Week 1 : Denial

The silver shecat had a spring in her step as she grabbed a bird from the fresh kill pile. A bird was just what she needed this morning. Something mind-numbingly time consuming that would keep her paws busy as her mind whirled. She did not drag her paws as she scurried back to her root-walled Medicine Den. Flickerkit was still in critical condition and could need her at any given moment. She had to remain close -but that did not mean she had to do nothing. Not anymore anyways because something had happened! Something horribly horribly and wonderfully wonderful and which definitely required a bird for breakfast.

Firecloud was sick!

Not sick sick. It was a minor cold. She said she had been coughing the past few days. She thought nothing of it until her lungs started to feel wet and the garden variety cough developed into a hacking cough. Typical. No one took a cold seriously until it was too late for it to be cured easily, but Ravenface had not become a Healer for easy. Far from it. She lived for the challenge Medicine brought. For the new discoveries and experimentation and freedom that medicine brought. Now she settled down in her nest to slowly pluck her prey, keeping one eye on the immobile Flickerkit without truly seeing her. Raven's mind was elsewhere, back in her store of herbs, rifling through them, turning each other one way then the other in her brain as she considered their uses and drawbacks.

Flickerkit's ear twitched and Raven's eyes sharpened, searching for any sign of wakefulness. The brown kit's breathing stumbled and hiccuped, drawing the Medicine Cat to rise and take one paw step toward her, but it evened out soon enough and Raven let out a sigh. She could not say whether it was from relief or disappointment. The tiny white splashed kit had been mostly dead when Mistlekit brought her in. The Doll's Eye had slowed her heart dangerously, damaging it and denying her brain of precious air it needed to function. Starlingfur had been terrified for her daughter, wanting answers. Why would she not wake up? When would she open her eyes? And Raven had regretted giving them to her. The silver shecat had led the brown tabby away from the frantic Mistlekit and told her the truth, as was her duty as a Healer, but she had not enjoyed it in the slightest. Flickerkit might never wake up. And if she did... she... she might not be all there.

The lack of air could have damaged her. She... she might never be the same cat again. She might not even know Starlingfur from any other cat. Of course the queen had claimed that mattered nothing to her. Flickerkit was her daughter and she would love her no matter what. It was the same old tripe Ravenface had heard many a time before over her long life. It set her teeth grinding. Every parent said the same thing. Every cat said they would love their kit no matter what. Every time Raven wanted to believe them, so badly, but that hardly ever happened. No, while there were a precious few cats that would stand by their children, many more would not. Once cats figured out their child had the mental capacity of a mouse they turned tail and had nothing to do with the kit. Or worse, made sure no one had anything to do with the child ever again. It was despicable. Ravenface hoped Starlingfur would fall into the rare first category, but she had learned hope did little to change the outcome. She almost prayed the kit didn't wake. If things kept on as they were, she would not need to. Brain damage was serious, but Flickerkit had been out for two days already. If the brown shekit did not wake up soon, she likely would not wake at all. Hunger should have woken her already. If she was not up by the third day... It probably meant that they had been too late. The damage was too extensive. She would have to let Starlingfur know her living, breathing daughter, was already dead and simply rotting away in her nest.

Ravenface resumed plucking her bird and let her thoughts drift back to happier things. Like Firecloud's sickness. She could not cure it. It was a common cold. Nothing and no one could cure that. Healers could only mitigate the effects. Now, how exactly a Healer mitigated these effects was a topic of some debate and the silver Medicine Cat loved nothing more than debating how to cure a patient. There were so many options. So many tactics. So many different applications and herbal possibilities. 

Coltsfoot was the standard for coughs, but Raven was not a cat who did 'standard' anything. No, she loved exotic and unique. She loved the thrill of trying out a new herb for an entirely different use, just to see if it worked. She never wanted her patients to be in danger of course. She would never allow such a thing to happen... but just a bit of uncomfortableness never hurt anyone. Firecloud could handle a cough for a few more days while Ravenface did her little experiments. She was supposed to be a Warrior after all.

And it was just a little cold.