Post by rainstorm on Jun 27, 2018 2:30:44 GMT
Part 1
Voideyes knew there was someone else in the camp immediately.
He felt it.
He was pleased it was an apprentice. An apprentice would be helpful. For however long he had them.
He poked his head through the entrance and nodded in affirmation. The apprentice’s den was empty except for a pale gray she cat curled up near the furthermost wall.
Voideyes briefly wondered where her mentor was. He wouldn’t have been half as leniant on his own apprentice.
But...I don’t have an apprentice, thought Voideyes. So why had he just thought he had? Perhaps he had had an apprentice once...impossible. He would remember. He remembered lots of things, like that nasty Dove and those baleful eyed kits, and those peculiar elders, and-stop, he told himself. He had a habit of getting lost in thought, especially when time was precious.
The apprentice was a sound sleeper. With a sharp poke of his paw, Voideyes remedied that.
She groaned, mumbling to a cat named Thrushfeather.
Thrushfeather.
The name felt familiar. But it couldn’t have been, for Voideyes would have remembered it. How Voideyes hated it when unfamiliar names felt familiar. It was bad enough when he got confused about whether or not he had an apprentice or not, and this cat would aggravate things...when she was awake. Then the nonsense would stop.
“Wake up,” Voideyes stated, trying to take his mind off the name.
She did as she was told, stretching her paws and flicking her tail tip, and turned towards him.
The change was abrupt. Her ears folded back and she jumped back with a little yelp.
What an excitable apprentice, Voideyes thought, amused. His amusement faded a bit as he wondered how useful such an apprentice would be. But perhaps it wouldn’t be prudent to decide based on first impressions alone.
Voideyes turned back to the youngster, who was currently backed against the wall of the den, peering at him with frightened green eyes. His heart sank a bit. She did seem to be a bit...off. She might not be as much of a help as he’d hoped. At the very least, he'd need to calm her first.
“Good, you’re awake! I need an apprentice to help me.” He explained, using a soft, even voice used for this most vulnerable of patients. Still, the apprentice trembled.
“W-Who are you?” She asked.
“What?”
For StarClan’s sake, I’m your medicine cat! How long have you been in ThunderClan? Was what Voideyes wanted to tell her, but he had a feeling that would only frighten her more. She was definitely off. Voideyes knew little of sicknesses concerning the mind, unless-wait. Could this be where his catnip went? All of Voideyes’s supplies were low. Very low. Practically nonexistent, to put a word on it. Voideyes couldn’t remember having catnip. But he had to have catnip somewhere, somewhen...and he and this apprentice were the only cats in camp. She must have. Even though catnip relaxed cats, it was the only explanation for her disorientation.
He sighed, annoyed. The apprentice flinched, looking even more apprehensive.
Good. He had no patience for herb thieves.
“Well, had least I know who stole my catnip,” He mused.
Yes...she had that eternally confused look, like a cat who had woken up in a completely different place from where they’d gone to sleep.
Typical of catnip.
He sighed again. “I’m Voideyes, the ThunderClan medicine cat,” He told her slowly, anunciating his every syllable.
“What about Blackheart?” She squeaked.
Blackheart. Voideyes’ eyes began throbbing again. Who was Blackheart? No...there was no Blackheart here. He would know. He would...remember. Remember. He should remember.
“Is this…a dream?”
“More like a nightmare.” He growled in response, trying to subdue the pain in his eyes. “For me, at least.” Oh, how he so hated it when he got confused. It was bad enough without his unhelpful helper asking all the wrong questions and making things worse. “You must have lots of fun pestering me...”
He glanced back at her. She was looking at him as if he were a hungry fox. Or maybe a hungry...no. It was too horrible. Herb thief or not, she did not deserve that abomination.
“Try to focus,” He said, resuming his gentle nestside tone. “Catnip should be wearing off soon.”
She didn’t look convinced. He turned around towards the exit, beckoning for her to follow.
As he was exiting the den, she mewed something.
Voideyes’ ears twitched and he turned to face her. “What?”
She was looking less scared now, but her posture was exaggerated and her fur was fluffed out, as though expecting a confrontation. “I’m...Mintpaw.” She said, looking him in the eye.
Mintpaw. The name was unfamiliar. But he would take what he could get.
“What do you need help with?” She asked, siddling up next to him. “I can do it!”
And then she rapidly inched away from him.
“What’s the hurry?” Voideyes asked her. He knew apprentices were always in a rush, but an apprentice as strange as this one required calming. Either that, or she had stolen his catnip and knew he knew it. Yes, that made sense. Voideyes was good at making sense of things.
“There’s no hurry.” He told her. “I’ll tell you when you need to know. Come.”
Grudgingly, she made her way over to him. What a lazy apprentice, he thought in disappointment.
***
The camp was entirely empty. Voideyes made sure Mintpaw, disoriented as she was, knew it.
She looking less and less pleased about helping out.
“I wish I had someone else to help, but I only have you,” Voideyes thought out loud.
Mintpaw, in her daze, looked vaguely insulted by this.
Next time, don’t steal the catnip.
He quickened his pace. With Mintpaw’s...Mintpaw-ness, it was taking far too long as it was.
Perhaps some fresh kill would liven her up…
“You don’t have eyes.”
“What?”
“You.” Mintpaw was staring right at him. “Why don’t you have eyes?”
Just when he thought his young companion couldn’t get any more strange. What a trip she must be having with the catnip! It was at that point Voideyes decided that the effects of the herb would be punishment enough for raiding his herbs. The only thing left to do would be to talk her own.
“If I don’t have eyes,” He asked her, as though she were a one moon old kit, “How can I see you?”
“You can see me? Could you prove it, please?”
No amount of catnip could entirely account for this apprentice’s state of mind. Perhaps she was ‘special’ after all.
It would be fastest to humor her.
“You have light gray tabby fur, white paws, tail tip, muzzle, and green eyes. And one of your paws is on a small rock. Dear StarClan, I really did get the most stupid apprentice this time.” Mintpaw looked affronted.
Voideyes was normally more patient, but this apprentice seemed bound and determined to take it to its limits.
All the way to the freshkill pile, she asked painfully obvious questions such as where the warriors were, and and why there was a rock in the entrance of the warrior’s den (He tried to give her an ‘interesting’ version, and quickly discovered she didn’t appreciate dark humor. It seemed she appreciated very little, come to think of it.)
Voideyes wished that he’d gotten his own apprentice instead.
I don’t have an apprentice! Voideyes scolded himself. Why, oh why, would he think that? Not only did it confuse him and make his eyes and mouth hurt, but it always made...Her visits worse.
Voideyes knew there was someone else in the camp immediately.
He felt it.
He was pleased it was an apprentice. An apprentice would be helpful. For however long he had them.
He poked his head through the entrance and nodded in affirmation. The apprentice’s den was empty except for a pale gray she cat curled up near the furthermost wall.
Voideyes briefly wondered where her mentor was. He wouldn’t have been half as leniant on his own apprentice.
But...I don’t have an apprentice, thought Voideyes. So why had he just thought he had? Perhaps he had had an apprentice once...impossible. He would remember. He remembered lots of things, like that nasty Dove and those baleful eyed kits, and those peculiar elders, and-stop, he told himself. He had a habit of getting lost in thought, especially when time was precious.
The apprentice was a sound sleeper. With a sharp poke of his paw, Voideyes remedied that.
She groaned, mumbling to a cat named Thrushfeather.
Thrushfeather.
The name felt familiar. But it couldn’t have been, for Voideyes would have remembered it. How Voideyes hated it when unfamiliar names felt familiar. It was bad enough when he got confused about whether or not he had an apprentice or not, and this cat would aggravate things...when she was awake. Then the nonsense would stop.
“Wake up,” Voideyes stated, trying to take his mind off the name.
She did as she was told, stretching her paws and flicking her tail tip, and turned towards him.
The change was abrupt. Her ears folded back and she jumped back with a little yelp.
What an excitable apprentice, Voideyes thought, amused. His amusement faded a bit as he wondered how useful such an apprentice would be. But perhaps it wouldn’t be prudent to decide based on first impressions alone.
Voideyes turned back to the youngster, who was currently backed against the wall of the den, peering at him with frightened green eyes. His heart sank a bit. She did seem to be a bit...off. She might not be as much of a help as he’d hoped. At the very least, he'd need to calm her first.
“Good, you’re awake! I need an apprentice to help me.” He explained, using a soft, even voice used for this most vulnerable of patients. Still, the apprentice trembled.
“W-Who are you?” She asked.
“What?”
For StarClan’s sake, I’m your medicine cat! How long have you been in ThunderClan? Was what Voideyes wanted to tell her, but he had a feeling that would only frighten her more. She was definitely off. Voideyes knew little of sicknesses concerning the mind, unless-wait. Could this be where his catnip went? All of Voideyes’s supplies were low. Very low. Practically nonexistent, to put a word on it. Voideyes couldn’t remember having catnip. But he had to have catnip somewhere, somewhen...and he and this apprentice were the only cats in camp. She must have. Even though catnip relaxed cats, it was the only explanation for her disorientation.
He sighed, annoyed. The apprentice flinched, looking even more apprehensive.
Good. He had no patience for herb thieves.
“Well, had least I know who stole my catnip,” He mused.
Yes...she had that eternally confused look, like a cat who had woken up in a completely different place from where they’d gone to sleep.
Typical of catnip.
He sighed again. “I’m Voideyes, the ThunderClan medicine cat,” He told her slowly, anunciating his every syllable.
“What about Blackheart?” She squeaked.
Blackheart. Voideyes’ eyes began throbbing again. Who was Blackheart? No...there was no Blackheart here. He would know. He would...remember. Remember. He should remember.
“Is this…a dream?”
“More like a nightmare.” He growled in response, trying to subdue the pain in his eyes. “For me, at least.” Oh, how he so hated it when he got confused. It was bad enough without his unhelpful helper asking all the wrong questions and making things worse. “You must have lots of fun pestering me...”
He glanced back at her. She was looking at him as if he were a hungry fox. Or maybe a hungry...no. It was too horrible. Herb thief or not, she did not deserve that abomination.
“Try to focus,” He said, resuming his gentle nestside tone. “Catnip should be wearing off soon.”
She didn’t look convinced. He turned around towards the exit, beckoning for her to follow.
As he was exiting the den, she mewed something.
Voideyes’ ears twitched and he turned to face her. “What?”
She was looking less scared now, but her posture was exaggerated and her fur was fluffed out, as though expecting a confrontation. “I’m...Mintpaw.” She said, looking him in the eye.
Mintpaw. The name was unfamiliar. But he would take what he could get.
“What do you need help with?” She asked, siddling up next to him. “I can do it!”
And then she rapidly inched away from him.
“What’s the hurry?” Voideyes asked her. He knew apprentices were always in a rush, but an apprentice as strange as this one required calming. Either that, or she had stolen his catnip and knew he knew it. Yes, that made sense. Voideyes was good at making sense of things.
“There’s no hurry.” He told her. “I’ll tell you when you need to know. Come.”
Grudgingly, she made her way over to him. What a lazy apprentice, he thought in disappointment.
***
The camp was entirely empty. Voideyes made sure Mintpaw, disoriented as she was, knew it.
She looking less and less pleased about helping out.
“I wish I had someone else to help, but I only have you,” Voideyes thought out loud.
Mintpaw, in her daze, looked vaguely insulted by this.
Next time, don’t steal the catnip.
He quickened his pace. With Mintpaw’s...Mintpaw-ness, it was taking far too long as it was.
Perhaps some fresh kill would liven her up…
“You don’t have eyes.”
“What?”
“You.” Mintpaw was staring right at him. “Why don’t you have eyes?”
Just when he thought his young companion couldn’t get any more strange. What a trip she must be having with the catnip! It was at that point Voideyes decided that the effects of the herb would be punishment enough for raiding his herbs. The only thing left to do would be to talk her own.
“If I don’t have eyes,” He asked her, as though she were a one moon old kit, “How can I see you?”
“You can see me? Could you prove it, please?”
No amount of catnip could entirely account for this apprentice’s state of mind. Perhaps she was ‘special’ after all.
It would be fastest to humor her.
“You have light gray tabby fur, white paws, tail tip, muzzle, and green eyes. And one of your paws is on a small rock. Dear StarClan, I really did get the most stupid apprentice this time.” Mintpaw looked affronted.
Voideyes was normally more patient, but this apprentice seemed bound and determined to take it to its limits.
All the way to the freshkill pile, she asked painfully obvious questions such as where the warriors were, and and why there was a rock in the entrance of the warrior’s den (He tried to give her an ‘interesting’ version, and quickly discovered she didn’t appreciate dark humor. It seemed she appreciated very little, come to think of it.)
Voideyes wished that he’d gotten his own apprentice instead.
I don’t have an apprentice! Voideyes scolded himself. Why, oh why, would he think that? Not only did it confuse him and make his eyes and mouth hurt, but it always made...Her visits worse.