Thorn in Paw

[Jasperpaw]

Jasperkit did his best to hurry into the medicine cat den, he really really wanted to get the thorn out. He had tried in the nursery, going very slowly, but that had hurt and then blood had come out. And he didn't like that. Plus it tasted weird. "Sunblaze, Silentstep?" He called out in his tiny kit voice. "Can you help me, please? I have a thorn in my paw and its hurting." He said. The young kit had managed to stop whimpering in pain from the thorn and was mostly just ignoring the throbs that were coming from his paw, it supprised him how he managed to be able to just not think about it. Jasperkit wasn't aware that he had a few wounds in his back, little claw pricks, they weren't as painful as the thron that had embeded itself in his paw.

[hawkkit2294]

Hawk followed near the bushes behind Jasperkit and again,with claws still unsheathed,he pounced on his denmate again,and this time,his slender black claws dug into his skin and he held on,not noticing and he jumped off and licked Jasperkit's ear playfully."Where's Silentstep or Sunblaze?"the tabby tom asked.

[firesoul]

(Hawk-kit that was power play. You MUST give Jasperkit the chance to dodge your pounce. Plus playing with claws UNSHEATHED isn't technically allowed inside of RP. Also I think only Jasperkit, Silentstep and Sunblaze are allowed to RP in this thread so...)

[Silentstep]

(Anyone can be in here if they want but its up to the medicine cat.)

Silentstep pads up to the tiny kit and looks at the kits paw. She sniffed the thorn and sighed softly. "You will feel a soft pinch," she warns as she grabs the thorn and pulls it out swiftly. she sets it on the ground and starts licking the wound until it stops bleeding. "That should do it," she says with a soft purr.

[Jasperpaw]

((The kits from the thread we are in are allowed to come in this thread, I think. It follows on from it.))

Jasperkit squealed as he heard another pounce and he moved, just catching the side of the pounce. It was sore. Turning to look at Hawkkit, who was an older kit, Jasperkit gave a small smile, happy that someone had come with him. Just then, his delicate ears picked up the sounds of an approaching cat. Blinking, he turned and looked as he saw Silentstep, his eyes wide as he took in the medicine cat. Jasperkit wanted to be a warrior, so he guessed in his life time he would probably be here several times if he did his best in battle, no one could escape from fights without any wounds.

Watching as she sniffed the paw, Jasperkit nodded, holding his breath and closing his eyes. The pinch was less than what he expected, so he barely noticed it. Slowly opening his eyes as he felt the rasp of a tounge against the pad, the red tabby blinked as he looked down at his paw. The blood had almost all gone and the paw itself looked normal apart from a small prick looking mark. "Thank you. I'm Jasperkit by the way, and it was really nice to meet you. I'm glad the thorn is gone. You're Silentstep, aren't you?" Jasperkit hadn't heard much about other cats, but he did have some basic descriptions of Venomstar, Redspirit, Sunblaze and Silentstep, and he hoped he was correct with his assumption.

[Silentstep]

the she-cat listened to him and purred tenderly at this. "Yes I am Silentstep. Sunblaze is out and about today so I'm going to be helping out a lot today. How did you get that nasty thorn in your paw?" she asked as she sits looking at him. Her eyes then flick to Hawkkit.

"Ah you must be Hawkkit. I try to keep tabs on all of the kits. They need my care more often than not," she mews as she looks at his tiny paws. "If you are going to play then keep your claws sheathed. I don't mind you playing in here. As a matter of fact I enjoy the company and have been known to join in play, but if i catch you playing with claws out again i will have to punish you and i know you don't wish that," she mews before turning her attention to Jasperkit.

[Jasperpaw]

Listening carefully to the cat, Jasperkit cast his mind back. "It was lost in the moss in our den. it must have got tangled up and not come loose when the apprentices brought it in or something, I guess." He meowed after some thought. He ahd trod on it while playing warriors and he didn't really like it. Hopefully thorns didn't hide in moss too often. Jasperkit made a mental note to be wary fo thorns whenever he brought moss in for the queens or elders. "Stay there!" Jasperkit meowed, as an idea came into his head.

Disappearing out the den he went over to the fresh kill pile and looked for something suitable for a medicine cat. A mouse didn't look too good, he was pretty sure she would need something bigger. Last time he had selected a rabbit for some warriors. Now he was faced with getting something for one cat, but an important one. Slecting a pidgeon, he picked the neck up in his tiny mouth and heaved. It was heavy but not very plump, Jasperkit had noticed that the freshkill pile was getting smaller and the weather worse. There were only two mice and a sparrow left and he shivered. Leaf abre was coming and starvation would face them.

Moving such thoughts out of his head, he couldn't help but worry for Palekit, the younger she-kit he had met. She was nice and he didn't want her to starve, he felt protective of her. SHe was like a little sister. When he became an apprentice he would hunt as much as possible to keep the pile up and so it would get so low. Heaving the pidgeon, he paused to catch his breath, this was a longer jounry than the last time he had carried, or dragged fresh kill. But this was just smaller than him. Bracing his shoulders and tensing his muscles, he heaved and and made the last few cat length spaces to Silentstep.

Nudging the kill towards her, he took in several large breathes, panting from the effort. Lying down, he rested his head on the ground and closed his eyes, resting, his little sides moving rapidly in and out. After a few normal heart beats, but quite a few in Jasperkit's case, his opened his eyes and started to breath slower. "Its cold outside." He noted, the ground had been very cold and his paws felt tingily. He hadn't noticed that crossing over, the thorn had been hurting him too much.

[Silentstep]

She took the prey and ate it in a few bites. She knew the effort he had put into bringing it here. She laid down next to the kit and nodded. She didn't like the thought of him being cold and she thought a moment. She remembered something the tribe had taught her. She leaned over and grabbed Jasperkit's scruff softly and lifted his tiny body up. She sat him softly on her warm fur and let his scruff go slowly.

She knew how warm her fur was compared to most cats. She had thicker fur than is common in Rockclan. She tilts her head and thinks for a moment. "Soon it will be leafbare and it will be colder than this. For now you are welcome to use me for warmth.

[Jasperpaw]

Smiling, pleased that he had managed to get the pidegon here, Jasperkit watched as the medicine cat ate some of the food, he wondered how hard the job must be for thats that studied herbs, they had to be able to recognise the injury or illness, know what to use, know where to gather the herbs... it was a lot more than just hunting and fighting, and Jasperkit doubted he would ever be able to do it. He also knew that they spoke with CloudClan and do prophcies and such. That was another thing that Jasperkit thought was impossible for him.

As her felt a mouth against hsi scruff, Jasperkit relaxed, his body automatically going limp and when he was allowed to mvoe again, he was on top of warm and snugg fur. Burrying into it, Jasperkit purred contentedly, this felt warmer than the nursery and it made his paws feel better from the tingly feeling of the cold earth. Pricking his hears up as he heard Silentstep talking, Jasper noted, with some amusement that her could feel the vibrations of her speaking through his paws. "Is leafbare very bad?" Jasperkit asked, he had never been through leafbare before but he suspected that he would be old enough to be apprenticed sometime during leaf bare, and he didn't know how hard that was going to be, he knew there would be less prey, but he also guessed that with less prey it would be more common to invade other Clan territories to get food, which meant fighting, and harder work for everyone. But he didn't know about one of the worst things that could happen, the little kit was blissfully unaware about the coughs that cats coudl get, whitecough or greencough, but he was definietly fine without knowing about the even darker side of leafbare.

[Silentstep]

"Well it can be bad. We could run out of food and have to struggle to find enough to feed the clan. Some clans will attack other clans to steal land and food. Wars could break out, but you will be safe," she said in a warming and calming tone. She didn't want to frighten any kits. Being a mother she knew how hard it was to protect them as is. She hid the coughs from him deciding it was best to stay silent.

"Any cats fool enough to come near any of the kits will get their fur torn off by me before they can lay a claw on them. I'm not going to let this clan get hurt or starve. I never will," she mews as she looks at him with a motherly gaze uncommon to medicine cats.

[Jasperpaw]

Listening, Jasperkit smiled. "I can help protect everyone as well! I like to help and do my best. I know some ways to defend and attack because I've played warriors before. And I want to be able to protect my friends!" Jasperkit meowed enthusiastically. His little claws remained, as always hidden in his paws, and at times, jasperkit had wandered if his claws where really there. He was always too scared to see so he kept them closly bumbled up in his kitten paws.

"You must be very amazing." Jasperkit meowed. "If you can do all the medicine cat stuff and help defend the Clan. I don't think I'd ever be able to be that good." He said, giving a little yawn, his tiny pink tounge showing. "But when I'm older I'm going to be the best warrior ever seen! No one will be able to dare try steal from RockClan and we won't be hungry." He said happily, liking the idea of helping out his Clan.

[Silentstep]

She purred at this tiny kits enthusiasm. He would make a fine warrior in his time. "I was a warrior once. Apprenticeship is hard, but fun and worth it in the end. I became a medicine cat before my kits were born and was forced to give them up," she replies as she licks him soothingly. He seemed tired and she felt he could use a nap.

"Why don't you take a nap? When you wake up we can play warriors and you can show me your moves. Who knows, maybe i can teach you a thing or two."

[Jasperpaw]

Listening carefully to Silentstep's words, then hearing that she had to give up her kits, Jasperkit frowned and thought, he usually liked to come up with words that would make cats feel better. "But the Clan are your kits, and so your kits are still yours." He meowed softly, purrng when he felt her tounge lick him, it was very comforting. "Yep, I'll take a nap, sounds good." Jasperkit meowed, moving so he was no longer on Silentstep but curled up besides her, he didn't want to interupt her duties if she had to go and help another cat. Closing his eyes, Jasperkit drifted off.

Waking up, the little kit yawned and blinked the sleep out of his eyes. Leaping up, he felt ready to face anything and he chased his own tail for good measure. Then, he groomed himself, ungracefully, but Jasperkit usually did something exercise like before grooming every time he woke up, but he didn't know why, hu guessed it was just something he liked doing. His batteries recharged he looked around for Silentstep and then walked over to her, just stopping himself from bounding. "Do you need any help?" He asked polietly, although looking forward to a game of warriors.

[Silentstep]

His words struck her deep and she purred at this. He was right. She let him rest and got up. While he slept she reorganized the herbs, changed her and Sunblaze's moss nests, got rid of that thorn, and took a nap of her own. So far no other cat needed her. She had another dream though.

She was padding about the clan when she spotted her son and her daughter. Her son was covered in blood laying almost lifeless on his side. The young she-cat was hovering over him looking frightened. She was a warrior now. She tried to get to them, but her paws were frozen. She could see the deep marks and knw they were that of a bear.

She was awake moments before Jasperkit. She looked at the tiny tom when he spoke to her and purred softly. "No. I did all my work so that we could play!"

[Jasperpaw]

Jasperkit nodded, but he smiled. "Well, if you ever need help, you know where to find me. And I'll be delighted to help, even if I am a warrior." He said polietly to the she-cat, Jasperkit loved to help everyone out as best he could. But playing did sound very good and Jasperkit smiled. "So, shall we play warriors? Should I be an enemy coming to attack RockClan?" He asked. When playing warriors, Jasperkit often took up the part of the bad character because he wanted the others to be happy, and he found that they were generally happier acting cats from their own Clan and even acting themselves.