[Medicine Den] - Concern and catmint

Sunnystep wished there was a way she could immediately soothe Cinderspark's coughing. At least she had regained consciousness, though she seemed delirious. "Yes, it's me. I'm right here, Cinderspark." She hoped her presence could reassure the warrior. Cinderspark seemed like she was in pain, and Sunnystep felt concerned that she couldn't move. It didn't surprise her though, running around WindClan would take a lot out of her with a sickness like this. "Don't worry too much about that yet. You need to rest for now," Sunnystep said.

Cinderspark started coughing again, and Sunnystep rose up. She decided give Cinderspark some tansy to go with the catmint. "Yes, I'll give you a little honey." Sunnystep had stored a little bit in her leaf-bare preparations, though she wished she could have found more. Hopefully, no more cats would get sick and she wouldn't run out of honey. She went back to herb store, found a few leaves of tansy, and dipped them in the honey.

"Okay, Cinderspark, I have catmint and honey and tansy for you. I'm going to need you to open your mouth and swallow the catmint first, and after that I'll give you the tansy and honey, okay?" She crouched by the warrior, ready to give her the healing herbs.

Sunnystep was oblivious to Flashstar's frustration as she moved about her den. Her only concern was taking care of Cinderspark. She was relieved that Cinderspark was responding to the herbs, though she'd have to keep a close eye on her. There was no way that she was fine at this point. Sunnystep wouldn't put it past Cinderspark to try and rush back to her warrior duties while she was still recovering.

Cinderspark's concern about Mintpaw seemed natural, though Sunnystep didn't want her to worry. "Cinderspark, you need to rest," Sunnystep said, after the warrior had another coughing fit. Cinderspark still pressed Flashstar about her apprentice. "At least the sickness hasn't taken her spirit," Sunnystep thought as Cinderspark tried to backtrack on her comment about her apprentice becoming a rabbit brain.

"Someone should mentor Mintpaw while Cinderspark is recovering. She might be here for a while; healing from greencough takes time." Sunnystep glanced down at Cinderspark. "You're going to need to stay here until I clear you for returning to warrior duties, so you rest enough to feel better and so the illness doesn't spread through camp." She looked back at Flashstar, hoping he would pick a temporary mentor for Mintpaw that would quell Cinderspark's worries.

Sunnystep felt instantly relieved when Flashstar named Ravenwing as Mintpaw's temporary mentor. Ravenwing was so kind and smart; there was no danger of her turning Mintpaw into a rabbitbrain. Sunnystep's relief quickly turned to anxiety as Cinderspark started to growl. She'd never seen a cat with greencough look so angry.

Sunnystep willed Cinderspark to calm down, but it seemed the she-cat had too much emotion to simply let it go. It hadn't been that long since Ravenwing was named deputy. Thinking back, Cinderspark had been acting strange toward her since Flashstar had chosen her. Sunnystep had been caught up in taking on her full medicine cat duties, but how had she not seen that Cinderspark had been harboring so much resentment? Sunnystep cringed when Cinderspark started coughing. She started forward to try to calm her down, but Flashstar stepped forward toward her nest. The tom didn't even look at Sunnystep, the full weight of his gaze boring into Cinderspark.

Dread filled Sunnystep; a confrontation was the last thing Cinderspark needed, but she had brought it on herself. She was wrong to lash out at Flashstar in that way, and knowing Flashstar, he wasn't going to let her off easy. Sunnystep knew why Flashstar was sharing harsh words with Cinderspark; he couldn't let warriors undermine his authority, and Cinderspark's resentment was toxic to both WindClan and herself. As Clan leader he couldn't let an outburst like that slide. Still, Cinderspark's greencough meant it wasn't the best timing, and Sunnystep hated when cats quarreled. She could only listen as he scolded Cinderspark; as much as she wanted to stop it, it wasn't her place. And what could she even do? She couldn't change either cat's personality, and Sunnystep knew that nothing Flashstar was saying was untrue. Ravenwing was a wise choice for deputy, Cinderspark couldn't be so disrespectful without consequences, and she was better than angry outbursts in the medicine den. At least Flashstar's final words to Cinderspark were mostly calm, though they still contained a reprimand.

Flashstar looked back at her, and Sunnystep saw her opportunity to try and de-escalate the situation. She stepped forward so that she was between the two cats. "Okay, I think that's enough for now," Sunnystep said, her voice shaking. "I'm sure Cinderspark will think hard about what you've said." Sunnystep shot a pleading glance at her. "But now she needs to rest." She willed the warrior to listen to her; there was nothing to gain from more anger. Sunnystep realized that she would need to talk to Cinderspark about this outburst sometime soon, though not until she had recovered more. For now, she just wanted to get her greencough under control.

The weight of the day pressed down on Sunnystep after Cinderspark settled into sleep. She'd gone running across WindClan, rushed back to treat a sick cat, and witnessed a confrontation between a warrior and a Clan leader. It was enough to make her want to sink into the moor and sleep until this accursed leafbare had ended.

But Sunnystep knew she couldn't do that. Even if it was possible, some cat needed to take care of WindClan, especially with greencough in the camp. Even this brief reprieve couldn't last long as Flashstar finally had the chance to talk to her about her dream. She hoped he couldn't see her weariness. She didn't meet his eyes as she started to speak. "Well, I'm not sure if was from StarClan. It could have been just another nightmare," she said quietly.

She looked up to Flashstar, and forced herself to recount the whole dream to him. "I was here in the medicine den taking care of cats with greencough. More cats than we have in WindClan; I didn't recognize any of them. My catmint stores were gone, so I tried to run to ThunderClan for help, but when I got to the border, there was nothing there." She paused a moment and turned toward Cinderspark. The dream could have easily been written off as a simple nightmare if a case of greencough hadn't appeared in camp the next day. "I think it could mean sickness for WindClan, and maybe even trouble for ThunderClan too. I wonder if I should go speak with Appleheart..." The thought of paying a visit to the ThunderClan medicine cat made her feel apprehensive. Sunnystep always felt like she had to be careful around Appleheart, lest she find herself on the other side of her sharp words.