Cowbirdsoar lays in the healer's den, basking in the cool morning air. His- the kits lay against his side. He curls his tail over them.
Last moon, he tried to get them to sleep on their own. He and Madtomtuft cleaned and added moss to the apprentice’s den. But after spending the night in it, they refused to return. No bribery or insistence would change their minds.
Cowbirdsoar knew he could force the issue, but that would do them no good. So, instead he chose to accommodate them. He brought the moss from the apprentice den and added it to his own nest.
That made the comfortable nest the three of them lay in now. He yawns into the empty air and stretches. Rhubarbkit squeaks against him, while Plumekit just curls further in on herself.
He looks down at them, his golden eyes shining. They are mine... Stars it is wrong, but they are my family. He looks at the cave roof and imagines Starclan looking down at him. He imagines the face of his mentor, the one he had made his oath to. He can see her scowling at him. I promise I am still loyal, He says to the visage. I will never take a mate, never have kits. But let me have this selfishness.
The visage stares through him, it says nothing, but a lightness creeps into his heart. He rests his head against his kits.
“Are you up yet?” Madtomtuft calls from the entrance. He narrows his eyes at his niece, making a shushing motion with his tail. She covers her mouth and backs away.
Reluctantly, Cowbirdsoar uncurls himself from his daughters. He licks both of their heads and walks out to meet Madtomtuft.
“Did you need something?” he says quietly.
“I just wanted to offer to go herb hunting with you.” She smiles so earnestly; the rest of darkness drains to his paws.
He nudges his head against hers. “I’ll be ready soon.” He walks back into the cave.
Rhubarbkit is already bothering Brambleclash, while her quieter sister is still asleep, having taken over the whole nest. Brambleclash bats at Rhubarbkit and smiles at him. She mouths ‘I have this’ at him. He mouths his own thanks and slinks back out.
Madtomtuft and Cowbirdsoar climb the rocks and onto the field. They bring themselves to a feverfew patch; the majority of it is already dead. Do we even have enough? If what we have goes bad... she nudged him out of his thoughts.
She motions towards the patch. “How do I harvest the feverfew?”
He swallowed down his fears. “You want to nip them towards the base of the stalk- be careful, the smell can throw off some cats.” He knew she knew. But the words comforted him.
She followed his orders and picked the plants. He joins in, avoiding the dead roots.
His ears twitch, catching a sound on the wind. Pawsteps. He unsheathes his claws. The pawsteps get closer. Madtomtuft tenses next to him, her own claws at the ready.
The pawsteps grow louder until a cat comes into view. A normal, non-infected cat and one Cowbirdsoar recognizes.
He sprints to them without thinking. “Walnutpaw” He calls out. Walnutscreech’s eyes widen in surprise. They run up to greet him.
The last time he saw Walnutpaw, their ears just barely reached his chin. Now, Walnutpaw was just a paw shorter than him. Their short, sandy fur, was tight against their skin, letting Cowbirdsoar see the bones underneath.Their purple eyes, once full of warmth and ambition, had dulled and sunk into his head.
“It’s Walnutscreech now,” They correct.
That made sense. It had been 9 moons. “Oh.” He clears his throat. “Congratulations.” He peaks over their shoulders. It was dangerous for them to be alone, where was Daisypop? Or the other Ivyclan cats?
“It’s just me.” They follow his gaze.
The words hit Cowbirdsoar like a raging badger. Just me.
“Ivyclan is...?”
Walnutscreech shook their head. “No, we just moved further up the hill.”
“We moved to the shore ourselves.” He waves his tail towards where he came from.
“That’s nice...” They reply, staring at the feverfew patch.
Of course, they came for that. And we had already picked so much...
“I think there’s still some.” He offers them. “Though, it may be easier for one clan to share them, rather than two.” Ivyclan has always been proud, but maybe, maybe those left could join Grouseclan.
Walnutscreech paws at the dirt. “I can’t imagine our leader would be keen on that.” They meow, the weight of the words pressing them against the dirt.
“What about just you?”
They recoil. “I can’t. Ivyclan still needs me.” Cowbirdsoar deflates.
“Right, of course.” He paws the dirt. “I’ll get you that feverfew.” He walks back to Madtomtuft, taking some of the plants. He sets it on their paws and steps back. They take it and turn around.
“Thank you.” They mumble around the plants. Cowbirdsoar nods to them. He wants to pull them back, but he knows he cannot. A healer's duty is to their clan... they would only hate him if he tried to remove them from their duty.
Silently, Cowbirdsoar slinks home. Madtomtuft follows him, feverfew in her jaws.
They tell the clan about Walnutscreech and Ivyclan. Brambleclash seems uneasy, Nighthawkflicker is quiet, and the kits... well they spend the meeting playing.
Cowbirdsoar curls in on himself. He paws his leg. “We can decide whether to visit them or not later. But for now, we should all just sleep on it.”
“That’s as good an idea as any.” Brambleclash nuzzles against him. “Mind checking on my sprain before you turn in?”
“Of course.” He helps her to the healer’s den. The kits follow them, worn out from their play.
My bot Rook dusk finally got his name!! Pear stride is now a mama, and despite buttercup paw gruesome death i am very proud of how i drew it. so good moon overall.
A week after the reveal, Cowbirdsoar pulls her aside.
He’s more fidgety than usual as he sits in front of her. “Hey, Nighthawkflicker.” He tries to keep his tone light, but she can feel the nervousness radiating from him.
His nerves were infectious. She tries to shake them off, and keep her tone level. But the words come out sharp. “What do you need?”
He dips his ears back.
She quickly mutters an apology. “How can I help?” She tried, softening her voice.
His ears raise a little, but the tension still lingers. “I need a favor.” He pauses to collect himself. “I have to go gather some more moss and... I was wondering if you could watch the kits?”
Nighthawkflicker blinks, then smiles. The kits had been sort of an open secret for the clan. Not really a secret, but they rarely got to leave the heale’rs den. When he left, normally Brambleclash would watch them. But now... the grey molly purrs a little. He trusts me to watch his kits! Thank you, Starclan.
“Of course, you can count on me.” She dips her head formally.
Cowbirdsoar responds with a similar gesture. He curls his tail around his leg. “I... guess I will be off then.” He turns and heads for the cave entrance.
She could see Brambleclash put her tail on him. She leaned against his ear, probably to soothe him. Then, they left.
Nighthawkflicker takes a deep breath to compose herself. I’m a trusted cat for the healer, for Cowbirdsoar! Focus Nighthawk, you need to calm down, not get more riled up.
She exhales and pushes away her thoughts. She could celebrate later. For now, the kits needed her.
The healer’s den was lively. Rhubarbkit was running around like a startled squirrel.
“What’s going on?” Nighthawkflicker asks in her most authoritative voice.
Rhubarbkit ignores her. She sighs and places her paw in front of the brown kit, stopping her in her path.
“What gives?” The younger molly pouts at her.
“I’m trying to figure out what’s going on.”
“I’m hunting for a beetle!” She looks up and gasps with excitement. “Hold me up, so I can get it!”
I could easily lift her, but what would Cowbirdsoar think? She shook her head. Instead, she sat on her haunches and rose up. She carefully knocks down the beetle, right onto Rhubarbkit.
The kit squeals and carefully grabs it in her mouth. She runs over to her sister, who had buried herself under their nest. “Plumekit!”
The white molly just pushes her face further into the moss. Rhubarbkit, apparently not one to take no, lifts the moss up. Nighthawkflicker opens her mouth to reprimand her.
But Plumekit beats her to it. She swats at her sister, dropping the beetle to the ground. Rhubarbkit lets out a gasp, the beetle’s leg still in her mouth. She gawks at her sleeping sister. Plumekit doesn’t even notice as Rhubarbkit gingerly lifts the beetle and walks out of the den.
Nighthawkflicker glances back at Plumekit, before following Rhubarbkit out. She watches the kit carry the injured beetle right to the cave entrance, pushing it gently out. “Be safe.” She blows on it and it skitters out.
Such a sweet kit. Nighthawkflicker sits down beside her, she places her tail on her back. “I’m sure the beetle will be alright.”
Rhubarbkit paws at the floor. “Just... wish we kept it.”
Ah. The grey molly smiles. “Well, we may not be able to keep that beetle, but I can make a pretty good moss beetle.”
Cowbirdsoar finds Rhubarbkit with a mouse in her jaws. In contrast to the fat prey she promised, the mouse is incredibly skinny. And one look at Rhubarbkit, tells him that she is not happy with that.
We can't have that. He takes the mouse from her and eats it. He treats every bite like it's the best he's ever had. He even licks his muzzle."Thank you so much."
Luckily, the show seems to convince her, as a small smile creeps onto her face. After a few bites, he pushes it her way.
She enthusiastically dives in, her tail wiggling excitedly.
She's such a sweet kit. He leans against her back and purrs. I hope she'll always be this way.
He rests his chin on her head. Behind them, he catches a glimpse of something moving out of the quarantine den. It takes him a moment to realize that it is Brambleclash.
Their eyes meet. She takes that as an invitation, making her way over. "Cowbird, Rhubarb, it's good to see you up." She pauses for a moment, her paw rubbing against her other leg. "I was just with Plumekit."
He feels Rhubarbkit tense at the mention of her sister. He pulls her closer, shielding her ears. "How is she?" he asks quietly.
"She's alright." Brambleclash puts on a smile. "I even got her to eat."
He studies her face. Watches her paws twitch. She saw Plumekit… she knows I don't have the cure. Is she going to confront me? What if she plans to leave or… demands I leave?
He pulls Rhubarbkit closer, his golden eyes narrowing. "Is there anything else you, you want to talk about?" He tries to sharpen his meow, but his nerves keep that from happening. His voice comes out a bit squeaky instead.
She studies him for a moment. "Longspurflood."
He cringes, his brain freezing. I… I forgot about him.
"Right." He clears his throat. "I still have to check on him; I'll do that after I give Plumekit her herbs."
Brambleclash accepts his answer with a nod. "Can you give me an update afterward?"
At least she didn't ask about the cure. He nods back. "Of course!"
"Thank you." She smiles at him and heads towards the camp entrance. "Oh, one last thing, Cowbird." There it is.
"What is it?"
"Take care of yourself, please." She glances back at him.
He… really doesn't know how to respond. He awkwardly stares back. "Oh, yeah, I'll- I'll do that."
Finally satisfied, she leaves the den.
Cowbirdsoar glances down at Rhubarbkit. "Hey, Rhubarb?" He leans down, nosing her cheek. She takes a moment before she looks up at him. "Why don't you go play mossball while I do my boring duties?" He gives her a half smile. She doesn't return it. She just… walks away. It stings, but he… he understands.
He goes to his den and gathers the herbs for Plumekit. He packs them into a leaf bundle and heads to the quarantine den. Plumekit sits against the far wall, sheltered from the snow. His head stings a bit as he stares at her. Still, he pushes forward.
"Hey kit," He greets her with a purr. She looks up at him, her eyes bloodshot. He tries to ignore it as he unpacks the bundle. "I got more herbs for you." He lays them out, making himself smile. "I know it's nasty, but once spring comes, we can find some honey for you and…"
She puts her paw on his. "Home."
He stares at her. That's the next stage… repetition. If she's already this far progressed, soon she won't even be able to talk to me and- No! He squeezes his eyes shut. Keep it together, Cowbird! He exhales and opens his eyes. "Just take your herbs, baby."
She grumbles, but still she eats the herbs. She sticks her tongue out when she finishes. He chuckles.
"What home my mom like?" She asks suddenly.
"What?" he blurts out before he can catch himself.
"I heard someone talking about home, and I wanted to know about her."
What can I even say? I only ever met her when she was… And then I. Does she remember?
He studies her face, looking for any malice or anger. All he can find in her expression is exhaustion. She could be hiding it. He chastises himself for the thought. She's only a kit, I just need to answer her and… what could I even say?
She looks so much like her mother. The cat he killed… the cat he couldn't cure. Guilt builds in his chest. I'm so sorry. He struggles to keep it together.
"I have to check on Longspurflood now!" He scoops up the leaves and heads for camp.
Plumekit does not call after him; instead, she hisses.
She hates me, she knows what I've done. Cowbirdsoar pushes his guilt down. It's fine! I can talk to her later, when I have a better idea of what to say.
He finds Longspurflood exactly where he expects him to be, in his nest.
He studies the tom's body; he's still on the thinner side, but he seems healthy enough. As for signs of infection… Cowbirdsoar trails his eyes up towards the other's face. His eyes are devoid of redness, and he also seems alert. Cowbirdsoar traces a paw over his ribs. No abnormal growths either.
Longspurflood finally pulls away from his prodding. He curls his tail over his ribs. "So, am I healthy or… do I have to move to that other den?"
Cowbirdsoar flattens his ears. You make it sound like a punishment. "I think that you are not infected."
"Does that mean I can go outside?"
"Yes, actually," Cowbirdsoar takes a step back, "why don't I get Rhubarbkit and we can give you a tour of the camp?"
