Visiting ~ Private

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A gentle breeze ruffled her dark brown pelt and Duskbreeze stepped into the medicine cats' den. It was filled with the scent of herbs, unsurprisingly. She was here to visit one of her closest friends, a white tom by the name of Turtlestep. He had been pretty beat up by some dumb trepassing badger. She snorted. A whisker on her hadn't been touched and she was gratified Turtlestep thought their friendship was worth nearly getting killed for. 

"Is he okay?" she queried the medicine cats, her wide emerald eyes anxious. 
"Hi, Turtle." she called quietly, trying not to disturb Turtlestep, as she was unsure whether he was asleep or not. "It's me, Dusk." She anxiously awaited his response. 

Turtlestep, Littlefox, Mintfrost

[Turtlestep]

Turtlestep lifted his head groggily when a voice reached his ears, pain shooting through him. It was getting better day by day, but the pain was still there. "Hi, Turtle." His ears perked, instantly recognizing the voice. Duskbreeze. The one he had risked his life for. He wondered briefly if she was coming to thank him. He hoped that wasn't all, he wanted someone else to talk to. "Duskbreeze," he sighed in relief. "Duskbreeze! I'm over here!" He called from his nest in the dark den. 

[Deleted]

Duskbreeze followed the direction of Turtlestep's voice, deeper than hers.
"Thank you," she murmured. "You risked your life for me, and I'll never forget that." She then sat down beside him, unsure whether he had forgiven her or not.
"So, you okay?" she queried. "Are you still in pain?"

[Turtlestep]

Turtlestep nodded, turning his head away to hide his smile. It was more obvious, now, that Duskbreeze liked him—as more than just a friend. How had I not seen it before? He wondered briefly how long it had been going on. When she asked her question, he turned back. "I still have pain, yes," he replied, giving a shrug. "Littlefox hasn't said anything yet, but my back leg—the one that the badger bit—I'm not sure it'll heal. I think the tendon was snapped. Something like that," he have a sigh. He had never been taught many medical terms, so he didn't exactly know what was wrong with his leg.

"As for mental, I'm fine," he replied, then lowered his voice. "I couldn't get any more boring, though. All I do is sit here. Sure, I'll have to start doing exercises soon—" he hated being helpless "—but I have no one to talk to or listen to. Well, except while she treats other patients and mutters about how many herbs she has left. Or something of the sort." He gave a sigh. "And the smell. I don't like it one bit. The water taste funny, and I need her help to even move. I want to get out of here as soon as possible."

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"Well, now you do." Duskbreeze smiled, half-shrugging. He must hate being helpless, she thought. She released a gusty sigh. Turtlestep might be left with a back hind leg for his whole life if it didn't heal, and she didn't want that to happen at all. "It must be boring." she sympathized. "Don't worry though, I'll visit every day, or at least as much as I can. It's the least I can do." Duskbreeze gave her friend a lopsided grin. "Hey, Littlefox can't be that low on herbs if she can treat you."

She was concerned for her friend. How many moons until he would recover? Only time would tell. That was ironic.
"I want you to get out too." she agreed. "The medicine cats' den always kind of creeps me out." She shivered. "It's just... I don't know. The fact that this is where sick cats go? The fact that medicine cats can't always cure you?" She sighed. "I guess I don't really know."

[Turtlestep]

He smiled. "Thank you," he replied, resting his head on his small, snowy paws. "That would help a lot, Dusk," he shut his eyes momentarily, growing sleepy. But he didn't want to fall asleep on his friends. "It shouldn't be too long before I can start leaving the Medicine Cat's den, but even then, I'll only be allowed to stay right outside." He sighed. "Littlefox or other warriors have to bring me prey and water. I feel so helpless, and that is definitely not a good feeling." He looked up at Duskbreeze. "Littlefox is probably going to assign me someone to help with exercises. I could suggest you," he gave a small hopeful smile. "I-I mean, that's only if you want to!"

"You know what creeps me out the most?" He asked. "The fact that cats die in here, Dusk. Die. And I could've been one of those—I still could die—and that just freaks me out. I don't want to die. I always thought I wouldn't be afraid of death when I was a kitten," he laughed, shaking his head. "But here I am, frightened of the fact that I might die. It could be today, tomorrow, a week, a moon. I don't know," he shrugged. "At least we're both here now."

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"I'm glad that I can help." she replied, returning his smile. "And no, it isn't." She blinked at him. "But don't. Do the elders do anything? No. But we bring them prey, water and clean their nests. Do the kits do anything? No. But we bring them prey, water and clean their nests." She blinked. "Yes, the elders have served their Clans their whole life and you've just been made a warrior. But you have a future, Turtle, and that will make it up." She smiled hopefully as he suggested she help him with excercises. "I would love to." she meowed.

Duskbreeze had hesitated slightly when suggesting why she hated the medicine cats' den so much, but now Turtlestep had said it for her. She was scared for him. That he could die at any second. "Yes." she agreed. "At least we're both here now."

[Turtlestep]

Turtlestep sighed. "I suppose your right." He smiled, with a twinge of sadness. "But, it still isn't a good feeling," he shrugged, resting his head back on his paws whilst he looked up at his friend. "Thank you," he purred, his smile stretching into a grin, the sadness dissipating.

[Deleted]

"That's true." Duskbreeze acknowledged, smiling swiftly. She mimicked Turtlestep, propping her head on her paws, gazing at him. "Anytime." she meowed, her smile copying Turtlestep's, turning into a grin.

[Mintfrost]

I don't have my glaces on right now so I kind of skimmed through half of this because I can barely see it.

Mintfrost entered the den with a fresh bundle of herbs. "Oh, hello Duskbreeze. Visiting Turtlestep?" He started to organize the herbs he had collected into different sections of the den. "So, tell me, you feeling much pain today at all Turtlestep?" He inquired and turned his head. "You won't be dying in this den I believe but it'll be important you keep Littlefox and I aware of how you are doing." He grabbed a few poppy seeds. "If you are feeling too much pain we can solve that." He sat down.

"With that mangled leg I'm going to assume you'll be feeling aches on that for far longer then you'll hope for. You may not be walking properly on that leg for who knows how long." He rose to his paws. "But don't worry, at least it'll be working." He himself had a limp, it wasn't terribly bad to live with a limp, but his leg couldn't be used at all from the paralysis. "Is breathing hard for you?" He grabbed some juniper berries. "Because I can try and solve that for you to, not sure how effective it will be as you were pretty wounded but we can try. These will also give you some strength." He placed them beside the poppy seeds.

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Duskbreeze nodded in verification. She hadn't seen Mintfrost around for quite a while now, and wondered briefly where he had been all this time.
When Mintfrost started talking about herbs, her head span just to remember the names of them. Remembering their effects was another matter.