Well that had gone… pretty badly. Tawny wasn’t sure what else she had expected — despite being relatively strong for her age, she still hadn’t stood much of a chance when going against fully grown warriors. Those two SnakeClan cats had jumped Dripdroop on a random patrol, and the calico apprentice hadn’t had enough time to really prepare herself before they attacked him, murderous intent and all. The sight of them mercilessly attacking him had struck fear into her heart — they hadn’t known each other for very long, and Tawny was even pretty sure Dripdroop didn’t like her at all, but she was attached to him and the thought of him never returning to camp ever again had been too much to bear.
What else had she been supposed to do? If she had left him there to fend for himself, she had no doubt that he would likely be dead. Tawny had shoved herself into the scuffle because the two attackers both fully focused on the older tom, completely ignoring her. Perhaps if she had been smarter and a lot less rash, she could have made a run for it and avoided getting injured at all. But leaving him behind had been out of the question. If he had suffered because of it, she would never have been able to forgive herself. So, she stayed behind, which led to the large scar scouring down her side.
She had never shied away from scars, though this one did seem to be paired with some semblance of shame. Some warriors, most notably Wildblaze and Blazestrike, had stressed to her that she should have run straight back to camp and grabbed help, but Tawny had replied stubbornly with the prior mentioned details: leaving him behind had been out of the question. The calico molly knew that she was very lucky to be alive (although she imagined that Dripdroop was even luckier), and passing through the camp entrance had filled her with such relief that she didn’t remember much else after that. Except for a very worried Bat.
Guilt had tugged at her stomach as she tried to reassure him that she was fine, but that was a little hard to say convincingly when you were bleeding so much and couldn’t really see straight. The look on the tom’s face had been anything but impressed, but he at least hadn’t managed to stay angry at her, too busy trying to cover her wound with cobwebs and shove herbs her way to decrease the pain even a little. In all honesty, as big as the injury was… it didn’t really hurt. Tawny had gone somewhat numb on that side, and she wasn’t entirely sure if that was because she’d been suffering from the pain for so long that she’d begun to get used to it or if the herbs were finally doing their job. Whatever the case, she smiled up at Bat as he finished the job.
“Thank you.” She stated simply, feeling a little sheepish. While she had never been bothered by Bat’s lack of words before, now it felt a little… awkward. Tawny wasn’t really sure how to approach his current thoughts and feelings about her, though she reminded herself that he wasn’t treating her any differently than normal. “I’m… sorry.”
At that, the dark-furred medicine cat apprentice slowly turned his head, one ear slightly perked. It was evident that he wanted her to continue… or that’s what Tawny assumed.
She cleared her throat, trying to get her bearings. “I didn’t mean to make you worry. I’m sure you think I’m an idiot.” Tawny scoffed the last part, knowing that there was at least some semblance of truth in it. While nobody had outrightly called her one, she was sure some of them were thinking it. Blazestrike’s question rang in her head again: Why didn’t you run back to camp? She scrunched up her nose, trying to push down the weird feeling building up in her stomach.
Quickly, she risked a glance back up to her friend, so she was soon smothered with the dark fur she had just been staring at. Sudden warmth spread through her as the tom wrapped his body around her uninjured side, laying his head on a spot that wouldn’t hurt. His chest began to rumble with purrs as he pulled himself closer, and the molly felt her chest squeeze tightly. Tawny blinked, shocked. She thought he would have put more resistance up than this… that he would have berated her a bit more. But she was glad that he hadn’t. The calico apprentice knew that this meant he forgave her, which lifted a weight off her shoulders that she hadn’t fully realised was there. Smiling softly, she laid her head down and her own purrs soon joined his.