Run Away Bravely (Stormwind)

Leafpool dipped her head in gratitude. “Thank you,” she mewed, glancing around the den. “I’d go get it for myself but I’m the only medicine cat in the den at the moment so I can’t.”

Firestar heard Leafpool’s belly growl, and despite himself let out an amused purr. “Care for some prey?” The tom mewed, glancing towards the entrance to the den. “I’ll get a bit for you before I️ leave.”

(Leafpool*)

Once washing her paws Leafpool returned to her father and sister. Her stomach rumbled, though, reminding her that she had yet to eat that day.

Crowfeather sighed as he limped back out of the den, but not without a glance back at Leafpool.  He’d heard murmurings of something scandalous about her and her sister, but not nearly enough to know what had actually transpired between the pair.

Leafpool appeared startled to receive the gratitude even as she dipped her head in acknowledgment, retreating to wash the sticky poultice off her paws.

Crowfeather nodded, standing up carefully to avoid opening up the wound again. “Thank you, Leafpool,” The tom murmured.

Leafpool finished applying the poultice and stepped back, telling him quietly, “You should take it easy for the next couple of days so as to allow the wound to heal.”

Crowfeather hardly flinched, having plenty of experience with this poultice.

Leafpool avoided the tom’s gaze as she approached him, quickly and efficiently but still gently applying the poultice to the wound on his leg. The juices stung a bit as they entered the wound but it was nothing anyone wasn’t used to by this point.

(*Can take crowfeather*)

Crowfeather glanced up at Firestar, then over to Leafpool. It had to be her... the tom sighed softly, narrowly suppressing a soft growl to avoid incurring the wrath of the medicine cat’s father as he waited to be treated.

(*doesn’t want to be Crowfeather and is only doing the mild things of his reactions because you aren’t him either*)

The dark-furred tom greeted the leader politely if a little stiffly while Leafpool chewed up the marigold to make a poultice.

Firestar dipped his head to the warrior, sitting besides Squirrelflight to keep her company. “Greetings, Crowfeather.”

Despite the amount of cats that were now in the know about Leafpool and Crowfeather’s kits (six of them, not including Hollyleaf as she is presumed dead), the tom himself was not one of them and so was still unaware that he had any kits besides Breezepelt.

Upon seeing the long scratch on Crowfeather’s right foreleg, Leafpool immediately went to fetch some marigold for the wound. (It had stopped bleeding by the time he got back to the island.)

Firestar’s eyes widened. By now he also knew what had happened between the pair when they ran from the clan all those moons ago, but he knew that, despite the huge lie they had told the clan, it was ultimately the best choice they could have made. And while typically Leafpool would have been removed from her medicine cat duties, she was desperately needed, and even if he wanted to remove her it would require a majority of the votes from the other three leaders and Lionblaze.

Leafpool paused briefly in her steps when she saw that the cat was Crowfeather but she was the only medicine cat currently in the den and so she couldn’t avoid him. Swallowing, she just decided to be as professional as possible and padded quietly over to him.

Firestar‘s Head turned at the sound of the cat entering the den, stepping away from Leafpool go get out of the way so she could do her work.

Leafpool briefly rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes and taking deep, even breaths, before she had to pull away when she heard another cat entering the den, this one with the distinctive sound of a limp.

“I️ know,” Firestar Replied with a sigh, though happily letting his grown daughter lean on his shoulder. “So do I️, Leafpool.”

Leafpool pressed against her father’s side, seeking comfort from the larger feline. “I miss her,” she whispered mournfully, also feeling guilty as it had been because she was protecting Leafpool that Squirrelflight got hurt.

Firestar nodded, understanding, though he cast a sad glance down at the She-cat. She’s supposed to be full of life and energy... this is not my daughter. She hadn’t been herself since Brambleclaw broke off their status as mates after learning the secret she had kept from him since before the birth of their kits.

Leafpool sighed. “No better than she was the last time you asked,” she said sadly. “But at least she is not getting any worse.”

Firestar dipped his head to his daughter. “Greetings, Leafpool.” He turned to look down at Squirrelflight, whose rising and falling flank and occasional whines were the only sign she was still among the living. “How is she...?”

Leafpool sighed at the fact that there was nothing she could do at the moment. She’d recently changed the poultices and Squirrelflight wasn’t coherent enough to take some feverfew. Her ears pricked when she heard pawsteps and she looked to the side to see herfather. “Hello, Firestar,” she said quietly.

Firestar leapt gracefully out of the tree where he made his den with the other leaders, a look of concern on his face as he padded towards the combined medicine den. Once inside he knew exactly where he was going, walking right in to the corner where Leafpool was standing over Squirrelflight.

Leafpool finished up taking care of the injuries and sent the warriors off with an admonishment to be more careful and an order to not do anything out of the camp until the next day. She then turned back to her sister and fretted silently, checking the poultices she had applied to her wounds. The flame-colored she-cat had been nearly incoherent and burning with fever for over half a moon now and didn’t seem to be getting any better.

Jayfeather finished checking up Heathertail and gave a nod. “You’re perfectly healthy,” he informed her brusquely before padding away to find something else to do, leaving Heathertail to lay down in a patch of sunlight and start napping.