Contagious (Bolt/Raven)

"If I said 'no' would it stop you?"

The voice came from a petite grey shecat who was currently rustling around with her herbs in the back of the den. Her winter coat was beginning to come in and the fur along her back had started to darken. In Leafbare, it would be a glossy black that stood out horribly in the snow, just as in Greenleaf it would lighten to a vibrant silver that stood out blatantly in the fresh greenery. It seemed that this cat had been bred to never, ever catch a break when it came to hunting, but that was neither here.

Ravenface stopped in her herb dabblings to poke her head around a root and flash a brilliant smile at her brother, taking away any bite that might have come with her greeting. Alright. Something really good must be happening.

"Firecloud's sick!" she told him. While that is a perfectly acceptable sentence to be ended on a note of exclamation, it is expected to be said in a tone of horror not kittenish delight.

Raven flicked her grey tail at a sleeping orange tabby, close to the den entrance, her blue eyes bright with joy. 

"Isn't it great?"

Firecloud, laying in the nest between them, stiffened at Boltfang's words. She glanced over to Flickerkit, who had been in the Medicine Den several days now and had yet to regain full consciousness. Her fur bristled and her eyes narrowed on Ravenface suspiciously, clearly she did not want to be next. The silver shecat rolled her eyes at her brother's accusation. 

"It's not serious," she reassured Firecloud.

The Warrior's eyes stayed narrow but she nodded and put her head back down to resume sleeping. Ravenface motioned Boltfang into the back of the den, where she kept her herb stores. They would not be bothered there.

"It's not serious," she repeated when they were alone, excitement bright in her eyes, "But isn't it great? Finally something for me to do! True it isn't a real test of my skills. It's just a common cold. It is impossible to cure. Any Healer knows that. We can just give you all a bit of coltsfoot to help with the coughing and wait for you to get better natural in a few days. Firecloud's only here because I was bored and wanted to try out a new plant for coughs. I've heard small amounts of heather and lamb's ear can be at least twice as effective as coltsfoot if given in the right measurements. Still figuring out those measurements though. Firecloud doesn't mind." -The shecat put in hastily. Although this was likely because Raven had not told her she was being used as a guinea pig- "Anyway, I'm just happy to have something to do again! You know? You all are just so healthy it is infuriating! I have nothing to do except gather more herbs all day and hunt -and we both know how amazing I am at the latter.  I wish someone would get a nice sprain. I have been wanting to try out this new idea I had back in the tribe for using foxglove as a muscle relaxant. Most cats freak out on me that its a poison and all that but I'm sure if I got the measurements right it could be highly effective!"

The shecat laughed. "You just don't want to go out in the cold!" Ravenface waved her thick feathered tail over Boltfang's face. "You're just jealous of all the fur I got from dad! Ha!"

This was not strictly true. Ravenface's fur was long, but not particularly thick. It kept her warm through the light chills of Leaffall, but come Leafbare she was going to have some serious issues all alone in the Medicine Den. In the Tribe, cats slept in a pile to conserve warmth. Raven had not yet figured out how she would tackle this first problem yet but soon she would. Just after she finished playing around with Firecloud and her heather. It would be just so interesting to be able to come up with a new concoction! 

Then Flickerkit woke up.

Ravenface cursed the kit's timing. She hastily evicted her brother to tend to the semi-conscious kit and all her hangers on. Starlingfur might be leader, but Ravenface had a hard time imagining even the leader of Cedar Clan getting as many visitors as her tiny brown daughter. Even the twins had made an appearance to apologize for teasing the shekit. Strangely enough, each time Flickerkit woke up and each visitor she received seemed to demoralized her even more. It was troubling and disturbing to watch but the Medicine Cat was unsure what was causing it or how to stop it. Sick cats needed family. Flickerkit was getting family. So why was she more and more lethargic with each waking?

It was puzzle that kept Ravenface distracted until long after her brother had left and the kit fell back into her weakened slumber. Then Firecloud resumed complaining about her cough and Raven had to go take care of the next issue on her growing list.

And grow it certainly did...




Ravenface was tearing into a snake. 

Not eating.

Tearing.

Anger and irritation bled from every hair on her darkening pelt. Despite laying next to the fresh kill pile, the most frequent hot spot for socialization in the entire clan, not a single cat got within 3 taillengths of the Medicine Cat. She looked about ready to take a cat's head off as she shredded the reptile in her claws. She was not even eating it. Just ripping and tearing it into smaller and smaller pieces.

O.... k.....

Whatever was bothering the shecat, any sane cat would judge it not a good time to bring that subject up. Or any subject. Or anything subject related or not. In fact, any sane cat would take one look at the raging storm cloud that was Cedar Clan's Medicine Cat and turn tail to head the other way.

How convenient for the grey and white shecat then that her brother was not at all a sane cat...