Warrior Cats One-Shots [COMPLETE]

Banter ≫ Foxleap and Jayfeather (PLATONIC)

I couldn't find any art of Foxleap and Jayfeather, and I'm way too busy to make my own. I apologize!

⚠️ Warnings ⚠️
• Injury
• Mild gore

A/N, 10/16/2023: The user who requested this one-shot chose to not respect the effort and time that was put into it, so their name has been removed from the chapter.

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Foxleap limped through the thorn tunnel, his left forepaw held tentatively in front of him. Droplets of dark crimson dappled the grass as he pushed forward, earning one or two concerned looks from his clanmates. It wasn't a big deal, he supposed; he had simply stepped on a sharp stone while he was following a bright orange butterfly on the WindClan border.

Foxleap finally reached Jayfeather's den, stopping to wrinkle his nose at the pungent odor of mingling herbs. He had always hated that smell, so much so that he usually refused to enter the medicine cat's den unless absolutely necessary. He glanced at the gaping wound on his pad and grimaced. Yeah, this is definitely necessary.

Taking a deep breath, he limped forward and pushed his way through the lichen that covered Jayfeather's den. Once he was inside he paused and glanced around, searching for the familiar gray tabby pelt. He found it several heartbeats later, situated at the back of the den, sorting several different plants that he couldn't identify if Tigerstar had his claws on his throat.

"Mouse-brain," Jayfeather was muttering irritably under his breath as he worked. "When will that annoying furball learn to not stick his nose where it doesn't belong?" Foxleap could only assume he was grumbling about Berrynose, who had been stung by bees earlier that day after sticking his muzzle into their hive to eat the honey.

He's not in a good mood, Foxleap decided densely. I should make this quick.

"Um... Hey, Jayfeather...?" Foxleap meowed somewhat timidly, taking a limping step forward and outstretching his wounded paw. "...I have a bit of a problem..."

The gray tabby whipped his head around, glaring with blind blue eyes. "What in StarClan's name could it possibly be?" He spat, his voice dripping with sarcastic venom. Foxleap stifled a sigh and rolled his eyes. Of course Jayfeather was in a bad mood; he always was, and it had a tendency to make other cats miserable at times. Some things never change, I guess.

"Hello to you, too." Foxleap meowed wryly, excitement making his paws tingle. If he couldn't make the grouchy medicine cat happy, he'd have to harass him instead. Innocently, of course.

"What do you want?" Jayfeather snapped, his tail-tip thumping against the ground. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

Foxleap smirked at the perfect opportunity Jayfeather had given him. "Yes, I can see that," He meowed coolly with a smirk. "Can't you see I'm injured?" The blind medicine cat's eyes widened, almost as if he was somewhat taken aback by the oh-so-clever prod. Foxleap's smirk widened. "I'm a genius, I know."

Jayfeather hissed, his ears flattening. "If piles of crowfood are geniuses, then you're a genius. Now, did you actually need something or do you just want to harass me?"

Foxleap doubled over to stifle his laughter, only to be harshly reminded of his injury when his left forepaw touched the ground. "I cut my paw open on a rock," He explained with a grimace. "I was following a butterfly and wasn't watching where I was stepping."

If the medicine cat was angry before, he was utterly furious now. "You were following a butterfly?" He echoed with a growl. "You're a grown warrior, Foxleap! You were supposed to be hunting! Do you think you're a kit!?"

"I was hunting!" Foxleap protested. "I just didn't catch anything!"

"Then you didn't hunt!" Jayfeather growled with a lash of his tail. "You screwed around and got hurt!" Something flashed in the blind medicine cat's eyes, and for a moment, it almost looked like he was concerned. Foxleap was about to make a snarky comment about it, but Jayfeather spoke first. "I can smell your blood. The cut must be deep." Foxleap was a bit taken aback. It wasn't like Jayfeather to sound so worried, especially for him.

"Um... Yeah," Foxleap replied, turning his paw upside down to examine the split down the middle of the pad. He could just barely glimpse stark white bone underneath. "It's pretty bad." Without another word, Jayfeather rose to his paws and disappeared into the back of his den. Foxleap waited patiently, listening to the medicine cat rummaging around inside his herb store. He was still muttering under his breath, but it sounded less angry than before. Foxleap sat down and wrapped his tail around his remaining useful paw. It's almost like he cares about me. Perhaps he did; the two had known each other for a long time.

Jayfeather reappeared a moment later with several clumps of marigold in his jaws and a pawful of cobwebs. He bent his head and chewed the golden leaves into a poultice, then spit them onto his upturned pad. "Give me your paw," He instructed. Taking his opportunity, Foxleap smirked and placed his uninjured appendage in front of Jayfeather's nose. "Very funny, smart-ears," The blind medicine cat retorted. "I meant the injured paw."

Foxleap shrugged, then obeyed. "What can I say? Sometimes I just get—Ow!" He let out a cry as the poultice was pressed onto his wound. "Have you ever heard of consent!?" He demanded.

"Just shut up and hold still," Jayfeather hissed, raising his cobweb-laden paw and carefully pressing it against the chewed up herbs. Foxleap let out a groan of pain, but didn't protest further. After a moment of wrapping and pulling, Jayfeather finally sat back and allowed himself to sigh. "Don't walk on it today," He instructed. "If it bleeds through, come and see me again." He met Foxleap's gaze as if he could see, then huffed and shook his head. "Mouse-brain." There was a note of affection in his voice, and it filled Foxleap's heart with joy. I guess he's not just a grumpy medicine cat.

"Whatever," Foxleap chuckled, rising to his paws. "You know you love me."

"Just get out."

With an amused snort, Foxleap turned and limped back through the lichen. Wether or not he was in a bad mood, Jayfeather was always fun to visit.

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I'm sorry this took so long to publish. A lot has been going on for me. I hope you enjoyed the one-shot!

Also, I couldn't really think of any other scenarios with these two, as it's been a long time since I've read the books where Foxleap is alive. I hope it turned out alright ^^"