Teaching A New Cat Old Tricks [Fire]

She gave a small nod and she gave a light smile, the first she had even given to him, "Sure, I guess its finally time we got along" She mewed softly before flicking her tail and starting to pad out toward the rest of the group as they left for the gathering.

(Gonna skip the gathering cause I'm lazy lol)

Clovermist yawned as she padded back into camp, her fur was still matted up with burs but her fur, along with the other cats of the returning group, was on end, the she-cat grumbled as she padded into her den and sat down, starting to groom her fur lightly.

He answered her unspoken question. "I'm not part of it this time, but I'll be right there, watching." He licked her ear and smirked when she teased him. He'd made his own nickname for her that wasn't very creative but pretty cruel that he decided not to share with her. "Hey, uhh, maybe after you're done with that you and I could go for a walk in the forest." He looked down a little sadly. "After all, we are both the last of our litters to be alive."

The she-cat whimpered and stayed curled up close to her half-brother, she was about to speak but was interrupted by the cats that were part of the gathering to join their leader for the trip, "I guess I better go" She mumbled, she had been part of the gathering group this time, but had no idea if her half-brother was going or not, "Thanks... Icepiss" She teased lightly, using the old nickname she would call him whenever she snapped on him.

Icepelt looked at her through narrowed eyes. "You have not heard as many stories as me, then. I suppose that's what happens when your an old fart though." He licked her ear. "Right after Foxbreath's mentor had passed, and he was medicine-cat on his own, a clanmate got sick in the middle of leaf-bare, but he didn't have any catmint for it, and he thought it was all dead. By the time someone realized there was a patch that had survived beneath some dead grass, it was too late. Foxbreath blamed himself too, but he was an amazing medicine-cat, just like you are."

The she-cat just moved with the tom, not even fighting against him anymore, "I just... I could have saved him... He wouldn't be laying a few foxlengths away, dead, he would be up by now and waiting with his mate for their kits..." She trembled and curled up close to her half-brother, "Foxbreath hadn't even made a mistake like that when he was starting out as a medicine cat, he always had every type of herb we would need" She mewled while continuing to sob into her half-brother's fur.

He quickly interrupted her, "if he could see us now he'd see a sad medicine-cat and a crippled elder," he said the words bitterly, and stopped himself, closing his eyes as he cursed his lack of wordsmanship. "What he'd see is how caring you've become of your clan, and how many lives you've saved in the past." He glanced at his shoulder, and grinning lightly. "He'd also see that you gave the half-brother you hate the ability to walk again after his shoulder was shattered." He lifted his tail and rested it over her back, lying down on his belly and tucking her head beneath his chin to hold her tight, not giving her a chance to wriggle out of his grasp.

She whimpered as she sat close to her half-brother, "I shouldn't have just went for deathberries though... I should have stopped and thought" She sighed, her head low, "If father could see us now..." She murmured quietly.

"Come," he murmured, pushing her away gently and leading her with his tail around her neck to a nest. "It isn't your fault, Clovermist," he began, washing the fur in between her ears as he sat next to her, looking at her filthy back. "You did everything you could, and you did your best, that's all we can ask for." He hesitated, and admitted, "I should have remembered that the herb was outside camp. But I didn't. It just happened, Clovermist, and you did your job." He rested his nose on his half-sister's head, breathing her scent in.

The younger feline jolted and flinched when she felt the tom pull her into a hug, her ears drooped and she bit her lip lightly, letting out a whimper and she pushed her head into his chest while giving small sobs. She had thought she knew there wasn't any shoots around that time, but in her panic she had forgotten that around camp there always was shoots until the snow fell.

He frowned, concerned when he saw her messy form, which was so unlike her usual self. He stopped dead, forgetting about his own treatment as she made her confession, and for a moment, her felt fury rise up, his fur spiking up, but it flattened again quickly as he realized it had been nothing more than a mistake. Not really sure what to say, he stood up and limped to her before wrapping his crippled leg around her, embracing her in a warm hug for the first time in....forever.

She moved toward her half-brother and she pushed the herbs to him, her gaze blank and low as she waited, her fur was a complete mess, knotted with burrs and twigs, "I... Should have listened to you... T-there was some shoots just outside camp...." She whimpered.

He padded into her den and saw that no one else was there, and he sat on his haunches, easing the weight off his shoulder with a pained hiss, silently waiting for her treatment as he watched her retrieve the herbs.

The she-cat, who had been curled up in her nest, jolted when she was called and she jumped up, "Sure... Just let me grab some Stinging Nettle, Poppy Seeds, and some Nettle" She murmured, searching for the herbs she knew she had an abundance of.

Icepelt by then had passed out in the sunlight, exhausted from the intense episode. Though he still had energy and wasn't ancient, he got tired quickly, and his injury was acting up again. He woke up to feel it throbbing, and he tried stretching it out but it didn't stop, and he sighed as he realized he would have to see Clovermist about it. He stood and limped slowlly to the den, calling out her name softly, noticing that the last time he'd seen her she had looked, well, awful. "Clovermist, my, err, shoulder is acting up again."

The medicine cat quickly went back to her normal duties, padding around camp and checking everyone over before leaving camp to find more herbs, she seemed down before she left, but when she came back with none other than ash tree shoots, she was even worse, suddenly growing distant from those around her as she silently treated sore pads or small coughs.

Icepelt stared blankly at the medicine-den as silence overtook it, and he knew by now that Redwillow had passed away for good. He too felt guilty, as an ex-deputy he should've done more, or at least tried. As he calmed down he also began to feel bad for the medicine-cat, realizing she had made the best decision she could, and he had roasted her for it. He sighed, knowing she'd probably just hate him more than ever now.

The she-cat flinched when he snapped, her ears drooped and she gently pulled the dying tom to a nest, she sighed and had him swallow the deathberries, as soon as the tom was with starclan, she took her time grooming him and preparing his body, the she-cat glanced out of the den and she gave a long sigh, she wished she could have done more, but without proper herbs she couldn't.

The elderly cat looked at the she-cat, then back up at Redwillow's face, and could already see bubbled starting to form on his lips as the poison took hold. She was right, of course. Even if the strongest and fastest cat took him to Fireclan, and he survived by some miracle, the treatment would be too late. "Fine," he snarled, going back and dropping the body on the ground, feeling his temper snap as he did so, "Feed him the deathberries. Hell, why bother. Why not just slit his throat? It's mercy killing either way, right?" Snarling, Icepelt stormed out of the den.

"I'm not with or against you" She hissed and hooked her claws into his back leg, "With or without me you wont make it, things like this just happen Icepelt, you need to accept that" She tried to reason with him, her ears drooped back, "Please.." She murmured.

"Don't you dare mention our father," the tom growled, shoving past the she-cat and stopping right at the exit to the den. "Now are you with me or against me? Our father may have been too cowardly to risk fighting for life, but I won't let that happen to Redwillow." He bared his teeth. "Well? Think quickly."

She stared at him and growled deeply, "Icepelt, you cant do this, I'm giving him a better chance taking the deathberries now than waiting for a painful death" She hissed and stayed in his way, "Do you not remember how father went? He was bitten by an adder as well and instead of getting the chance you think this tom needs, he was happy to take the deathberries" She snapped harshly, she had been an apprentice when their father had been bitten by an adder and died, no one knew he had taken deathberries though, everyone thought he had just tied too quickly for the past medicine cat to help him.

He snarled and pushed past her, glaring at her before moving his gaze to their clanmate. "At. least. give. him. a. chance," he hissed each word sequentially, trying not to lash out at the medicine-cat. The elder shoved his nose underneath the body and lifted it up onto his shoulder, taking the limp body on his back. "Now I'm going to carry our clanmate to Fireclan," he hissed, mentioning their fiercest enemies, but also the closest clan to them, "they will help us when they see him," he shook the limp cat on top of him. "Now you can either try to stop me or go to Fireclan and ask them to send help to us as I walk him there."

"Icepelt you cant, you'll be attacked if you cross into another territory and by the time you get back the adder bite would have taken him anyway" She spun around and hissed at her half-brother, her ears back and her fur stood on end, "I have to make sure the whole of the clan is healthy Icepelt, even you" She hissed, padding toward the little leaf with death berries on it, "I don't want to end his life, but without the tree shoots he'll just die slowly" She told him.

(Brb for a bit)

He followed her gaze and shook his head. "I know what you are thinking. At least give him a fighting chance. Do what you can and I'll go get some from another clan." He stared at his half-sister, awaiting for her to agree. Fuck his injured leg, he'd run on it until the bone snapped again.

"I need ash tree shoots but there aren't any this time of year" She huffed and she paced, she grabbed some catmint and chamomile, padding to the injured cat and trying to get him to eat the herbs, the tom had been bitten twice by an adder and needed treatment for it immediately, but without ash tree shoots there would be no other way, the she-cat stood and glanced toward where she kept deathberries, her ears flicking back slightly.