[Mousenose & Dovepaw]

[Cloud of Diamonds]

How curious...Mousenose seemed to be very concerned about his apprentice. Of course, he would be anyway, he was her mentor. Yet his obvious depth of affection for her seemed...different somehow, greater in some way than normal care. She rolled her eyes at herself. An idiot, she was. Imagining silly daydreams when there was work to be done.

Work to be done...yes. Lots of it.

But what strange words the now-awake apprentice was saying! How odd and out of place they seemed to be...her hazel colored eyes narrowed in though, the FogClanner slowly coming to the conclusion that post-injury pain and shock must be taking its toll and causing her to hallucinate...she needed to be in the medicine den, fast.

However, Brightnose had to patch her up before anything else was done, lest the consequences be fatal.

Keeping her tone carefully neutral, she said "You've just gotten a bit hurt, Dovepaw, and I'm cleaning you up, dear."

The calico winced at how bad her attempt at being caring sounded. Was she really that bad at emotional speaking? She guessed so.

Then again, detachment had its advantages.

One of which was being able to ignore the horror of a young cat's body being ravaged this badly. Somehow Brightnose didn't feel the shock she knew she should. But then, that was probably a good thing.

As she finished padding the masses of white thread - most of which was now stained dark pink - over the gruesome wound, she turned her gaze to Mousenose and Tawnywhisker.

"You two. One of you go back to camp and tell Owlstar or Mistpelt if Owlstar's not there. Inform them that I will not be in my den for a while, and tell somecat to find Finchpaw and have him to come here.

The other will search around here for soft materials such as moss, feathers, grass, and dry leaves. Decide who will do what, quickly."

[glowlynose]

Tawnywhisker watched as Brightnose worked on Dovepaw with a grim expression on her face. It was a wonder that the poor little snip had survived even past the original shock of the fox's teeth meeting her flesh. She might survive this if Brightnose was skillful and speedy enough. Most of the apprentice's bleeding had been stanched; only a few small trickles now seeped from her gashes. Tawnywhisker found herself pitying the poor, disheveled snow-pelted figure crumpled on the ground. Even if she survived, Dovepaw would have many scars to remind her of this encounter. No tom would think she was pretty with those marks all over her torso and neck. The poor girl would be condemned to a life of loneliness.

"I'll find Mistpelt and Owlstar, and send for Finchpaw. Mousenose, do you think you'll be able to find the things in Brightnose's den?" Tawnywhisker startled herself with her voice. It was so cool, so strangely detached. It must be the stress of the situation. Yes, that's it. Of course I care about Dovepaw. It's the stress, that's all. Her gaze softened as she looked down and saw Mousenose burying his muzzle in Dovepaw's side. Her lips even twitched in an effort to smile, but she would not allow herself to do so. How was it that a pitiful, broken apprentice could be loved when she could not be? What was so special about Dovepaw that drew Mousenose to her? What did he feel for her that made her so different from everyone else in his eyes? A twinge of jealousy attempted to contort her face into a sneer, but again she would not allow that.

--x

Dovepaw blinked a few times and wriggled around. A fierce pain shot down her entire body, making her gasp. Okay. Not doing that again. For now, she would remain still. Didn't Brightnose have any poppy seeds? Why hadn't she brought any? And why was there such a weird smell? Her nose crinkled up at the sickening stench of her own blood, though she did not know what it was.

Something flickered in her brain, a curtain that obscured reality. Now she could see her siblings. How healthy they looked! How happy they seemed without her. They were playing in a sunny meadow. Butterflies flitted all around among bits of cotton. They looked perfectly content to go on in their games without her. Sugar had grown up to be even bigger than her brother. Dovepaw let out a soft whimper like her housefolk had done when their eyes leaked water. Then Vanilla looked right at her, as he had done in so many other dreams, but this look seemed to beckon her to him. She could go and join in on the fun. Everything would be fixed. But wait - there was someone else! A large brown tom was sitting off to the side of her siblings. She couldn't help but feel warm when she looked at him. Did that mean something?

The curtain drew back, and she could see again. She could feel Mousenose's muzzle on her back, and she smiled. He was there.

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