[Main ThunderClan Camp] - A Chilly Winter Morning

    Appleheart tried coaxing Quillkit to stand, doing her best to be gentle with her. "Come on, let's get back to the medicine den," she mewed again, trying to remain soft-spoken as to not trigger more of an adverse reaction. She was impressed, at least, when Snowpaw decided to hesitantly follow her orders and come over to assist with Quillkit, looking almost as nervous as the panic-stricken kit.

    It was quickly short lived.

    Her comment about gathering herbs quickly made Appleheart shake her head vigorously. "It does not matter how upset she is, taking a panicking kit into the woods is out of the question," she grumbled. 'Next thing you know, she'll whine like this just to get out of the camp whenever she wants...' she added bitterly in her head.

     "She's coming back to the den where we can make sure that she doesn't hyperventilate. I need your help keeping her calm... Quillkit just... likes having others around her. Any conflict can upset her." Appleheart swished her tail around Quillkit, hoping to coax her up.

    In fact, it seemed that Quillkit had been an annoying appendage to the medicine cat for the past few moons. With a blatant refusal to join the other kits in the nursery in fighting games, her aversion to fighting was clear. It wasn't quite a secret that the medicine cat couldn't wait until she turned 6 moons, got out of her medicine den and learned how to be a warrior.

245 WORDS

TAGS cellobot , broadwaystar

NOTES

Quillkit fidgeted her paws as Snowpaw approached, her mind was racing, her heart was thumping. She should have been excited by the prospect of collecting herbs, but she didn't want to get closer to ANY of the other territories, cats could attack at any time! Quillkit's brown eyes flashed a sign of fear to Snowpaw, hoping that the white she-cat would understand her worries. The snow under her paws burned, Quillkit tried to calm herself down but it didn't work, she couldn't control her breath, everything around her was blurry.


Quillkit's fear mixed with frustration as Appleheart shook her head to Snowpaw, in the manner she did, it seemed as if she wanted to make Snowpaw feel bad for trying to help her. Quillkit bristled at Appleheart's tone, Appleheart thinks every little thing is a nuisance to herself, I don't care if she didn't want to be a medicine cat, she doesn't need to make other cats feel as bad as her!


Quillkit felt her fear being pushed to the background as Appleheart told Snowpaw what to do with her so blatantly, Quillkit flicked her tail in annoyance as the muscular calico wrapped her tail around her, I'm not your kit! stop acting like you know me so well she unraveled herself from Appleheart's tail. 


"I'm fine now, I don't need your help" Quillkit growled to Appleheart, the fear bubbled back up as she went back into the medicine den. I'd rather be left alone than have to deal with Appleheart's constant grumbling, feeling so bad for herself Quillkit fumed to herself, picking at her nest anxiously, her breathing picking up in pace.  

    Appleheart's jaw laid agape at the venomous tone that spilled out of Quillkit's mouth. Having been oblivious to the way Quillkit had stiffened against her touch and her discomfort in general, the kit's words had left the medicine cat quite speechless and her mind in a haze. She blinked for a moment as the brown tabby stalked off back to the medicine den; what in the world had gotten into her?

    "That... little runt," she found herself hissing to no one in particular, her brow furrowing and her tail beginning to lash as she seethed. Quillkit had been... testy with Appleheart before, but nothing of this sort. Her tail swished harder as she thought further into the subject. It couldn't go without punishment... lest she thought that she could talk to her that way from here on out. Maybe Appleheart could kick her out of the medicine den for good and into the nursery where she belonged; that would teach her something --

    Snowpaw's question dragged the calico out of her temper-filled thoughts and snapped her back to reality. In fact, in her reaction to Quillkit, she had almost entirely forgotten about the white-furred apprentice. Her olive eyes closed for a moment before she let her lip curl into a slight snarl. "By all means," Appleheart glowered. The medicine cat let out a sincere sigh and flattened her ears with a small touch of sadness. "I think I... both of us need to relax for a moment. Away from each other," she admitted. "I'll join you later... I'm going to check on the elders. Need to make sure that no one is... ill."

    The medicine cat frowned as she bounded away from Snowpaw, an uncomfortable rock settling at the bottom of her gut. It wasn't a particularly nice feeling to have such a gentle soul snap at you in that way. Quillkit, despite all of her tendencies that annoyed Appleheart, was still only an innocent and kindhearted kit, young and optimistic to a fault. Perhaps a small reason that she allowed for the kit to remain within the medicine den was simply that it was nice to have a positive light sometimes.

    Appleheart shook her head briefly before entering the elder's den, clearing her face of any discernable emotions that could be misconstrued. She went through the motions for her responsibilities, much like any other day.

395 WORDS

TAGS cellobot , broadwaystar

NOTES