Warriors of the Plants

In Forestclan camp 

Crowtalon stalked back out into camp, following the two more chipper cats from about two fox-lengths away. For something that was suppose to cheer her up, it managed to do quite the opposite. Defeated, Crowtalon moped back to the Medicine Den and rested.

Crowtalon rolled around. No matter how she laid down, she couldn't fall asleep. The sun kept getting in her face, chatting warriors couldn't keep quiet, and her thoughts wouldn't quit bothering her. She sighed and rolled on her stomach. She couldn't stand this. She needed to get out again.

Now that Crowtalon knew that Cloudwish wouldn't force her to stay inside the den as long as she stayed in camp, she didn't have to worry about sneaking out anymore. While she was going out into camp, she spot the Apprentice Den. She gulped and looked away. No. She knew what she had to do. She padded up to the Leader's Den. "Mossystar? I have to talk to you."

Mossystar blinked, in the middle of cleaning their neck fur, and rolled over so they could see who the voice belonged to. No, wait, noble! Sitting up quickly, they smiled politely at Crowtalon and flicked their tail to invite her inside. "Is something wrong?" 

To be honest, Mossystar were pretty sure they could already guess what was going on. Her reaction at the clan meeting had made her opinion on their choice a bit obvious after all, even if she hadn't said anything directly to them.

Crowtalon stopped at the entrance. She put on a stern face, trying to appear professional. "May I come in? It's private, and I'd rather no one else hear about this."

"Go ahead," Mossystar answered, shuffling a bit to the side so she'd have space.

Crowtalon paced forward before turning her head to make sure no one was peering in, only to realized she was trying to look through her left eye socket again. She sighed before shaking her head. Focus. "With all due respect," Crowtalon began, "I think you made a mistake assigning me to Ashpaw."

Mossystar sighed - they'd expected this, but it was still upsetting to hear. Crowtalon was an excellent warrior, and they were really hoping that this mentorship would go well, despite what had happened in the past. "And why is that?" they asked, tilting their head.

"You're kidding, right?" Crowtalon asked. "Ashpaw has a bright future ahead of her. She's talented. She's incredibly stealthy, and she has the ability to become one of the finest warrior Forestclan has seen in a while. So, she needs a mentor that will guide her to greatness."

"And that's why I picked you," Mossystar nodded, pointing towards her, "You're talented and one of our finest warriors. I don't see anyone else more ideal for her." They glanced outside, not wanting to make eye contact in case she got upset.

"And there you go, spouting nonsense again," Crowtalon remarked with an eye roll. "If I'm the only one you see fit for her, then you must be blind!"

Mossystar tsked and looked at her again, stopping themself from making a certain retort, "I'm serious! I wouldn't have picked you if I didn't know what I was doing. You may have your doubts, but I'm sure about this."

Crowtalon huffed and padded closer to her leader. "In case you didn't hear, my leader," she began with a bitter, sarcastic tone in her voice, "The moment you gave me that apprentice, we got attacked by that moron of a sand cat and I lost my eye." Crowtalon got in close, growling. "You know first paw what happened to Rootpaw. Why do you want Ashpaw to end up the same?"

Mossystar pulled their head back, furrowing their brows, "Sure, and I'm sorry it happened, but did Ashpaw get injured? If anything, all that situation did was convince me even further." They put a paw on her chest to encourage her to back up, "Rootpaw was a tragedy, but you've learned from it. It won't happen again." They were messing up with Weaselpaw, but Crowtalon would have more luck - at least they hoped so.

Crowtalon winced and back down. "How can I mentor another cat when I'll have to relearn everything else all over again?" she asked. "Sure, I can still see out of my right eye, and I can still walk okay, but I now have a huge blind spot! I have no depth perception now! I can't hunt right, I can't fight right, I can't *warrior* right! How can I possibly teach Ashpaw everything I know when I don't know it anymore?" She sighed and flexed her claws in and out of the dirt beneath her. "I don't know how Cloudwish does it."

"Then ask him," Mossystar shrugged, "...or Smogwillow, or Blackchin. Shadelight might be able to help but I'm not sure if it's exactly the same struggle." The tabbico wouldn't do it themself - (they were too proud) they imagined they could figure it out somehow, but their clan was the best for many reasons, and their unity was one of them!

Crowtalon looked back at her leader. After a breath, Crowtalon let out a slightly bitter laugh that ended with a snort. "And you think any of them would help me? I'm not exactly everybody's favorite cat."

Mossystar huffed, "Seriously? I saw you go out on that walk with Raspberrynose and Cloudwish the other day. Do you really think they'd go with you if they wouldn't even be willing to help you out?"

Crowtalon's face flushed. What Mossystar was saying made sense, but it still felt wrong to Crowtalon somehow. "Okay, let's pretend that they would help me. How do I- um. How can I ask for their help?" Crowtalon asked. Why was this getting to be so hard?

Mossystar tapped their chin with their paw, "Just...go up to them and ask, I guess? Everyone in the clan knows your situation, I doubt you'd have to explain yourself." They didn't actually know how to go about this - despite how annoying that was to admit - but as far as they knew, things seemed to be easier when you just came out and asked things. Not like they'd tried subtlety much before.

Crowtalon looked up at her leader and looked back down again. "Fair, I guess. And you make it sound so easy too," she said, softly. "... I think I will. Thanks for the talk, Mossy." 

The black cat began to make her way by the den's entrance when she turned over her right shoulder with a smirk. "You know, maybe Storkstar was right to make you deputy all those moons ago. I've had my doubts, but you're kind of good at this thing sometimes. Congrats." With a flick of her tail, she exited the den.

As Crowtalon spoke, a smug grin grew on Mossystar's face, "Of course," they said, pulling their paw down to pat at their chest fur. It took until she was already out of the den for them to understand the jab, and they gasped before rushing towards the entrance of the den. "Sometimes?! Next time you're having issues, go ask Cowfoot instead!" they called out, pouting afterwards.

Crowtalon let out a loud laugh. It was fun to mess with the cat. I was fun when they were younger, and it was still fun now. Ah well, no matter. Now it was time for her to get serious.

In Forestclan territory 

Raspberrynose padded through the forest, tail high and eyes bright. They were off to take notes of the herbs Cloudwish had pointed out. They were gonna take note of the soil, the sun, and maybe water? That would be harder, some experiments then! 

They kept getting distracted though, the forest was beautiful this time of year, and the flowers and bugs were in full force today! They paused as two yellow butterflies chased each other, flittering up and around Raspberrynose. They grinned and followed them with their eyes.

Crowtalon padded out of camp and through the territory to find Raspberrynose. There they are, she thought. Now, to just follow through with what Mossystar suggested.

Crowtalon stopped a few fox-lengths away from the ginger cat. Were they messing with the flowers again? She had no idea why Raspberrynose was so fixated on these plants. If she didn't know better, she'd think that they were training to become Cloudwish's apprentice. She took a deep breath before continuing her approach. "Raspberrynose."

Raspberrynose was so engrossed with the butterflies they didn't notice Crowtalon approach until she said their name. They jumped, spinning to face her. "Holy stars Crowtalon! Warn a cat next time!" They pressed a paw to their thundering chest. They took a few dramatic gasps before smoothing their fluffy pelt down. They should be more embarrassed another cat snuck up on them like that but honestly, they had been to scared. "Hi good morning! What can i do ya for?" They asked with a smile

Crowtalon let out a stifled chuckle at Raspberrynose's jumpiness. She pawed up closer. She could do this. "To keep it brief, I need assistance. Not right now, but later on. I wanted to give you a heads up." She looked at the make-shift garden. "What have you been up to here?" she asked.

Raspberrynose tilted their head. Crowtalon asking for their help? Again? Even after they offended her? What was happening there? "What will you need help with?" They asked, the gears in their head turning. Probably nothing involving brute force, Raspberrynose was noooot the cat for that! Maybe she needed help decorating her nest? Raspberrynose was pretty goood at that. 

"Oh!" They grinned at Crowtalon's question. "Well first i dug out some space for the herbs, don't want other plants taking all their space ya know! And then i was taking notes of their environment in the forest so i could recreate it as much as possible! Which I figure won't be tooo hard" They explained, tail flicking behind them as they chattered away

Yep. The plant talk was still annoying. However, it was slightly less annoying than before. "For someone as plant-happy as you? No. Not hard at all." Crowtalon cleared her throat. "...as you are plenty aware, I am living under...new circumstances. A lot has changed for me over the past half-moon. Due to everything, I may acquire some, uh, assistance and, um..."

Crowtalon groaned under her breath. She just had to be blunt. "Oh, you know what I'm trying to say. I need help. I can still see with the eye I still have, but it's different. I don't have any depth anymore. Suddenly, the birds I would have caught aren't where I thought they were. I haven't even tried fighting again after fight him, but I'd imagine it's the same as well. I can't train Ashpaw like this. I need help learning how to be a warrior again."

Raspberrynose blushed under the praise. "Thank you, Crowtalon." They listened to Crowtalon speak, her awkwardness making them smile just a tad. But they were shocked at what Crowtalon was asking. Them? Teach her how to be a warrior? Them??? They had barely passed their warriors test! They nearly cried killing the squirrel that got them their passing grade.

"Crowtalon I would be delighted to help you! But, surely you remember the disaster that was my apprenticeship? I was already in the den for too long and barely got my warrior name! Surely another, more...capable warrior would be suited to help? Bearsnap perchance? Smogwillow?" They offered. Raspberrynose tried to not sound incredulous but it was hard. They wiled their days away in the forest, neither hunting or patrolling. "I-I mean I'll help you of course but-" They looked away, tail curled up on their side. "I can't make you the amazing warrior you were before"

"Oh, I remember," she slipped out. "And you won't be the only one to teach me. I plan on asking Cloudwish as well due to us sharing similar vision obstacles. However, the reason I wanted to ask you is due to you're, uh, patience. I know I'm not the 'easiest' cat to work with. Bearsnap and Smogwillow are excellent warriors and hunters, but I have a feeling that they might be frustrated having to teach someone like me." Crowtalon pawed a nearby flower. "I don't know why, but you're a very patient and cheerful cat. Cats like you are a rarity in ForestClan."

Raspberrynose's ears heated a bit at the praise again. "Well someone has to try and look at the puddle half full here" They joked. "We have enough grumpy badgers, gotta even us out or the other clans will think us not but a patch of thorns." They shrugged and watched a bird take off above them. 

"I will gladly help you Crowtalon, whatever you want me help with I will. Even if its just being there during your other training sessions to offer some moral support." Raspberrynose offered a kind grin. "And who knows maybe helping you will help me in the long run! My mentor wasn't very...patient to say the least and sorta gave up on me in the end so my apprenticeship didn't teach me much." They sighed. "Maybe i can finally learn those skills with you"

Crowtalon laughed at Raspberrynose's joke. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. "Fine then. You teach me, and I'll teach you. Deal?"

Raspberrynose grinned and nodded. "It's a deal!"

Crowtalon smiled. It felt nice. Weird, but nice. "Now then, you said you have herbs here? Are you helping out Cloudwish?" she asked. She wasn't too interested, but Raspberrynose was. At this point, she owned them.

Raspberrynose grinned even more at Crowtalon's smile. Maybe they could really be friends! "Yes! Uhm I had the idea the other day when we were all out to plant important herbs close to camp. I figured it would help Cloudwish, make his job easier ya know?" 

Raspberrynose turned to look at their little garden. "We decided to start with these since they fight off infection, and he said we could just roll in them to help prevent it!" Their tail was flicking at they talking, paws bouncing in excitement

"Ah, yes, doesn't Castleclan have a garden too?" Crowtalon asked. "Ah, whatever. That's a very bright idea regardless." She paused. She couldn't believe that she was going to offer this. "Do you, uh... need help taking care of it? You're helping me, so might as well help you too and all." she said, mumbling the last bit.

Raspberrynose nodded "Yea i think so! They would have to living in the desolate desert." They shivered, remembering how open it all was. They smiled to themselves, Crowtalon was being very nice today, they could see how bad at it she was but the effort made it sweet.

"Oh Crowtalon you don't have to! The garden i think will run pretty independently once i get it all set up! But," They smiled, tail flicking. "I do need help bringing the plants here. I can't carry that many I don't wanna bother Bearnsap or any of the other bigger cats."

"Fine then," Crowtalon stated. "Just tell me what to get, and I'll get it."