stay regardless... well, I think that speaks for itself, really. You brought yellowcough to the clan, risked my kittens for some snivelly runt, and then you decided it was the perfect time to play coy with the code. Then, when all was said and done and the blood of my friends was on your paws, you disappeared for a moon instead of facing the consequences of your actions." Within his bright gaze lay a venom as green as his eyes. In conversation, it had always been too easy to convince himself that he was the only one with any moral dignity, yet staring at Cottonsprig, it almost felt truthful. How many second chances could a cat get before it was clear that corruption was afoot?

It was just a shame the corruption didn't benefit him. Yet. "The clan deserves to know of your tryst, when so many of their betters have lied and swindled them, they deserve to know that I will not do the same." Sootspot turned around, swishing his tail as if whipping back a curtain. He lifted his head back and took in a deep breath, ready to shout to StarClan itself that Cottonsprig was a killer and a fraud. He didn't see her, but he wanted to feel her panic and to presume such was enough to make his heart flutter from the authority. 'This is what I am owed.'

Then, he turned around with a grin upon his muzzle.

"Lighten up, it was only a joke. I will not tell anyone while you behave yourself. Besides, there is something you could do for me, guess what that might be."



​

 

[cottonsprig]

Her infallible truth is made null by the mere fact that he does not receive it. Her misted eyes narrow with frustration as his haughty laughter consumes the medicine den in its entirety, as if the notes themselves will tear apart her stores and make a further mockery of them. Cottonsprig grinds her teeth as she continues to try and hold to a sense of composure, though she feels it slipping slowly still.

Regardless he continues, toying with the realm she's afforded him. Honesty, now twisted mercilessly to make exhibits of the hard earned facts. I know, she wants to weep in response, her tail coiling around her frame with discomfort. I know, I know, I know... So many cats, now, who have survived but at a cost. So many cats with issues breathing, with long term, incurable symptoms. So many instances that could've been solved if she, perhaps, had never left. If she had done nothing at all, in fact, outside of her supposed duty as a medicine cat.

It's a flare of anger in her chest, one that burns quicker, louder in her ears as he takes the open stage once more. "Sootspot -" she barks his name hoarsely, standing to her paws in a panic. The pleading almost comes quicker than his words, the sway of his tail slowing time as she imagines him cruel and foul enough to loose his lips and reveal her secrets. But he spins, grinning even. A joke. "You're awful," Cottonsprig spits in his direction. Her jaw hurts with tension as she takes a cautious step back, her eyes hold to his paws, watching to see if they turn yet again, a promise, a threat. It's moments after he finishes speaking that she recognizes that he's spoken at all.

"Guess...?" She swallows, the word eeking out of her throat in the interim. Her eyebrows pinch together as she shakes her head, "I'm in no mood for games, Sootspot. I'm - I'm busy. I'm no- no queen who keeps busy with gossip." Something hurts in her, but it's a familiar pain drawn out for the last several weeks. She looks on to the tom with the same displeasure, "Just tell me what you want."

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.

​