how the mighty fall ❧ // warrior cats

XI - RITUAL

     After learning about the fox, albeit not in detail until the following morning, Greystar allows Stonetail the day off to recuperate via orders from Oaknose. Clay, recovering rapidly from his sickness, is nevertheless also excused, but mostly because he nearly retched on Robinfoot's tail the moment he woke.

     "You need to rest," Streamheart advises when she stops by the medicine den before a midday hunting patrol. Robinfoot and Thrushpaw are both absent, tending to some other trouble in the camp. "You've run around enough for someone with a shoulder they were supposed to be resting only a couple days ago."

     "It doesn't hurt," replies Stonetail, rolling the shoulder in question to prove her point.

     It does hurt, but Streamheart doesn't need to know that. The silver tabby exits, placated. This gives Stonetail just enough privacy to groan and settle into a less painful position. Between the wounds delivered by the fox and the lack of adrenaline to put the pain at bay, the grey warrior feels a thousand aches at once, all in her shoulder. Poppy seeds might dull the pain, but she refrains from asking for any. They'll make her drowsy, and she has had quite enough of lying about despite the dangers activity brings.

     The fight with the fox, as dangerous and foolish as it had been, had also been exhilarating. There are so few occasions to unsheathe one's claws for battle, and though that means the Clans are relatively safe, Stonetail itches to do it again. She doesn't want the danger to spread to her Clan, and she doesn't want to lead travesty over the stoop, but her blood is beginning to boil. Peace is so stagnant.

     But turmoil brings misfortune, often in the form of death and sometimes to those least involved. The fire kindling in Stonetail's chest fizzles out, and she sighs, left with nothing to do but make herself comfortable until discharged to her duties once more.

     Thankfully, Lakewhisker knows all about the tedium of the medicine den, and to the grey warrior's surprise, he comes to visit with two small sparrows in his jaws. Dropping them in front of her, he says with a purr, "I made sure to catch them upriver. No more of that sickness, hm?"

     Stonetail's stomach growls. "Thank you," she mumbles past the chunk of sparrow already in her mouth. Until now, she had not realized how much she needed a proper meal. Adrenaline makes cats forgetful, it seems. Forgetful and hungry. Maybe just shy of starving.

     Scarfing down the first sparrow while Lakewhisker delicately disassembles the second, she is more than happy to let the old tom lead the talk. "I thought that you might like some company," he begins, draping his tail over her back with a purr. "The medicine den can get a little dull; I've been in here enough times to know. StarClan, I've been in here more times than I can count. Did you know I once ended up in here for the same reason you're here now?" Stonetail gives him a sideways look. "That's right, I fought a fox. I don't think I jumped into it with as much gusto as you did, though."

     The grey tabby stops chewing long enough to protest. "It wasn't gusto. It was stupid."

     "And sometimes those go together better than you know." The tom's eyes fall half-shut with contentment. "You're young, Stonetail. I don't expect you to put those together until you're an old lump of fur like me, though a little caution wouldn't hurt you. But I'll blame my daughter for that. She's always been good at getting the pair of you in trouble.